Singaporeans denied victory
4th June, Singapore: Singapore's Jazreel Tan and Remy Ong were denied victory at the concluding 44th Singapore International Open after finishing first and second runner-ups in the Women's and Men's Open Masters finals on Saturday. Jazreel Tan, who had made the stepladder finals in third after the second round of 8 games earlier, edged third seed, Tannya Roumimper of Indonesia 49-40 in the ninth and tenth frame tie breaker to advance into the title match against top seed, Kelly Kulick of the United States.
Daphne Tan, who also made the stepladder finals in fourth, lost the first match in which Jazreel won 203(+49)-203(+40)-198 to remained in fourth position.
In the title match against Kulick, Jazreel won the first match to force the top seed into the title decider. The Singaporean was on a roll knocking down four consecutive strikes to take an 18 pin lead midway through the match.
A split in the seventh frame by Jazreel allowed Kulick to narrow the gap to just 6 pins. Jazreel needed to strike out inorder to shut out her opponent but managed only a spare and a strile to end the match 210.
Kulick struck out to win the match and clinch the Women's Open title with 226 denying Jazreel her and Singapore to regain the crown in which Cherie Tan won in 2009.
"After winning the first match, I was confident that I could beat my opponent," said the 21-year-old Jazreel, who was voted the BWAA Collegiate Bowler of the Year by competing for her Witchita State University in the United States.
"Then I made three bad shots in the sixth, seventh and ninth frames which must have given my opponent a bit of confidence. I had hope to win the title but that's bowling. I guess I have to try harder next time."
Bernice Lim, who topped the first round yesterday, could not repeat her outstanding form to end the second round in tenth position. 2009 champion, CHerie Tan made up grounds over her first round to finish eighth.
Kulick topped the round with 3403 over the 16-games finals to advance as top seed. Roumimper was second with 3355 followed by Jazreel and Daphne, both making the stepladder cut in third and fourth with 3350 and 3345 respectively.
Meanwhile the men's title has again eluded Singapore's top male bowler, Remy Ong despite making the stepladder finals. Khalid Al Dubyyan of Kuwait topped the two round with 3496 ahead of UAE's Shaker Al Hassan in second with 3484.
Ong finished third with 3429 while the final spot when to desperado qualifier, Syafiq Ridhwan of Malaysia with 3358. Shaker took the first match defeating Remy and Syafiq 237-202-192 to face top seed, Khalid.
Shaker trashed the Kuwaiti, 269-203 to force yet a deciding second match. Khalid failed to pick up three spares as the Emirati had a clean game to beat Khalid, 215-180 to win the Men's crown for the second time.
The champion had won the Singapore Open back in 2009 and the victory was the Emirati's second title this year after winning the season opening Dubai Open back in February.
"I'm very happy to have won it for the second time," said the 42-year-old Shaker after his victory. "There's a lot of good bowlers here and it's not easy to beat some of my friends like Remy and Khalid.
"I'm already looking forward to come back next year to defend the title and I'll do my best to try and win it for the third time."
Shaker picked up S$20,000 for the win with Khalid settling for S$10,000. Remy and Syafiq took home S$5,000 and S$3,000 respectively. Kulick won S$6,000 for her maiden victory while Jazreel settled for S$3,000. Tannya and Daphne won S$1,500 and $1,000 respectively.
A total of 530 bowlers from 16 countries participated in the week long championship which began on May 24 and culminating the grand finals today. The championship is sponsored by it main partner, Canon, official carier, Singapore Airlines, Tote Board and Singapore Pools, and supported by Singapore Sports Council.
Photos by Terence Yaw in Singapore.