lit a candle 5h agoI don't really know much about tenpin bowling or Malaysia, but something about a 76 year old coach still teaching kids until a couple years ago stopped me scrolling. I don't know what to say except that's a good life.
Their story
Shirley Chow was a Malaysian tenpin bowler and coach who helped put bowling on the map of Malaysian sport. In 1979 she became the first bowler to be named the country's Sportswoman of the Year, and over almost two decades on the national team she won medals at the SEA…
Shirley Chow was a Malaysian tenpin bowler and coach who helped put bowling on the map of Malaysian sport. In 1979 she became the first bowler to be named the country's Sportswoman of the Year, and over almost two decades on the national team she won medals at the SEA Games, the Asian Games and the World Championships. She later spent many years passing on her skills to young players in Perak. She died in Ipoh, Perak, on 1 November 2026 following an illness. She was reported to be 76.
Chow's international career began in the late 1970s. According to a tribute from the Malaysian Tenpin Bowling Congress, she won a team bronze medal at the 1977 SEA Games, and two years later she was named National Sportswoman of the Year, a first for her sport. She went on to collect doubles and trios silver medals at the 1989 SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur, doubles gold with Lisa Kwan and singles silver in Manila in 1991, and three gold medals in the trios, team and All Events in Singapore in 1993, along with a singles silver.
Her greatest result came at the 1994 Asian Games in Hiroshima, where she partnered Lydia Kwah and Shalin Zulkifli to win the women's trios gold. She also took doubles silver with Kwah at the same Games. A year later, at the 1995 World Championships in Reno in the United States, she won women's trios silver with Shalin and Lisa Kwan.
After her competitive years Chow turned to coaching in Perak, developing young bowlers in Ipoh, and in 2004 she took part in the National Sports Council and MTBC development programme while still competing herself. She coached until around 2023. In October 2025 the MTBC finally paid her the 5,000 ringgit cash award that had come with her 1979 honour but had never been handed over. She said she had bowled because she loved the game, not for rewards.
The MTBC confirmed her death on social media, calling it a great loss to the bowling community. Its secretary-general, Maradona Chok, described her as a legend who paved the way for Malaysia's bowling future, and said she had touched the lives of many young bowlers over the years.
Biography adapted from New Straits Times, The Star, Free Malaysia Today and Malaysian Tenpin Bowling Congress tribute.
Photos
1Shirley Chow with her World Championship silver medal, Reno, 1995
by People Forever
She was a pioneer here, first woman bowler to win Sportswoman of the Year back in 79