Filipino bowlers eye SEA Games gold

MANILA, Philippines – Inspired by its bronze medal performance in the World Championships in Dubai, the Philippine bowling team has trained its sights at claiming its first Southeast Asian Games gold medal in over a decade in the Hanoi tilt in May next year.

“Our target is to win the SEA Games gold,” said Philippine Bowling Federation (PBC) secretary-general Bong Coo in Tuesday’s online Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Forum.

Coo was sourcing her optimism from the national keglers’ two-bronze haul in the Dubai meet last week that ended a 15-year medal drought in the annual tournament that produced several Philippine mints including three by Coo herself and one from national men’s squad coach Biboy Rivera.

In the last SEA Games that the country hosted two years ago, the Nationals missed out on a gold and instead wound up with a silver in the men’s team and a bronze in the women’s team.

The country’s last gold in the biennial meet, in fact, came exactly a decade ago courtesy of Frederick Ong in the men’s singles in Jakarta, Indonesia.

And national team mentor Jojo Canare hopes the golden drought would end in Hanoi.

“We will do our best to send our best bowlers in the SEA Games,” said Canare.

Canare said the team will most likely be composed of Kenneth Chua, Patrick Nuqui, Merwin Tan and Ian Dysangco in the men’s side and Rachel Leon, Mades Arles, Norel Nuevo and Uella Marcial in the women’s since they are the same bowlers who delivered the bronzes in Dubai.

There is a chance they may add some young guns along the way.

Coo said they have prepared a rigid four-month training starting early next year.