Field too strong for Singapore

Field too strong for Singapore

21st November, Guangzhou: The field for the Team of 5 for both the men and women divisions at the 16th Asian Games is too strong for Singapore as the women managed only a ninth place finish while the men slumped to 15th position. Singapore's Trios gold medalist of Cherie Tan, Geraldine Ng and Shayna Ng teamed up with Jasmine Yeong-Nathan and Jazreel Tan to register a decent 919 in their opening game but could only give them in sixth position.

Malaysia opened accounts with a sizzling 1075 to lead Korea by 26 pins followed by Chinese Taipei in third. Despite shooting a better second game of 961, the Singaporeans still found themselves in sixth as Korea took over the running.

A lackluster final game of 866 dropped them down to end the first block in ninth with 2756 while Korea knocked down a superb 1125 to take pole position with 3210. Indonesia set a new record with 1247 in their third game to snatch second spot with 3171.   Malaysia settled for third with 3083 ahead of China fourth and Chinese Taipei fifth with 3004 and 2978 respectively. Singapore is only 327 pins behind the Malaysians and if they can return to the form they display when winning the Trios gold, there is a slim chance they could finish in the podium.

Shayna Ng has a stronger chance of winning a medal after occupying fourth in the All Events standings behind three Korean women, Hwang Sun-Ok, Choi Jin-A and Son Yun-Hee. No country is allowed to win all three medals in a single event.

Cherie Tan also has an outside chance after occupying ninth position but both the Ng and Tan looked set to advance to the Masters finals as the best two Singaporean women. Meanwhile, the Singapore men were less impressive having only managed a 15th place finish with 2969. Malaysia, who led from start to finsish, shot 1174, 1045 and 1136 for a total of 3355.

Qatar took second spot with 3256 while Japan finished third with 3239. Korea stormed home with a sizzling 1168 to end the block in fifth with 3208 behind Hong Kong in fourth with 3214.

Jason Yeong-Nathan also has an outside chance of picking up a medal if he can keep his on-going form intact. Jason is eighth in the Men's All Events and is 167 pins adrift third-placed, Alex Liew.

Remy Ong is 25th and if he does not improve with the Team second block, he will have to hope that there are more than two from each NOC above him in the top 16. Two Koreans, Choi Kong-Kyu and Choi Bok-Eum occupy the top 2 positions with 4780 and 4758 respectively.   Detailed scores: Women's Team of 5 Block 1 | Men's Team of 5 Block 1. Photos by Terence Yaw in Guangzhou.