Singapore women in a good position

Singapore women in a good position

17th September, Hong Kong: Singapore women put in a superb performance in the Women's Open Masters Stage 1 finals of the 36th Hong Kong International Open after Geralding Ng and Cherie Tan finished third and fourth. Chinese Taipei's Tsai Hsin-Yi and Wang Yu-Ling got off the mark taking up first and second in their opening game as Singapore's Geraldine Ng and three-time Hong Kong Open champion, Shalin Zulkifli kept close company.

Ng fired 223, 235, 232, 225 and 215 to lead the field at the halfway mark, 4 pins ahead of Shalin in second and Singapore Open champion, Sin Li Jane third. Despite a decent 207 in the sixth game, Shalin took over the running with a stronger 234.

Shalin and Li Jane then battled for the between themselves as Ng kept close company to the leading duo. Shalin ended the first stage in pole position with 2180 followed by Li Jane in second with 2168.   Ng settled for third as team-mate, Cherie Tan recovered from a poor middle stint to claim fourth position with 2097. Yang Suling took fifth spot with 2082 ahead of 2008 AMF World Cup champion, Jasmine Yeong-Nathan sixth with 2040.

The fourth Singaporean in the finals made the cut for the next stage in 12th position with a total of 2001. Meanwhile World Championship Trios bronze medalist, Cheng Hsing-Chao easily topped the men's division with 2234 after leading the first game and the final three games of the 10-game Stage 1 finals.

China's Pan Yu Hong clinched second position with 2121, just 1 pin ahead of the surprised Jeri Ramadona of Indonesia in third with 2121. World Championship Doubles silver medalist, Muhd Nur Aiman finished fourth with 2098.

Another Malaysian, Chong Jun Foo did well to take up fifth spot with 2094 followed by two Chinese, Zhang Peng fifth and Mi Zhang Li sixth with 2093 and 2088. Malaysia's Syafiq Ridhwan sqeezed into the next stage in 18th position with an average of 201.30.   The top 18 men together with the 6 seeded qualifiers (3 local and 3 overseas) and the top 15 women together with the 6 seeded qualifiers will contest the 10-game Stage 2 finals from scratch.

The top 6 men and top 6 women at the end of the second stage will advance into the stepladder finals on Saturday, September 18.

Detailed scores: Women's Open Stage 1 Finals | Men's Open Stage 1 Finals. Photos by Terence Yaw in Hong Kong.