Singapore crashes out in the quarterfinals

3rd November, Ho Chi Minh City: Singapore's Benjamin Lim and Mark Wong made the Men's Doubles quarterfinals of the 3rd Asian Indoor Games 2009 but was lost to Hong Kong, 416-396 and ending their hope for a medal.  Benjamin Lim and Mark Wong had a superb start in the second Men's Doubles squad with 448 to trail early leader Philippines. Despite another good 439 in the second game, the Singapore pair found themselves dropping down the field.

As Korea's Jang Dong Chul and Cho Young Seon took over the running at the halfway mark, Lim and Wong posted another 435 to move back up to second and trailed the Koreans by 49 pins. A poor fourth game of 385 almost ended Singapore's hopes of advancing.

But the resilient Singaporean pair fought back galantly with 420 and 471 in their two final games to take up fourth in the squad and sixth overall.

Lim bowled an encouraging game of 212 but two splits spoilt Wong's game to only 184 and a team total of 396. Hong Kong's Eric Tseng and Wu Siu Hong posted 416 to take the victory and advance into the semifinals.Hong Kong was trashed by No. 2 seed, Choi Bok Eum and Kim Tae Young of Korea, 492-385 in the semifinals to settle for the bronze medal while topseed, Naif Oqab and Hussain Al-SUwaidi of UAE went on to edge the Koreans, 431-430 to claim their second gold medal.

The champion beat Indonesia's Ryan Lalisang and Hengky Susanto of Indonesia, 493-411 in the other semi to advance into the finals. UAE had tied with Choi and Kim on 2744 but earned topseed after a 9th and 10th frame victory over Korea, 46-28.

Basil Low and Lionel Lim bowled in the opening squad to manage a top 10 finish with 2429 but finished 22nd position overall. The women will contest their Doubles on Wednesday.

Detailed scores: Men's Doubles Quarterfinals | Men's Doubles Semifinals | Men's Doubles Finals | Men's Doubles Combined.Photos by Terence Yaw in Ho Chi Minh City.