Singaporean tops Squad 8

9th December, Doha: Two-time Singapore national champion, Jason Yeong-Nathan blitzed the lanes at Qatar Bowling Center to take top honours in Squad 8 on Day 4 of qualifying at the 8th Qatar International Open on Tuesday. Jason, who regained the Singapore national crown last month following on his sister, Jasmine Yeong-Nathan's historical triumph in the AMF World Cup in Mexico, opened accounts with a sizzling game of 278. A subsequent 229 did not dampen his form as he reeled off another superb 289.

With a fourth game of 213, Jason looked set to be the first bowler to break the 1400-mark. But he somehow struggled to maintain his momentum managing 186 and 180 in jis last two games to end the squad with 1375, just 15 pins short of overhauling German, Ka Wan Kuo's 1390.

"I had everything going great from the start but it lasted only four games. The conditions changed slightly and I wasn't able to adapt quick enough," said the 25-year-old Singaporean national squad member. Jason has assured himself a spot in Stage 3 finals by virtue of finishing second overall behind Ka. World Championship Team bronze medalist, Martin Larsen did well to score 1370 to finish second behind Jason in this squad and has secured third overall. Meanwhile, Remy Ong also made his attempt in this squad but again struggled to find his lines to finish 17th in this squad with 1144. But the southpaw did pick up his pace in the last two games with 205 and 246.

Lars Nielsen of Sweden, Tore Torgersen of Norway, Cyrus Cheung of Hong Kong and current EBT Ranked No. 1, Osku Palermaa of Finland all posted over 1300-mark to finish third to sixth in this squad.

Fahad Al-Ragheeb of Kuwait remained fourth overall with Nielsen and Torgersen moving into the top 6. Khaled Al-Doseri of Qatar led the next 6 qualifiers, Mohammed Al-Shetti, Saeed Al-Hajri, Cyrus Cheung, Chn Bae and Naif Oqab, who would advance into Stage 2 finals. Detailed scores: Qualfying Squad 8 | Overall Qualfying Standings. Photos by Terence Yaw in Doha.