Mahmoud Ahmad Al Attar, the first UAE athlete to win a medal in the Asian Games, said that he does not support professionalism in bowling.
"Personally I do not agree to turn professional. I want to complete my studies and work because this is my future. When a bowler turns professional, where will he go and what will he do after his retirement?" asked Al Attar after he clinched the bronze medal in the bowling singles in the 15th Asian Games.
Mahmoud, who began bowling in 1999 when he was 11 years old, said that he was into football before he switched to bowling.
"When I was young, I used to play football at Al Wasl club. In 1999 I attended the World Championships in Abu Dhabi. I saw the UAE bowlers competing powerfully against bowlers from other countries. I love the game and decided from that year to bowl," said Mahmoud.
He started bowling at the Dubai Bowling Centre in 1999 supported by his father Ahmad Al Attar, a former commentator in the Abu Dhabi Sports Channel.
"My father encouraged me to play bowling and advised me to work hard if I wanted to represent the UAE. After four years I was selected to the national youth team to participate in the Gulf youth bowling tournament in Bahrain 2003. It was just a beginning to gain experience."
After that Mahmoud continued taking part in Asian and World championships. "In 2004 I took part in the World Youth championships in Guam. Also I took part in many tournaments in Asia, the GCC countries and Arab tournaments."
Mahmoud won his first medal with the UAE senior team last year. "I was 17 and we took part in the Arab bowling championships in Jordan. I won the singles silver, trios bronze, doubles bronze and teams gold medals and we won the Arab championships."
He said that he is training three hours daily at the Dubai Bowling Centre.
"Bowling requires the player to have sharp concentration during the games and you should not be tense. You should be cool all the time. During the singles event in Doha in which I won the bronze medal, I was competing against the best players in Asia which made me a bit nervous.
"But I succeeded in keeping my cool until I finished third to win the bronze medal as the UAE's first medal in Doha," he said.
Mahmoud intends to continue bowling until he is 25 and then retire. Asked why he plans to retire at such an early age, he said: "I do not want to give my whole life to bowling. I also have other obligations family, work and other things. Now I am suffering from bowling. For long periods I am absent from my school which will affect my future."
He said that he knows his bowling hero Mohammad Al Qubaisi is now 41. "I know there is no age limit for bowlers. I have decided not to continue after 25. But who knows what will happen. Let us wait until I reach 25."
The UAE's coach John Fantini praised him after he won the singles bronze in Doha.
Fantini said Mahmoud is still young and his performance will improve and he can continue for more more years.
Mahmoud hopes that other UAE teams win more medals in Doha.
Mahmoud said that he wants the bowling association to take care of the youth.
"They are the future of the game. The association must take better care of the youth, form national teams under 17 and under 20 and take part with them in the GCC, Arab and Asian tournaments to gain experience.
"The youth in the UAE are small in number and I am one of them.
"The future of bowling seems unclear. I hope the association will make plans for taking better care of the youth urgently," Mahmoud said.
