It was precisely 5.24am, and national bowling coach Mervyn Foo sounded as if he were about to burst when he called just minutes later.

'She did it, she did it,' he gushed, referring to Jasmine Yeong-Nathan, who had just become Singapore's first world champion at the AMF Bowling World Cup in Hermosillo, Mexico.

The 20-year-old had gone where even top local keglers Grace Young and Remy Ong had never been before - taking top spot in bowling's most prestigious event.

And she had done so in style, blowing away the reigning world champion Ann-Maree Putney of Australia in the process.

In Game One of the women's finals, Yeong-Nathan plundered nine strikes to post a score of 263. Putney had a 222.

With the world title in her sights, the Singapore Polytechnic student would do even better in Game Two.

She reeled off eleven strikes in a row, and was only denied a perfect game when her last throw left two pins standing.

The match - and the trophy - had already been won by then, with Putney managing only a 215.

The media and communications student's win denied Putney the chance of being the first woman to win back-to-back titles since Jeanette Baker Finch in 1982 and 1983.

'I had never seen her play so well before,' said Foo.

He then passed the phone over to Yeong-Nathan, whose voice quivered with joy.

'I'm really happy, overwhelmed by so much emotions,' she said. 'It's a great honour, the first-ever for Singapore, and I'm really proud and really grateful.'