PH bowling teams. Credit: Philippine Bowling Federation
MANILA, Philippines—The Philippine national bowling teams hope to carry their recent success into next year’s Southeast Asian Games in Hanoi, Vietnam where the target is to win at least a gold medal.
Both the men’s and women’s sides bagged bronze medals in the IBF World Championships in Dubai a week ago.
The podium finish marked the country’s first time since Biboy Rivera won the gold in the same event back in 2006.
“Our target now is the Southeast Asian Games. We weren’t able to win the gold in the past SEA Games. That wasn’t the case during our time when we used to cry for winning the bronze. Now when we win the bronze we also cry but tears of joy.,” said Bong Coo, a world bowling Hall of Famer who now serves as secretary-general of the Philippine Bowling Federation, in Filipino during the PSA Forum on Tuesday.
“But now, our target is to really deliver the gold for the country because I know we are very capable of winning it,” she added.
National team training begins in December for the delayed SEA Games, which is scheduled from May 12 to 23 next year. Tryouts will be held but according to Coo, the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) had said that medalists in the last edition of the SEA Games will be automatically part of the Philippine delegation.
The men’s bowling team seized the silver medal while the women’s won the bronze in the biennial meet held in Manila two years ago.
Coo said two of the medal-winning athletes in Lisa Del Rosario and Frederick Ong have retired while mainstays Kenneth Chua, Patrick Nuqui, Tan, Alexis Sy, Lara Posadas-Wong, and Bea Hernandez remain with the national squad.
The four-time world champion deemed Singapore and Malaysia as the Philippines’ biggest threats in its gold medal bid.
Singapore and Malaysia were the same countries that denied the Filipinos’ shot at gold in the world championships in Dubai.
The national team is eyeing to hold its SEA Games buildup in Bataan.
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