Debutante Putty hopes to be top bowler

JAKARTA (JP): She is 17, yet she has enough guts to fight for the number one spot in the national ten-pin bowling community, which is now dominated by over-50-year-old women.

Junior bowler Putty Insavilla Armein said she covets the gold medal at her international debut in the 20th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Brunei Darussalam next month.

"I want gold in the SEA Games," she said, adding that she would face tough contenders from Malaysia, Philippines and Singapore.

Putty, who was born on Oct. 24, 1981, said she had always wanted to be a professional bowler. She realized that she would have to climb from the local championship before she would get a chance to play in overseas tournaments.

"I will fight to be No. 1, because the best bowlers always have the opportunity to be go to overseas tournaments. I want to be a professional bowler."

But Putty likely regards bowling as her second career. She said that she would prioritize her studies. In her opinion, sports here do not promise a better life for athletes.

"I want to set up my own business one day. In Indonesia, sports can not guarantee one's life. I can't live from bowling. I used to dream of being a lawyer. But now I have changed my mind," she said.

Putty is now in third year at a state Islamic senior high school, SMU Islam Al-Azhar, in South Jakarta.

She said she had to ask her teacher's permission when she was invited to join the SEA Games training program.

"Most of my friends already know about my sports activity. So they don't get jealous when teachers give their permission for me to skip the lesson," said the fan of author Danielle Steel and R.L Stein.

She said she that besides bowling, she also likes roller- blading. But she loves all sports, except swimming. "I can't swim," she admitted.

Putty started to learn to bowl when she was 6. Her mother used to take her when she went bowling with her friends.

"All my family members love to go bowling. I watched how my mom plays and I tried once. I thought at first that it was an easy game, but it turned out to be difficult. My ball slipped into the gutter," she recalled.

In 1990, her family moved to Kuala Lumpur when her father, H. Armein Yusfar, who works for Garuda Indonesia airline company, was assigned to the neighboring country.

Putty kept practicing bowling with her mother as a hobby. She was also trained by Malaysian national bowler Ricky Chan and a South Korean coach, whom she called by Mr. Han.

In 1997, all her family returned to Jakarta.

The following year, Putty started competing in local and overseas tournaments.

In March 1998, she won silver at the Asian Inter-School bowling championships, which were attended by nine countries including Indonesia. In September, she was ranked 10th in a bowling tournament in the Philippines.

Prior to the Games, she took part in the Asian Junior Bowling Championships in Singapore, from July 19 to July 24. She finished in 23rd place. There were 40 women participants in the competition.(ivy)