Firing blank does not dampen spirit

Firing blank does not dampen spirit

15th November, Guangzhou: Firing blank on the opening day of the 16th Asian Games did not dampen the spirit of Singapore national bowlers as Remy Ong and Benjamin Lim managed only ninth and 42nd in the second squad. Singapore's hopes for a medal were on the remaining two men in the second squad after debutant Ng Tiac Pin did not capitalise on a fine run to take a chance of winning a medal. Remy Ong got off the block with a lowly 182 as the athlete from Kuwait, Mohammed Al Regeebah led with a superb 265 opener.

Ong gradually made up grounds with 242, 235, 235 but with 203 in his fifth game, it left the Singaporean a duanting task of finishing in the top 3 before the final game. Ong managed 237 in his final game for a total of 1334 whch put him ninth in the squad.

Benjamin Lim just could not get into his strides finishng a dismal 42nd in the squad as Mohammed Al Regeebah squandered a golden opportunity to topple Squad A leader, Biboy Rivera of the Philippines.   Mohammed, who needed only 197 or more in the last game to snatch the gold, had an opened frame in the third. Although he recovered with three strikes-in-a-row, a bad mistake in the ninth frame in which he failed to spare.

The athlete from Kuwait ended the squad in the lead with 1404, missing the gold by just 10 pins. Frederick Ong of the Philippines, stormed home to finish second to Mohammed and clinch the bronze medal with 1390. "I couldn't get my rythmn going in the beginning but I settled down from the second game," said the 31-year-old Remy Ong. "I just didn't have the good breaks. Everytime I get two or three strikes in a row, I encountered a split."

"But my spirit is not dampened and I'm confident I came bounce back. I'm good in the long oil conditions and hopefully I can get better breaks in my next event."

Chinese Taipei's Kao Hai Yuan took third spot in the squad but missed the podium by 14 pins to finished fourth with 1376 while Korea's Choi Kong-Kyu, who was second in the first squad, settled for fifth.

In the earlier squad, Ng Taic Pin was Singapore's best finisher in eighth but dropped down to 18th overall with 1323. Jason Yeong-Nathan was 29th, Basil Low 32nd, Mark Wong 75th and Benjmain 87th.   Singapore's women, Cherie Tan, Jasmine Yeong-Nathan, Jazreel Tan, Geraldine Ng, New Hui Fen and Shayna Ng will take to the lanes at Tianhe Bowling Hall tomorrow for their Singles over two squads.

Detailed scores: Men's Singles Combined | Men's Singles Squad B. Photos by Terence Yaw in Guangzhou.