Jaris Goh wins Thailand International Open for his first men’s Open title

SINGAPORE – The moment he realised that he had won the men’s Open Masters title at the Thailand International Open on Saturday, national bowler Jaris Goh lifted the lid on his emotions, pumping his fists and shouting in celebration.

The exuberant celebrations were not uncharacteristic of Goh, 28, and there were several reasons why his win after beating Malaysian Nevern Netaneel 225-181 in the stepladder final elicited such a reaction from him.

The victory was a long time coming for the Singaporean, who had come close twice in 2018 as he finished second in the Emir Cup and the Dubai International Open.

He said: “To me, I was very happy and relieved because this is my first title for the men’s Open, whether locally or international. It was a mix of emotions where I was very happy yet relieved.”

Just before leaving for Thailand, Goh admitted that he had been worried about his game and spoke to senior national head coach Jason Yeong-Nathan about it.

Since winning the men’s doubles gold at the Asian championships in January, Goh felt that his results had not been up to par, but Yeong-Nathan assured him that was not the case.

The coach proved to be right as Goh claimed his maiden men’s Open title at the Blu-O Rhythm & Bowl Ratchayothin in Bangkok on Saturday.

After coming in 22nd in the qualifiers with a 3,225 pinfall total, Goh was 11th among the top 12 bowlers in the second round of the Masters.

But he produced a strong performance in the third round, topping the 12-bowler field with his 1,443 pinfall total to advance to the stepladder final as the top seed.

Goh said: “Before I left for Thailand, I was frustrated with myself and was asking (coach) what I need to do to improve myself but he was telling me, ‘Don’t worry, you’re on the right track’.

“To me, I know I’m on the right track moving forward, it’s showing that my training is paying off because the last few tournaments for myself I made round two, round three, but not the stepladder and I was wondering, ‘When will my time come?’

“I had a few competitions this year and I managed to qualify and do pretty decent for qualifying so when it came to the Masters, it was sub-par scores so at least I knew I was in the right progression.”

But winning the title did not come easily for Goh, who had to keep his emotions in check.

After qualifying for the stepladder as the top seed, he had to manage his nerves and kept his focus on what he needed to do in order to avoid getting carried away.

He would calm himself down after every shot by having a sip of water or talking to his coach and teammates.

Goh said: “It was on my mind while waiting to play my match.

“This kind of thing starts to play on your mind because I was the top seed so I was just watching the finals like don’t mess this up, don’t do this, don’t do that but I kept telling myself not to think about that. Do the same thing and it will get you there.”

This was also a special win for him ahead of national assistant coach Vincent Lim and his father’s birthdays on Aug 7 and 8 respectively, as well as National Day.

Lim praised Goh, saying: “At the end of each tournament, we evaluate what we can do better...

“The consistent process-oriented exercise which we revisit after every competition has allowed Jaris and the team to build their strength and work on their weaknesses so they keep improving.

“This result will definitely give Jaris more self-belief in his capabilities.”