PHILIPPINE bowling teams fell short of a podium finish anew as Kenneth Chua and Alexis Sy placed fifth in the mixed doubles squad A of the 30th Southeast Asian Games on Thursday at the Coronado Lanes in Starmall EDSA.
The tandem of Chua and Sy could only come up with a total of 2526 pinfalls, 14 points short of at least a bronze medal finish, settling at fifth seed behind fourth placers Pitchapa Reongsiri and Atchariya Cheng of Thailand, who garnered 2535 points in a six-game series.
Indonesians Sharon Limansantoso and Hardy Rachmadian topped the mixed doubles with 2557 pinfalls, while two teams from Singapore got the second and third places.
Cheah Ray Han and New Hui Fen earned the the silver with 2542 points, just ahead by two markers to fellow Singaporeans Daphne Tan and Basil Dill Ng, who settled with bronze medal after collecting 2540 points.
“It was tough for me. Nagkakaroon pa ng bad shots and tsaka split,” said Chua, who averaged 209.17 points with his bad outing, 162, in Game Four affecting their medal bid. “Iniisip ko lang 'yung execution ko, and syempre inisiip ko rin na manalo.”
His partner, Sy needed to buck a lethargic 176 start before finding her groove and finished with an average of 211.83 only to fall short of another podium finish.
Meanwhile, Bea Hernandez and Merwin Tan placed seventh out of 16 teams, finishing with 2459 pinfalls.
“We had good breaks, we also had bad breaks. But overall I think it was good, we were able to adjust,” said Hernandez, who averaged 208.67 per game, while partner Tan had 201.17. “We didn't let whatever outcome affect our mental game. We need to level up for the next upcoming events.”
After three days, podium finish is still elusive to Philippine bowling with a lot of close chances from the fourth-place finishes of men’s singles and women’s doubles.
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