Youth Bowler Displays Perseverance in Competition

National youth bowler, Michaela Oehler was the highest finisher from our Singapore's team in the 38th Penang Pesta International Open. Michaela finished tenth in the Women's Open Masters and was the only bowler from our team to advance to the second stage of the Women's Open Masters held on 23 December 2010 at Sunshine Square, Penang.

During the Women's Open Masters, Michaela together with fellow bowlers Calista Tan and Ilma Nur Jannah qualified to the Women's Open Masters Qualifiers, however Calista and Ilma were knocked out in the semi-finals and finished in the 13th and 15th positions respectively.

"I told myself to keep my focus during the competition and though I was tired, I did not give up and continued to give my best performance," said Michaela. "The support from my mum, my team mates and Coach Eugene kept me going despite me feeling tired after days of qualifying and to go through the Women's Open Masters that followed the next day after the Youth Open Masters."

Michaela Oehler, 1st Runner-Up in Youth Girls Open Division

Michaela competed hard against other prominent female bowlers which included Sharon Koh and Esther Cheah of Malaysia and Clara Lau of Singapore who came in third in the 41st Singapore National Bowling Championships. For a young bowler like Michaela, it is definitely a challenging task for her during the Masters, being the only bowler from our team to advance to the Women's Open division finals and having to compete against other bowlers who had more bowling experience from major games and competition.

Apart from the Women's Open division, Michaela came in second in the Youth Girls Open division with a total of 2046 pinfalls after 10 games in the Masters, finishing behind champion Syaidatul Afifah of Malaysia with 2133 pinfalls.

"Frankly, I did not expect a podium finish. I was just focussed on doing my best and carrying out the skills taught by my coaches." Said Michaela.

When asked about what she's hoping to achieve in 2011, Michaela hopes she can continue to put in her best performance for each tournament and improve her games.

Competing also in the Youth Girls Open division from SBF's team were Ilma Nur Jannah, Calista Tan and Felicia Teo who finished in the 7th, 10th and 15th positions respectively.
Jason Lim was the only bowler from our boys team to advance to the Youth Boys Open Masters and finished in the 19th position. Fellow bowler Danish Ramlan had a narrow miss to qualify in the Youth Boys Open Masters with his 25th position in the qualifiers.

This competition has provided our youth bowlers a good platform to compete amongst other youth bowlers as part of the bowling learning pathway in benchmarking their skills and eventually improving their game to stand up to the competition.

Highest Finisher from Asia in Qatar Open

Remy Ong, champion for the 2009 Qatar International Open was the only Asian who qualified through to Stage 3 finals in this year's Qatar International Open where he fought hard to defend his championship title.

Remy who was in the 10th position of the overall general qualifying standing earned a bye to stage 1 finals and competed directly in the stage 2 finals. He finished in the 7th position with a total of 1288 pinfalls and proceeded to stage 3 finals together with 9 other bowlers that include three Swedes - Mattias Wetterberg, Karl Wahlgren and Peter Ljung.


Remy in action during Qatar Int'l Open 2010
(Photo: abf-online.org)

In the stage 3 finals where the top 10 bowlers from stage 2 finals were joined by the top six seeded bowlers in the overall qualifying standings, these 16 bowlers bowled 6 games from scratch. After the 6 games, Remy bowled 1215 pinfalls and finished 12th, missing out on 62 pinfalls to advance to stage 4 finals.

During the qualifying, Remy topped squad 8 and had a narrow miss to win the daily high series award to squad 7 leader, Jimmy Mortensen. Despite the miss, Remy indeed put on a commendable position to be the only Asian bowler who is the highest finisher in this year's Qatar International Open.

Bowlers Aim for Good Show

Singapore will be competing against 17 other countries that have confirmed their participation in the region in the 21st Asian Tenpin Bowling Championship from 14 - 24 January 2011 at Khalifa Bowling Center, Abu Dhabi, UAE.

The girls team comprises of national bowlers - Daphne Tan and Bernice Lim, youth bowlers - Fok Ka Wai, Teo Li Ying, Tan Yan Lin and Kristel Oh while the boys team include national bowlers - Justin Lim Chun Liang, Eugene Low and youth bowlers - Justin Lim Chia Loong, Ng Chiew Pang, Brandon Lee and Jonathan Ng.



Girls Team (From L - R): Tan Yan Ling, Teo Li Ying, Fok Ka Wai, Bernice Lim, Kristel Oh, Daphne Tan




Boys Team (Top row, From L - R): Justin Lim Chun Liang, Eugene low, Jonathan Ng
(Below, From L - R): Brandon Lee, Ng Chiew Pang, Justin Lim Chia Loong


Our team will be competing against keglers from Japan, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Australia in this prestigeous youth bowling championship and let's wish them all the best.

Youth Bowler Shines in Chinese Taipei

Our Singapore female keglers put in an impressive performance in the 11th Chinese Taipei International Open which ended on 5 Dec 2010 at Taoyuan, Chinese Taipei.

Youth bowler, Tan Yan Ling came in second in the Women's Open division, finishing ahead of prominent regional female keglers in the region such as Vanessa Fung of Hong Kong and Sharon Koh of Malaysia.


1st Runner-Up, Tan Yan Ling of Singapore

Yan Ling kept an open mind during the competition, particularly during the Stepladder Finals. "I was a little nervous before the stepladder but I did not let my nerves get a hold of my game." Said Yan Ling. "My coach used the Pattern Interrupt method which allowed me to shift my focus on and off my game at the appropriate times. This definitely helped me to perform better."

In the recently concluded 41st Singapore National Bowling Championship before the 11th Chinese Taipei International Open, Yan Ling was second in the Youth Girls division with a narrow miss to topping the division. She then channeled the disappointment to push herself to perform better in this tournament.

"One challenge I had to make during the tournament was to make quick adjustments when the lane transits to minimise my chances of getting low pin counts." Added Yan Ling. "Though I lost to champion Tang Ya-Chun, the biggest take-away from this this tournament is the exposure competing amongst athletes who have more experience and exposure from other major competitions."

Yan Ling won for herself NT$35,000 while National bowler Bernice Lim who was fourth won NT$20,000 while fellow bowler Fok Ka Wai who was fifth won NT$15,000.

Justin Lim Chia Loong was the best finisher from the Singapore Men's team in this tournament, coming in 6th after qualifying to the Men's Stepladder Finals and won for himself NT$20,000

Christmas has indeed come early for these bowlers and our heartiest congratulations to our bowlers for their achievements.

Bowling for Good Cause

Our three Asian Gold Medalists - Cherie Tan, Geraldine Ng and Shayna Ng participated with some 100 bowlers to compete towards a good cause to raise funds for needy students in the North West District at SuperBowl Mount Faber on 12 December 2010.

Our National bowlers bowled together with Dr Teo Ho Pin, Mayor of North West District, Mr Lim Kok Hin of Canon Singapore and Mr Robin Yap in the VIP Team. Together with the participating bowling teams with bowlers aged between 18 and 35, they started the bowling competition and competed towards the top prizes comprising of the Top Team, Top Male and Female Bowlers awards.

Our National Bowlers with Dr Teo Ho Pin, Mr Lim Kok Hin and Mr Robin Yap

Dr Teo Ho Pin, Mayor of North West District, throwing the first throw to signify the start of Knock Off @ North West. Cheering him on are the North West CDC's invited guests, including the three recently crowned Asian Game Gold Medalists - Cherie Tan, Geraldine Ng and Shayna Ng

Dr Teo Ho Pin, Mayor of North West District, being congratulated by his team after scoring a strike

"A group of donors would be donating to the average pin fall per lane for all 24 lanes participating in Knock Off @ North West. Each pin fall will receive S$1 from the donors. North West CDC's Youth Assembly will be using the donation, and also contributing sources from the community and corporate company, to organise a project to help needy students in the North West District." Said Dr Teo Ho Pin, Mayor of North West District

This event "Knock Off @ North West", organised by North West CDC is one of the key events under the Youth Sports pillar under the Youth @ North West, a three-year youth engagement plan under the North West CDC targeted to progressively reach out to 60,000 youths by FY2013. A total of S$2,400 was raised and SingaporeBowling is happy to be able to be part of this event to contribute back to the community.