Singapore settle for bronze after losing to US in semi-finals
The Singapore men's bowling team lost to a world-class American side in the semi-finals of the quadrennial World Bowling Men's Championships but still secured a historic bronze medal yesterday.
Basil Ng, Keith Saw, Jonovan Neo, Darren Ong, Jaris Goh and reserve Joel Tan struggled to string strikes together at the South China Athletic Association bowling centre in Hong Kong. However, they were awarded a medal despite their 238-194, 216-189 loss in the team-of-five event as losing semi-finalists are automatically placed third.
Italy, who pipped Canada 176-162, 210-244, 190-179 in the other semi-final, surprisingly went on to beat the Americans 189-169, 210-166 in the final.
The semi-finals and final were played in a best-of-three Baker format. In a team of five, this means the first player bowls Frames 1 and 6, the second player bowls Frames 2 and 7, and so forth.
Goh, 23, who will compete in today's Masters event, said: "This has been a great opportunity to bowl with and learn from the best and we are very happy to be part of the team that created history.
"It is like a graduation for us, from boys to men."
The team's latest achievement is a continuation of the upward trend that the elite male bowlers have experienced in the last 16 months.
Singapore Bowling Federation president Jessie Phua said: "We are extremely proud of this team and the secret to the team's success is belief - from the bowlers, coaches, parents and everyone at Singapore Bowling.
"We will continue to support these bowlers and pray they will receive the support they deserve from the Singapore Sports Institute (SSI) too."
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