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.

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.