Asiad bronze for Singapore bowlers
Women's bowling trios storm from seventh to third, five pinfalls behind silver medallists Taiwan
The Singapore women's trios team were seventh on 1,993 pinfalls after the first three-game block at the Asian Games bowling competition yesterday and any medal hopes had looked bleak at that point.
But Daphne Tan, Bernice Lim and Joey Yeo surged up the leaderboard in the second block on the back of a simple philosophy - turning their focus to what they could control.
And what a comeback it was, as they knocked down 2,257 pinfalls in three games at Palembang's Jakabaring Bowling Centre to clinch an improbable bronze on 4,250, missing out on silver by a mere five pinfalls.
Taiwan's Pan Yu-fen, Chou Chia-chen and Tsai Hsin-yi managed to hang on for silver with 4,255, while Malaysia's Siti Safiyah Amirah, Syaidatul Afifah and Esther Cheah won gold with 4,326.
Singapore's other trio of Jazreel Tan, Shayna Ng and Cherie Tan finished 10th (3,936).
"The pressure is always there, but my first thought (after the first block) was that there's another block to go, in a different oiling pattern, so we never gave up," said Daphne, 27, after the long-oil conditions in the morning and the medium pattern that followed in the second half.
- SINGAPOREANS IN ACTION TODAY SWIMMING Men’s 50m fly: Joseph Schooling, Teong Tzen Wei Women’s 50m breast: Roanne Ho, Samantha Yeo Men’s 100m free: Danny Yeo, Darren Lim Women’s 800m free: Chantal Liew, Gan Ching Hwee Men’s 200m back: Quah Zheng Wen, Francis Fong Women’s 4x100m IM: Hoong En Qi, Samantha Yeo, Quah Jing Wen, Quah Ting Wen FENCING Women’s team foil: Anita Berthier, Melanie Huang, Maxine Wong, Titiana Wong GOLF Men’s individual stroke play: Gregory Foo, Abdul Hadi Uda Thith, Low Wee Jin, Joshua Ho BOWLING Men’s trios: Basil Ng, Muhammad Jaris Goh, Darren Ong, Alex Chong, Jonovan Neo, Cheah Ray Han SPORT CLIMBING Men’s speed: Amar Hassan, Emmanuel Ryan Paul Women’s speed: Nadhrah Yusri, Nadirah Mohamed Azmie Women’s combined – speed: Vanessa Teng BRIDGE Men’s team, mixed team, super mixed team *Schedule subject to change
SWIMMING
FENCING
GOLF
BOWLING
SPORT CLIMBING
BRIDGE
*Schedule subject to change
"It's what you do with the pressure. We acknowledged it, put it aside and focused on controlling our shots."
Daphne and Co were able to turn up the heat - aided in part by the new scoring system adopted at these Games.
A strike is worth 30 points, while a spared frame is worth 10 points plus the number of pins felled in the first roll.
A game will still consist of 10 frames, with a perfect score of 300 unchanged.
The general sentiment is that the system will raise average scores, and Malaysia's coach Holloway Cheah believes that even those in the lead will not be able to relax.
ONE STRIKE
He said: "You may think you are far in front, but it's not like that any more. Sometimes one strike, and suddenly the gap is gone."
The women will now switch their focus to the other two medal events - the team of six and the Masters. The men will be in action in the trios event today.
Meanwhile, Singapore's air rifle shooter Jasmine Ser finished fourth in the women's 50m three-positions event yesterday with 430.9 points.
Mongolian pair Nandinzaya Gankhuyag (458.8) and Narantuya Chuluunbadrakh (451.4) were first and second respectively.
Iran's Mahlagha Jambozorg took the bronze with 441.2.
Ser's teammate Martina Veloso finished eighth in the eight-shooter final with 398.2.