Individual, Women

Bowling was a demonstration sport for the only time at the 1988 Olympics. There were 12 women bowlers competing. The women bowled a 10-game qualifying tournament, with the top three qualifiers advancing to a stepladder format to determine the top three places. Filipino Arianne Cerdeña led the qualifying over Finland’s Annikki Maattola, with Japan’s Atsuko Asai the third qualifier. Asai defeated Maattola in the first stepladder match, and then defeated Cerdeña. By the format of the tournament, since Cerdeña had been leading qualifier, she and Asai met again with Cerdeña winning, 249-211. Her victory made Cerdeña the first Filipino to win an Olympic event, medal or demonstration, and she remained the only one until 2020.