Singapore bowlers win team bronze at Asian Championships
Female bowlers end medal drought, eye Masters fight
They are among the powerhouses of the sport on the continent, but have been missing from the podium at the Asian Tenpin Bowling Championships in Hong Kong, until yesterday.
Singapore's women's team of five - Jasmine Yeong-Nathan, Bernice Lim, Daphne Tan, Joey Yeo and Geraldine Ng - landed the bronze with a combined total of 6,108 pins over nine games.
South Korea took the gold with 6,409 pins, while Malaysia were second with 6,366.
"We definitely did not do as well as we wanted in the last few days and we wanted badly to medal in the team event today," said Yeong-Nathan, 28, who had a team-high average of 213.33.
"Everyone was feeling down the last few days, but the coaches did a credible job of lifting us, and we also tried to keep our energy up today.
"Most of all, we were just trying to focus on the process and not the end result, focusing on each shot as it comes."
Joey, 18, added: "I haven't been doing well in the competition so far, so today I wanted to give of my best for the team.
"Before the start of the day, the coaches gave me a pep talk and told me that my only task was to keep the energy levels up.
"I think we all did pretty well as a team today."
The team were third after the first block of three games on medium oil on Sunday, and were just five pins ahead of fourth-placed Taiwan yesterday after the second trio of games, also on medium oil.
But the Singaporeans pulled away on the last block on long oil, with Taiwan finishing fourth with 5,958 pins, 150 behind.
Assistant national coach Jason Yeong-Nathan said: "They bowled really did well today and fought very hard for each other.
"The past few days were a little tough, but we kept changing our game plan as we learnt more about the lanes."
While they were drained after a long day on the lanes, the team's morale was buoyed by the medal, which will come in handy with the Masters competition taking place today and tomorrow.
Yeong-Nathan was the highest qualifier for Singapore in eighth place, while Tan (ninth) and Yeo (15th) also made the top 16.
Yeong-Nathan said: "With this medal, we know that we are definitely getting there, and it will spur us on.
"It's a brand new day and a brand new event; we have definitely gathered a lot of information about the lanes, and we have a game plan."
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now
