Darroca bags silver in Asian youth bowl

MANILA, Philippines - National junior bowler Jose Paolo Darroca finished second in the boys’ all-events class to capture the silver medal in the 17th Asian Youth Tenpin Bowling Championship at the 60-lane South China Athletic Association Bowling Center in Hong Kong, China recently.

Darroca, 20, ended up second with 3857 total pinfalls while Indonesian Billy Muhammad Islam and Diwan Rezaldy Syahril took the gold and bronze medal with 3955 and 3845 total pinfalls, respectively.

“I didn’t expect to win a medal. My goal was to do my best and winning a medal would be a bonus,” said Darroca, who currently studies in the Asia and the Pacific University. “Next year will be the world youth championship in Hong Kong. I will train hard for it.”

Although the other seven Filipino junior bowlers failed to win any medals, Phl youth head coach Carlos De Leon said he was still satisfied of the outcome with the event drawing top players from 21 countries, including Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.

“Our players did their very best but the competition was very tough,” said De Leon.

Besides Darroca, other players who participated in the bi-annual tournament sanctioned by the Asian Bowling Federation and the World Tenpin Bowling Association were Enrico Lorenzo Hernandez, Ivan Dominic Malig and Jose Mari Tajo and the girls’ team composed of Madeline Mae Llamas, Jailah Mara Ramirez, Jhoana Lualhati and Christelle Peig.  

In preparation for next year’s World Youth Championship, a pool will be formed soon. The PBC will seek the services of sports psychologists to help toughen up the mental game of the players.

The Philippine youth team stint was supported by the Philippine Sports Commission, Philippine Bowling Congress, Cebuana Lhuillier, Jag Jeans, Mar Lualhati, Allan Malig and Prima Pasta.