Cherie Tan clinches Masters gold at World Bowling Women's Championships
SINGAPORE — Singapore national bowler Cherie Tan won one of the most prestigious trophies in her sport, when she clinched the Masters gold medal at the World Bowling Women’s Championships in Las Vegas on Friday (30 August).
The 31-year-old becomes only the second female bowler from Singapore to clinch a gold at the elite tournament, after Shayna Ng won the all-events title in Abu Dhabi in 2015.
“I’m really really happy to finally win the gold,” she said after her win. “Especially since I’ve come so close to winning in 2015, 2017 and 2019 but never really attained it.
“I felt that I bowled well the entire tournament and I fell short on singles and all-events. Coming up for this world champs, the main goal of the team was to win the team gold but we fell short of that as well. So this medal is not only for Singapore, it’s for the team.”
In the best-of-three-games Masters step-ladder final, Tan defeated Colombia’s Maria Rodriguez 2-0, winning by 203-201 pinfalls in the first game and 258-217 in the second.
“Going in into the match, I knew I had to make good shots to be able to have a chance to beat her,” Tan said. “I felt that she had some bad breaks and lost her ball reaction on the right lane, which allowed me to win.”
Tan qualified for the Masters competition after finishing fifth in the all-events with a total of 5,376 pinfalls from her singles, doubles, trios and team competitions. Rodriguez was the top qualifier with 5,488 pinfalls.
Tan has already had a stellar bowling career prior to this high-profile victory, with three SEA Games and two Asian Games golds. She has also won three silvers and two bronzes in past editions of the World Bowling Women’s Championships.
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