The pins didn't fall the Philippines' way as the local bets came up short as the bowling competition of the 30th Southeast Asian Games got underway at the Starmall in Mandaluyong.
In the men's singles, Patrick Nuqui's late charge for a podium finish faltered at the end when he left a pin hanging in each of the last two frames of the final game, keeping him just outside the top three by a mere six pinfalls.
It was actually Kenneth Chua who seemed poised for a medal after a combined 484 in his first two games found him trailing Indonesia's Billy Muhammad Islam by six pinfalls and Islam's compatriot Hardy Rachmadian by 41.
But Chua slowed down in the next three games, scoring 200, 195, and 202 to slip to ninth. Meanwhile, Nuqui picked up the pace with 218, 201 and 257 to climb to fourth heading into the final game with a running total of 1,107, or 36 pinfalls behind new third-placer Annop Arromsaranon of Thailand.
Nuqui was poised to crash the podium after a strike in the eighth frame. But his first ball in the ninth left a pin hanging and he settled for a spare that slowed him down as he settled for a final game 203. Chea Ray Han leapt from fifth to third with a 215 to grab the bronze, while Arromsaranon clinched the silver and Malaysia's Timmy Tan the gold.
Chua settled for eighth with a total of 1,284, while Asian Youth champion Merwin Tan, who represented the country in the Bowling World Cup earlier this year, finished 13th with 1,245. Frederick Ong, who won the gold in this event in the 2011 edition in Jakarta, was 24th (1,113).
In the women's singles, veteran Liza Del Rosario couldn't sustain a hot start and finished eighth with 1,213 pinfalls. Del Rosario bowled a 234 in the first game to trail Jane Sin Li of Malaysia by just three pinfalls but faltered with a 155 and 184 in the next two to drop out of the top 10. She recovered somewhat with a 236 in the fourth game, but by then was too far behind the leaders.
Alexis Sy (1,202) finished 11th, Bea Hernandez (1,100) 17th, and Lara Posadas 18th (1,089) in the event won by Singapore's Hui Fen New with a 1,372. Tanya Roumimper of Indonesia (1,307) took home the silver while Hui's compatriot Zhi Shayna Ng Lin copped the bronze with a 1,271.
Action resumes Wednesday with the men's and women's doubles event.