Engelberto Rivera, a former world champion, rolled a six-game series of 1414 to give the country its first bowling gold since 2002.

The 36-year-old in-form Rivera, who placed fifth in the recent World Cup, followed an opening 256 with 196, 233, 225, 239 and 265 to beat Mohammed Alrgeebah of Kuwait by 10 pins.

Frederick Ong, 28, took the bronze with 1390.

RP coach Jun Crasporto credited the Filipinos’ strong performance to their ability to adjust quickly to the lane conditions.

“Hopefully, we can expect more success in the next few days, specially in the doubles and trio events,” said the Canada-based coach who started handling the squad only last February.

Despite its rich winning tradition, Philippine bowling has had a string of disappointments that started in 2006 during the Doha Asian Games where Filipino bowlers failed to win a single medal.

The slide was even felt in the much smaller Southeast Asian Games, but Rivera’s victory all but restored the country’s reputation.

Bowling has now produced seven golds in the Asiad since 1978.

Joey Romasanta, RP’s chief of mission, was ecstatic.

“The victory is a big inspiration to our athletes. Let’s pray for more success,” said Romasanta.

Rivera’s triumph came a day after wushu’s top gold medal prospect Eduard Folayang was beaten in the first round.

In weightlifting, Hidilyn Diaz smashed three Philippine records in the women’s 58-kg division, but fell short of landing a medal, placing fourth.

The 19-year-old find from Zamboanga snatched 94 kilograms, jerked 115 kgs for a total lift of 209, six kilos behind bronze medalist Jaroenrattanatarak of Thailand.

China’s Li Ping won the gold with 230 kgs followed by Zulfiya Chinshanlo of Kazakhstan with 219.

China pulled away from the field with 50 gold medals with South Korea and Japan trailing with 18 and 12, respectively.

Malaysia remained the top performing Southeast Asian nation with one gold, one silver and three bronzes.

For the first time in three days, the Philippines produced a finalist in swimming when the quartet of Miguel Molina, Ryan Arabejo, Charles Walker and Jessie Lacuna finished fifth in the men’s 4 x 200-meter freestyle relay heats.

The Filipinos clocked 7:33.52, about three second slower than third-placed Korea. Japan was the top qualifier in 7:15.57 with China next in 7:19.30.

The RP quartet improved its time in the final, clocking 7:30.76 but was good only for fourth place as China, Japan and South Korea took the first three spots.

In the individual events, Daniel Coakley and Erica Totten finished out of the magic eight in their respective events.

Coakley came in 16th in the men’s 50-meter freestyle heats (23.82) while Totten ended up ninth in the women’s 200-meter butterfly heats (2:16.54).

Southeast Asian Games champion Tac Padilla struggled in the 4-second series of the men’s 25-meter rapid fire pistol qualification and bowed out in 18th spot.

Padilla, whose best finish in the event was fourth during the Beijing Games in 1990, did 89 and 86 in the first and second stages, respectively, pulling him down in the standings.

He produced one of three perfect 100 scores during the 6-second series of the second stage, but was weighed down by his poor finish. His 568 total paled in comparison to Chinese elimination topnotcher Li Yuehong who fired 583.

Only the top six shooters advance to the final.

The country’s young entries in the men’s and women’s 50-meter rifle prone event were also eliminated.

Jayson Valdez finished 53rd (564) while Charisse Palma ended up 49th (564).

A day after 8-ball pool bets Rubilen Amit and Iris Ranola safely cruised to the next round, the Filipinos were beaten in other billiards events.

Rey Bancod, Manila Bulletin