Rivera pins country's first gold

GUANGZHOU – Biboy Rivera and members of the bowling team watched tensely as the pacesetting Kuwaiti made the final bowl in the last frame. The Kuwaiti needed two strikes to secure the gold.

The Kuwaiti, A M A Alrgebah, made the first strike and, as fate would have it, missed the second, giving Rivera the gold and sending the Philippine team to an instant, frenzied celebration in the men’s singles of the Asian Games at the Tianhe Bowling Hall yesterday.

The final result saw Rivera with a gold-medal winning score of 1414 pinfalls, barely 10 ahead of the Kuwaiti, whose lapse also gave Filipino Frederick Ong a chance to win the gold or silver.

Ong couldn’t connect with two strikes but nevertheless completed the frame with 235 for 1390 pinfalls for the bronze medal.

“We are so happy with this gold, it’s been a long time since we won one,” said national coach Jojo Canare.

Canare recalled the 2002 Busan Games where the Philippines won its very first Asiad gold courtesy of the doubles pair of four-time World Cup champion Paeng Nepomuceno and RJ Bautista.

“I remember we all won a medal as part of the team except Biboy,” said Canare.

Rivera, 36, himself had ntimated that after 18 years of frustration in the Asian Games he was considering retiring after Guangzhou.

Canare is not about ready to send Rivera into retirement following his individual gold medal.

“I’ll give him rest – probably two weeks – then we get back to the lanes to prepare for the Asian championships in January,” Canare said.

The road to the gold was not easy for Rivera who played in the morning with the first group which he led with lines of 256-196-233-225-239-265. The last score gave him some cushion as he waited for the outcome of the afternoon competition led by the Kuwaiti from start to finish.

Alrgebaah, listed as “athlete from Kuwait” and “athlete from the IOC” under a ruling of the International Olympic Committee, played strongly in the first three frames with lines of 265-247-233 but he collapsed with 194 in the fifth and 186 in the last frame.

Ong played steadily with lines of 236-248-246, faltered with a 199 in the fourth but came strong with 226-235 in the last two frames for 1404 and the bronze medal.

“We are happy to give the country’s first gold,” said coach Lydio Trasporto earlier as his ward underwent the usual urine test at the venue.