Kuala Lumpur, 1 October 2015 - The 10th Sime Darby Asia Pacific Merdeka Indoor Bowls Championships 2015 is set to rock the Bayuemas Indoor Bowls Complex in Klang from 1st to 6th October.

The annual regional competition which brings together all the champions in the Asia Pacific region to compete for the lucrative USD50,000 prize money, will see the participation of 19 teams from 16 countries in four categories namely the men's singles, women's singles, mixed doubles and mixed fours.

President of the Malaysia Lawn Bowls Federation (MLBF), YBhg. Dato’ Wan Nawawi bin Haji Wan Ismail said the tournament would not only prepare the national team ahead of next year’s World Bowls Championship, but it is also an effort by MLBF to popularise lawn bowls in Malaysia.

“Historically, lawn bowls were always played by senior citizens, but now you can see that it has gained popularity among the youths. I do hope that our initiatives over the last ten years will help garner more interest from other corporate bodies to help us further promote lawn bowls in Malaysia”.

This is Sime Darby Foundation’s seventh year of support for this regional championship. The Foundation’s contribution of RM450,000 will cover cost of accommodation, meals, transportation, trophies, cash prizes and much more.

"The Foundation sees great potential in lawn bowls and we are confident this annual championship will continue to be the best platform for our local lawn bowlers to compete with their peers from other countries and prepare for the bigger tournament later in 2016, "said Puan Hajjah Yatela Zainal Abidin, the Chief Executive Officer of the Sime Darby Foundation.

Apart from Malaysia, 15 other countries and territories which have confirmed participation are Australia, Brunei, Fiji, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Macau, China, Norfolk Island, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Sri Lanka. The championship is open to the public and entry is free.

Youth & Sports, one of the pillars under Yayasan Sime Darby’s philanthropic initiatives supports programme that promote the all-round development of youths to enable them to become trustworthy, conscientious and productive members of society. To this end, YSD makes available the resources at its disposal to promote sporting activities to help youths realise their full potentials; develop sports; cultivate sportsmanship within the community and raise the standards of sports.