27th September, Petaling Jaya: In a night of profound historical significance for Malaysian sports, the Malaysian Tenpin Bowling Congress (MTBC) officially honoured one of its pioneering heroes, Mr. Koo Boon Jin (JB Koo), correcting a decades-old oversight during the opening ceremony of the Interstate Championships at Sunway Mega Lane last night.

The ceremony saw Mr. Koo, Malaysia's first-ever World Champion gold medalist in the Trios event together with Allan Hooi and Edward Lim (1979) and the 1979 Sportsman of the Year, finally received his RM5,000 cash award—a reward he was unable to accept 45 years ago due to strict amateur sporting regulations of the era.

The presentation was made following a unanimous decision by the General Assembly during MTBC's 52nd Annual General Meeting earlier that morning. The Assembly agreed to grant the reward to both the 1979 Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year, Mr. JB Koo and Ms. Shirley Chow.

During the period from 1966 to 1982, athletes who accepted such monetary rewards would have been deemed professional and rendered ineligible for premier amateur competitions like the Olympic Games and Asian Games.