SINGAPORE - It has not been the easiest fortnight for Singapore's keglers at the World Bowling Championships but they believe the lessons learnt in Las Vegas will only stand them in good stead for the future.

The squad of Shayna Ng, Jazreel Tan, New Hui Fen, Joey Yeo and sisters Cherie and Daphne Tan were narrowly defeated by Malaysia in the team final on Monday (Dec 4).

Ng then lost 166-220, 214-233 in Tuesday's Masters semi-final to Jung Dawun of South Korea and had to settle for a bronze medal.

Ng, 28, said: "They're (the Malaysians) obviously on a roll now but that doesn't mean that we should be disheartened. It's only by learning from our mistakes that we can come back stronger next time."

The Malaysians, who had beaten the Republic to claim the SEA Games women's team gold in August, added World Championships silvers in the women's doubles and all-events at the South Point Bowling Plaza.

Their form sets up an enticing rematch at next year's Asian Games in Indonesia where Singapore will look to defend their women's team title.

Singapore senior assistant coach Jason Yeong-Nathan said: "I'm very proud of how hard the team continued to fight despite struggling throughout the first three events (singles,doubles and trios categories).

"The team is always looking to improve when they get opportunities to compete with top bowlers and we're bringing back some learning points to work on during training."

The battling qualities displayed by Ng in the Masters event offered at least a ray of hope.

She said: "Coming into the Masters I just kept an open mind. You can't control what your opponent does but I just told myself one shot a time because the lanes have been playing very differently everyday."

During the Masters knock-out rounds, Ng was seeded 15th of 24 bowlers and prevailed in the decisive rubber game for all three matches prior to her semi-final defeat to Jung, the eventual champion.

Ng said: "It look us a long while to figure out the lanes but I'm glad we stuck at it and didn't let the slow start keep us from fighting till the end."