AYG Bowling: Singapore find silver lining in team competition

Story by Chin Chi Hua and Jan Lin/Red Sports.

Orchid Country Club, July 4, 2009 – It has been a topsy-turvy two days at the Asian Youth Games (AYG) bowling competition. As some in the team bagged medals, others were left to mull over their loses. But in the team event, both the girls and boys teams tasted silver success.

After a jerky first day of the team competition, where both the girls and boys teams finished third after the first three games, both teams rose to the occasion to better their first day’s performance and leapfrogged to a deserving silver-plated finish.

When the boys team of Basil Low, Brandon Lee, Christopher Hwang and Justin Lim bowled a magnificent last game totalling to 918 pinfalls, it seemed like de jevu, as the girls team of Darshini Krishna, Anthea Soh, Ilma Nur Jannah Fadzal and New Hui Fen also bowled an incredible last game of 928 pinfalls.

Both teams have indeed left it late to secure their silver fate.

Before the final game, the girls were still lying in third position while the boys have already been overtaken and was lying in fourth position, just outside of medal contention.

Despite trailing by over 100 pinfalls, both teams kept their cool and unleashed stellar performances to eventually take the silver medal.

Jessie Phua, the president of the Singapore Bowling Federation revealed, “The teams really like to keep me at the edge of my seat. There were so many heart stopping moments!”

In the girls event, the gold medal was won by the formidable Korean team by a margin of 73 pinfalls, and Japan had to settle for the bronze medal after Singapore’s superior sixth game eventually beat them by a massive margin of 179 pinfalls.

“The girls were fantastic and that was really unexpected. They were real fighters and this is good for our future as they will be the next wave of our national players,” said Mike Lam Wei Koon, the General Manager of Singapore Sports School Bowling Academy.

The parents of New Hui Fen, the anchor bowler for the girls team whose 276 pinfalls in the final game was the highest across all teams, also commented with all smiles, “I’m really proud of their fighting spirit!”

Double-gold medalist Hui Fen, who anchored for her team, had a terrible start to the team event on the first day.

The girls singles’ champion had bowled an unimaginable score of 161 pinfalls in the opening game followed by 175 pinfalls in the second game. She has, however, got off to a flying start on the second block, knocking down 246 pins in the fourth game.

Though, the girls team’s top bowler was actually the consistent Darshini Krishna, who had partnered Hui Fen to a gold medal in the doubles event. Interestingly, Darshini had knocked down 257 pins in both the first and last games to finish 4 pinfalls ahead of Hui Fen.

Second bowler, Anthea Soh, and third bowler, Ilma Nur Jannah Fadzal, respectively contributed commendable scores of 1174 and 1172 pinfalls.

The competition was very much tighter for the boys with not more than 20 pinfalls separating each of the podium winners.

The Hong Kong team took the gold with 4971 pinfalls, while Singapore’s 4952 pinfalls pipped the second runners-up Koreans by just 17 pinfalls.

Hong Kong team’s coach, Purvis Granger, said: “I am very happy for the boys, more happy than when they got their individual medals. It is better to see each of them with a medal for a team event than an individual one. More so it is a gold medal.”

Singapore’s uprising star and first bowler, Basil Low, recovered from his disappointing performances in the individual events to carry his team to a remarkable victory.

The Singapore Sports School student got his team off to a dream start on the first day of the opening game when he bowled a high score of 268 pinfalls. He also bowled a high sixth game with 243 pinfalls.

While the team anchor, Justin Lim, who also missed out on an individual medal, played a vital role in his team’s success contributing 3 strikes in the last frame. His 258 pinfalls in the final game secured the silver for Singapore.

“We worked super hard for it. It was like a dream come true,” said Justin of Raffles Institution (Junior College), whose score of 1275 pinfalls was the second highest in his team behind Basil’s 1325 pinfalls.

Second bowler, Brandon Lee, and third bowler, Christopher Hwang, respectively bowled scores of 1213 and 1139 pinfalls for their team.

Brandon and Christopher had clinched the bronze medal in the boys’ doubles event for Singapore, but Basil and Justin would much relish on the silver lining found in the team event and forget about their dismal showing in the doubles competition.

For in the end, nothing beats all four of them tasting success together.

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