Comeback silver lifts home spirits
The scene was one of the more poignant at the Games: his wheelchair-bound father's congratulations almost bringing a tear to the eye of Hong Kong's Wu Siu-hong, after he came from nowhere to snatch silver in tenpin bowling yesterday.
Wu bowled two superb last games, which lifted him from 10th overall to silver on the opening day of competition at the Hong Kong International Trade & Exhibition Centre.
The heart-warming scene stole the show in Hong Kong's first medal in bowling at the 2009 East Asian Games. Wu's 61-year-old father, who has been plagued by ill health, watched his son compete for the first time in three years.
'It's nice to see my father here and I am sure we will go out and celebrate,' said Wu, who tallied 1,431 points. 'Dad hasn't been in the best of health lately and has been out of town a lot. This should lift his spirits.'
Next to Wu's lane, the Japanese camp were also celebrating, after Toshihiko Takahashi came from a seemingly hopeless position - 13th overall after four games - to snatch gold after a perfect 300 in his last game, 13 points ahead of Wu, with 1,446 grand total.
The bronze went to South Korea's Kim Jea-hoon, on 1,423 points.
Wu had looked out of contention after four games. But he started to bowl more fluently in the fifth and sixth, recording 248 and then 269 points to climb the ladder. Wu could have won gold had it not been for a lapse in the fourth game when he bowled a disappointing 212.
'I didn't start off very well. I might have been a bit too cautious,' Wu, who averaged 238.5, said. 'But I got my game together towards the end. I began bowling a lot better after the fourth game.'
Hong Kong coach Purvis Granger said Wu's silver would lift the hosts' confidence, and they could pick up more medals, particularly in the team events, beginning with today's doubles. 'Wu knew he needed to bowl great to come away with a medal and he did it,' he said.
Granger was delighted with Michael Mak Cheuk-yin's 12th-place finish in the same event. 'He's only 15 and that's a phenomenal performance by a youngster. He's definitely Hong Kong's future.'
Hong Kong's hopes in the women's singles fell by the wayside with Ng Tsz-yin only managing 10th place as the best local finisher. Hwang Sun-ok of South Korea took gold.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong women failed to match their male counterparts in cue sports, which came to a close last night with Jaique Ip Wan-in and Yu Ching-ching both eliminated in the six-red snooker quarter-finals.
