17th June, Petaling Jaya: Fourteen countries comprising of 82 boys and 47 girls paraded in front of dignitaries and distinguished guests at Sunway Megalanes during the official opening ceremony of the 23rd Asian Junior Tenpin Bowling Championships 2024.

Among the dignitaries were Ms Vivien Lau, SBS, JP., Honorary Life President of Asian Bowling Federstion (ABF), YBhg Dato' Mohammed Najeeb Din Abdullah, Acting President of host, Malaysian Tenpin Bowling Congress (MTBC) and Mr Michael Seymour, CEO of International Bowling Federation (IBF).

Also present were Dr Danny Santos, Tournament Director, Mr Maradona Chok, Secretary General of MTBC and host tournament co-ordinator and Mr Bandar Al-Shafi, ABF Ex-Co Member and member of the Jury of Appeal.

Emcee, Ms Michelle Wong kicked off the opening ceremony proceedings with the introduction of the dignitaries and distinguished guests before announcing the parade of teams led by ABF flag bearer followed by each of the participating countries.

YBhg Dato' Mohammed Najeeb, in his welcoming speech, thanked ABF for awarding the hosting of the 23rd Asian Junior Tenpin Bowling Championships, for which Malaysia had hosted on four previous occasions. He also expressed gratitude to the ABF member federations which has sent teams to participate in this year's championships.

Ms Vivien Lau, delivered the message on behalf of HE Sheikh Talal Mohammed Al-Sabah, President of ABF and IBF during her speech at the opening ceremony. Malaysian A Team members, Muhammad Danial Abu Samah and Adelia Nur Irwan Syazalee took the athlete oath on behalf of all athletes while Mr Maradona Chok took the oath on behalf of tournament officials.

The opening ceremony concluded with a group photo session before the welcome buffet lunch hosted by MTBC at Sunway Megalanes. Official pratice session, divided into two squads will be held at 2.30pm and 4.30pm later today.

Competition will kick off with the Singles event on Tuesday June 18, Doubles on Wednesday June 19 and the Team of 4 on Thursday June 20. The top 16 based on their respective division All Events standings (18 games) will qualify for the Masters Finals.