[Photo: The Republic's AYG bowlers (front row) will go into the Games knowing that they have the full support of the senior national bowlers behind them.]

By DARYLL NANAYAKARA

PICTURE this: You are in the last few frames of the Asian Youth Games (AYG) bowling final, gunning for gold.

Every pair of eyes in the bowling alley is staring, waiting for your next move.

Could you possibly deal with that kind of pressure?

Indeed, even the eight Singapore AYG bowlers felt differently about dealing with the pressure from a home-ground audience.

New Hui Fen, 17, one of the four female bowlers in the squad, felt that seeing familiar faces would be reassuring.

She said: "It is a confidence booster when you know that your family and friends are among the crowd who are out there to support you."

However, her teammate from the boys' squad, Basil Low, has a different take on it.

Said the 17-year-old: "Especially since you are playing on home ground, you will want to perform under the pressure.

"That's when anything can happen."

Together with teammates Justin Lim, 17, Brandon Lee, 16, Christopher Hwang, 17, Darshini Krishnan, 16, Ilma Nur Janna, 15, and Anthea Soh, 17, the AYG bowlers met the media yesterday at Orchid Country Club.

They were generally upbeat in the lead-up to the Games.

Said Brandon: "We are very excited to represent the country and we've done whatever we could in every way in preparing for the AYG."

One of the team's four coaches, William Woo, added: "We have covered every base and fine-tuned their physical and mental game.

"They have been having sports-psychology sessions every week and we even have consultants from America to check on the equipment."

So are the bowlers good to go? Said team manager Mervyn Foo: "Now it is just a matter of which team is the most prepared.

"And to the best of our ability, I would say we are."

darylldj@sph.com.sg

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