Buoyed by the home support, Singapore's bowlers continued their golden form at the Asean Schools Games yesterday, securing seven more medals on the last day of competition.
In the electric atmosphere at SingaporeBowling @ Rifle Range, Joyan Khoo, Dani Aqil Azman, Kieran Tan and Xavier Teo clinched the Republic's first gold of the day in the boys' quartet event.
With just 11 pinfalls separating the top three teams after the first half of the competition, the Singapore foursome registered a strong second-half showing with 2,362 pinfalls in their last three games to seal the win (4,784 total pinfalls).
The home support played a large role in closing out the victory.
Singapore Sports School's Kieran said: "I wasn't bowling that well at first in the last game, but hearing the cheers from the crowd and my team-mates was a real morale booster, allowing me to relax and bowl better."
Among the team, the role of "chief cheerleader" fell to Anglo-Chinese Junior College's Dani, whose roars of encouragement rang out frequently at the lanes.
"I've always been a vocal person so since this was a team event, I was more than happy to be the one to hype up and motivate my team-mates so that they bowled their best," said the 17-year-old.
Malaysia's Muhammad Shafiy Zaim, Akmal Qayyim, Muhammad Zariff Nazin and Nik Muhamad Mumtazi jumped two places in the last two games to win silver with 4,690 pinfalls.
Another Singapore team comprising Tommy Lee, Jomond Chia, Aidan Poh and Jarred Lim settled for bronze (4,664 pinfalls).
Malaysia continued its dominance in the girls' events, completing a sweep of the golds on offer as Nur Atikah, Alyaa Adoini, Sharifahnurliana and Durriyah won gold in the quartet with 4,681 pinfalls.
Singapore's Jenna Princess Jennifer, Chan Jing Wen, Alicia Teo and Vanessa Choong (4,651 pinfalls) took silver, while Malaysia's Amal Sofiyah, Lily Qistina, Puteri Nurul Dini and Puteri Nurshahira won the bronze medal (4,418 pinfalls).
All-events medals - taking into account bowlers' scores across all three competitive days - were also given out yesterday.
Singapore's Aidan emerged tops in the boys' division, adding the all-events gold to his boys' doubles win.
Malaysia's Shafiy Zaim took silver, while Jarred clinched bronze.
In the girls' all-events, Adoini won her second gold of the day, while Vanessa and Jing Wen were second and third respectively.
Jing Wen, 14, was pleased with a third medal in two days after adding to her doubles bronze and quartet silver, particularly since her Games preparations were complicated by family issues.
She declined to elaborate on the issues but said: "I'm quite happy with my performance, especially considering the short amount of time that I was able to train."
Singapore won three golds, four silvers and six bronzes across eight events in bowling's debut at the ASG.
