Oily Issue Causes Concern For Brunei's Bowling Team At Asiad
By Jason Thomas

Bandar Seri Begawan - Though Qatar maybe amongst the world's biggest oil producers, one would think that talk of oil inside the Games Village in Doha, the venue of the 15th Asian Games, would be nonexistent.

However, that is not the case for the bowlers competing for the twelve gold medals up for grabs, and the oiling of lanes is a topic of-hot contention. Games organisers have chosen to, oil a long stretch of the lanes for the coveted singles competition last Monday to prevent damage to the surface.

However, the next day a short oil lane was in place for the doubles category, and as well as the teams category which will be played today. National bowling coach Mike Griffith said that conditions in the newly constructed Qatar Bowling are not conducive for spinners.

"The team is not playing so well, and not shooting what they need to be, or want to if they want to have a chance of winning medals," stated Griffith.

"Not only are the lanes here still settling and the pins still new, the oil conditions here do not suit spinners," said Griffith, referring to Hj Yakob bin Hj Bakar and Ak Mohd Aizat bin Pg Abu Samah. "These are real reasons as to why the bowlers are not playing to their capabilities, and not excuses"

The only hook player in the three man team is Hj Shawal Mustafa, who has been performing the best so far.

However, even the best efforts of the Brunei team have not yet been noteworthy. And after last Tuesday's 47th place finish in the field of 56 teams in the doubles category, they only managed second last in the field of 37 teams in the trios category yesterday.

Yesterday's trios category saw the bowlers play three rounds in long oil, and they will play three more today in short oil.

Hj Shawal, who has posted the best Bruneian scores in the previous two categories singles and doubles - scored 561 over the three games in long oil for an average of 187. Meanwhile, Hj Yakob and Ak Mohd Aizat scored 539 and 499 for an average of 179.7 and 166 respectively.

"Spinners use lighter 11 pound balls, and these new pins are having trouble falling down," Griffith said.

He added that world-class teams such as Macau and Chinese Taipei, whose players are predominantly spinners, are also having trouble as well.

Although they are playing below their averages during training, Griffith feels that even if the Bruneian bowlers play a very good game and score in the range of 210-220, it still wouldn't be enough for a shot at the medals.

"There are records being broken in every category here, and even the top trios team here are all women, which is not the norm in 10-pin bowling at this level," said the Australian.

Despite all the negatives, Griffith stated that the Bruneian bowlers, especially Ak. Mohd. Aizat, were posting better scores as the competition progressed and they got used to the lane conditions.

"As a coach, I don't want to use this word, but they'll need a bit of luck to get their confidence flowing," said Griffith. -- Courtesy of The Brunei Times

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