PALEMBANG, Indonesia: Singapore bowler Joey Yeo was one strike away from qualifying for the stepladder finals on Monday morning (Aug 27).
Knowing full well she needed to make the chance count, the 20-year-old took a breath, stepped up and threw her ball unto the lane.
Alas, it was not meant to be.
Due to what she called an “adjustment error”, Yeo struck down only six pins. She held her composure to knock down the remaining four pins and, as soon as she did, the tears fell.
Singapore national bowler Joey Yeo at the 2018 Asian Games. (Photo: Amir Yusof)
She had missed out on qualifying for the women master’s stepladder final – and a confirmed medal – by just 10 pinfalls. Her score of 3,837 ranked her fourth behind South Korea’s Lee Yeonji’s 3,847.
Daphne Tan reacts after scoring a strike at the 2018 Asian Games. (Photo: Amir Yusof)
Her national team-mate Daphne Tan finished fifth with 3,808 pinfalls.
“I tried to make it the best shot of my life. I knew it was make or break; I did my very best,” said Yeo, her voice shaking as she spoke to reporters minutes after her game ended.
“I executed the shot properly but unfortunately I needed to make an adjustment which I didn’t see beforehand; because bowling is like that. The movement is so quick; if you’re not on top of your game you don’t have that much leeway for mistakes, and I didn’t capitalise on that (chance).”
Yeo was understandably disappointed. She had started the day third overall after scoring 1,941 pinfalls in the first block on Sunday afternoon. Tan was fourth with 1,939.
Japan’s Mirai Ishimoto was unstoppable as she scored 3,948 pinfalls to qualify first for the women masters stepladder finals. (Photo: Amir Yusof)
But a slow start on Monday morning proved costly for the Singapore pair. After some sub-200 scores from both Yeo and Tan, the gap between them and their South Korean and Japanese opponents gradually grew bigger.
They attempted to mount a comeback, but by then it was too late.
“They were a little bit tense at the start,” said national coach Jason Yeong-Nathan.
“I’m sure they wanted to do well but … I’m very proud of these two (Yeo and Tan). They are among the youngest, and are usually (our) third or fourth bowler. (But) now when it’s time to step up, they did. They really made everything count,” he said.
Although they fell short, it was a spirited comeback for the pair after the disappointment of failing to defend their team title last Friday (Aug 24), when they finished a lowly seventh.
Singapore’s Daphne Tan in action at the 2018 Asian Games. (Photo: Amir Yusof)
“The (effort today) was for the team because our team event was a huge disappointment,” Yeo said. “Honestly it was not a great feeling, we just wanted to show everybody that we can come back stronger.
“We wanted to push even harder, and did not want to let one disappointing performance hold us back anymore.”
