Singapore yet to get off the mark
6th July, Hong Kong: Singapore bowlers competing in the 20th Asian Tenpin Bowling Championship at Hong Kong Bowling City have yet to get off the mark despite a spirited performance on Day 2. Debutante, Basil Low's and Lionel Lim's best chance was in the Men's Doubles Squad A but ended up in eleventh after a brief lead while Cherie Tan and Jasmine Yeong-Nathan finished a creditable sixth in the women's division.
The strong Korean pair of Hong Hae-Sol and Choi Yong-Kyu had set the early pace to lead Basil Low and Lionel Lim in the opening game of Squad A. Low and Lim then got into their strides to take over the lead and held it for the next three games.
But disaster struck Low in the fifth game as he only managed 140 on a pair of extremely difficult lanes while his team-mate could not cover the youngster, shooting 191. The setback saw the duo dropping down the field.
Despite finishing strongly with 451 in their final game, the Singapore pair ended up in sixth with 2505. Eugene Low and Mark Wong took 14th position with 2385 as UAE's Sayed Ibrahim and Hussain Al-Suwaidi topped the squad with 2579.
"Although we started slow but when we got into our strides, we made many good shots and were able to score well," said the 16-year-old Basil Low. "But I guess I was a bit too anxious in the fifth game and I made a lot of mistakes.
Singapore's third pair bowling in the second squad finished eighth and tenth overall after the two squad's scores were combined. Eric Tseng and Cyrus Cheung won Hong Kong's first gold medal when they topped the field with a record-breaking 2750.
Qatar's Bandar Al-Shafi and Mubarak Al-Muraikhi stormed home to snatch the silver with 2653 ahead of Squad B pace-setter, Masaru Ito and Masaaki Takemoto, who settled for the bronze medal with 2607.
In the women's doubles played earlier, Esther Cheah and Shalin Zulkifli of Malaysia, overcome the mighty Koreans to win their first gold medal with another record-breaking 2699 pinfalls. Gye Min-Young and perfect gamer, Jeon Eun-Hee of Korea took the silver with 2601.
Chen Dongdong and Wu Suqin of China clinched the bronze medal with 2572. Singapore's best women double pair was Singapore Open champion, Cherie Tan and former national champion, Jasmine Yeong-Nathan, who finished sixth with 2516 behind two other Korean pairs.
"Considering that we have four debutantes in the men's division and two in the women's, I'm quite happy with their performances so far," said team manager, Melvin Lim. "They've tried out both the short and long oil conditions and we hope that they will be able to step up their challenges in the next two events.
Amanda Ng and Jazreel Tan ended in the top 10 with a ninth place finish with 2436 while the third pair of Sabrina Lim and Bernice Lim took 12th spot with 2390.
Detailed scores: Men Doubles Combined | Women Doubles.
Photos by Terence Yaw.