26th February, Doha: Asians stole the limelight again after Hong Kong's Wu Siu Hong and Singaporean women, Bernice Lim and Jazreel Tan took the top three spots of final qualifying standings at the PBA-WBT #7 H.H. Emir's Cup 2014 on Wednesday.
Debutant and PBA pro, John Szczerbinski got off with the tournament's fourth 300 at the opening game of the second block to take over the lead from Day 3 High Series award winner, Wu Siu Hong.
But the overnight leader matched the American's stride with a stunning 290 in the second game to regain the lead as Szczerbinski managed only 227 to trail by 48 pins. Wu followed it up with another splendid 278 to pull away from his closest rival to 90 pins after the third game.
The 2013 East Asian Games Masters gold medalist and second runner-up of the PBA-WBT Abu Dhabi Bowling World Tour blazed the lanes with 245 and 267 for a highest 5-game series of 1335 and a two block total of 2603.
Wu Siu Hong picking up another high series award
"I thought I was very lucky yesterday as the line I was bowling on held well throughout the 5 games," said the delighted Hong Kong top national bowler, Wu Siu Hong.
"The line again was good but I had to make some adjustments along the way though. Of course, I'm a little surprised but more importantly, I made the top 6 to earn a bye for Step 2 finals."
Szczerbinski posted 1225 for a total of 2463 to tie with fellow-American PBA pro, Tom Daugherty in second. A third PBA pro, Bill O'Neill took third spot in the squad with 2438 while PBA-WBT Saudi Open champion, Tommy Jones rounded out the top 5 with 2434.
Wu topped the overall qualifying standings ahead of two Singapore women, Bernice Lim and four-time US Collegiate Bowler of the Year, Jazreel Tan with 2511 and 2465 respectively. Szczerbinski and Daughtery ties fourth with O'Neill clinching sixth position in the top 6 bracket.
Jones missed the top 6 bracket by 4 pins in seventh position ahead of Osku Palermaa of Finland in eighth with 2428 and newly-crowned USBC Masters champion, Jason Belmonte of Australia in ninth with 2426.
A third Singapore women and 2013 AMF World Cup first runner-up, Cherie Tan completing the top 10 with 2412. Several top PBA pros also made the cut for Step 1 finals including Sean Rash of USA in 11th, Mika Koivuniemi of Finland in 12th and third perfect-gamer, Craig Nidiffer of USA in 13th.
Singapore National rookie, Joey Yeo clinched the 28th and final qualifying spot with 2276, just 4 pins ahead of 2010 Emir's Cup champion, Mubarak Al Muraikhi of Qatar in 29th.
Top 4 desperado qualifiers, Mak, Tseng, Saw and Gomez
But the Mubarak and Yousef Al-Jaber qualified as top 2 Qataris outside the top 28 in 31st and 32nd positions. Ahmed Al-Deyab and Jassmin Al-Muraikhi also qualified as the top 2 Qatari youths in 29th and 30th positions.
40 bowlers registered for the one-game desperado squad in which 2013 Milo International All Stars champion, Keith Saw of Singapore topped the squad with 268. 2013 PBA-WBT Saudi Open first runner-up, Michael Mak and his team-mate, Eric Tseng tied with 267 while the fourth and final spot went to Andres Gomez of Colombia with 254.
The qualifiers will contest the 5-games Step 1 Finals tomorrow and the top 10 will advance to Step 2 finals joined by the top 6 seeded qualifiers for another 5 games on Friday, February 28. The top 4 finishers will advance to the Step 3 and 4 Finals.
The top seed will face the fourth seed and the second seed will meet the third seed over a two-game total pinfalls shootout. The loser will finish third and fourth while the winners will meet in the title match, again over two-game total pinfall.
Photos by Terence Yaw in Doha, Qatar.
25th February, Doha: Asians took the limelight in the second squad of the qualifying rounds at the PBA-WBT #7 H.H. Emir Cup 2014 with Wu Siu Hong of Hong Kong and Basel Al-Anzi of Kuwait taking up the top two positions.
American PBA pro, Tom Daugherty rolled the tournament's second 300 in his opening game of the squad to lead Basel Al Anzi by 21 pins and Joonas Jehkinen of Finland in third position, a further 19 pins away.
Daughtery conitnued his hot pace with 249 to remain in the lead as a second American, Craig Nidiffer shot the third 300 to move up into second, 27 pins behind his compatriot while the Kuwaiti slipped down to third.
Both the Americans held one-two positions at the third with just 23 pins separating them with Wu Siu Hong, two other American PBA pros Bill O'Neill and John Szczerbinski closing in.
Wu Siu Hong leading the second squad
Daughtery remained in the lead after the fourth game as Wu fired a superb 277 to move up into second spot and trailing by just 12 pins.
But the leader failed to carry his momentum into the fifth and final of the block managing only 189 to drop down the field while Wu brought home a 247 to end the block with 1268 and in the lead.
Basel bounced back with 247 and 256 to tie second spot with O'Neill on 1241. Szczerbinski finished fourth with 1238 while pace-setter, Daugherty rounded out the top 5 with 1222.
With Squad B still to complete their second block of 5 games, Wu led based on an average of 253.6 followed by Squad A leader, Bernice Lim of Singapore on a 251.1 average and Basel third with 248.2 average.
O'Neill, Szczerbinski and Squad A second-placed finisher, Jazreel Tan of Singapore rounding out the top 6 with 248.2, 247.6 and 246.5 respectively.
Daughtery headed the rest in seventh position on 244.4 followed by Nidiffer in eighth with 243.4. Debutant, Brad Angelo of USA and Finn Jehkinen completing the top 10.
The current cut at 28th position belong to Joey Yeo of Singapore with an average of 227.6 behind her team-mate and 2013 AMF World Cup first runner-up, Cherie Tan in 27th position. Positions 29-30 are reserved for the top 2 Qatari youths.
Positions 31-32 are reserved for the top 2 Qatari qualifiers outside the top 28. Positions 33-36 will go to the top 4 qualifiers from the one-game desperado squad.
Photos by Terence Yaw in Doha, Qatar.
Hong Kong national bowlers in Squad B
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