Bowlers settle for silver

ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan – Bowlers Liza del Rosario, Lara Posadas, Krizziah Tabora, and Maria Alexis Sy bowed to their Korean counterparts to settle for the silver medal in the Teams of Four in the 5th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games (AIMAG) on Wednesday at the Ashgabat Olympic Complex here.

The national female bowlers fell short in their gold-medal bid over the defending world champions, 873-801.

Overall, the PH bowling team finished with two silver medals, including another silver courtesy of Kenneth Chua in the men’s singles.

It was a marked improvement as far as Philippine Olympic Committee secretary-general Steve Hontiveros was concerned.

“Remember in the Southeast Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), we didn’t get a single gold medal. A gold here would have been better, but we’re still happy with the two silvers,” said Hontiveros, who formerly heads the world governing bowling body.

The 28-year-old Posadas led the Team of Fours with 219 points, while Del Rosario aadded 211. Sy and Tabora finished with 205 and 166 points, respectively.

Baek Seung, who earlier won the women’s singles gold, bannered South Korea with 256 points, even as Jung Dawun, Kim Moonjeong, and Hong Hae Ni amassed 233, 196, and 188 points, respectively.

In chess, the men’s rapid team under-23 pair of Emmanuel Garcia and Paulo Bersamina also settled for silver medals after succumbing to China’s Wei Yi and Xu Yinglun, 2-0. Bersamina and Garcia also took the bronze after losing Lu Shanglei and Wei in the 23under Blitz semifinal, 2-0.

The PH delegation so far has two gold, 14 silver, and 13 bronze medals, surpassing the country’s previous showing of 1-0-2 (gold-silver-bronze) haul in the 2013 edition in Incheon, South Korea.

At the Dance Sports Arena last Tuesday, Gerald Jamili and Cherry Clarice Parcon failed to retain their title in Latin Jive event by finishing bronze with 32.876 points.