WHEN Ong Ying Xin of Pioneer Junior College took the Schools National A Girls' tenpin bowling All-events title at the Orchid Country Club yesterday, she stunned not only her opponents but also herself.

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She posted 3,557 pinfalls over 18 games (Singles, Doubles and Team) to take the championship by a comfortable margin of more than 100 pinfalls over second-placed Anthea Soh of Raffles Institution (Junior College).

Anthea, a member of the national development team, totalled 3,422 pinfalls.

Although 17-year-old Ying Xin has been training under the Centre of Excellence programme, she is not part of the national development team.

'I've known some of the bowlers from other schools for some years now. They are very good, so I did not expect to perform better than them,' said Ying Xin, who started to bowl when she was at Methodist Girls' School.

'I was not even among the top players when I was bowling in my secondary school.'

The second-year student of Pioneer JC was runner-up in the Singles, but did not manage a podium finish in the Doubles and Team events even though she maintained the highest individual pinfall for the Doubles.

She said: 'It's okay that I did not get any prizes with my teammates because they are pretty new to the game and don't have much competition experience.

'Bowling is a mental sport and you really can't do anything to change your opponents' game.

'So I just told my teammates to focus on their game instead of the results.'

Read the full story in The Straits Times today.