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KN's Appearance in Cleo Magazine
September 1999 |
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CLEO's
14 Most Inspiring Young Malaysian Women |
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KN Lai, 23, National Bowler |
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Long limbed KN Lai, that's Kin Ngoh to non-fans, is a
non-pareil bowler. She |
| throws
bowling balls with consummate ease and when she release
them, more |
| often
than not, she makes a strike. In bowling terms, it means
that all 10 pins go |
| down,
a feat this cucumber-cool pro accomplished not once, but
12 times during the |
| last
Commonwealth Games, making the only Malaysian woman
there to achieve a |
| perfect
game. |
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Her CV's littered with similar smash hits. The KN
success story starts |
| with
a double gold in the Asian 1996 FIQ Championship ( where
she broke three |
| records),
first runner up Asian bowler of the year in 1997 and
second in the Asian |
| Tournament
of Champions in 1997. Not bad for someone who only took
up the sport |
| seriously
in 1995. And then, of course, there was last year's 1998
Commonwealth |
| Games
clutch of silver and bronze medals. |
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In recent Malaysian bowling history, there hasn't been
anyone quite like KN. |
| It
does help that the gifted player comes from a family of
bowlers - both her mum |
| and
dad are - but bowling-friendly genes apart, what's the
secret? "There isn't one. |
| It's
just how much you give - whatever you give, you get
back." Putting her nose to |
| the
grindstone means four hours of intensive training every
day, interspersed with |
| sweaty
gym workouts. But that isn't quite what makes the
unruffled champion bag |
| those
titles either. "Bowling is a mental contest,"
she explains. "If you aren't |
| emotionally
tough, it doesn't matter how good a bowler you
are." |
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| Winning
strike: "Positive thinking is a question of
training and habit. Why I win is |
| because
I say to myself: 'I can do it, I'm going to do it.' I
never hold on to negative |
| thoughts." |
