4th July, Kaohsiung: 2017 PBA-WBT World Bowling Tour Thailand champion, Yannaphon Larpapharat became the second Thai to lead the Men's Open Masters qualifying standings at the 18th Kaohsiung International Bowling Championships on Wednesday.
Yannaphon, who had already made the finals in eighth position in the overseas pool with a moderate 1237, improved his lower 605 3-games series with a stunning 720 to take his 6-games tally to 1352.
His superb effort made him the second Thai to lead the standings after PBA-WBT Busan Cup champion, Annop Arromsaranon had led with 1321. 2018 Philippines Open first runner-up, Mike Chan of Hong Kong had led briefly with 1322 only to find 2018 Macao-China Open fourth runner-up and compatriot, James Lui moving into the lead with 1345.
But Lui's lead was also short-lived with Yannaphon claiming pole position. Annop slipped out of the top 3 bracket while a third Thai and last year's ABF Tour winner, Atchariya Cheng completing the top 5 with 1289.
Yannaphon Larpapharat taking over the lead of the overseas pool
2018 ABF Tour Thailand leg champion, Lai Pai-Feng remained unchallenged in the local pool with 1347. 2017 World Championships All Events gold medallist, Wu Hao-Ming made numerous attempts to eventually moved into second position with 1328.
Chen Hsin-An claimed third spot with 1323. The top 3 highest overseas qualifiers and top 3 highest local qualifiers earn a bye and will skip Round 1 finals and automatically advance to Round 2. Huang Cheng-Hsiung of Chinese Taipei headed the mixed pool with 1262 as the cut in 11th position of the mixed pool went to Liao Wei-Cheng of Chinese Taipei with 1218. Last year's cut was 1258 and with just one day left for qualifying tomorrow, the cut would very unlikely reach that high.
Qualifiers positioned 4 to 12 in the overseas pool, qualifiers positioned 4 to 12 in the local pool, qualifiers position 1 to 11 in the mixed pool together with the defending champion plus the top 3 qualifiers from the one-game desperado squad (total 33) will contest Round 1 Finals on July 6 over 8 games.
The top 18 finishers with the highest pinfall at the end of Round 1 finals will advance to Round 2 finals on July 7 joined by the top 3 local and top 3 overseas seeded qualifiers from the general standings for another 8 games from scratch. The top 6 with the highest pinfall at the end of Round 2 finals will proceed to the Stepladder Shootout finals.
There is less urgency in the Ladies' Open division as there will not be enough participants to fill up the available spots. Macau's Filomena Choi topped the overseas pool with 1229 followed by 2017 World Championships Singles bronze medallist, Chan Shuk Han of Hong Kong in second with 1207.
2013 Asian Youth All Events bronze medallist, Joan Cheng of Hong Kong finished third with 1045. Last week's ABF Tour Hong Kong third runner-up, Pan Yu-Fen led the local pool with 1338. Wang Ya-Ting and ABF Tour Hong Kong leg champion, Chang Yu-Hsuan finished second and third with 1287 and 1272 respectively.
The top 3 highest overseas qualifiers and top 3 highest local qualifiers earn a bye and will skip Round 1 finals and automatically advance to Round 2. Qualifiers positioned 4 to 10 in the overseas pool, qualifiers positioned 4 to 10 in the local pool, qualifiers position 1 to 9 in the mixed pool together with the defending champion (total 24) will contest Round 1 Finals on July 6 over 8 games.
Ladies' Open Masters overseas pool leader, Filomena Choi
The top 16 finishers with the highest pinfall at the end of Round 1 finals will advance to Round 2 finals on July 7 joined by the top 3 local and top 3 overseas seeded qualifiers from the general standings for another 8 games from scratch.
The top 6 with the highest pinfall at the end of Round 2 finals will proceed to the Stepladder Shootout finals to determine the champion. Qualifying will end tomorrow and a one-game desperado squad for the Men's Open and Men's Graded and a final chance to make the Masters finals. The top 16 Asian men and top 16 Asian women from the Stepladder and Round 2 finals will also qualify for this year's final leg - ABF Tour Chinese Taipei 2018 which will be staged at the same bowling centre on July 8.
Photos by Terence Yaw in Koahsiung, Chinese Taipei.
Related stories:
Thai takes early lead
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• Youth Open Mstr
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• Graded Mstr
• Ladies' Open Round 1
• Men's Open Round 1
• Ladies' Open Round 2
• Men's Open Round 2
• Ladies' Stepladder
• Men's Stepladder
