12th January, Hong Kong Malaysia topped the Men's Trios of the 26th Asian Tenpin Bowling Championships after the first block of 3 games while Singapore overtook Squad 1 leader, Korea to finish top in the Women's division.
Doubles gold medallist, Muhd Jaris Goh and Timothy Tham teamed up with Cheah Ray Han to lead the opening squad of the Men's Trios with 2195. The Singapore first started off poorly with 654 but bounced back brilliantly with 808 and 733 to finish the first block in the lead.
Malaysia's first trio of Syafiq Ridhwan, Syazirol Shamsudin and Tun Hakim trailed in second with 2182 while Korea's first trio of Park Donghyuk, Park Geonha and Ji Geun took third spot with 2159.
The second Malaysian trio of Muhd Rafiq Ismail, Timmy Tan and Ahmad Muaz started off with a sizzling 757 in their opening game in the second squad and followed it up with a stunning 810 in the second game. The trio ended with another strong 765 to overhaul first squad leader, Singapore with 2332.
Block 1 leader, Timmy Tan, Ahmad Muaz and Muhd Rafiq Ismail
Singapore's other trio of Basil Dill Ng, Mike Ong and Darren Ong also managed to overhaul their compatriots with 2214 with three consistent games of 734, 728 and 752. The top two pushed down Squad 1 leader into third and the first Malaysian trio down to fourth.
Hong Kong's best trio of Tony Wong, Wu Siu Hong and Michael Mak totaled 2149 to take up sixth position, only 46 pins from third. They will need a strong second block to stand a chance of picking up their first medal.
In the women's division, Doubles gold medallist, Baek Seungja and Jung Dawun teamed up with Kim Hyun Mi to lead Squad 1 with 2193 after a keen tussle for the lead with Chinese Taipei's Su Shu Wen, Pan Yu Fen and Wang Ya Ting.
The Taiwanese trio settled for second with 2160 ahead of Malaysia's first trio of Sin Li Jane, Esther Cheah and Singles silver medallist, Natasha Roslan in third with 2106. But the Singapore's second trio of Shayna Ng, New Hui Fen and Singles gold medallist, Cherie Tan grabbed top spot after they totaled 2204.
Korea slipped down to second, but only 44 pins adrift. Chinese Taipei also slipped one spot down to third leaving Malaysia in fourth position, 54 pins from third. Squad 2 will take to the lanes for their second block of 3 games in the morning and Squad 1 will complete their second block in the afternoon. The combined scores of the two squads will determine the medal winners.
Meanwhile Malaysian men are dominating the Men's All Events standings by occupying the top five positions with Timmy Tan in the lead with 3862 after 15 games. Tun Hakim and Muhd Rafiq Ismail took up second and third spots with 3796 and 3783 respectively.
Cherie Tan, Shayna Ng and New Hui Fen topping the first block
Cherie Tan and New Hui Fen occupied the top two positions in the Women's standings with Tan totalling 3735 and New 2597. Baek Seungja of Korea is third with 3582. The top 16 in the Men's and Women's standings will qualify for the Masters Finals after 24 games from four events.
Photos by Terence Yaw in Hong Kong.