18th Kaohsiung International Open Bowling Championships
Macau national ends qualifying in the lead
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5th July, Kaohsiung: Macau's left-hander, Lee Tak Man ended the qualifying rounds of the 18th Kaohsiung International Open Bowling Championships in the lead of the Men's Open Masters standings at Southern Bowling Centre.

Lee, who made the cut in tenth position in the overseas pool last night with 1225, was knocked off into the mixed pool after another left-hander, Syaffique Ikhwan of Malaysia took over the lead with 1366 in today's opening qualifying squad.

At the same time, Lee improved his lower 3-game series with a stunning 769 to take over the lead from the Malaysian with 1414. But soon after, overnight leader and PBA-World Bowling Tour Thailand champion, Yannaphon Larpapharat of Thailand also improved to grab the lead with 1446.

Lee slipped to second as Yannaphon's team-mate and PBA-WBT Busan Cup champion secured third spot with 1404. On his fourth attempt, Lee posted 237, 238 and 214 for a 689 series to regain top spot with a 6-game tally of 1458.


Men's Open top qualifier, Lee Tak Man

Hong Kong's Ernest Kwok, who sat in the top 3 bracket briefly, missed the cut in fourth position with 1400. His team-mate and 2017 Philippine Open first runner-up, Mike Chan completed the top 5 with 1373.

The Malaysian settled for sixth position with 1366. The cut at 12th position in the overseas pool went to Parvez Ahmed of India with 1249. There were no changes in the local pool with 2018 ABF Tour Thailand leg champion remaining in the lead with 1347. Wu Hao-Ming and Chen Hsin-An occupied second and third spots with 1328 and 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.

Chang Wei-Cheng of Chinese Taipei headed the mixed pool with 1275 while the cut in 11th position went to Su Chung-Wei with 1245. It appeared that the cut could reach near last year's cut of 1258 when qualifying ends late tonight.

Thirty-three finalists made up from positions 4 - 12 in the overseas pool, positions 4 - 12 in the local pool, positions 1 - 11 in the mixed pool, defending champion and 3 qualifiers from the desperado squad will contest Round 1 finals tomorrow evening.

The top 18 with the highest pinfall will advance to Round 2 finals joined by the top 3 overseas and top 3 local seeded qualifiers for another 8 games. The top 6 with the highest pinfaal at the end of Round 2 finals will proceed to the Stepladder Shootout finals.

Meanwhile in the Ladies' Open division, Macau's Filomena Choi remained in the lead with 1229 followed by two Hong Kong nationals, Chan Shuk Han and Milki Ng in second and third positions with 1207 and 1152 respectively.

Pan Yu-fen, 2016 Kaohsioung Open champion, Huang Chiung-Yao and defending champion, Wang Ya-Ting were the top 3 highest local qualifiers. 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.


Defending champion, Wang Ya-Ting making the top 3 bracket

A total of 18 qualifiers instead of the allocated 24, will contest Round 1 finals tomorrow afternoon. The top 16 with the highest pinfall will advance to Round 2 finals joined by the top 3 overseas and top 3 local seeded qualifiers for another 8 games. The top 6 with the highest pinfaal at the end of Round 2 finals will proceed to the Stepladder Shootout finals.

The Men's Graded Masters finals is scheduled at 9.00am local time followed by the Ladies' Open Round 1 finals at 1.30pm and the Men's Open Rouind 1 finals at 7.00pm. 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.


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