22nd June, Kuala Lumpur: Top seed, Jovi Ma of Hong Kong A won the Boy's Masters silver medal after being defeated by second seed, Wan Zarif Ikram of Malaysia A, 385-427 in the gold medal match of the 23rd Asian Junior Tenpin Bowling Championships 2024 on Saturday.
Wan Zarif Ikram edged third-seed and Singles bronze medalist, Ethan Damien Goh, 194-172 in the all-Malaysian Boy's Masters semi-finals match to earn a crack at the gold medal. In the two-matches total final, the Malaysian took a 24 pin lead after beating top seed, Jovi Ma of Hong Kong A, 232-208.
After a tense start in the second match, Wan Zarif had a 10-pin lead over Ma at the halfway mark. But it was the Malaysian who rolled three consecutive strikes from frame 6 to open up a gap of 30 pins.
Despite encountering a split in the tenth frame and unlikely to make the spare, Wan Zarif went on to seal victory for Malaysia's third gold medal of the championships. Ma earned Hong Kong's first medal with the silver. Goh added a bronze medal.
Boy's Masters medalists, Jovi Ma Wan Zarif Ikram and Ethan Damien Goh finals
The last time Hong Kong won the Masters gold was back in 2019 at the 20th Asian Junior held at SCAA Bowling Center, Hong Kong, China.
Ma made the stepladder shootout finals as top seed after topping the earlier second block Masters finals with 3597 from a total of 12 wins out of 18. Wan Zarif finished second with 3582 from 10 wins in total. Goh, who was leading before the 16th and position-round match, lost to Ma and dropped to third with 3571 from eight wins.
Meanwhile in the girl's division, top seed Ashley Victoria Lok of Singapore A never looked like she was going to give up her opportunity to take the gold. Lok easily defeated compatriot, Hazel Tan Wei Ning of Singapore B, 254-190 in the first of two matches and a 64-pins lead.
In the crucial second all-Singapore match, Lok could have had a more convincing victory if not for a final frame split. Despite that, Lok went on to edged Tan, 189-184 for a 443-374 total. Tan had ousted Doubles bronze medalist and third-seed, Emily Hart of Australia A245-214 to advance to the title match.
Lok's win gave Singapore their fifth gold medal of the championships. Tan settled for the silver medal but will not contribute to Singapore total medal haul, according to the rules. Hart gave Australia their second bronze medal.
The champion had ended the second block of the Masters finals with 3481 from 10 wins out of 16. Tan had a total of 11 wins for a score of 3411 to join Lok in the stepladder finals. Hart finished third with 3350, also with 11 wins.
Hazel Tan Wei Ning, Ashley Victoria Lok and Emiliy Hart with their Masters medals
Singapore swept all the awards from their medal haul in the girl's division, boy's division and the overall tally with 5 gold and 1 silver medals. Malaysia finished second with a haul of 3-1-2 while the only other country to win a gold was Australia finishing third with 1-0-2.
A total of 82 boys and 47 girls from 14 countries participated in this year's championships hosted by Malaysian Tenpin Bowling Congress at the 48-lane Sunway Megalanes. All athletes, officials and supporters attended the Victory Banquet held at Sunway Resort Hotel.
Photos by Terence Yaw in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia.
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