ARLINGTON, Texas - It's no small feat to make the championship round of a Professional Women's Bowling Association event.
The desire, dedication and effort put forth makes the opportunity to claim a PWBA title second to none. But, when you can share the opportunity with a teammate, it's priceless.
That's the situation for Malaysia's Sin Li Jane and Siti Rahman, who are the top two seeds for the TV finals of the PWBA Wichita Open, which will air Tuesday at 8 p.m. Eastern on CBS Sports Network.
The teammates each will have the opportunity to become the first Malaysian player to win a title on the PWBA Tour.
Sin and Rahman are not strangers to the PWBA Tour, as they both were part of the eight-player contingent from Malaysia that competed on the Tour for the first time in 2016. As a unit, the team combined for three TV appearances, with Sin leading the team with two.
Sin finished fifth in her first event, the 2016 United States Bowling Congress Queens. A few weeks later, she came just shy of claiming her first PWBA title when she finished second at the PWBA Greater Detroit Open.
Rahman's highest finish last season came at the Go Bowling PWBA Players Championship, where she made match play and finished 14th.
This year, both Sin and Rahman have elevated their games, with Sin also earning the No. 1 seed for the televised finals of the Pepsi PWBA Lincoln Open, and Rahman making the TV finals of the 2017 Go Bowling PWBA Players Championship, where she finished fourth.
Now, the two players potentially will meet in the championship match for a shot at PWBA history. It's something Sin is looking forward to, and she definitely understands the magnitude of what's at stake because of all it takes to compete on the PWBA Tour.
"I think our coach (Holloway Cheah) will be proud of us," Sin said. "This is our second time here, and now both of us will compete in the TV finals. It means a lot to both of us because it's actually quite difficult for us to come here because of funding and travel, and we need many approvals to be here. We just need to prove we're worth being here."
For Rahman, there's a chance to face a teammate she has admired for many years.
"I have known Li Jane since we were still in high school, and I always see her determination to win and to do well in competitions," said Rahman, who finished seventh at the 2017 Greater Detroit Open. "I really like how she is always calm and how she is super accurate on every one of her shots."
As a Team Malaysia athlete, training is very important, especially as they prepare for the upcoming Southeast Asian Games, where Malaysia is the host country.
When they're not on the road, the team faces a demanding weekly training schedule that includes individual programs and goals for each athlete as part of the Podium Program. The program is supported by the Malaysia Sports Institute and is a high-performance program designed to help Malaysia earn its first Olympic gold medal at the 2020 Olympic games in Tokyo.
"Our training schedule is tight back home," Sin said. "We train Monday through Friday, two to three hours on the lanes and three times per week at the gym. We have our own duty and achievement to accomplish within the Podium Program. We need to achieve targets in this program in order for us to be in it the following year."
This year, Sin and Rahman were joined on the PWBA Tour by teammates Esther Cheah, Syaidatul Hamidi, Natasha Roslan and Shalin Zulkifli. They push each other to be the best they can, and their performances have proven to be a great training tool, too.
At the recent Go Bowling PWBA Players Championship at The Ashwaubenon Bowling Alley in Green Bay, Wisconsin, all six players received a prize check by finishing in the top 32, while five of the six advanced to match play.
"I'm really grateful to have awesome teammates that are supportive," Sin said. "Despite being in the same competition, we encourage each other to bring glory to the country. We look up to each other on the lanes and fight as competitors on the lanes, but off the lanes, we are friends."
Through the tough practice days, the long hours of travel and intense competition, Rahman knows without the support of her teammates, she might be in a different situation.
"They are all important to me because we support each other often," Rahman said. "When any of us are down, we always help to bring each other up again. Without their support, I wouldn't be where I am now. There are times we are tired from long practice days, so we always try to lift up the mood to get us going. It has been so much fun competing on the PWBA Tour. It has always been very fun for us because we get to compete with professionals and make new friends, too."
All qualifying and match-play rounds of the 2017 PWBA Wichita Open were held at Northrock Lanes in Wichita, Kansas, on June 2-3.
The stepladder finals were held June 25 at The Ashwaubenon Bowling Alley in conjunction with the live finals of the PWBA Players Championship and the taped finals of the Pepsi PWBA Lincoln Open and PWBA Greater Detroit Open.
