Singapore wins second gold
3rd July, Anyang, Korea: Bernice Lim and Singles gold medalist, Daphne Tan denied Korean women their first gold at the 4th Asian Indoor & Martial Arts Games when the Singapore duo defeated their opponent, 441-393 in the Women’s Doubles final match on Wednesday.
Singles bronze medalist, Son Yun Hee got off the mark with a double strike as her partner, Hwang Yeon Ju spared both her first two frames and so did Tan. After Lim had a spare in the first frame, she fired three consecutive strikes to give Singapore a 11 pin lead.
As Tan doubled in the fifth and sixth frames, Hwang responded with three strikes-in-a-row. When Son opened in the sixth frame and Hwang missing a single pin the the eighth, the Korean pair was already trailing 25 pins.
Tan too missed a single pin in the eighth frame but it mattered little as Lim struck out from frame 8 to end on a high game of 246 as Tan finished off with 195 for a total of 441 to seal the match and claimed their second gold medal of the competition.
Son and Hwang were again denied their first gold after managing 192 and 201 respectively to settle for the silver medal with 393.
“I’ve to thank my partner, Bernice who was in great form rolling the big game needed to take victory,” said the 22-year-old, who won the Singles gold medal two days ago.
“Luckily my mistake didn’t cost us the match. We also had a lucky break in the semi-finals against our team-mates. It’s hard to bowl against your team-mates and we were fortunate to come away with the win to make the final.
Asked if the two gold medals she has won so far would secure her spot in the team bound for the World Championships in Las Vegas this August, Tan confessed that she is still not sure.
“There is still one more event to go and I’ll go all out to help my other team-mates, Hui Fen and Geraldine to take home a gold medal.”
Lim and Tan made the finals after narrowly defeating Hui Fen and Geraldine, 372-357 in the all-Singapore semi-final while Korea ousted Chinese Taipei’s Wang Ya Ting and Chang Yu Hsuan, 400-378 in the other semi.
The Taiwanese pair edged top seed, Lee Na Young and Jung Da Wun of Korea, 418-416 in a thrilling quarter-final encounter while second-seed, Son and Hwang took out Thailand’s Natthida Sertluecha and Angkana Netvrseth, 389-376 in quarter-final round.
The champion advanced to the semi-final with victory over third-seed and the second Chinese Taipei pair of Huang Chiung Yao and Tsai Hsin Yi, 409-354 in the quarter-final. New Hui Fen and Geraldine Ng edged Malaysia’s Hee Kar Yen and Siti Safiyah, 367-362 in the quarter-finals.
Lee and Jung topped the 6-games preliminary round with 2618 after taking over the lead at the halfway mark. Son and Hwang gave Korea a one-two finish with 2532. The second Chinese Taipei pair finished third with 2507.
The first Singapore pair took fourth position with 2442, 22 pins ahead of Malaysia in fifth with 2420 followed by the champion in sixth position with 2366.
Thailand finished seventh with 2331 while the first Chinese Taipei pair stormed home in their final game to edge the first Japanese pair by 10 pins. Competition will resume with the Team event tomorrow for the first block of 3 games over short oil.
The second block of 3 games over long oil will be contested on July 5. The top 4 men team and top 4 women team will qualify for the semi-final shootout for the last two gold medals of championships.
Detailed scores: Women’s Doubles Final | Women’s Doubles Semi-Finals | Women’s Doubles Quarter-Finals | Women’s Doubles | Photo Album.
Photos by Terence Yaw in Anyang, Korea.