A first runner up for Poh
7th July, Kaohsiung: Singapore national youth, Aidan Poh inched toward an eventual title after settling for another first runner-up spot in the Youth Masters finals of the 16th Chinese Taipei International Open at Southern Bowling Centre on Thursday.
Poh had a poor start lanquishing in mid-table of the 15-player field as Hsu Chung-Wei of Chinese Taipei took an early lead but was quick to hand over the running to compatriot, Chen Chia-Hsin after the second game.
The Singapore youth was still struggling by the third game with Chen continuing to lead the field. Poh then found the right line and shot a stunning 248 in the fourth game to leapfrog into second, 25 pins behind the Taiwanese.
Chen responded with 229 in the fifth game to stretch his lead to 42 pins while Poh added a 212. Poh then reduced the gap to just a single pin after he rolled another superb 234 in the sixth game when Chen downed 193.
Aidan Poh taking another first runner-up post
And when the lane condition started breakdown more, it favoured the Taiwanese spinner as he eased off with 201 and 180 to take victory with 1614 pinfalls. Poh had back-to-back 184 to settle for a good second with 1600.
"Even though it was a disappointing to finish second, I must admit that this was the best tournament in terms of my shots making, and I managed to apply most of the things I'd worked on during training which was fairly satisfying," said the 16-year-old in his Facebook post, who also finished as first runner-up in the 9th Opulent-SSP International Under-18 Championships last month.
"Coming in secondnd was just a bonus or rather the result of following my game plan step by step. I would like to thank coach Thomas Fox and Clara Lau and my teammates."
Early leader, Hsu came home third with 1559 while Liao Li-Yang of Chinese Taipei and Jarred Lim of Singapore completed the top five with 1525 and 1506. Three other Singaporean youths, Marcus Lian, Soh Yong Ping and Oh Han Qin finished ninth, 12th and 15th positions.
Five Singapore youth finalists
Detailed scores: Youth Masters Finals | Photo Album.Photos by Terence Yaw in Kaohsiung City.