SINGAPORE – A day after Cherie Tan’s women’s singles gold, Singapore’s bowlers notched another big win at the 26th Asian Tenpin Bowling Championships in Hong Kong on Wednesday with a surprise gold from men’s doubles pair Jaris Goh and Timothy Tham.
A change in oiling patterns after a dismal outing on Tuesday – Tham finished 64th in the men’s singles and Goh was 80th – saw Tham bowling a perfect third game as he combined with Goh to score 2,991 pinfalls and claim their first doubles title.
The 2022 Hanoi SEA Games silver medallists finished ahead of Malaysia’s Syazirol Shamsudin and Tun Hakim (2,967) and South Korea’s Park Dong-hyuk and Park Geon-ha (2,918), who took the silver and bronze respectively.
Fellow national bowlers Basil Ng and Cheah Ray Han were fifth on 2,885, while Mike Ong and Darren Ong (2,868) finished sixth.
“I’m still in great shock but very happy,” said Goh, 26, who attributed their success to communication and trust.
Tham added: “We were bowling on a different oil pattern to the day before, so it was important to come in with an open mindset and adapt.
“I worked together with my coaches to prepare my equipment for the longer oil pattern.”
The 23-year-old was also thrilled to get his first perfect game at an international championship and was pleased with his performance, particularly with the men’s trios and team-of-five events to be contested from Thursday.
He said: “It gives me confidence in the process and to stay patient and focus in the present. The upcoming events will present different challenges and event dynamics, so it’ll be important to reset, rest tonight and go again.”
Singapore’s bowlers added two more medals on Wednesday in the women’s doubles, with Shayna Ng and New Hui Fen coming in second (2,828 pinfalls) behind champions Baek Seung-ja and Jung Da-wun of South Korea (2,903).
Bernice Lim and Jazreel Tan (2,818) claimed the bronze, just 21 pinfalls ahead of teammates Cherie Tan and Daphne Tan.
Ng, 33, said: “We did well as a team, playing off each other’s shots and communicating clearly with our coach.”
New, 30, added: “Getting silver with the rest of the pairs finishing top few is always a good start moving into the other two team events (trios and team of five).”
