23rd June, Macau: Michael Mak of Hong Kong denied Macau a double victory after defeating Zoe Dias Ma in the Men's final while Veronica De Souza became the third Macau women to win Women's title in the ABF Tour Macau 2015.
The 21-year-old Mak, who took the Macau leg title back in 2011, got off the block with five strikes-in-a-row as his challenger, Dias Ma was playing catch up and unable to post a single strike after five frames.
With an open frame in the sixth, the tie was done and dusted as Mak cruised to another convincing victory, 246-184 to win his second tour title.
The champion sailed past Lau Kwun Ho, 257-201 in the all-Hong Kong semi-final to advance to the final. He was equally impressive after dispatching debutant, Bong Kihow of Malaysia with another 241-156 win in the second round. Mak breezed past compatriot, Eric Tseng 241-218 in the opening round.
Michael Mak with his second tour title
Dias Ma beat Joshua Chow of Hong Kong, 255-194 in the other semi-final to reach the final. He had first beaten a Hong Kong national, Rickle Kam, 224-204 in Round 1 and fellow-countrymen, Ho Chok San, 225-204 in Round 2 to make the semi.
Meanwhile, Veronica De Souza became the third Macau women to win the Macau leg when she cruised to a 235-147 victory over challneger, Tannya Roumimper of Indonesia in the final. De Souza spared in her first frame and rolled a double strike in her next two frames.
Roumimper had an opened frame in the third after a nasty split. De Souza rolled a gutter ball in the fourth frame but managed to spare it in her second throw. The 20-year-old Macau national bowler then fired four consecutive strikes putting the match beyond the Indonesian.
With two more open frames from Roumimper, De Souza sealed the match, 235-147 to win her first-ever tour title. The closest she came to winning it was back in 2013 after finishing as first runner-up here.
The champion had to work doubly hard to advance to the final by beating Hui Tong, 39-26 in the 9 and 10 frame roll-off to break the tie at 188 in the all-Macau semi-final.
Third Macau women to win the Women's title, Veronica De Souza
She also had a lucky break in Round 2 when her opponent, Wendy Chai of Malaysia rolled a 7-split in her bonus frame to lose 199-200 to De Souza. Roumimper ousted top seed, Julia Lam of Macau, 216-189 in the first semi-final after she edging Tanaprang Sathean of Thailand, 187-169 in Round 2. De Souza became the third Macau women to win on home ground after Hui Tong in 2010 and Julia Lam in 2011.
Mr Allan Lao, Vice President of Macau Sport Development Board presented the trophies to the champions. Mak also pocketed US$1,000 as the Men's champion while De Souza was awarded US$500 for her effort.
The next ABF Tour stop will be in Hong Kong on August 31, 2015 after the 41st Hong Kong International Open. Two more stops will be staged in East Asia while there will be three more stops in West Asia. 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 Macau.
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