Zach Ramin with PSC commissioner and bowling legend Bong Coo. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines-Zach Sales Ramin ruled the 53rd Singapore International Open on Saturday, blazing the trail as the first male Filipino bowler to pull off such feat at the world-renowned tournament.
But making it more monumental was the fact that Ramin, son of Filipino migrants in Singapore, is just 17 years old.
“To be honest, I wasn’t really thinking of winning. I just focused on the process of throwing my best shot,” Ramin told the Inquirer.
And rolled his finest Ramin did, beating Thailand’s Yannaphon Larpapharat in two games, 189-183, 229-212, in the men’s open division grand finals witnessed by his parents Rudi and Grace as well as bowling great Olivia “Bong” Coo, now a commissioner of the Philippine Sports Commission.
On his way to the gold-medal face-off with Larpapharat, the 2014 Asian Games champion, Ramin compiled a total of 1852 pinfalls after eight games to rank second after the preliminary rounds behind the No. 1 seed Larpapharat (1885).
The Filipino national youth ace then stunned defending champion Kim Bolleby of Sweden in the semifinals, 208-199, before Ramin’s date with history against the celebrated Thai.
“This is my first international masters victory. Moving forward, I just want to be able to do well for the Philippines in future meets and bring more honor for our country,” said Ramin.
The Grade 12 student from Anglo Chinese School Independent in Singapore begged his parents for bowling lessons at the age of 9 after they played in a bowling hall during a family vacation in Japan.
Ramin played in several age group national tournaments throughout the years and had some success, but not like the magnitude of bringing home the prized trophy from the Singapore International Open.
“I have started to go back to Manila more often since I got into the national youth team last year,” said Ramin, whose succeeding meet is set next month in the Asian Youth Championships in Thailand.
“I just want to win as many medals (in international competitions) as I can,” he added.
Only three Filipinos won the fabled Singapore International Open with the legendary Coo winning it twice in 1972 and 1973 while Cecile Yap and Liza Del Rosario bagged the women’s title in 2000 and 2004.