After an 11-year drought, the Philippines finally bagged a gold medal in bowling.
Merwin Tan achieved a narrow victory in the 31st SEA Games at Hanoi, Vietnam. He garnered 1,292 points, beating Thailand’s Yannaphon Larpapharat’s 1,286 points by a slim margin. Indonesia’s representative Ryan Leonard Lalisang finished third with 1,221 points.
Ivan Dominic Malig, another Filipino representative, finished 11th with 1,087 points.
The bowling team will still be competing in the doubles and team of four events in the following days.
The last time the Philippines accomplished a gold in bowling was in the same event back in Jakarta 2011.