2nd Asian Para Games: Bowlers bag surprise bronze

SINGAPORE — The bowling duo of Tay Leong Hock and Anuar Bin Saaid delivered a second bronze medal for Singapore at the ongoing Incheon Asian Para Games (Oct 18-24).

At the Anyang Hogye Gymnasium yesterday, Tay and Anuar finished with a combined score of 1582 in the men’s doubles (TPB8+TPB8).

That score puts them in third position behind the gold medallists from Korea, Kwon Min-kyu and Park Sang-soo (1896 pinfalls), and Malaysia’s Ishak Mohd Khairul and Amil Husin Ahmad (1662 pinfalls).

The TPB8 category is for bowlers playing in wheelchairs.

Training together for the past eight months, the Singapore pair confessed to being a bunch of nerves yesterday, but managed to regain composure with the help of their coach to pull off a medal-winning performance.

“We missed a lot of spare ... It was very intense,” said 53-year-old Anuar. “But my coach told us to relax and enjoy the game, and not think about the competition.

“So more and more, we relaxed, and we got the strikes.

“I have informed my wife about my win, and she is going to cook asam pedas for me when I get back to Singapore! Without the support of Team Singapore, family and friends ... we will not win.”

Tay, 41, gave credit to team-mate Anuar, whom he also paired up with in May to take bronze in the Asia Para Tenpin Bowling Federation Championship (APTBF) in Bangkok.

“He helped me a lot. I missed some pins, but he did not say anything, but just kept encouraging me,” said Tay. “We had a lot of teamwork.”

With swimmer Theresa Goh winning bronze in the 100m breaststroke (SB4) on Sunday, Singapore’s tally is two bronze medals after two days of competition.

At the inaugural edition held in 2010, in Guangzhou, China, Singapore took home four bronzes — two apiece from swimming and bowling.