Convincing victory for youths

29th May, Singapore: National youth, Alexander Tan took a convincing victory in the Boy's Under-18 Masters finals of the 44th Singapore International Open while Stacy Lian snatched victory in the Girl's Under-18 finals in her final game.
National youth Alexander Tan, who did not have the best of start, managed three superb back-to-back games in the second to fourth games to take over the running at the halfway mark.

Consistent games from the 17-year-old allowed Alexander to take a well-deserved victory to win the Boy's Under-18 Masters title with 1654. Tay Kun Long edged front-runner, Marcus Leong for second position with 1631, 23 pins adrift the champion.

"I guess my ability to just concentrate on the processes during the competition helped me to win. Although during the competition I could see I was leading the competition, I decided to block out the information and continued to use my pre-shot routine to put my remaining games in place." commented Alexander Tan.

  
"Having joined the national youth squad this year only, I feel the regular training has helped me to improve my game and maintain consistency. The encouragement from coach, Henry Tan prior to competition had also boosted up my confidence to put in my best performance."

Singapore Sports School's Marcus amassed a total of 1554, a further 100 pins away from Alexander to settle for third spot.
Meanwhile, a last-minute remedial lesson before the competiton helped Stacy Lian to clinch the girl's crown. Stacy shot a massive game of 229 in the eighth and final game to take victory with 1496.

Stacy, who started bowling at a young age of 10 after seeing her brother Shaun bowling on the lanes, trains under former national bowler, Jack Wong since the age of 14. Coach Jack Wong had praises for Stacy's performance despite having to reduce her training hours due to heavy studies commitment at Raffles Junior College.

"I've been lagging behind the first seven games and it was then when Uncle Jack came over to encourage me which spurred me on strongly.' said Stacy Lian.

  
"I must also thank my brother Shaun for always taking the initiative to come and talk to me whenever he knows I faced difficulties in my bowling and during competitions. His words of advice and encouragement helped me to continue to stay focused, enjoy the game and feel no stress."

National youth, Tracy See edged front-runner, Joey Yeo Ruoqi by 4 pins to take second spot with 1468 while Joey had to settle for third spot with 1464 after a poor 156 in her last game.

Both champions, Alexander Tan and Stacy Lian walked away with S$500 and S$350 cash prizes respectively. This year, a total of 10 cash prizes were set aside for the Under-18 and Under-15 divisions boys and 8 cash prizes for the Under-18 and Under-15 divisions girls, compared to 5 and 4 cash prizes last year respectively.
Photos by SingaporeBowling.