8th July, Bangkok: Choi Bok-Eum and Kim Kwang-Wook hung on to their lead in the Men's Doubles to clinch Korea's first Gold Medal of the 18th Asian Tenpin Bowling Championship from two Chinese Taipei pairs in second and third.

After three of the final six games the Koreans score looked impregnable but Wu Hao-Ming and Wang Tien-Fu of Chinese Taipei certainly had other ideas about that. Cruising through the earlier games a little behind the pace, they upped the ante in the fifth game with an outstanding doubles game of 473 and left themselves the target of just 414 in the last game to clinch the gold medal and demote the Koreans to second-place.

They started out well and that shiny gold medal looked to be in their grasp. Maybe the pressure was too great, maybe the bowling gods were not pleased. Maybe, maybe? Anyway, disaster struck with splits and open frames and the desperate duo fell short of their target by the unforeseeable narrow margin of 41 pins on 4965 and they had to settle for silver.

Had they won the gold, the Chinese Taipei incentive scheme might have

seen them some US$10,000 richer. A second Chinese Taipei team, Kao Hai-Yuan and Cheng Chao-Sheng, will stand alongside their team-mates to receive the bronze medal at the Friday evening presentation ceremony, sneaking into third place on 4956. The final standings show three Chinese Taipei teams in the top six positions.

Choi Bok-Eum, 17, a high school student in Yeosu City, is now mighty pleased with himself. Not only can he boast the gold medal with his partner in the doubles, he won bronze in the Singles and leads All-Events, the total scores of the Singles and Doubles with a score so far of 5116, an average of 213.

The top 16 men and women with total aggregate scores in the Singles, Doubles, Trios and Five-person Team events will advance to the Masters and, perhaps, the Stepladder Finals on Tuesday, 13th July.

Nobody in the Men's Doubles managed to take away the glory of the Championship's individual high game which is still held by Shalin Zulkiflii of Malaysia with a 279. Friday's action on the P.S. Bowl in Bangkapi will see the Trios teams, competing over six games, three on the short oil condition, three on long. The event will be completed on Friday evening.

Story and photos by Keith Hale, ABF Media Co-ordinator for the Championship.

8th July, Bangkok: The talented Korean duo of Choi Bok-Eum and Kim Kwang-Wook have set the target of 5006 for the remaining B squad to beat for the Gold Medal in the Men's Doubles event of the 18th Asian Tenpin Bowling Championship at the P.S. Bowl in Bangkapi this evening.

Bowling on the long oil lane condition in the second block of six games, the two 'hook' style Koreans rapidly overtook the previous leaders, Kao Hai-Yuan and Cheng Chao-Sheng of Chinese Taipei, the masters of the 'spinner' ball release. Choi was the only bowler on the squad to break the 2500 barrier over the six games, hitting 2552 with a high game of 245, topping the men's averages so far with 212.70.

In their 12th and last game the Koreans played on the same pair of lanes as the Taiwanese and matched them strike for strike to push them into second place, 50 pins behind on 4956. The Japanese pairing of Masatoki Yoshinao and Tsuchiya Tsubasa had been lying in fourth place down the home straight, but had a final game of 431 to sneak into third.

Choi, from Yeosu City, is desperately hoping that their score of 5006 holds

at the top of the leader board after the next squad have completed their six games. The 17-year-old high school student won the bronze medal in the men's singles and now seeks a gold medal to add to his collection. Partner Kim, 33, from Kwang Ju, has gold medals at home he won in the 1996 Far East Championships but aims to have an Asian Championship gold too.

"We changed our lines to the right for the long oil condition today," said Choi. "The last game against Chinese Taipei was very exciting but I thought that we might have blown it when we had three splits at the end and had open ninth and tenth frames."

Both now have their fingers crossed as they wait to see what scores are going to be set by the final squad. The main challengers will be Chinese Taipei and China, tied at the top of the B squad on short oil. They now have to shoot 2492 over their last six games to take gold. The Koreans hit 2552 over their final six games, so their nails will be bitten right down to the fingers.

It will be approximately 23:00 local time before the final standings will be known.

Story and photos by Keith Hale, ABF Media Co-ordinator for the Championship.

8th July, Bangkok: Victory in the Women's Doubles of the 18th Asian Tenpin Bowling Championships came to the overnight leader, Wang Ya-Ting and Pan Yu-Fen of Chinese Taipei, with a fine score of 4900, but it was no easy ride over the final six games at the P.S. Bowl, Bangkapi this morning.

Holding a 56-pin lead over Alice Tay and Jennifer Tan of Singapore going into the second day, the Taiwanese increased that buffer to just under one hundred, but changes came from the tenth of the twelve games as the leaders ran into trouble from determined challenges by Singapore, Korea and Australia to get into the three medal positions.

Once again, it all came down to the final balls of the tenth frame. Pan Yu-Fen was faced with having to make a spare for the gold medal. She got a strike, so that place was settled unless Anne-Maree Putney of Australia could strike out, but she didn't, although she did score 277, so gold to Chinese Taipei and silver to Australia's Putney and Emma Rutten with 4890.

The Singaporeans held on to take bronze on 4817, giving Alice Tay her second medal after the gold in Women's Singles.

The hard luck story is for the Korean's, Gye Min-Young and Nam Bo-Ra, who were in the bronze medal position right up until the last game, but their 199 and 178 fell 20 pins short of third place with a creditable score of 4797.

Wang Ya-Ting, 19, and Pan Yu-Fen, 25, both from Taichung where they are university students, have been bowling for about seven years. "We didn't feel any pressure at the start of the second six-game block today," said Pan. "Towards the end it did begin to build, but our coach would not let us see the scoreboard, so we just focused on our game, although we did feel that the Koreans were close and had no idea that the Australians could have taken the gold from us in the tenth frame."

If their government's incentive scheme remains the same, the pair could be rewarded with the nice bounty of around US$10,000 when they arrive home.

The ladies' high game has been topped once again, this time by the Malaysian star, Shalin Zulkifli who hit 279 in her eleventh game. Unfortunately, it was not enough to bring the pair into medal positions and

they had to be content with ninth place. Zulkifli's game is, however, the high game of the Championships for men or women.

The men now take over the lanes for their final set of six-games, on the long oil condition. Current leaders are Chinese Taipei and China, tied on 2515, with another Chinese duo in third place.

Story by Keith Hale, ABF Media Co-ordinator for the Championship, photos by Sidney Tung, MTBC.

7th July, Bangkok: Chinese Taipei's pair of Wang Ya-Ting and Pan Yu-Fen outscored the men in the Women's Doubles first block on Short Oil condition with 2553 over their team-mates, Wu Hao-Ming and Wang Tien-Fu who posted 2515.

When the 38 ladies' doubles teams took to the lanes Wednesday evening, few would have guessed that the leaders after the six games on the short oil condition would outscore the men. But it happened.

The 2515 posted by men leaders Wu Hao-Ming and Wang Tien-Fu of Chinese Taipei tied with Liu Shaoyi and Lu Jianhua of China, was beaten by none other than a ladies' duo from Chinese Taipei as Wang Ya-Ting and Pan Yu-Fen combined for 2553, 56 pins more than second-placed Alice Tay, the Singles Gold Medal winner, and Jennifer Tan Bee Leng of Singapore. Korea took third place on the overnight scoreboard with Gye Min-Young and Nam Bo-Ra hitting 2486 between them.

It was truly a ladies' strikefest through the squad as Alice Tay, far from being put off by being the star of the medal presentation ceremony just prior to the

squad, hit a 277 in her third game to set a new high game for the tournament, but that outstanding score was eclipsed in the next game as Pan Yu-Fen strung strikes for a 278, now the highest game for men or women. Pan also had the highest individual series of the evening with 1292.

Both Wang and Pan are in their early twenties and from Taichung were they are university students. The Australian duo of Emma Putten and Anne-Maree Putney are in a challenging position, although 140 pins off the pace on 2413. They are expected to bowl higher scores on the long oil condition which the lady competitors face as the opening squad on Thursday morning.

The Women's Doubles medals will be decided with the final six games and then the two Men's squads will complete their series by late evening. After that, the competition moves to Trios which will be contested over just six games, three on long oil and three on short.

Story and photos by Keith Hale, ABF Media Co-ordinator for the Championship.

7th July, Bangkok: The Chinese pairing of Liu Shaoyi, Lu Jianhua and Wu Hao-Ming, Wang Tien-Fu of Chinese Taipei share pole position after the first block of the Men's Doubles, beating the 2512 set by the Chinese Taipei duo of Kao Hai-Yuan and Cheng Chao-Sheng on Squad A with 2515.

It is so tough at the top of the leader board that just three pins separate the top three places and only 90 covers the top seven positions.

All four bowlers use the 'spinner' action which seems to suit the short oil condition faced by the teams today. Perhaps the hook bowlers will fare better on the long oil pattern tomorrow.

It was also sheer coincidence that anchorman Wang of Chinese Taipei and China's lead-off Liu hit 1,280 over the six games, their respective partners Wu, who won the singles gold medal yesterday, and Lu also hit the same score, 1,235.

The high individual game still stands at 276, scored by Bangkok's own Sitiphol Kunaksorn. He did not maintain that high scoring today, and is

currently in 20th place with partner Yannaphon Larpapharat with the doubles team score of 2,302, the highest placed Thai team.

All six leading bowlers use the 'spinner' action which seems to suit the short oil condition faced by the teams today. Perhaps the hook bowlers will fare better on the long oil pattern tomorrow.

The 65 Men's Doubles teams will resume action Thursday morning when they face their final six-game block on the Long Oil condition.

Story by Keith Hale, ABF Media Co-ordinator for the Championship, photos by Sidney Tung, MTBC.

7th July, Bangkok: Chinese Taipei veteran national bowlers, Cheng Chao-Sheng and Kao Hai-Yuan took an early lead as they posted a target score in the Men's Doubles Squad A first block of the 18th Asian Tenpin Bowling Championship on Short Oil condition.

Long-time Chinese Taipei national team bowlers, Kao Hai-Yuan and Cheng Chao-Sheng became the dynamic duo to post the target score as they completed their first six games on short oil in Squad A. Their total pinfall of 2512 was almost evenly divided between the pair, Kao, 40, from Kaoshiung hitting 1243 and younger Cheng, 25, from Taipei, a little higher on 1269

Second place is held by Indonesia's Ryan Lalisang and Lie Joe Tjam, who held pole position for many games in this morning's squad. With 2492 they now trail by the narrow margin of 20 pins and are 23 pins clear of third-placed Lin Yi-Chien and Chen Chun-Chieh, also of Chinese Taipei with 2469.

Nobody so far today has beaten the Men's high game of 276, set yesterday by local bowler Sithipol Kunaksorn, but Kuwait's Mohammed Al Zaidan came close with a 273 in his fifth game.

Action continues this afternoon with the Squad B completing the Men's first six games on the short oil and the women take to the lanes this evening for their opening squad.

Story by Keith Hale, ABF Media Co-ordinator for the Championship, photos by Sidney Tung, MTBC.

6th July, Bangkok: Alice Tay of Singapore snatched the Women's Singles Gold medal of the 18th Asian Tenpin Bowling Championship in the final game from leader, Shalin Zulkifli of Malaysia by a single pin.

It was truly all on the last ball of the tenth frame of the final game as to who was to win the gold medal in the grueling 12-game ladies' singles event, bowled with six games each on long and short oil. Coming into the home straight and noses up to the tapes, four bowlers were neck and neck.

Shalin Zulkifli of Malaysia had led the field over games nine to eleven, holding a 41-pin lead over China's Shen Yuye with Katai Ayano of Japan in third, another one pin back and Singapore's Alice Tay lay fourth, 56 in arrears.

Surprisingly, a 215 by Tay brought her up from fourth place to the gold medal as Zulkifli and Shen, both just needing a spare with the final ball to win, both missed the vital pins and allowed the Singaporean through to win by a

single pin over Zulkifli. Just eight pins divided the top three positions after the 12 games.

Ayano, who had been there or thereabouts through the final block of six games, had to settle for fourth place and Thailand's own Ankana Netrviseth, who at the age of 14 is the youngest competitor in the Championships, snuck into fifth place, only 35 pins off the pace, an outstanding achievement.

Tay, 42, almost a full-time bowler, bagged her sixth gold medal from her 16-year tenpin career and has been bowling in major championships like the Asian since 1988. She began her distinguished career as a hook bowler, but a few years ago changed to the 'spinner' style, which has brought her better fortune.

Like Wu Hao-Ming, the men's singles division champ, she said, "I really didn't know when I went into the last game that I was in contention for the gold medal and was very surprised when the result was announced. I just kept bowling my best. I didn't know that Zulkifli and Shen had missed their tenth frame spares."

Commenting on the two different lane conditions, long and short oil, Tay added, "The change of condition didn't really worry me at all and I could play my usual style over both squads." Tay will now pair up with 2002 World Ranking Masters' champion Jennifer Tan for the twelve games of doubles, a formidable combination indeed.

The doubles event will commence bright and early on tomorrow morning with six games on the long oil pattern and conclude with six on the short on Thursday, 8th July.

Story by Keith Hale, ABF Media Co-ordinator for the Championship, photos by Sidney Tung, MTBC.

6th July, Bangkok: Wu Hao-Ming of Chinese Taipei eclipsed the target score of 2570 set by Isao Yamamoto of Japan in Squad A, to clinch the Men's Singles Gold medal of the 18th Asian Tenpin Bowling Championship.

Bowling for the Chinese Taipei national team for the first time, the 22 year-old student from Taipei said that he had no idea going into the last game that he had the chance of the Gold medal.

He started his final game with three strikes and was set to hit the 190-plus he needed to clinch the top place on the podium and finished with a 214 for a total pinfall over the twelve games of 2593, which is now the figure to beat as this is the first time that the Singles event has been staged over twelve games.

Wu has an average of just over 200 at home, where he is majoring in sports and physical education. He also has one perfect game to his credit. Asked about bowling on the two lane conditions, long and short oil, he replied, "I found the lane conditions very challenging, but did not prefer one lane

pattern over the other." His ambition is to improve his bowling skills and maybe one day to represent his home country in the prestigious AMF Bowling World Cup. "I'm going to take a breather for a while, and then I'll phone home with the good news a little later," he added.

The silver medal went to Japan's Isao Yamamoto, who had the nail-biting wait to see if his score, bowled on the earlier squad, would be beaten. The bronze was won by Korea's Choi Bok-Eum, just 29 pins off the pace.

The high game of the tournament so far, a 277, was bowled in the penultimate game of the men's singles by Sithipol Kunaksorn, a hometown bowler from Bangkok.

The ladies take center stage with their final six game block later this evening. The doubles event, also over twelve games, will get into action tomorrow morning (7th July) with the first block of six games for men and women. The squads will commence with the long oil condition and follow on short oil on Thursday, 8th July. The trios and five-person teams will be contested over six games later in the week.

Story by Keith Hale, ABF Media Co-ordinator for the Championship, photos by Sidney Tung, MTBC.

6th July, Bangkok: Isao Yamamato of Japan set the target of 2570 for the Men's Singles Gold medal in the 18th Asian Tenpin Bowling Championship at the end of Squad A second block of 6 games ahead of overnight leader Choi Bok-Eum of Korea.

The 22-year-old pro shop operator from Yokohama, Japan, hit 1240 on the Short Oil condition, 90 pins less than his 1330 yesterday on Long Oil.

Early pacesetter Choi Bok-Eum of Korea, who had 1417 going into the Short Oil block, started really badly with just 485 over his first three games, but came back with 213, 216 and 233 to currently hold second place, just six pins behind the Japanese. In his interview yesterday, Choi stated that he did not like the Short Oil play but managed to master the condition over his final three games this morning.

Chinese Taipei came into the medal positions with Lin Ye-Chien sitting in third place, 55 pins off the pace.

Yamamato has been bowling for 16 years and been a Japan national team member for the past five years. The left-handed leader won the Asian Youth Masters twice, in Hong Kong and in Dubai. He was in second position behind Choi after the first six games on Long Oil. "I prefer the short oil on the lane," he said, after his block, "I bowl a tight line to the pins and that suits this type of oil pattern. I'm happy with the 2570 score and now I have to wait and see if it will be beaten on the second squad this afternoon."

Squad B now bowl their final block of six games on Short Oil and this will decide the destination of the Gold, Silver and Bronze medals this evening. This is the first time that the Singles event has been decided over twelve games, six on each of the Long and Short oil conditions.

"Since it is a new format, nobody seems to have an opinion about it just yet," commented Singapore coach Pat Henry. "Obviously is has to be more challenging as there are far more games. The doubles event will also be over twelve games, then the trios and five-person teams are contested over six games.

Story by Keith Hale, ABF Media Co-ordinator for the Championship, photos by Sidney Tung, MTBC.

5th July, Bangkok: Choi Bok-Eum of Korea zoomed into the lead of the Men's Singles six-games first block of the 18th Asian Tenpin Bowling Championship under the Long Oil condition this evening.

Choi Bok-Eum, of Yeosu City, Korea posted fourth and fifth games of 257 and 255 to zoom to the top of the leader board after the initial six games of Squad A, the first of the two squads contesting the men's singles.

After bowling on the long oil condition, the 17-year-old high school student, a left-handed hook bowler, said, "I was feeling pretty good, considering this is my debut on the Korean national team and didn't feel too much pressure by being the rookie. I always bowl well on the long oil condition and not so well on the short oil, so I'm hoping I get over that in the second squad."

Choi has been bowling six years and has hit one 300 game in his short career, bowled during the recent Philippine Open in Manila where he was the first runner-up.

The high game of the Men's division, a 270, was bowled by Sami Noor of Bahrain in his fifth game of the opening squad. He currently holds 27th place. Choi has an 87 pin buffer over second-placed Isao Yamamoto of Japan and his team-mate, Hirofumi Morimoto is a further 57 pins back in third place.

Squad B will see the remaining competitors on the Long Oil this evening, and both squads will finish their twelve games on the short oil tomorrow (6th July). The top three bowlers with the highest total pinfall over the twelve games will win the medals.

Story and photos by Keith Hale, ABF Media Co-ordinator for the Championship.

5th July, Bangkok: The 18th Asian Tenpin Bowling Championship got underway today at P.S. Bowl, Bangkapi with China's Xu Yong and Zhang Yuhong stunning a strong field to take 1-2 lead in the first block of the Women's Singles Long Oil condition.

Xu Yong of Guang Dong, China was the early leader after the first six-game block of the 12-game in the Women's' Singles event of the 18th Asian Tenpin Bowling Championships. The 31 year-old freelance office worker hit pole position after four games, dropped to second place in the fifth, then resumed as frontrunner with a final game of 213. Her six-game total pinfall of 1266 is 15 pins better than team-mate Zhang Yuhong and Katai Ayano of Japan, who has the high single game score to date of 260, finished in third place, a further three pins back.

Xu Yong works part-time for her local Bowling Association in Guang Dong where, she says, she holds a 200 average, so she is bowling a little better here in Bangkok with a 211 average for her six games. "I am a little surprised to be the tournament leader on the first day," she commented.

"I did feel as though I was bowling about the same pace as at home."

Today's competition took place on the long oil lane condition. For their final six games tomorrow (6th July), the women will change to the short oil condition. Meanwhile, bowling continues this afternoon and evening with the two Men's squads, all bowling their first six-game block.

Story and photos by Keith Hale, ABF Media Co-ordinator for the Championship.

3rd July, Bangkok: The 18th edition of the Asian Tenpin Bowling Championship was officially declared open today at P.S. Bowl, Bangkapi by the His Excellency Sontaya Kungsleom, Minister of Tourism and Sport.

A truly impressive opening ceremony for the 18th Asian Championships at the PS Bowl in Bangkapi, Bangkok featured a parade of all players against a backdrop of traditional Thai dancers, a host of local children and a very musical local marching band.

A warm welcome was extended to this charming 'Land of Smiles' by several speakers, including His Excellency Sontaya Kungsleom, the Minister of Tourism and Sport, who extended his best wishes for a successful championships to both the Thai Tenpin Bowling Congress and all competitors, adding that he also hoped that they would enjoy their time in Thailand and be able to take in as many sights as time permits.

Opening the short session of speeches, Heikki Sarso, President of WTBA, said, "I'd like to thank the Thai Tenpin Bowling Congress for their hospitality

and wish the Championships much success. Bowling is improving and developing and the WTBA will take care of it as it increases. We are now developing so that we meet the criteria of the International Olympic Committee."

Mrs. Vivien Fung, JP, President of the Asian Bowling Federation (ABF), added, "This is the largest Asian Championships ever and we are all grateful for the Thai Tenpin Bowling Congress for their spirit in organizing the event in just ten months. I would also like to thank Sheikh Talal, the incoming ABF President, for making me the Honorary Life President of the ABF. I look forward to working with him for the betterment of our sport."

The ceremony concluded with several large groups demonstrating traditional Thai dances, spread across the bowling center's 40 lanes.

Those lanes will be full of bowlers Sunday morning as the practice sessions begin and then the competition proper starts on Monday morning with the first block of ladies' singles.

Story and photos by Keith Hale, ABF Media Co-ordinator for the Championship.

30th June, Bangkok: The stage is set for international athletes to showcase their skills at the 18th Asian Tenpin Bowling Championship which will commence on Monday, 5th July at P.S. Bowl, Bangkapi in Bangkok, Thailand.

Teams from 24 nations are now arriving at the PS Bowl, Bangkapi, Bangkok to contest the 18th Asian Bowling Championships, which will run through July 2 - 14. If all entries show at the 40-lane, AMF-equipped center, there will be 129 men competitors and 76 ladies, all accompanied by 68 officials.

There are no new countries on the tournament roster this year and several are not fielding the full quota of six men and six women. At the time of writing, Syria has just one player, Iran and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands two, and Iraq five.

Of the rest, Thailand, Hong Kong and Egypt have registered four women each, instead of six, and Macau three. Bahrain, Guam, Kazakhstan, Qatar, the Kingdom of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates have not entered women's teams.

Tournament Directors Suwalai Satrulee of the Thailand Tenpin Bowling Congress and Dr. Danny Santos, secretary-general of the FIQ, the sport's governing body, both agree that the upcoming competition will rate amongst the best-ever. "The stage is now set for these international athletes to showcase their skills on two different lane conditions," said Santos. "Whoever emerges as the outright champions on July 13 will have thoroughly earned the admiration and gold medals they will receive."

Satrulee expects a strong challenge to come from the home teams. "We have some very talented bowlers on our Thai teams," she added, "especially youngsters with a good pedigree, like Lapharat Yannaphon, 20, and 14-year-old Ankana Netrviseth, both gold medal winners in World and Asian Championships."

A treasure trove of medals is at stake in Singles, Doubles, Trios, Five-person Teams and Masters for both men and women.

Two Men's Singles squads will kick off the championship on Monday 5th July with on Long Oil condition followed by the Women's Singles for the first 6 games. The results of the first event will be known after both the men and women complete their second 6 games on Short Oil condition the following day on the 6th July.

Story and photos by Keith Hale, ABF Media Co-ordinator for the Championship.