18th July, Hong Kong: Michael Mak of Hong Kong won his second consecutive tour title with victory in the ABF Tour Hong Kong 2016 while debutant, Han Kyeo Rae became the second Korean to win the women's crown in Hong Kong.
Both started the match with a spare and a strike in their first two frames but Rachmadian went into the lead with another strike in the third frame. A split in the sixth frame by the Indonesian allowed Mak to level the tie past the midway point.
Mak struck in the eighth frame to take over the lead while Rachmadian suffered another split in the ninth frame to fall further behind. The Indonesian struck in his tenth frame to end with 209.
All Mak needed was either a strike or a marked frame in the tenth but threw away the chance to seal the match when he failed to spare it forcing a ninth and tenth frame roll-off to break the tie.
Champion, Michael Mak with second runner-up, Rickle Kam
The Hong Kong national bowler struck first for 30 pins while his opponent managed only nine pin and spare for 19 pins. A strike in the tenth frame by Rachmadian could force another roll-off but knocked down only seven pins allowing Mak to win the tie, 39-27.
Mak became the first Asian to win back-to-back tour title after his triumph in last week's ABF Tour Chinese Taipei in Koahsiung. The champion also became the second Hong Kong bowler to win the men's title on home soil after Eric Tseng's victory in 2014.
Mak reached the final after narrowly defeating compatriot, Rickle Kam, 245-244 in the all-Hong Kong semi-final match. Rachmadian sailed past team-mate, Ryan Lalisang, 253-208 in the all-Indonesian first semi-final encounter.
In the women's division, debutant Han Kyeo Rae of Ulsan City outwitted her more illustrious opponent, Lee Na Young, 241-211 to win her first-ever tour title. Han also defeated Kim Kyung Sil, 256-223 in the semi-final match to reach the final.
The champion first breezed past Joey Yip of Hong Kong, 240-203 in her opening round and edged Indonesia's Nadia Pramanik, 223-212 in the second round to advance to the semi-final. Lee easily defeated Indonesia's Tannya Roumimper, 257-182 in the second semi-final match.
Han also took out another Indonesian, Putty Armein, 240-210 in Round 1 and Joan Cheng of Hong Kong, 231-214 in Round 2 to reach the semi.
Mr Winston Chan, Vice President of Macau-China Bowling Association was on-hand to present the trophy and prize worth US$1,000 to Han. Lee settled for US$500 as first runner-up while Kim and Roumimper took home US$250 a piece.
First-ever tour title for Han Kyeo Rae
Ms Vivien Lau, ABF Tour Committee Chairman and secretary general of World Bowling gae away the trophy and prize of US$1,000 to Mak. Rachmadian went home with US$500 while Kam and Lalisang earned US$500 each.
The ABF Tour Hong Kong 2016 leg is the fourth of six legs to be staged in East Asia this year with the official partner, Alisports providing the prize money of US$4,000 for each leg. The next stop will be in Shanghai, China on October 13. The next stop will be in Hong Kong, China on July 18. For further information and details, please contact ABF Tour Committee at Tel: +852 2893 6039, Fax: +852 2893 6290; Email: hktbc@netvigator.com.
Photos by Terence Yaw in Hong Kong, China.
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