Phl bowlers rue lack of training, exposure

MANILA, Philippines - Filipino bowlers admit they are in for a rough sailing in the 26th Southeast Asian as they face much concerns, foremost of which is their short training.

“Both the men’s and women’s teams are a mix of rookies and veterans while our rival teams still have the same compositions as before. We lack the experience and exposure compared to their buildup,” said Guangzhou Asian Games gold medal winner Biboy Rivera.

“We didn’t have enough training and exposure since we went on a standby for a long time. We started to train only in July after the election of the new PBC officers,” Rivera added.

Though pocketing a gold in Guangzhou, Rivera feels he himself is not in top form for lack of exposure.

“Guangzhou was a year ago. We only had one international tournament after that,” he said.

The Phl bowling team competed in the Bangkok leg of the world tour with Rivera the lone Filipino player reaching the final round.

A Singaporean and a Malaysian, meanwhile, won a gold medal each in the recent world championship in Hong Kong, underscoring their readiness for the SEA Games.

“Some are saying it’s just the SEA Games, not knowing world-caliber players are in there. It’s like badminton, world champions are vying for honors in this regional meet,” said Rivera.

The event was not played in Laos in 2009. In Bangkok in 2007, the Phl team won only a silver courtesy of the mixed pair of Rivera and Liza del Rosario.

The Filipinos were dominant in Manila in 2005, capturing four golds, four silvers and three bronzes – the team’s best performance since an eight-gold harvest once in the 70s.

“We’re the underdogs but we’ll do our best to win,” said Rivera, anchoring the men’s team that includes Frederick Ong, Giancarlo Mansilungan, Jeremy Posadas, Rogelio Enriquez and Raoul Miranda.

Making up the women’s team are Del Rosario, Liza Clutario, Ling Ling de Guzman, Marie Alexis Sy, Marian Lara Posadas and Marianne Posadas.

Bowling, with 15 gold medals to offer, is slated Nov. 10-13 at the Jaya Ancol Bowling Center near Jakarta.