Holloway Cheah picked for his contributions to bowling

BOWLING coach Holloway Cheah is the odd one out among the nominees for the Women and Sports Awards to be announced in Kuala Lumpur tonight.

Except for Cheah, who has 43 years of experience in the bowling industry as a player, coach and bowling ball specialist, the other nominees are all women.

The other nominees are Mazidah Musa, Datuk Noora Ashikin Raja Abdullah, Choo Yih Hwa and Norzie Mohamed Khasbi.

Mentor and charges: Cheah posing with daughter Esther (left) and Shalin.

The Malaysian Tenpin Bowling Congress (MTBC) had nominated Cheah for his contributions to bowling. The 66-year-old Cheah was a member of the Malaysian team that won the first gold medal for bowling in the 1978 Asian Games in Bangkok.

As a coach, Cheah had played a part in several national women bowlers' career. They include Shalin Zulkifli, Esther Cheah, Wendy Chai, Zandra Aziela, Siti Syafiyah and Zatil Iman.

Mazidah is the Malaysian Netball Association (MNA) secretary and played a vital role in promoting the game in the country. She was the chef de mission when Malaysia emerged champion in the Asian Youth netball championship in Bangalore, India in 2006 – it was the highlight of her career.

Noora Ashikin is the Malaysian Women's Hockey Association (MWHA) president and had initiated several programmes for women's hockey.

Choo is the national lawn bowls coach. As a player, she had represented Pahang in the 1994 Sukma. She was also the coach when Safuan Said won the gold medal in the 2008 World Cup in Australia.

Nozie is a sports journalist with Utusan Malaysia.

The Raja Permaisuri Agong Tuanku Nur Zahirah has been invited to present the award to the winner at the ceremony.

The Star