Sy wins gold in Asian Youth

Saturday, February 11, 2012

CEBUANA bowler Alexis Sy captured the 16th Asian Youth Tenpin Bowling Championship girls’ masters title last Friday night in Cairo, Egypt.

Sy, who was the top seed, beat No. 3 qualifier Soon Hye-Rin of Korea, 493-389, to win the gold medal.

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The Cebuana trashed Soon, 247-168, in the first game and went on to take the second game, 246-221, to break Korea’s domination at the championship. Korea’s Tae Seung took the boys title.

Soon edged second seed Kang Su-Jin, 258-254, to move to the finals. She also won the singles gold medal in the opening day, while compatriot Hwang Yeon-Jin and Lim So-Hyun secured the doubles gold medal. Korea also won the team event, while Kang topped the all-events, making it four in a row for Korea.

However, Sy denied the Korean girls a clean sweep of the medals with the well-earned victory in the Masters. Korea won the overall girls championship with 4 gold, 3 silver and 2 bronze medals.

“This is my first Asian Youth Championships. I feel so great winning the gold medal, I never expected na maka daog ko kay for the past few days, the Koreans were starting strong. The Korean boys team swept the gold medals in doubles, team, all events and masters,” Sy told Sun.Star Cebu.

Sy , who was one of two Filipinos to make the top 15 in the Southeast Asian Games, said she felt hopeless at first but never gave up and got the surprise of her life after her win.

“Nakalusot pa gyud ko. They took all the gold medals sa boys, but this time it was our turn to sing our national anthem,” Sy said.

Last year, Sy earned a gold medal in the 13th Asian Schools Tenpin Bowling Championship in Thailand.

“It’s not surprising, knowing the caliber of Alexis, I would be more surprised if I cannot see her name in the masters. She has all the elements of a champion and the fighting spirit of a true-bloodied Cebuano,” Edgar Alqueza of the Cebu Tenpin Bowling Association said.