Bowling was introduced in the 8th edition of the Asian Games in Philippines, three decades ago. Since then it has been part of the quadrennial tournament a total of 8 times. After not being a part in 1982 and 1990, it has been a consistent fixture of the games since 1994.
Bowling will be competed in 3 disciplines - trios, team and masters with both men and women competing in the aforementioned.
Venue and Schedule
Bowling at the 2018 Asian Games will be played from 22nd August to 27th August and will be held at Jakabaring Bowling Center, Palembang, Indonesia.
Events
The number of events this term have been reduced so there are just six gold medals up for grabs, down from 12 available in Incheon four years ago.
In the trio event, players from each team will play 6 games amassing to 18. The trio with the highest total after 18 games secures the gold.
In the team event, 6 players compete 6 matches each. The team with the highest pinfall score after these 36 games will be awarded the gold.
The masters event features the 16 top bowlers from the trio and team events. However, there can only be a maximum of 2 players from a country. The scores from previous events are not carried over. Each player will play 16 games and the top 3 progress to the final round. The runner-up and the second runner-up compete to earn the right to play the top finisher to earn the gold medal.
Asian Games Bowling Teams
A total of 19 nations will compete for the six gold medals. Total number of participants is 180 with Mongolia being the most represented country having a total of 14 bowlers at the games while Vietnam is the least represented with just 4 athletes. Traditional heavyweights like South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand and Chinese Taipei will also be at hand to continue their dominance.
Defending Bowling Asian Games Champions
With the competing categories halved this time around, South Korea are defending Champions in four of the remaining six (Men’s team, Men’s masters, Women’s trios, Women’s masters). Japan (Men’s trios) and Singapore (Women’s team) will be looking to secure a better foot hold and fight off South Korea’s monopoly.
Indian Team at Asian Games - Bowling
India’s team for Bowling consists of only 6 athletes with the country being represented in just the men’s events. Akaash Ashok Kumar, Shabbir Asgarali Dhankot, Shoumick Datta, Kisan Ramachandraiah, Dhruv Sarda and Parvez Ahmed Saud will be hoping to break India’s duck in Bowling seeing as we are yet to secure a medal in any discipline of the sport.
Favourites for 2018 Asian Games Bowling
South Korea, as usual, enter the Games as big favourites. Having won 14 out of the total 36 medals up for grabs last term, the home nation’s dominance was absolute. Indonesia, similarly, will be looking to make the most of their home advantage and secure more than the 2 Bronze medals they won 4 years ago. Japan, Singapore, Thailand and Chinese Taipei will also be looking to build on their recent success.
