SEA Games 2025: S’pore bowlers miss out on team golds, but new faces show promise

BANGKOK – Shoulders slumped and heads hung low, the mood was sombre in the Singapore bowling camp on Dec 19, when the men’s and women’s teams both missed out on gold after falling at the semi-final stage.

At the Blu-O Rhythm & Bowl in Ratchayothin, both sides settled for bronzes after the men were edged out 878-876 by hosts Thailand, while the women lost 835-809 to Indonesia in the last four.

The Philippines beat Thailand 981-865 to claim the men’s team gold, while Malaysia outscored Indonesia 817-773 for the women’s title.

Singapore bowler Jomond Chia said: “That’s the game of bowling, right? Some people might outplay you on certain days and you might outplay them on certain days.

“So today, Thailand just were the better team and four of us did what we could.”

All eight of Singapore’s squad members were debutants,

who ended their Games campaign with two golds

and four bronzes as rivals Malaysia leapfrogged the Republic to claim top spot in the table with a 2-1-4 total.

At the 2021 edition in Vietnam – the sport was not included at the 2023 Cambodia Games – Singapore dominated the bowling competition, claiming three gold medals, one silver and three bronzes. The haul included a clean sweep of all three women’s events in singles, doubles and team of four.

The Singapore Bowling Federation (SBF) had decided to field its young charges this time, with the women’s team comprising Charmaine Chang, Arianne Tay, Colleen Pee and Nur Irdina Hazly, while the men’s team had Chia, Mike Ong, Nu’man Syahmi and Ryan Toh.

Their seniors had earlier competed in the Nov 24-Dec 5 IBF World Championships in Hong Kong, making way for the younger bowlers on the SEA Games lanes.

“The rotation of the squad allows us to step up for our senior bowlers, said 25-year-old Nu’man.

“It’s something new for me, but at the end of the day, I feel like there’s so much more room for improvement for myself.”

Despite a day of disappointment, there were still some bright spots for the Singapore team at the Games, with Chang earlier clinching two golds in the women’s singles and doubles with teammate Tay. Pee also won a bronze in the women’s singles, along with the team bronze.

The men collected a team and doubles bronze through Nu’man and Chia, which took Singapore’s tally to 2-0-4 out of six events.

National coach Helmi Chew said: “We fielded a team of all debutants, so this being their first major and first SEA Games, I think the whole team did extremely well.

“Of course, there are areas of improvement, but we ended more on a high and it speaks more than just the medals that we received, and I’m very proud of my team.

“And for Charmaine, for her first big major, she did super well under pressure.”

The Thailand Games also featured a different format for the individual, doubles and team events, with the six-round format replaced by a preliminary stage and one-round knockout stage from the quarter-finals.

Noting that the sport has been moving towards this format, SBF president Valerie Teo said: “It allows a bit more excitement in the sport, but it also means that the athletes now need to train and build up different skills, figuring out the lanes quickly, making the cut shots. And I think it’s a refreshing change.”

She added: “I’m really proud of all our eight debutants and they all get to go home with medals. I think all of us in Singapore should be really proud of them. We go home with two gold medals, multiple bronze medals and eight great young bowlers that we have to look to in the future.

“We’ve had very familiar faces for many years and I hope these bowlers will be now Singapore’s familiar faces in the time to come, and that’s all part of our youth development and to allow these young athletes to come here and compete and to be at their best.”