2025 Asean Para Games: I’ll bowl to 100 if I can, says S’pore’s oldest athlete Kelvin Goh

SINGAPORE – Bowling is a sport that connects three generations of the Goh family and Kelvin Goh has his father and son to thank for keeping his love for it alive.

It was in the late 1980s that his father taught him how to bowl and he continued to do so recreationally for the next two decades, before his son renewed his interest and brought him back to the lanes in 2010.

Now 65, the retiree is the oldest athlete in the Republic’s 37-strong contingent competing at the Asean Para Games (APG), which will be held in Korat, Thailand from Jan 20 to 26.

Goh was born with retinitis pigmentosa, a group of inherited eye disorders causing progressive degeneration of the retina, and he completely lost his sight in 2019.

“My late father was a seaman and was also into bowling… He travelled a lot and he came back home with a bowling ball,” said the athlete, who is competing in his fourth APG.

“In the late 80s, we would go bowling when he’s back in Singapore, but back then, I didn’t have any formal bowling training and I didn’t really know how to bowl, but I just accompanied him.

“I got back into it because my son was keen and joined the bowling CCA (co-curricular activity) in his school, so I said, ‘I have a bit of knowledge’ and could direct him… After that I got hooked on bowling again.”

Goh will be making his debut in the TPB1 category at the APG after completely losing his sight – TPB1 athletes have little to no light perception – having competed in the TPB2 category for many years.

He said: “Striking the pins is not the difficult part but the difficulty is when you do sparing, especially when you totally cannot see.

“Even as a partially blind B2 player, I could see both sides (the gutter), the contrast of dark colour and then the lanes in lighter colour.

“Now that I cannot see, I have to use a guide rail. I know roughly where my guide rail is and where the pins are. I very much depend on my virtual perception and sixth sense… From there I adapt and use muscle memory.”

His coach Derek Chan said: “Kelvin has been a fantastic bowler over the years. After transitioning from the TPB2 to the TPB1 category, the main challenge he faced was rebuilding his confidence.

“In the TPB1 category, bowlers are required to compete while fully blindfolded. Although this was Kelvin’s first time bowling in this category, his determination and strong desire to win were never diminished.”

Noting that Goh won his first medal at the national championships after just a few months of training, Chan added: “With such determination and a deep passion for bowling, there is strong belief that Kelvin will succeed and achieve victories on the world stage in the near future.”

One of the biggest challenges that the para-bowling team face is not their rivals, but the lack of pin spotters – visual guides who will call out the remaining pins for the visually impaired bowlers – and they hope that more people can come forward to volunteer.

For now, they will turn their attention to the bowling lanes in Korat, where Goh hopes to return to the podium after winning a team silver in 2015 in Singapore.

He said: “Bowling is very much a lot of things other than just a skill. It’s also about the passion that I have and it keeps me looking forward to each training every week.

“When I bowl, I don’t feel stressed and whatever stress I have will be gone when I come to bowl.”

His love of the sport is what keeps him going and the sexagenarian has no plans to hang up his bowling shoes and ball just yet, joking that he aims to “bowl to 100 if I can!”.