The 40th Golden Mountain Bay Area Chinese Sports Convention bowling competition was held in Cupertino on June 2nd (Sunday). The event was attended by guests including Lai Ming-chi, Director of the Taiwan Office in San Francisco, Zhuang Yashu, Director of the Chinese Overseas Cultural and Educational Service Center in the Golden Mountain Bay Area, and Overseas Chinese Affairs Commissioner Wei Dezhen.
Director Lai Ming-chi mentioned in his speech that this was the fourth time he had participated in the bowling competition since taking office, with a total of 18 colleagues from the Taiwan Office joining to actively support the sports convention. He joyfully shared that his bowling scores had been improving each year – starting with an average of 70 points, then 80 points, and 90 points in the previous years. He humorously stated that he believed he could reach an average of 100 points this year, jokingly adding, “Even if I keep landing in the gutter every time, I will persist and never give up.”
Chairman Chen Chaoquan of the sports convention committee expressed that this year saw more participants than previous years and hoped that everyone could join the various activities of the sports convention to enhance physical fitness and promote friendship.
Director Zhuang Yashu of the cultural and educational center mentioned that although she didn’t play bowling, she made sure to cheer everyone on as a cheerleader. She expressed gratitude to the sports convention team for organizing various exciting events, which united the overseas Chinese community.
With a total of 118 participants in the 40th sports convention bowling competition, spanning ages from 5 to 84, the participants were divided into 14 groups based on age. In addition, 18 members from the Taiwan Office in San Francisco, 24 from the Northern California Chinese Alumni Federation, and all members of the Northern California Chamber of Commerce participated in the competition.
The competition took place on all 32 lanes of the bowling alley. The rules of the competition involved each player playing four games, with the three highest-scoring games being added together to determine the champion. Last year’s champion had a total score of 583 points.
84-year-old competitor Yu Jianguo, who had been participating in bowling competitions for 30 years, shared that the greatest joy of participating every year was meeting old friends, emphasizing that winning or losing was no longer important to him. He also reminded elderly bowlers to take special care of their knees.
11-year-old Cameron and his 9-year-old sister participated in the competition together. Cameron, who had been playing bowling for 6 months, expressed how much he enjoyed the activity.
After more than 2 hours of intense competition, the competition concluded around 4 p.m. The event coordinator, You Meiyu, was responsible for computer scoring and statistics, as well as compiling the list of winners in each group.
The competition results were as follows: Men’s highest single game score: Kutis Ko; Women’s highest single game score: Angela Tsai; Men’s highest total score: Kutis Ko; Women’s highest total score: Laura Huang. In the team event, 2 Cool Under Pressure and the Northern California Chinese Alumni Federation tied for the overall championship, with the Direct Branch of the Kuomintang Western USA winning the third place.