By Martin Sadongdong
The Philippine bowling team suffered yet another heartbreak as the men’s group came up short in the closing rounds during the first day of the 30th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games Bowling Championships held at the Coronado Lanes, Starmall EDSA in Mandaluyong City on Tuesday.
Patrick Neil Nuqui about to roll the ball during the first day of men’s bowling championships in the 30th Southeast Asian Games at the Coronado Lanes, Starmall EDSA in Mandaluyong City, Dec. 3, 2019. (MB Photo / Alvin Kasiban)
Eighteen-year-old Patrick Neil Nuqui proved to be the national team’s best bet for a podium finish in the men’s singles match but he lost grip in the sixth and final round.
Nuqui wounded up at fifth place with 1,310 pinfalls.
Malaysia’s Timmy Tan used a strong start and rolled 225, 248 and 277 in the first three rounds as he brought home the gold medal with a total of 1,334 pinfalls.
He was followed by Thailand’s Annop Arromsaranon (1,331) who pocketed the silver medal and Singapore’s Cheah Ray Han (1,316) who took the bronze medal.
Nuqui had an unsteady start as he rolled 237, 194, 218 and 201 in the first four rounds.
However, he had a huge fifth round where he collected 257 pinfalls. This catapulted him to fourth place after being down from 12th spot.
Nuqui, the winner of the gold medal at the 1st Philippine bowling Federation (PBF) National Matchplay Open Championships in January 2019, thrilled the Filipino crowd as he trailed Arromsaranon — then sitting at third place — by only 36 pinfalls before the start of the final round.
However, Nuqui succumbed in the last round and failed to sustain his surging performance despite the cheers from Filipino fans. He scored 203 in the last round, which was not enough for a podium finish.
Nuqui’s teammates, Merwin Tan and Frederick Ong, were also haunted by slow starts while Kenneth Chua was not able to sustain his good opening rounds.
Chua was at third place during the first two rounds only to register a personal-low 193 pinfalls in the fourth round. This buried him at seventh place, and he never recovered.
In the end, Chua settled for eighth spot (1,284), Tan for 13th place (1,245) and Ong for 24th place (1,113).
Earlier, the Philippine women’s bowling team also failed to deliver in the women’s singles match.
Veteran kegler Maria Liza del Rosario led the team with a six-game series of 1,213 pinfalls for an eight place finish.
Marie Alexis Sy (1,202) followed at 11th place, Bea Katrina Hernandez (1,100) landed at the 17th spot, and Marian Lara Posadas-Wong (1,089) was at the 18th place.
The national bowling team will try their luck at the doubles event on Wednesday.
Source: Manila Bulletin
Xtra Sports ph 