S’pore bowlers claim girls’ team gold at Asian Youth Tenpin Bowling C’ships
(From left) Singapore youth bowlers Jermaine Seah, Charlene Lim, Illiya Syamim, Amabel Chua celebrating their team gold medal at the Asian Youth Tenpin Bowling Championships in Manila. Photo: Singapore Bowling Federation.
SINGAPORE — Trailing rivals Malaysia after the fifth and penultimate game, Team Singapore’s youth bowlers had looked on track for a silver in the girls’ team event at the Asian Youth Tenpin Bowling Championships in Manila on Thursday (Oct 26).
But a late push from Iliya Syamin Muhd Azni, Amabel Chua, Jermaine Seah and Charlene Lim saw the quartet leapfrogging the leaders in the final few frames of the sixth game, as the Singaporeans claimed gold with their total of 4,745 pinfalls.
Malaysia eventually settled for silver with their score of 4,687, while Japan claimed the bronze in 4,660.
Victory at the Coronado Lanes in Manila was particularly sweet for Team Singapore, as the team gold was a first for the Republic’s female bowlers at the tournament since 2010.
“We were so happy that we were almost in tears…I’m quite surprised that we won because we didn’t know that we had a chance to win gold,” said Ngee Ann Polytechnic student Amabel, 17.
“We had fun, and we motivated each other to do well, and made every shot like our last shot. We were a bit nervous in the last few frames but we just cheered each other on.”
Debutant Jermaine was delighted to win the team gold after claiming a silver in the doubles with Charlene earlier this week.
“This is my first time at a major championship and I didn’t really feel any pressure,” said the 17-year-old, who also studies at Ngee Ann Polytechnic.
“The team really helped me a lot, and helped me calm my nerves. It was super surreal when we went onto the podium and the feeling was unbelievable.”
Amabel and Charlene will contest the girls’ masters event on Friday after qualifying in sixth and 11th position with their respective scores of 3,584 and 3,533.
