Splendid start for World Champion
But the 32-year-old national bowler bounced back to reel in consistent lines of 223, 225, 235, 247 and 224 for a total of 1748, just 21 pins off leader, Zulmazran Zulkifli of Malaysia, who downed 1769.
“I had a good start but came across two pairs of lanes which was a lot different from my first game,” said Remy Ong, who captured his first title this year with a victory in the Saudi Open in April.
Asian Youth Games Masters gold medalist, Basil Low did well to stay with the leading pack to finish fifth with 1700. Defending champion, Shaker Al-Hassan of UAE took sixth spot with 1698.
Other national bowlers found the pace too hot to handle with Justin Lim Chun Liang in 17th, Mark Wong 25th, Lionel Lim 29th, Jason Yeong-Nathan 32nd, Benjamin Lim 34th and Jonathan Ang 39th. The second block will be held tomorrow and the top 4 will make the cut for the stepladder finals.