Singapore bowler Cherie Tan reclaims women's singles gold medal
HANOI - After finishing 13th in the last SEA Games in 2019, national bowler Cherie Tan regained her singles crown on Monday (May 16).
The 2017 champion scored 1,442 pinfalls at the Vincom Megamall Royal City's Heroworld Bowling Center to top the field of 12 and clinch the gold.
Marie Alexis of the Philippines was second on 1,320 pinfalls and Tan's teammate and defending champion New Hui Fen settled for bronze with a score of 1,319.
In a nail-biting finals of six games, New had been leading at the midway point while Tan was third. But Tan bowled a magnificent fourth game, 278 pinfalls, to take the lead by 63 over Indonesia's Sharon Limansantoso (898). New meanwhile dropped to third with a score of 883.
Tan continued her blistering form in the next 10 frames, scoring 275 to extend her lead by 116. She then sealed the gold in the final game, knocking down 206 pinfalls.
In the men's singles, 2019 joint-bronze medallists Cheah Ray Han and Jaris Goh finished sixth (1,203) and 10th (1,166) respectively.
Merwin Matheiu Tan of the Philippines won the gold with 1,292 pinfalls ahead of Thailand's Yannaphon Larpapharat (1,286) and Indonesia's Ryan Leonard Lalisang (1,221).
But Cheah and Goh were not too upset about the result, stressing that their main aim was to get as much information as possible on the lanes ahead of the doubles and team events.
Cheah, 22, said: "We gave our best but sometimes our best just isn't enough but that's OK. We took a few lessons (on what equipment to use) from today so moving forward, we will be more prepared.
"(This result) definitely won't affect our morale. If anything, it makes us more hungry to want to fight for the team and double medals.
"The team gold is the ultimate goal here so everything we do is in preparation for that and once we get our processes right, we'll be prepared to gun for the team gold."
Jaris added that he wants to work on staying calm and enjoying the present and not get too excited about competing in a major Games again after three years.
On his confidence of winning the team gold, he said: "Anything can happen so it's very hard to give an answer. In the last frame, something can change and someone can strike to take the win. But what we can guarantee is we will do our best and push all the way to our limits."
The Republic has won four men's team titles (1977, 1983, 1995, 2017) and the women's event five times (1975, 1987, 1991, 2011, 2019) at the biennial Games.
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