Shalin Zulkifli

Datuk Shalin binti Zulkifli (born 28 March 1978 in Islington, London, United Kingdom) is a Malaysian professional tenpin bowler. She has played and won various national and international tournaments, and has at various points in her career ranked No. 1 of the professional tenpin bowlers in Malaysia and Asia.

Career Before Shalin Zulkifli competed in the final match of the 2001 World Tenpin Masters, she achieved victories over Marek Charezinski from Poland in the first round, followed by Chris Van Damme from Belgium in the quarter-finals, and Paeng Nepomuceno from the Philippines in the semi-finals. And most importantly, in her final appearance, Zulkifli triumphed over Tore Torgersen from Norway, concluding the match with a final aggregate score of 455-450. This victory marks her significant achievement as the 2001 World Tenpin Masters champion on March 11th, 2001. In 2004, she was inducted into the International Bowling Hall of Fame. Bowling in the United States of America, she was a quarterfinalist at the 2008 US Women's Open, and competed in the 2008-09 PBA Women's Series. In Southeast Asian Games, she is the most successful bowling athlete with a record of 20 gold medals being achieved.

Shalin was born in North Islington and spent her childhood in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. She began bowling at the age of 9 and joined the national bowling team in the late 1980s. In 1991, she was named Selangor’s Most Promising Sportsgirl of the Year, and in 1994, she became the youngest player and first Malaysian to win the Ladies Open of the Kent Malaysian All-Stars. In 1997, she became the first woman to bowl a 300 in the AMF Bowling World Cup.

Shalin holds a degree in Sports Science that specializes in Sports Psychology and Coaching. She currently heads the Malaysian Athlete Career and Education Secretariat at the National Sports Council of Malaysia. She used to run a bowling center at The Curve, a shopping mall located in Mutiara Damansara.

In 2021, Shalin has retired from the national team, ended her 28-year-long international bowling career.

Achievements Malaysian Sportswoman Award (1997, 1996, 1994, 2001, and 2002) Malaysian National Champion (1996, 2001, 2002, and 2003) Malaysian Olympian Award (1994 and 1999) Asian No. 1 Rank (2000, 2001, 2002, and 2004) International Bowler of the Year (2002) International Bowling Hall of Fame Inductee (2004) Kent Malaysian All-Stars - Ladies Open Champion

1993

Gold, Women's Trios, SEA Games 1993, Singapore Gold, Women's Team of 5, SEA Games 1993, Singapore Silver, Women's Doubles, SEA Games 1993, Singapore Silver, Women's Masters, SEA Games 1993, Singapore

1994

Gold, Women's Trios, Asian Games, Hiroshima, Japan Gold, Women's All Events, Asian Games, Hiroshima, Japan

1995

Silver, Women's Trios, SEA Games 1995, Chiang Mai, Thailand Silver, Women's Team, SEA Games 1995, Chiang Mai, Thailand

1996

World Tenpin Team Cup (Calgary, Canada) - Bronze & Voted MVP AMF World Cup 1996 (Belfast, Northern Ireland) - 2nd place World Youth Championship - Bronze - Girl's Doubles

1997

Gold, Women's Doubles, SEA Games 1997, Jakarta, Indonesia Gold, Women's Trios, SEA Games 1997, Jakarta, Indonesia Bronze, Women's Team of 5, SEA Games 1997, Jakarta, Indonesia Silver, Women's All Events, SEA Games 1997, Jakarta, Indonesia Silver, Women's Masters, SEA Games 1997, Jakarta, Indonesia

1998

AMF World Cup 1998 (Kobe, Japan) - Record for qualifying for 3 consecutive stepladder final appearances; overall 3rd place Silver, Women's Doubles, Commonwealth Games, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Gold, Girl's Singles, World Youth Championship, Incheon, South Korea Bronze, Girl's Doubles, World Youth Championship, Incheon, South Korea Bronze, Girl's Team of Five, World Youth Championship, Incheon, South Korea Gold medal, Girl's All Events, World Youth Championship, Incheon, South Korea

1999

Asian Youth (Singapore) Doubles Gold Medal Champion Team Gold Medal Champion SEA Games 1999 (Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei) Doubles Gold Medal Champion Trios Gold Medal Champion Team Gold Medal Champion All Events Gold Medal Champion Masters Gold Medal Champion Singles Bronze Medal Champion

2000

Silver, Girl's All Events, World Youth Championship, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic Silver, Women's Doubles, Asian Championship, Doha, Qatar Bronze, Women's Team of Five, Asian Championship, Doha, Qatar Bronze, Women's All Events, Asian Championship, Doha, Qatar Top 8, AMF World Cup 2000, Lisbon, Portugal 1st runner-up, Thailand International Open

2001

World Tenpin Masters 2001 (Dagenham, United Kingdom) - For successfully beating Tore Torgersen of Norway - scored by 455-450 in the championship match SEA Games 2001 (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) Singles Gold Medal Champion All-Events Gold Medal Champion Trios Gold Medal Champion Team Gold Medal Champion Set 8 Sea Games Records Kota Kinabalu Open - Singles Champion

2002

Thailand International Open - Women's Open Masters Champion Philippines International Open - Women's Champion Pre-Asian Games Storm Cup Korea Open Masters - Women's Champion Bronze, Women's Trios, Asian Games, Busan, South Korea Gold, Women's Masters, Asian Games, Busan, South Korea

2003

World Tenpin Team Cup (Odense, Denmark) - Women's Team Gold Medal Champion World Championships (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) - Women's Team of Six Gold Medal Champion Santa Claus Open - 2nd place Asian Bowling Tour Grand Slam - Women's Champion Beating the men’s champion Purvis Granger of the Philippines 226-225 to win the ESPN Champion’s Challenge trophy. Asian Bowling Tour Malaysia (Philippines Leg) - Women's Champion

2004

Bahrain Open - Ladies Open Champion Sinai Open - Women's Champion ABF Tour (Thailand Leg) - Women's Champion Malaysian International Open - Women's Champion

2005

2nd Commonwealth Bowling Championship (Cyprus) Masters Gold Medal Champion Mixed Doubles Gold Medal Champion Team Gold Medal Champion Singles Bronze Medal Champion Malaysian National Championship - Ladies Open Champion (4th consecutive win & 5th in her career)

2006

Silver, Women's Trios, Asian Games 2006, Doha, Qatar Gold, Women's Team of 5, Asian Games 2006, Doha, Qatar

2007

Bronze, Women's Singles, SEA Games 2007, Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand Bronze, Women's Doubles, SEA Games 2007, Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand Gold, Women's Trios, SEA Games 2007, Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand Gold, Women's Team of Five, SEA Games 2007, Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand Gold, Mixed Doubles, SEA Games 2007, Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand Gold, Women's Team of Six, World Women Championship, Monterrey, Mexico

2008

Gold, Women's Doubles, Asian Championship, Hong Kong, China Silver, Women's Team of Five, Asian Championship, Hong Kong, China

2009

3rd Singapore International Open, Singapore Women Champion 2nd Ancol Open Bowling Championship, Jakarta, Indonesia

2010

Bronze medal, Women's Team of Six, Asian Games, Guangzhou, China 4th place, 12th Sinai International Open Bowling Championship, Cairo, Egypt Women's Open Champion, Hong Kong International Open, Hong Kong, China

2012

2nd place, Women's Division, Indonesia International Open, Jakarta, Indonesia 2nd place, Women's Division, Kuala Lumpur International Open, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

2013

2nd place, Women's Division, Singapore International Open, Singapore Bronze, Team of 6, World Championship, Las Vegas, NV, USA

2014

Silver, Women's Doubles, Asian Games, Incheon, South Korea

2015

6th place, 41st MWA Singha Thailand International Open, Bangkok, Thailand Gold, Women's Team of Six, SEA Games 2015, Singapore Bronze, Women's Doubles, SEA Games 2015, Singapore

2016

Bronze, Women's Trios, A6, Asian Championship, Hong Kong, China 2nd place, Women's Open, Indonesia International Open, Jakarta, Indonesia

2017

Bronze, Women's Singles, SEA Games 2017, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Silver, Mixed Doubles, SEA Games 2017, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Gold, Women's Trios, SEA Games 2017, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Gold, Women's Team of 5, SEA Games 2017, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Gold, Women's Masters, SEA Games 2017, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Gold, Women's Team of Six, World Championship, Las Vegas, NV, USA Silver, Women's Doubles, World Championship, Las Vegas, NV, USA

2018

Silver, Women's Team of Six, Asian Games, Palembang, Indonesia

2019

Silver, Women's Team of Four, SEA Games 2019, Manila, Philippines

Honors Honors of Malaysia

In popular culture From 2020 and 2022, Shalin involved as an advisor technical with her protégé Syaidatul Afifah acting as Sandra for TV Malay drama called Ratu Ten Pin (Queen of Tenpin) Season 1-2 aired by Astro Ria.

In Season 2, character Shalin, carried by Jasmine Suraya Chin, Jasmine tell about how style play, routine, and learn story from Shalin also keeping short hair.