Women bowlers stir excitement
Phua aims to groom more junior bowlers as Storm collaboration bears fruit
She described the performances of Singapore's female bowlers this year as "pretty awesome", and Singapore Bowling Federation (SBF) president Jessie Phua is already plotting to take the team to even greater heights.
The stars of the women's bowling team like Shayna Ng, New Hui Fen and Jazreel Tan have been put on "auto pilot" mode for most of the year, while the SBF focuses its energies on building up the next generation of bowlers.
Speaking to The New Paper recently, Phua said: "We want to build more breadth; the likes of Shayna and Hui Fen are mostly on auto-pilot mode this year.
"They have not been given much guidance, but they have done extremely well."
New, 24, and Ng, 27, finished second and third, respectively, at the recently concluded World Bowling Singles Championships in Doha, Qatar, capping off a stellar season for the women's team.
Earlier this year, senior members of the team have also done well in several high-calibre competitions.
New won the United States Professional Women's Bowling Association season-ending Smithfield PWBA Tour Championship - deemed as a Major in the sport - and was named Rookie of the Year.
Teammate Bernice Lim, 24, also won a Major, the United States Bowling Congress Queens tournament and finished third in the QubicaAMF World Cup.
Cherie Tan, 27, won the Sacramento Open title, while Jasmine Yeong-Nathan, 27, clinched a Masters bronze in the Asian Tenpin Bowling Championships.
In addition, younger bowlers Amanda Lee, 18, and Joy Yap and Tay Hui Wen, both 21, won titles at the Asian Intercity Bowling Championships.
SBF's collaboration with US bowling products company Storm has no doubt helped the bowlers.
DEEPER UNDERSTANDING
The link saw the company provide consultants to give the keglers a deeper understanding of their equipment.
The partnership also saw assistant national coach Jason Yeong-Nathan attached to Storm, where he worked with American bowlers during competitions.
Phua said the experience will benefit local bowlers in due time and added that the seniors, many of whom are Sports Excellence Scholarship holders, could expand their competitive horizons next year.
"They don't necessarily need more time on the US circuit... We are also thinking of throwing them in Europe," she said.
"They know that they can do well anywhere in the world."
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