23rd September, Ashgabat: 2013 Asian Indoor Games Team gold medallists, Michael Mak and Wu Siu Hong added a second bronze medal for the Hong Kong bowling team in the Men's Doubles event at the 5th Asian Indoor & Martial Arts Games on Saturday.
Mak and Wu, who finished second in the opening squad this morning to top seed, Choi Bok Eum and Kim Kyung Min of Korea, made the cut for the quarter-finals in sixth position overall after the second squad completed their 6-games preliminaries.
Korea's second pair of Cho Young Seon won the second squad to advance to the quarter-finals as second seed. Two Indonesian pairs of Billy Muhammad Islam-Hardy Rachmadian and Fachri Ibnu Askar-Diwan Rezaldy made the cut as third and eighth-seeds.
Jo-mar Jumapao and Singles silver medallist, Kenneth Chua of Philippines took fourth position overall. India's Dhruv Sarda and Shabbir Dhankot finished fifth while Qatar's Jassim Al-Muraikhi and Ghanim Aboujassoum made up the top 8 quarter-finalists in seventh.
Michael Mak and Wu Siu Hong with their bronze medals
Hong Kong squeezed into the semi-finals after they narrowly edged the second Indonesian pair by just a single pin, 416-415. Top seed Choi and Kim breezed past the first Indonesian pair, 484-342 to advance and second-seed Cho and Kang edged the Qataris, 389-381 for their place in the semi. Dhruv and Shabbir survived with victory over the Filipinos, 418-406 to make up the top 4 semi-finalists.
Hong Kong's fine run came to an end when they lost to the fancied Korean pair of Choi and Kim, 396-449 to earn their second bronze medal. The other Korean pair of Cho and Kang also had an easy victory over the Indian pair, 458-365 to set up an all-Korean final.
The match between the two Korean pairs was extremely even throughout but Choi and Kim had suffered more splits. Cho and Kang also had a couple of open frames but Cho was able to string together more strikes to make for it.
Choi posted 212 to Kim's 171 while Cho contributed 236 to Kang's 198 giving victory to the second-seed, 434-383 for the gold medal. Choi and Kim settled for the silver medal. Hong Kong and India earned a bronze medal each.
After two events, Korea topped the medal standings with two gold and one silver. Thailand is second with one gold and one bronze medal.
Korean Doubles gold and silver medallists
Indonesia and Philippines shared third spot with one silver medal each followed by Hong Kong in fourth with two bronze medals. The women will contest their 6-games Doubles event tomorrow. The top 8 pairs will qualify for the quarter-finals shootout. The Team of Four events will be staged on September 25 with the top 4 teams advancing straight to the semi-finals to be held on September 26. The winner of each of the semi-final matches to proceed the final match on September 27.
Photos by Terence Yaw in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.
21st September, Ashgabat: 2017 Asian School Doubles gold medallist and debutant, Ivan Tse earned Hong Kong's first bowling medal at the 5th Asian Indoor & Martial Arts Games after winning up the Men's Singles bronze medal.
Tse, who finished in sixth position in the earlier 6-games preliminaries with 1378 pinfalls to advance to the quarter-finals shootout, eliminated third-seed and Squad B winner, Kim Kyung Min of Korea, 267-236 to reach the semi-finals.
But his fine run was put to an end after he lost to seventh-seed, Kenneth Chua of Philippines, 228-264. Chua, who defeated a second Korean and second-seed, Kang Hee Won, 218-180 to proceed to the semi-final match with Tse.
The Filipino's hope of winning the gold was dashed after losing to eighth-seed, Annop Arromsaranon of Thailand, 212-247 in the final. The champion had ousted fourth-seed, Wu Hao-Ming of Chinese Taipei, 226-184 in the other semi.
Ivan Tse with his Men's Singles bronze medal
"I came here to Ashgabat to compete really for experience," said the Tse during the press interview. "Our men's team consisted of more senior national bowlers like Wu Siu Hong and Michael Mak and I'm really surprised that I can qualify for the quarter-finals.
"I was just thrilled to reach the semi-finals and to earn the bronze medal is quite an achievement for me. I hope I can build up more confidence for the next two events."
In the earlier 6-games preliminaries, Wang Zhiyong of China topped the round with 1443 followed by Kang Hee Won in second with 1437. Squad B winner, Kim Kyung Min finished third with 1420 ahead of Wu in fourth with 1387 and 2016 QubicaAMF World Cup champion, Wang Hongbo of China in fifth with 1379. Tse and Chua took sixth and seventh positions with 1378 and 1374 respectively.
Tse team-mates, Tong Wong and Michael Mak tied 19th position with 1303 while 2015 QubicaAMF World Cup champion, Wu Siu Hong ended in a dismal 30th position with 1247.
Men's Singles medallists, Chua, Annop, Wu and Ivan Tse
The Women's Singles 6-games preliminaries will be contested tomorrow commencing at 9.00am local time. The top 8 finishers will advance to the quarter-finals shootout. Again only two players from each NOC can qualify. Chan Shuk Han, Milki Ng, Joan Cheng and Zoe Tam are Hong Kong's women in these games.
Photos by Terence Yaw in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.
20th September, Ashgabat: Hong Kong national bowling team is poised for glory when the 5th Asian Indoor & Martial Games 2017 gets underway on Tuesday at the Games Village Bowling Centre.
Hong Kong men's team comprising of 2013 AIMAG singles gold medallist, Michael Mak and 2013 AIMAG team gold medallist, Wu Siu Hong will be joined by debutants, Ivan Tse and Tony Wong in attempting to defend the team title they won in Incheon, Korea four years ago.
The women's team is made up of three-time ABF Tour Tournament of Champions winner, Chan Shuk Han, 2015 ABF Tour Hong Kong leg champion, Milki Ng, 2013 Asian Youth Championships All-Events bronze medallist, Joan Cheng and Zoe Tam.
The Hong Kong contingent, led by HKTBC Chairman, World Bowling Secretary General and ABF Honorary Life President as Chef-de-Mission, Ms Vivien Lau arrived Ashgabat on September 17.
Hong Kong Team before their practice session
The bowling team went through two days of official practice yesterday and today to get accustomed to the lane conditions before the competition commences on September 21.
Teams were divided into two squads - one in the morning and the other in the afternoon. The participants practised on two oiling patterns, short oil pattern (37 feet) and the long oil pattern (44 feet). Sheikh Talal M. Al-Sabah, President of Asian Bowling Federation and World Bowling appointed Mr Kyohei Akagi (Japan), Ms Vivien Lau (Hong Kong) and Mr Choi Jang Kyu (Korea) as members of the Jury of Appeal.
Dr Danny Santos is the Technical Delegate assisted by Vice President of ABF, Mr Mike Seymour as assistant and Mr John Janawicz, Technical Official responsible for lane dressing and balls registration. Several representatives from Dubai, Hong Kong, Korea and Kuwait were appointed techincal officials to help organise the bowling competition.
The men and women will compete in separate divisions in the Singles (6 games Short Oil), Doubles (6 games Long Oil) and Team of 4 (3 games Long/3 games Short Oil) over the next 5 days commencing on September 21.
The top 8 men and top 8 women finishers in the Singles and top 8 men and top 8 pairs in the Doubles event will advance to the quarter-finals shootout where the top seed will meet the eighth-seed, second vs seventh-seed, third-seed vs the sixth-seed, fourth-seed vs the fifth-seed in a one-game shootout.
The winners will advance to the semi-finals after which the losers will be awarded a bronze medal each and the winners will advance to the final in a one game gold and silver medals match.
In the Team of 4 event, the top 4 men team and top 4 women team after the two blocks of 3 games each will advance the semi-finals where the top seed vs the fourth-seed and the second-seed vs the third-seed in a one-match shootout.
The losers will be awarded a bronze medal each and the winners will advance to the final for the gold or silver medals match. There will be no Masters finals nor All Events.
Photos by Terence Yaw in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.
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