7th July, Kaohsiung: Round 1 leader, James Lui gave Hong Kong another podium finish after taking the second runner-up psotion in the Men's Open Masters finals of the 18th Kaohsiung International Open Bowling Championships at Southern Bowling Centre.
Lui, who was seeded sixth for the stepladder finals, dispatched team-mate and fourth-seed, Jimmy Cheung and fifth-seed, Atchariya Cheng of Thailand, 227-192-201 to move up the ladder.
In the second match against second-seed and another team-mate, Mike Chan and third-seed, Syaffique Ikhwan of Malaysia, Lui and Chan narrowly lost to the Malaysian, 218-214-225.
Syaffique found the in-form topseed and 2018 PBA-WBT Busan Cup champion, Annop Arromsaranon of Thailand too hard to beat goind down 153-246 for the Thai to pick up his second international title this year.
James Lui finishing as first runner-up in the Men's Open Masters
Annop pocketed the top prize of NT$250,000 (approx. HK$65,000) as champion with Syaffique settling for NT$120,000 as first runner-up and Lui earning NT$60,000 as second runner-up. Chan took home NT$40,000, Cheung NT$35,000 and Cheng NT$25,000.
Annop had earlier topped the Round 2 finals with 1915, 115 pins ahead of Chan in second with 1800. Syaffique finished third with 1793 followed by Cheung in fourth with 1786.
Cheng and Lui made the cut for the stepladder finals in fifth and sixth positions with 1784 and 1774 respectively. The best Taiwanese finisher was Chen Ming-Tang, who missed the cut by 57 pins in seventh position. The fourth finalist, Ernest Kwok finished in 12th position.
In the Ladies' Open division, topseed Julia Lam was almost forced into a second decider when failed to spare his ninth frame as her challenger, Lin Shih-Han of Chinese Taipei struck out in her tenth frame.
Lam kept her cool to bounced and responded with a double in the tenth and a nine-pin count to edge Lin, 204-195 to win the Ladies' Open title after an eight year drought. Her last title came when she won the 2011 ABF Tour Macau leg.
Lin, who was seeded third, dispatched second-seed and Round 1 winner, Chou Chia-Chen and winner of the first match, Lin Yi-Heng, 216-187-193 in an all-Taiwanese second match to face Lam in the finals.
Fifth-seed, Lin Yi-Heng eliminated fourth-seed, Wang Yu-Hui and defending champion, Wang Ya-Ting, 183-160-147 in another all-Taiwanese opening match.
The champion led from start to finish in the earlier Round 2 finals with 1751. Chou clinched second position with 1606 followed by Lin Shih-Han in third position with 1605.
Ladies Open top 3 winners, Lin Shih-Hang, Lam and Lin Yi-Heng
Wang Yu-Hui finished fourth with 1582 while Lin Yi-Heng and Wang secured their spots in the stepladder finals in fifth and sixth positions with 1563 and 1535.
Tsai Hsin-Yi missed the cut by 4 pins after finishing in seventh position with 1531. Hong Kong's Chan Shuk Han, who was at one stage in the top 6, ended in eighth position with 1524 while Milki Ng managed 12th position with 1478.
Lam pocketed NT$80,000 as champion with the first and second runners-up taking home NT$40,000 and NT$20,000 a piece. The top 16 men and top 16 women in the preceeding Round 2 finals qualified for the final leg of the 2018 ABF Tour - Chinese Taipei which will be held at the same bowling centre tomorrow.
Photos by Terence Yaw in Kaohsiung, Chinese Taipei.
6th July, Kaohsiung: 2018 Macao-China Open fourth runner-up, James Lui of Hong Kong took a comfortable victory in the Men's Open Round 1 Masters finals of the 18th Kaohsiung International Open Bowling Championships.
Lui set a blistering pace with 253 in his opening game to lead Chinese Taipei's Fang Chih-Nan by 8 pins as debutant, Cullum Borck of Australia and a second Taiwanese, Chen Ming-Tang shared third spot.
The Hong Kong national kept his lead despite a moderate 218 in the second game. Hig team-mate, Jimmy Cheung narrowed the gap to 5 pins as he added 232 to his 234 opener. Cheng Hsing-Chao of Chinese Taipei and a third Hong Kong national, Mike Chan followed in third and fourth.
Another good game of 225 saw Lui stretched his lead slightly to 10 pins as the 17-year-old Aussie moved into second.
Men's Open Round 1 winner, James Lui
Borck took over the lead after another superb game of 259 in the fourth. Lui slipped down to second despite a good game of 224. Lui fought back with a stunning 279 in the fifth game to regain the lead and opening up a gap of 54 pins over Borck. And with another big game of 267 in the sixth game, the margin was extended to 78 pins.
The leader cruised to a comfortable victory with 247 and 255 in the seventh and eighth game for a total of 1968. Borck trailed up to the seventh game but dropped to fourth with 1752 after disasterous 150 in his final game.
2018 PBA-WBT Busan Cup champion, Annop Arromsaranon had gradually moved up to eventually snatch second spot with 1809, 159 pins adrift. 2017 ABF Tour Chinese Taipei leg champion, Atchariya Cheng was handed third spot with 1754.
Cheng Hsing-Chao completed the top 5 with 1747. Three more Hong Kong nationals, Mike Chan, Jimmy Cheung and Ernest Kwok advanced to the next round in sixth, ninth and 14th positions with 1708, 1681 and 1619 respectively.
Desperado squad qualifier, Lin Yu-Yu survived the round to claim the cut in 18th position with 1605. Hong Kong's Joshua Chow missed the cut by 7 pins to finish in 19th position. Defending champion, Tsai Chih-Yuen crashed out in 27th position.
The top 18 finishers will resume with another 8 games in Round 2 joined by the top 3 local and top 3 overseas seeded qualifiers tomorrow. The top 6 with the highest pinfall at the end of Round 2 will proceed to the Stepladder Shootout finals.
Meanwhile, in the earlier Ladies' Open Round 1 finals, Taiwanese dominated with a 1-2-3 finish. Chou Chia-Chen won the round with 1613, 23 pins ahead of ex-national, Chien Hsiu-Lan in second with 1590 while Tsai Hsin-Yi completed the top 3 with 1558.
Hong Kong's Milki Ng did well to take up fourth position with 1550 with Wang Ting-Wen rounding out the top 5 with 1523. Joan Cheng survived to make the cut for Round 2 in 15th position. The women will resume with their Round 2 over another 8 games.
Milki Ng and Joan Cheng advancing to Round 2 finals
They will be joined by the top 3 local and top 3 overseas seeded qualifiers. The top 6 with the highest pinfall at the end of Round 2 will proceed to the Stepladder Shootout finals.
Photos by Terence Yaw in Kaohsiung, Chinese Taipei.
4th July, Kaohsiung: 2018 Macao-China Open fourth runner-up, James Lui and Mike Chan of Hong Kong finished second and third of the Men's Open Masters qualifying standings at the 18th Kaohsiung International Open.
Chan, the 2018 Philippine Open first runner-up had briefly taken over the lead from PBA-WBT Busan Cup champion, Annop Arromsaranon of Thailand with 1345 but was overhauled by team-mate, Lui after the latter posted 1345 to become the new leader.
Just before the lane dressing break, 2017 PBA-World Bowling Tour Thailand champion, Yannaphon Larpapharat of Thailand added a sizzling 720 3-games series to move into the lead with 1352 pushing Lui and Chan into second and third.
2018 Macao-China Open perfect gamer, Ernest Kwok of Hong Kong finished seventh in the overseas pool with 1267 follwed by the remaining Hong Kong men, Jimmy Cheung and Joshua Chow in eighth and ninth positions with 1265 and 1240 respectively.
Men's Open Masters qualifying second, James Lui
2018 ABF Tour Thailand leg champion, Lai Pai-Feng remained unchallenged in the local pool with 1347. 2017 World Championships All Events gold medallist, Wu Hao-Ming made numerous attempts to eventually moved into second position with 1328.
Chen Hsin-An claimed third spot with 1323. The top 3 highest overseas wualifiers and top 3 highest local qualifiers earn a bye and will skip Round 1 finals and automatically advance to Round 2.
Huang Cheng-Hsiung of Chinese Taipei headed the mixed pool with 1262 as the cut in 11th position of the mixed pool went to Liao Wei-Cheng of Chinese Taipei with 1218. Last year's cut was 1258 and with just one day left for qualifying tomorrow, the cut would very unlikely reach that high.
Qualifiers positioned 4 to 12 in the overseas pool, qualifiers positioned 4 to 12 in the local pool, qualifiers position 1 to 11 in the mixed pool together with the defending champion plus the top 3 qualifiers from the one-game desperado squad (total 33) will contest Round 1 Finals on July 6 over 8 games.
The top 18 finishers with the highest pinfall at the end of Round 1 finals will advance to Round 2 finals on July 7 joined by the top 3 local and top 3 overseas seeded qualifiers from the general standings for another 8 games from scratch. The top 6 with the highest pinfall at the end of Round 2 finals will proceed to the Stepladder Shootout finals.
There is less urgency in the Ladies' Open division as there will not be enough participants to fill up the available spots.
Macau's Filomena Choi topped the overseas pool with 1229 followed by 2017 World Championships Singles bronze medallist, Chan Shuk Han of Hong Kong in second with 1207.
2013 Asian Youth All Events bronze medallist, Joan Cheng of Hong Kong finished third with 1045. Last week's ABF Tour Hong Kong third runner-up, Pan Yu-Fen led the local pool with 1338. Wang Ya-Ting and ABF Tour Hong Kong leg champion, Chang Yu-Hsuan finished second and third with 1287 and 1272 respectively.
Milki Ng finished sixth with 1033. The top 3 highest overseas wualifiers and top 3 highest local qualifiers earn a bye and will skip Round 1 finals and automatically advance to Round 2.
Chan Shuk Han making the cut in second
Qualifiers positioned 4 to 10 in the overseas pool, qualifiers positioned 4 to 10 in the local pool, qualifiers position 1 to 9 in the mixed pool together with the defending champion (total 24) will contest Round 1 Finals on July 6 over 8 games.
The top 16 finishers with the highest pinfall at the end of Round 1 finals will advance to Round 2 finals on July 7 joined by the top 3 local and top 3 overseas seeded qualifiers from the general standings for another 8 games from scratch.
The top 6 with the highest pinfall at the end of Round 2 finals will proceed to the Stepladder Shootout finals to determine the champion. Qualifying will end tomorrow and a one-game desperado squad for the Men's Open and Men's Graded and a final chance to make the Masters finals.
The top 16 Asian men and top 16 Asian women from the Stepladder and Round 2 finals will also qualify for this year's final leg - ABF Tour Chinese Taipei 2018 which will be staged at the same bowling centre on July 8.
Photos by Terence Yaw in Kaohsiung, Chinese Taipei.
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