SEA Games women’s keglers ‘the ones to beat’

Fresh from their four-medal haul at the Women’s World Tenpin Bowling Championships in Hong Kong, Singapore’s Southeast Asian (SEA) Games women’s team looks set to be “the ones to beat”.

Having claimed the World No. 2 rank from the competition in September, five of the six golden girls will be playing in the upcoming Games in Jakarta — Jazreel Tan, Shayna Ng, sisters Cherie and Daphne Tan and 19-year-old New Hui Fen, the youngest. They will be joined by 2008 world champion Jasmine Yeong-Nathan, the first Singaporean to win a world cup title.

“Everyone’s looking at the team to perform,” said Yeong-Nathan, 23, when asked about the inevitable pressure that comes with so much success. “Right now it’s been okay because we’ve been very focused on the game, so the pressure hasn’t really set in, but when we head there and see the others, it’ll set in more there.”

“We just feel good about it (being seen as the ones to beat), that people are threatened by us, but we can’t be overconfident either,” added 22-year-old Ng, who holds the world record for the best-played six games in a row at 1,601 pinfalls — which translates to an average of more than 266 per game.

With such impressive achievement to their names, it truly is hard to imagine them returning from the SEA Games without gold-plated chests — yet, the girls are not taking this meet lightly.

“It may seem like a smaller tournament to many other sports, but I think in bowling, some of the best bowlers are from Asia, so it still feels like a big tournament to us,” said Yeong-Nathan.

“We’ve been training really really hard, because straight after we returned from the world championships it was on to preparations for the SEA Games,” added Ng.

The women’s team has been training two to three hours each day, stepping up their training program over the past few months to its peak in time for the Games.

Noting that the girls have played in Jakarta’s Jaya Ancol Bowling Centre before, Ng said she and the others already have in mind what it will look like, and more importantly, what bowling there will be like.

“I already have in mind what the atmosphere is going to be like… because we’ve been there before, so as long as it’s the same, everything should go well,” she said.

Asked about key competitors in the region, the team mentioned Malaysia and Indonesia as strong countries, but maintained their familiarity with most of our neighbouring countries’ players.

“We see them around so much because of regional tournaments, so we do play them fairly often,” said Yeong-Nathan.

A greener men’s team

With the women’s team taking much of the spotlight from their recent feat at the World Championships, the men’s team bears an almost new lineup of Jakarta-bound players.

With 28-year-old Jason Yeong-Nathan being the only seasoned SEA Games kegler, his other five teammates — Basil Low, Eugene Low, Ng Tiac Pin and national team rookies Keith Saw and Ng Chiew Pang — will be making their SEA Games debut next week.

“It’s not just me helping them, we’ve been helping each other, pushing ourselves to the limit,” said Yeong-Nathan, adding that the men’s team trains twice a day instead of once — doubling their time to four hours a day. “It’s tiring, but the whole team has been pushing each other.

“They may be young and I may be the oldest, but we’re quite close. This team is very united,” he added.

Being the ‘baby’ of the team, 17-year-old Keith Saw is determined to prove his worth at his first major international competition.

“When we bowl games, I tend to get more panicky, so if I’m feeling panicky here I will be even more anxious at the SEA Games—so they tell me to keep my cool and calm down… it will definitely help me when I’m there,” he said, adding that he does not feel inferior to the others.

When asked if he feels the pressure from being the greenest and the youngest of an already-green men’s team, Saw responded, “When I get there (to Jakarta), I may feel pressured, but it’s a good pressure because it means I’m actually there to compete and bring back something for Singapore, instead of just having fun.”

National head coach William Woo said of the team’s newest player, “He’s really a wild card, but he is an awesome player, so if everything clicks well, we expect a great deal from him.”

Remy Ong returns

This year’s SEA Games will also see the return of Singapore legend Remy Ong — but this time as a coach.

Since taking up the coaching role in April, Ong says the transition to coach has not been difficult, just more tiring because of the longer hours.

“It’s been fulfilling, seeing them getting better every day, seeing them hungry to want to learn more, that really inspires me to work harder,” he said.

Speaking of the team, Ong is convinced that the young squad, despite being relatively new, stand to surprise at the coming Games, and even if the men’s team does not return with medals, they will be able to leverage on the SEA Games to prepare themselves for greater successes.

“It’s just a matter of time, and I see this as a transition period for the men,” he said, pointing out that it was the men’s team that swept gold medals at the 2007 SEA Games, the last time bowling was offered as a sport, while the women’s team returned with a bronze in the Trios event.

“If you look at it, we (the men) lost a few key players. We have a lot of new players now, so it’s just about getting them ready for the next competition, and the SEA Games will be a big stepping stone for them to get to the next level.”

When asked about their potential performance in Jakarta, Ong would not make any medal predictions either, but expressed his conviction at their determination to do well.

“I think there will be surprises,” he said. “I can’t guarantee you that there will be medals, but we are sending a bunch of warriors there, not chickens. They’re going to fight their heart out.”