Singaporean takes over lead
4th September, Hong Kong: Singapore’s Keith Saw topped Squad 2 to become the new leader of the Men’s Singles of the 22nd Asian Tenpin Bowling Championships while Korea’s Jung Da-Wun and Kim Moon-Jeong finished one-two in the Women’s division. Eric Tseng of Hong Kong blitzed the lanes with a scintilating 276 to take an early lead as 44 men contested their Singles in the second squad. Thailand’s Yannaphon Larpapharat trailed Tseng in second with 267.
But both Tseng and Yannaphon managed only 198 and 203 respectively allowing the Japanese duo of Toshihiko Takahashi and Yoshinao Masatoki taking over the running after both amassed 496 and 481 from two games.
Yannaphon recovered with 236 in the third to regain the lead as the Japanese could not maintain the hot pace. Tseng also bounced back with 220 to move up to second, just 7 pins adrift.
The Thai remained in the lead for the next two games followed by a second Hong Kong national bowler, Wu Siu Hong in hot pursuit, albeit trailing by 30 pins. Singapore’s youngster, Keith Saw made his bid with a superb fifth game of 246 to take up third, 7 pins further away.
It came down to the sixth and final game to decide the outcome of the second squad. Keith rolled 265 to snatch the lead and setting a new benchmark of 1352 to beat Squad 1 leader, Muhd Nur Aiman of Malaysia by 26 pins.
Kuwait’s Fadhel Al-Mousawi shot the first 300 of the championship in his final game to clinch second spot with 1347 while Tseng recovered for the second time to finish third with 1330. All top 3 finishers beat Aiman’s score of 1326 from Squad 1.
A second Kuwaiti, Basel Al-Anzi stormed home with 245 and 233 in his last two games but settled for fourth position with 1311. Yannaphon managed only 183 to slip down to fifth with 1308.
Meanwhile, this year’s Singapore Open champion, Jung Da-Wun and her team-mate, Kim Moon-Jeong completed their six-games Singles with 1297 and 1285 respectively to give Korea a one-two finish.
But their totals failed to topple Squad 1 leader, Sin Li Jane of Malaysia. Haruka Matsuda of Japan had opened accounts with a big game of 258 but faded away quickly as Chinese Taipei’s Wang Ya-Ting led for the next two games.
But it was the Koreans who proved much stronger when Kim took over the running past the halfway mark, 23 pins ahead of Jung in second.
Jung rounded off with 234 and 200 in her last two games to take the squad with 1297 while Kim finished second with 1285. World Women Championships 2011 multiple Silver medalist, Cherie Tan clinched third spot with 1274.
Her younger sister and team-mate, Daphne Tan and China’s Zhang Yu-Hong completed the top 5 of the second squad with 1253 and 1230 respectively.
Jung was not able to topple the earlier squad leader as well as another team-mate, Jeon Eun-Hee, who remained first and second overall. Li Jane’s 1404 appeared firm and unbeatable leaving the women fighting for the minor places. In contrast, the field is still wide open for the men’s division.
The third and final squad of the Singles event will be contested at 7.30pm local time and the combined scores will decide the top 3 medal winners.
Detailed scores: Men’s Singles Squad 2 | Women’s Singles Squad 2 | Men’s Singles Combined | Women’s Singles Combined| Photo Album.
Photos by Terence Yaw in Hong Kong.