Bowling: Cherie Tan hits perfect game, finishes second in Finland

National bowler Cherie Tan finished second in the Brunswick Ballmaster Open in Finland last week. PHOTO: SINGAPORE BOWLING FEDERATION

SINGAPORE - She has been bowling for 17 years when she recorded her first perfect game at last year's Brunswick Euro Challenge in March.

Then, in a fortnight, national kegler Cherie Tan claimed two 300s when she made 12 strikes in a row at the AIK International Tournament in Stockholm, Sweden on Jan 3, before repeating the feat at the 538-bowler Brunswick Ballmaster Open in Helsinki, Finland last week.

More significantly, the 30-year-old has demonstrated great consistency to kick off the year with back-to-back podium finishes.

In Sunday's Ballmaster Open stepladder final, she was beaten 234-213 by Finland's Joonas Jehkinen and took home a cheque for €6,000 (S$9,300) to add to her second-place finish in Sweden.

It has been a good couple of months for Singapore Bowling, with the national men's team earning a historic bronze at the World Bowling Men's Championships before Tan pulled one back for the more experienced women.

Tan said that there is no rivalry between both teams and added: "We are happy the men's team have been doing well in 2018, which shows that the Singapore Bowling programme is great. It doesn't matter whether the men's or women's team deliver as long as we do well for Singapore.

"Personally, I made some changes to my game last year in April and I'm thankful to my coaches for their assistance and support.

"My targets this year are to make the team for the World Women Championships and SEA Games and do well for both to bring glory to Singapore."

National head coach Jason Yeong-Nathan shared that the target this year for the women's team is to medal at both these major meets.

The former national bowler said: "They have been working on self-improvement of their physical, mental, technical and tactical game. They took the last few months of 2018 to spend some time on those areas of their game.

"For every tournament they go for, they have their own key performance indicators to hit to get them ready for the majors."

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