Bowling: Young Timothy shines

Two out of the three competitors in the step-ladder finals of the Men's Open at the 46th Singapore National Bowling Championships yesterday were national bowlers.

All three were national bowlers on the women's side.

They all knew each other well and the prospect of a tight contest loomed at the National Training Centre at Temasek Club.

At the end of it all, Timothy Tham emerged as the men's champion while Tracy See was victorious in the women's Open.

Tracy enjoyed a slightly easier time in the final, going up against Bernice Lim after the latter had overcome Jasmine Yeong-Nathan.

The 20-year-old went ahead in the seventh frame and never looked back, eventually beating 24-year-old Lim 223 to 206 pinfalls.

It was closer affair in the men's finals.

Suresh Elangovan, 23, who had beaten Derek Chan to set up the clash with top qualifier Timothy, was in the lead in the penultimate frame 163 to 161 pinfalls.

But Timothy, 17, pulled off the win in a tremendous final frame as Suresh faltered, as the teenager posted a 181 to 172 victory.

The victory was a timely one for Timothy.

"Over the past year, I've been under-performing in some competitions. In the last few tournaments, I've been doing a lot better but the results haven't been coming.

"So to finally get my first win after three years, I'm really relieved," he said.

"I definitely feel like this is going to be my breakthrough win and it's going to give me confidence for future competitions."

Like Timothy, Tracy was also surprised by her win.

"I wasn't really expecting too much of myself. I feel that if I think I can win, I'll be putting a lot of pressure on myself, and that's not good (for competition)," she said.

TARGET

"I have a goal and that is to aim as high as I can, and go with the flow."

Lim had been hoping to go one better yesterday after finishing second at the 13th Indonesia International Open in Jakarta last month, but it was not to be.

"My performance was okay, but I could've definitely done better. But Tracy bowled well, so that's bowling," conceded Lim, who was one of four bowlers with a perfect game over the course of the championships.

Francis Yeo, the acting head coach of the national squad after Remy Ong's recent resignation, was pleased with the performance of the bowlers.

"The main goal of this competition is we want them to focus on the process," he said.

"I think they are doing pretty good; they are working on it."

This article was first published on November 16, 2015.
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