Heartbreak ending for Singaporean
6th December, Johannesburg: It was a heartbreak ending for Cherie Tan as the Singaporean national bowler missed the Top 3 stepladder finals of the 47th Qubica AMF Bowling World Cup after finishing fourth in today's Top 8 Round-robin finals. Cherie Tan, who advanced into the Top 8 Round-robin finals in third, beat Sandra Andersson of Sweden in the opening match 243-205 to earn an extra 30 pins for a win. Tan won her second match with 203 but stumbled a lost with 160 in the third.
Although Tan bounced back with another win in the fourth, she lost the next two matches slipping her down to fourth behind the Swede as overnight leader, Aumi Guerra of Dominican Republic and Diandra Asbaty of USA drew away from the field.
But the Singaporean left-hander mounted a caomeback by winning her last two matches with 246 and 259 but the gap between her and the Swede was difficult to cut. Tan settled for fourth with 8181 from five wins.
"Of course I'm disappointed for missing the cut especially after bowling so well the whole week," said Cherie Tan. "But I'm proud to have represented my country for this prestigious tournament and finishing fourth is not too bad afterall.
"I hope I can be given another opportunity to compete in the world cup again and the experience I've gained here will help me the next time."
Reigning champion, Guerra ended the finals with just three wins an a draw for a total of 8703 pinfalls at advance into the stepladder finals as top seed, Asbaty and Andersoon took the remaining spots in second and third with 8426 and 8246 respectively.
Finishing atop the men's division was American PBA pro and overnight leader, Tommy Jones with 8977 from five wins. Jason Belmonte of Australia settled for second spot with 8790 from four wins.
There was a keen tussle for the final spot between Ukraine's Kykhaylo Kalika and Argentina's Lucas Legnani and had the position round match to decide who advance. The Ukrainian survived to edge the Argentinian by 8 pins despite losing the last match, 181-236.
Kalika amassed a total of 8635 from five wins while Legnani totaled 8627 also from five wins. Singapore's male representative to the world cup was rookie, Alexander Tan, who failed to progress after finishing 40th in the four days of preliminary qualifying rounds.
The top 3 women and top 3 men advanced into the stepladder finals with the first match between the second and third seed over the best-of-three semi-finals. The winner will meet the top-seed again over the best-of-three finals.
Detailed score: Women's Top 8 Finals | Men's Top 8 Finals