JUSTIN Lim bowled a rare perfect game during the Schools National A Division Tenpin Bowling Championships Masters yesterday, but fell just short of experiencing the perfect day.

The Raffles Institution (Junior College) student lost to teammate Jin Lau 212-243 in the second game of the step-ladder final.

Despite finishing second, Justin was all smiles.

After all, he had recorded the highest scoring game of 300 pinfalls when he struck the championships' only perfect game in the fifth game.

'It felt totally awesome,' said Justin, 17, after converting 12 consecutive strikes for the first time. 'I'll definitely remember that moment forever.'

While Justin had his moment of brilliance, Jin proved to be the most consistent in the 10-boy field over five hours at Orchid Bowl.

The 16-year-old went into the step-ladder final in pole position after finishing with a score of 2,145 - 10 more than Justin.

Jin, too, came close to recording a perfect game in the eighth, when he made nine consecutive strikes.

While he was undone by the stubborn 6 and 10 pins then, he could not be stopped in the final.

'This is a great way to round off the championships,' said Jin, who had earlier bagged golds in the boys' doubles and quartet, and lifted the overall schools title with RI(JC).

Read the full story in Saturday's edition of The Straits Times.