29th June, Macau, China: Last year's Hong Kong Open first runner-up, Michael Mak of Hong Kong, China topped the Men's Open Round 1 Masters Finals of the 2024 Macao China International Open Bowling Championships ahead of two strong Koreans Ryou Ho Jun in second and Jung Woo Hyun third.
Zoe Dias Ma of Macau set a cracking pace with a sizzling 266 opening game to lead Jang Tae Joon of KNSU by 13 pins. Hong Kong's Alex Yu, who made the finals third in last night's desperado squad, followed in third with 224. Jang added a superb 245 in his second game to take over the running.
Dias Ma struggled with 171 to slip behind the Korean. A second KNSU student, Ryou Ho Jun shot 290 in his third game to take over the lead from his compatriot. Billy M. Islam of Jawa Timur, Indonesia surged into second with 269 in the third game.
Ryou led for another game before being overhauled by the Indonesian after the sixth game and trailing by 7 pins. Mak, who was in close company, stormed into the lead after a good run, 14 pins ahead of the recovering Ryou. The Hong Kong national ended the finals with 210 to take top spot with 1760.
Michael Mak leading 15 other Men's Open finalists into Round 2
Ryou settled for second with 1738 while a third Korean, Jung Woo Hyun ended strongly to snatch third position with 1708. Islam finished fourth with 1704 and another Korean, Park Tae Yeon completed the top five with 1703. The cut in 16th position went to desperado top scorer, Cheah Ray Han of Singapore with 1599.
2024 Formosa International Classic champion, Yuki Murahama of Japan missed the cut by 5 pins despite ending with a big game of 247 while defending champion, James Lui of Hong Kong also failed to make the cut and finishing in 18th.
Mak's team-mates, Alex Yu (6th-1668), Tony Wong (7th-1664), Lau Kwun Ho (12th-1619) and Wu SIu Hong (15th-1603) also made the cut.
The top 16 will be joined by the three local and three overseas seeded qualifiers for another 8 games in tomorrow's Round 2 finals. The women will take to the lanes later today for their Round 1 finals while the Men's Grade A and Women's Grade will contest their Masters finals tonight.
Photos by Terence Yaw in Macau, China.
Six Hong Kong national bowlers in Round 1 finals
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