Skip to main content

Advertisement

Advertisement

SEA Games: Silver and bronze in the bag, but S’pore bowlers want more

KUALA LUMPUR – It was the only event at the previous South-East Asian (SEA) Games in 2015 that Singapore’s women bowlers had failed to medal in.

Singapore's New Hui Fen (left) and Cherie Tan (second from left) won the women's doubles silver while teammates Shayna Ng and Daphne Tan (right) finished third. Photo: Sport Singapore / Randi Ang

Singapore's New Hui Fen (left) and Cherie Tan (second from left) won the women's doubles silver while teammates Shayna Ng and Daphne Tan (right) finished third. Photo: Sport Singapore / Randi Ang

KUALA LUMPUR – It was the only event at the previous South-East Asian (SEA) Games in 2015 that Singapore’s women bowlers had failed to medal in.

The women’s doubles event proved to be a more fruitful hunting ground for the Republic’s keglers at this year’s Games however, as they clinched two medals – a silver and bronze – at the Sunway Mega Lanes on Monday (Aug 21).

The silver came courtesy of duo Cherie Tan (above) and New Hui Fen, who finished runners-up in the event with a score of 2,490 pinfalls, while the pair of Shayna Ng and Daphne Tan secured the bronze on 2,464 pinfalls.

The Singaporeans were pipped to the gold medal by Indonesia’s Sharon Limansantoso and Tannya Roumimper, who finished on 2,561 pinfalls.

Despite their podium finishes however, there was still an air of disappointment within the Singapore bowling contingent over their failure to take home the elusive gold.

Cherie, who won gold in the women’s singles on Sunday, explained: “We wanted to have a clean sweep of the events (this year), so it’s safe to say we're disappointed we didn't win the gold medal (today).

“But Indonesia did well so credit to them, they deserve the gold. Looking at the scores however, I think only one of them was bowling very well, while the other one was on par (with us), so maybe they had a good team synergy that worked for them.”

Ng was equally frustrated not to secure the gold, as she said: “We are thankful to have medalled, but we're not over the moon (with our result).

“I started out too slowly, and I was thankful that Daphne had quite a good start so she was able to cover me and we managed to hang in there. 

“Towards the end, we tried our best to recover what we lost at the start and we managed to get third, but this is still not good enough.”

Singapore’s frustration at failing to win the event was only exacerbated by how close they had come to doing so.

After all, at the end of the penultimate fifth game, both Jazreel Tan and Bernice Lim – the country’s third and final pairing in the event – found themselves four pinfalls in the lead, and looked in good form as they headed into the final game.

The duo however, lost their momentum at a crucial time and were only able to post a score of 333 pinfalls in the final game, which was the second lowest of the 17-team field.

They eventually finished the event joint-fourth with Malaysia’s Siti Safiyah Amirah and Shalin Zulkifli on 2,456 pinfalls.

Looking visibly disconsolate, both Jazreel and Lim left the lanes immediately after the event, and did not speak to the media.

Ng however, believes Jazreel and Lim will quickly bounce back from this disappointment and come out even stronger in the remaining three women’s bowling events.

“They (Jazreel and Lim) were first after the fifth game, so we all thought that they had a really good chance (of winning),” the 28-year-old said. “When you know you're in the running, maybe there are more nerves...but they did their best anyway.

“I'm sure that after coming in joint-fourth, they will want to do even better tomorrow. They’re getting closer, and I'm sure this result will make them hungrier to win the remaining events.”

While Singapore may not have won gold in the women’s doubles, New believes their overall results as a contingent bodes well for them as they prepare themselves to play the Games’ remaining three events – the trios, masters and team of five.

“Two podium finishes is not bad for us as a whole, because that means as a team, we're really strong,” said New, who was recently crowned Singapore’s Sportswoman of the Year.

“But it doesn't mean that since we do well in the singles and doubles, we have the right to be complacent for the remaining events.

“We will still have to focus on our processes and look to make it better, and hopefully the result will speak for itself.”

Related topics

SEA Games 2017

Read more of the latest in

Advertisement

Advertisement

Stay in the know. Anytime. Anywhere.

Subscribe to get daily news updates, insights and must reads delivered straight to your inbox.

By clicking subscribe, I agree for my personal data to be used to send me TODAY newsletters, promotional offers and for research and analysis.