S’pore keglers now eye SEA Games glory

INCHEON — Having masterminded Singapore beating Asian powerhouses and hosts South Korea to the prestigious women’s team of five gold medal at the 17th Asian Games in Incheon, national coach Remy Ong is wary the same could happen to them when they host next year’s SEA Games.

Singapore’s 12-strong bowling squad ended the Incheon Asiad with one gold, two silver (women’s singles, women’s trios) and bronze in the women’s all-events.

Yesterday’s final two events — women’s and men’s master’s — saw Jazreel Tan and Cherie Tan miss out on the stepladder final after finishing ninth (3,246 pinfalls) and 11th (3,195), respectively, while Lim Chia Loong was ranked 16th in 3,040 in the men’s masters.

Jazreel, 25, is also the most bemedalled of Singapore’s 224 athletes at the Incheon Games with one gold, two silver and a bronze.

The team will get a week’s break before commencing training and selection trials for the 50th QubicaAMF World Cup in November, but Ong is looking further ahead to the 2015 SEA Games from June 5 to 16.

Playing at home could prove a double-edged sword as Singapore’s bowlers have often struggled to win the annual Singapore Open.

In the past decade, only three Singaporeans — Jack Wong, Lee Yu-Wen and Vincent Lim — have won the men’s title, while Cherie is the only female winner.

“Playing back home, there will be more pressure. People think we have home advantage, but there’s definitely more pressure to deliver,” said former world champion Ong, 35.

“I’m cracking my head on how to get the team gold. Shayna is the world (cup) champion, but in the Singapore Open final, she felt the pressure as she didn’t want to let people down. It gets players in a state where they forget the process. With the help of the sports psychologists, coaches and staff, we will get the bits and pieces right.

“They (the team) are getting better, but their rate of improvement is not good enough to keep up with the rest of the world. They are a world-class team, but more effort needs to be put in to maintain it.”

The national men’s team of Joel Tan, Ng Chiew Pang, Keith Saw, Lim, Muhd Jaris Goh and Javier Tan are also far from the finished product.

At the Incheon Games, their best finish in the singles, doubles, trios and all-events was joint-38th (Lim), eighth (Joel, Lim), fourth (Saw, Ng, Lim) and eighth (Lim), respectively, while the men’s team of five was ninth out of 18 teams.

“Is there a worry for the SEA Games? Yes and no. Experience doesn’t come overnight,” said Ong. “It’s a transition time for the men’s team and they need years of training and experience to get there.”

The SEA Games’ bowling competition at Orchid Country Club will see 10 events (singles, doubles, trios, team of five, masters) in the men’s and women’s categories.

Bowling did not feature at the 2009 and 2013 editions, but the Philippines won in 2005, followed by Malaysia in 2007 and 2011.

“It will be stupid of us to be over-confident,” said Jazreel. “There will be expectations after our results here, and people are already saying five gold medals. We will be preparing as well as we can.”