Singapore’s young bowlers shine at Japan Open

SINGAPORE – A young team of Singapore bowlers channelled their initial disappointment at missing out on a long-anticipated event into success with one title, three runner-up finishes and a third placing at the Nov 1-4 Japan Open Bowling Championships in Inazawa.

They had originally been preparing for the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games from Nov 21-30 in Thailand, before the Olympic Council of Asia announced in August that the quadrennial event had been cancelled.

The four-day event in Japan – in which Singapore were competing for the first time – was held at the Inazawa Grand Bowl, the largest bowling alley in the world – and saw 216 men’s teams and 108 women’s teams compete.

The Republic’s quartet of Lim Shi En, Arianne Tay, Ning Tay and Charmaine Chang won the women’s team event to take home 200,000 yen (S$1,730) worth of merchandise vouchers.

Compatriots Cheah Ray Han, Xavier Teo, Aiman Lim and Peter Khor bagged 120,000 yen worth of vouchers for finishing as men’s runners-up.

Arianne also finished second in the women’s all events – losing to Japan’s Haru Suzuki (1,900) by just one pinfall – after partnering Chang to third place in the women’s doubles, while Cheah was second in the men’s singles, with Shi En fourth in the women’s singles.

Singapore Bowling Federation technical director Jason Yeong-Nathan said: “The team event results were the standout performance. These were young teams that we were going to send for the Asian Indoor Games.

“A team that had never bowled a team event together before. They only had a month before the competition to work together, understand their teammates and their coaches and, given that, the bowlers and coaches did a tremendous job.”

The teams’ average ages were 20.5 (women) and 21.5 (men).

Yeong-Nathan added: “The format is different from other competitions that we are used to bowling.

“There was no reoiling of lanes between squads. When there is no reoil, the lane changes very differently from squad to squad. Bowlers and coaches had to be very sharp in their decision making.”

Arianne was pleased to continue her good form. In July, she won the women’s singles gold at the World Youth Championships and followed it up with the Thailand Open Masters title a month later.

Describing it as a “satisfying feeling” to have had a stellar 2024, she added: “It feels like the time I put on and off the lanes has paid off. It’s nice to be able to make my family and friends at home proud as well.”

On her form, 20-year-old Tay, a second-year business student at the Singapore Management University, said: “I think having my coaches find ways to tweak my physical game during training has definitely helped in improving certain aspects of my game.

“Being able to constantly take part in competitions this year has also helped me gain experience and learn much more about bowling and myself.”

Ning, 19, who was seventh in the women’s singles, said the team were delighted to have won in their first time working together as a quartet.

She said: “Some of us have played together before, but it’s the first time all four of us are teamed up together as a team. It was interesting to compete in a new team, and exploring the dynamics within the team.

“We stuck to the process, stayed patient despite the tough conditions and tried our best to have fun and enjoy the game.

“I’m very proud to have won this with the team, and we are honoured to win this among the strong field of 108 teams.”

Singapore’s bowlers will next turn their attention to the 54th Singapore Nationals and 9th National Youth Championships from Nov 23 to Dec 7 at Singapore Bowling @ Rifle Range at Temasek Club.

Yeong-Nathan hopes the team will apply the lessons learnt in Japan.

Noting that they had sent a “very young team to compete in an adult Japan pro event”, he added: “It was great to see how the team came together in such a short period of time and bowled well in a competition format that they have never bowled in before.

“They adapted quickly to the unexpected and it was a great learning exposure for both coaches and bowlers to put their lane-making decision to the test.”