Remy Ong settles for third

13th December, Doha: Topseed, Remy Ong of Singapore, lost to fourth-seed, Dominic Barrett of England, 439-466 in the first semifinal match of the 8th Qatar International Open to settle for third place. Remy Ong, who received two byes as the top qualifier for the Stage 3 finals, had topped the qualifying standings with 1415 in Squad 16 yesterday. His team-mate, Jason Yeong-Nathan, who was sixth before the final squad, was knocked off one spot by Kuwait's Khaled Al-Dubyyan in the final Squad 18.

Jason subsequently received only one bye into Stage 2 finals by virtue of qualifying in positions 7 to 12. In the Stage 2 finals, The two-time SIngapore national champion could not repeat the form he showed in his qualifying rounds to finish 20th in the field of 24 finalists.

In the Stage 3 finals, Ong finished a creditable third after he led in the early stages. Khaled Al-Dubyyan of Kuwait topped the stage with 1346 followed by Sweden's Nina Flack second with 1338 and Ong third with 1337.   When the top eight advanced into the Stage 4 finals, Ong cruised into the Stage 5 semifinals as topseed with 2724 with pins brought forward fro the previous stage. Jason Belmonte of Australia tied second with Nina Flack while Dominc Barrett clinched the final top 4 spot. In the first semi against Barrett, Ong lost to the Englishman, 215-234 but fought back galantly and going down, 224-232 to lose to Barrett, 439-466 over the two games total. Ong settled for third to take hoem Euros 5,000 for his effort.

Nina Flack ended the hope of Barrett when she defeated her opponent, 435-413 in the championship match to claim the title and the top prize of Euros 30,000. The champion was also the second women to win the coveted title in the second year in succession. The defending champion was Kirsten Penny of England who was eliminated in the Stage 3 finals.

Flack advance into the championship match after easily eliminated Australia's Jason Belmonte, 472-363 in the other semifinal. Barrett won Euros 15,000 while Belmonte took home the same prize as Ong.   Detailed scores: Stage 5 Semifinals | Stage 6 Finals. Photos by Terence Yaw in Doha.