Bad luck costs Singaporean

Bad luck costs Singaporean

15th November, Guangzhou: A drier pair of lanes in Ng Tiac Pin's final game cost the Singaporean a chance of a medal in the opening squad of the Men's Singles event at the 16th Asian Games on Monday.   Asiad debutant, Ng Tiac Pin has a superb start in his opening game shooting 223 as UAE's season campaigner and 2009 Singapore Open champion, Shaker Al-Hassan led with 268, 3 pins ahead of the athlete from Kuwait, Jassem Abbas Darwish in second.

Ng continued his good pace with 214 and 238 and was within striking distance of another leader and athlete from Kuwait, Mohammad Al-Zaidan taking over the running followed by 2009 AMF World Cup champion, Choi Kong-Kyu in second at the halfway mark.

The 22-year-old Singaporean kept a fast pace with 256 in the fourth hauling him up to third behind yet another new leader, Eric Tseng of Hong Kong as the Korean, Choi remained in second.   Another decent 216 kept Ng in third as Tseng slipped down to third allowing Choi to take the lead after the fifth game while Filipino, Biboy Rivera surge ahead of both Ng and Tseng into second spot. A disastrous final game of 176 dropped Ng out of contention and into eighth position as Rivera shot a sizzling 265 to snatch the lead and take pole position in the squad with 1414.

Choi settled for second with 1370 which might not be good enough for a medal while another athlete from Kuwait, Jassem Darwish stromed home to take up third with 1366. Ng totaled 1323.

Jason Yeong-Nathan in his second Asian Games, finished 16th position with 1280 ahead of first-timer, Basil Low in 19th position with 1269. Mark Wong ended in a dismal 41st position managing only 1155.   "I had a chance for a medal right up to the fifth game but came to a very dry pair of lanes in the last game," said Ng almost in tears. "I know I shouldn't blame the lanes. I guess my nerves took over my game and concentration.

Singapore's hope now lies with Remy Ong and Benjamin Lim, who are drawn in the second squad which will start at 2.30pm local time.

Detailed scores: Men's Singles Squad A/ Photos by Terence Yaw in Guangzhou.