Bandar Seri Begawan - National elite bowler from Malaysia, Issac Russell Paul told the Bulletin that his toughest competition for the inaugural MegaStrike Invitational Classic Tournament 2012 would be Ryan Lalisang from Indonesia, who is currently ranked 10th in the Men's Asian Bowling Tour.

Issac said this on the sidelines of yesterday's press conference for the auspicious bowling tournament from Dec 1-2 at MegaStrike Bowl, located at Level 3 of the Airport Mall.

Issac was formerly with the national back-up squad but quit four years ago for a job opportunity in Kota Kinabalu before returning to the sport full-time last year.

"I quit because I thought I had no future in the sport but after winning a small tournament in Kota Kinabalu, 1 decided to play competitively once again," said the delighted Issac who is quite excited to play in Brunei for the first time.

According to his coach, Robert Lu, Issac have shown his talent for bowling since he was still 10 years old and that is why bowling will always be in his blood. Lu has been one of Paul's coaches for almost .15 years now and believes he will excel in the upcoming tourney.

Asked on how his training regime back home as the Malaysia National Bowling team, he said the team will practise from Monday to Friday for two hours training on the (bowling) lanes followed by another two hours at the gym for fitness.

The bowling prodigy also lauded MegaStrike Bowling centre as it provides facilities that are of "international standard", which he thinks is an ideal venue to host the bowling tournament.

He also hoped that during his stay in the sultanate, he could inspire some of the local youth bowlers to excel in the sport. Among his recent achievements was winning the 10th Indonesian International Open 2012 and 36th National (Malaysia) Championship 2012, whereby he became champions for both tournaments.

The MegaStrike Invitational Classic Bowling Tournament 2012 is organised by MegaStrike Bowl. Sdn Bhd in collaboration with the Brunei Tenpin Congress. The champion of the tournament will bring home a $4,000 cash prize.

--Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin