Singapore ends with Masters gold and silver
14th June, Singapore: Singapore ended the 28th SEA Games Bowling Championship in grand style when triple silver medalist and top seed, Jazreel Tan winning the Women’s Masters gold medal while Daphne Tan added the host nation’s fourth silver.
Jazreel Tan gave host nation a perfect end to the games when she finally nailed her first gold medal with a convincing victory over challenger and team-mate, Daphne Tan in the all-Singapore finals, 516-353 two-game total.
Jazreel cruised to a 258-269 victory over Daphne in the first match and an identical 258-184 victory in the second match to give Singapore her fourth gold medal in the competition.
“I had work so hard preparing for the games and I was so close to winning a gold medal in the Singles, Trios and Team events,” said the beaming Jazreel.
“My persistent effort paid off and I’m so glad that I’ve come away with this victory. But most importantly, this victory is for all my team-mates, my coaches, my federation and my country.”
Daphne, who was seeded third, trashed team-mate and second seed, Shayna Ng 223-162 in the semi-finals to face the top seed. Shayna was relegated to fourth and had to hand the bronze medal to Tannya Roumimper of Indonesia, who finished sixth behind another Singaporean, New Hui Fen.
Meanwhile, second seed Yannaphon Larpapharat of Thailand denied triple gold medalist and top seed, Muhad Rafiq Ismail his fourth gold medal when he defeated the Malaysian, 414-381 to win the Men’s Masters gold medal.
The Thai took advantage of the tie when his opponent found the condition difficult in the first game going down 178-197. Muhd Rafiq started the second match with a double strike but just could not repeat the feat whilst Yannaphon doubled in the second and third frame and sealed victory, 217-203 with another double strike in the eighth and ninth frames.
“I knew it would be difficult to beat Muhd Rafiq as he was bowling good the whole week,” said the delighted Yannaphon, who won the 2014 Incheon Asian Games Singles gold medal and the 2005 SEA Games Masters gold medal in Malaysia.
“But when I saw him struggling in the first match, I knew I had a chance to beat him. I guessed it’s down to the more experience I have. I’m sure he will win more medals in years to come as he is so young.”
The champion had to work hard to earn a crack at the title after he narrowly edged third seed and a second Malaysian, Adrian Ang, 246-245 in the semi-finals.
Muhd Rafiq, who was eyeing his fourth gold medal, had earlier led from start to finish in the second block winning five matches for a 16-game total of 3763 to advance to the stepladder finals as top seed.
Yannaphon, who took over second spot from Ahmad Muaz of Malaysia after two matches, trailed the leader by 223 pins to make the stepladder finals in second with 3540. Adrian defeated compatriot, Alex Liew in the position round to qualify for the stepladder finals in third with 3488.
Singles silver medalist, Annop Arromsaranon of Thailand missed the cut in fourth with 3462, just 26 pins from Adrian while Ahmad slipped from second to seventh position.
Malaysia emerged as overall champion with a medal haul of 5-4-4. Singapore finished second with 4-5-1 but emerged as women division champion with three gold and four silver medals. Malaysia also finished as men division champion with three gold, 1 silver and 2 bronze medals.
A total of 41 men and 34 women from seven countries participated in this year’s championship. The next edition of the South East Asian Games will be hosted by Malaysia in 2017.
Photos by Terence Yaw in Singapore.