Krizziah Lyn Tabora is nothing but grateful for all the accolades coming her way after winning the women’s championship in the 2017 QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup.
“Until now, I can’t believe that I’m one of the awardees. I thought after the World Cup, that’s already the best award I could get, but I’m surprised that I got a prestigious award like this,” she said after being recognized as one of the three Athletes of the Year in the SMC-Philippine Sportswriters Association Awards night on Tuesday.
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Krizziah Tabora. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
Tabora was only the sixth bowler to be bestowed the honor following legends like Paeng Nepomuceno, Bong Coo, Ariane Cerdena, CJ Suarez, and Biboy Rivera, and the first since Rivera in 2010.
The 26-year-old believes that this distinction could help her bring the public’s interest back to the sport of bowling.
“This honor is big not just for me, but for Philippine bowling as well. We’re putting bowling back to the people’s consciousness because of my win and I hope we could continue growing because of all of these,” she said.
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Though Tabora can be seen as this era’s torchbearer, she knows that one victory won’t be enough to cement her legacy. So she remains hungry to continue representing the Philippines in every tournament she joins in, including the Asian Games in August in Indonesia.
“We’re preparing for that,” said Tabora, who is aiming to bounce back from her forgettable run in the 2017 World Bowling Championships last December.
“There’s always going to be pressure, especially after I won in the Bowling World Cup. I admit that I was pressured in the World Championships and that’s why I wasn’t able to perform. But we’re preparing for the next challenges,” she said. “In bowling, you can’t say who will perform well in any tournament. It’s really unpredictable, so you have to be prepared.”