28th April, Ulsan: Team Gold medalist, Jun Bung Oh of Korea and Chinese Taipei's Wang Yi Fen were crowned Men's and Women's Masters champions at the conclusion of the 20th East Asian Championship this afternoon.

Second-seed Jun Bung Oh defeated top-seed Choi Jong In in the final stepladder matches 410-396 to claim his individual Gold medal of the championship. Jun built up a comfortable margin in the first game 215-168. Although Choi made a strong comeback in the second game with a score of 228, it wasn't enough to topple Jung's second game of 195.

Jun also took the first match when he ousted third-seed Chen Chun Chieh of Chinese Taipei with 229-205. Choi settled for the Silver while Chen took home the Bronze medal.

The champion had made the stepladder finals in second spot after the second block were played yesterday evening with a total of 3734 behind Choi who totalled 3904 while the Taiwanese Chen Chun Chieh was third with 3700. Japan's Toshihiko Takahashi finished 4th with 3616.

Meanwhile, Wang Yi Fen brought home Taiwan's second Gold medal when she narrowly defeated top-seed Lee Ma Eum 415-409 in the Women's stepladder finals. Wang scored 179 and 238 while Lee managed 191 and 218.

Wang also took the first match ousting second-seed Ayano Katai of Japan 218-192 before going on to win the coveted Masters crown. Lee settled for the Silver and Ayano took home the Bronze.

The champion made the stepladder finals after finishing third in the morning's 2nd block Masters finals with a total score of 3559 behind Lee Ma Eum (3683) and Ayano Katai (3610) in first and 2nd respectively. Korea's Kim Soo Kyung, stormed to finished 4th with 3491.

Japan and home national Korea shared the glory of the just concluded 20th East Asian Tenpin Bowling Championship. Both Japan and Korea tied on 51 points in the overall medal tally but it was Japan who are the new overall champions for winning 6 Gold, 4 Silver, 3 Bronze medals and three 4th placings - two more gold medals than runner-up Korea who collected 4 Gold, 6 Silver, 4 Bronze medals and five 4th placings. Defending champion, Chinese Taipei settled for third on 23 points.

Scores and photos courtesy of Dr. Danny Santos, FIQ Secretary General.

28th April, Ulsan: Two Gold medalist, Choi Jong In of Korea and Japan's Ayano Katai topped the Men's and Women's 1st Block Masters finals of the 20th East Asian Championship at Hyundai International Bowling Centre this afternoon.

The Team and All Events Gold medalist won 7 out of the 8 matches played in the Men's 1st Block Masters finals to total 1939 for the lead. Choi Jong In had lines of 237, 279, 267, 211, 198, 224, 219 and 234 to lead from teammate, Jun Bung Oh who scored 1924.

Chinese Taipei's Chen Chun Chien did well to finished third on a total of 1838 while Doubles and Trios Gold medalist, Toshihiko Takahashi took 4th spot with 1793.

Cheng Chao Sheng (TPE-1778), Wang Tien Fu (TPE-1777), Choi Ki Bong (KOR-1753), Yang Nien Hua (TPE-1736), Lee Young Jun (KOR-1728) and Song Young Seok (KOR-1723) finished from 5th to 10th places respectively.

Meanwhile, Japan's Ayano Katai topped the Women's division with a superb performance to total 1944 and higher than the men's scores. The leader was 119 pins ahead of her nearest challenger and local crowd favourite Cha Mi Jung who took second spot with 1826. Chinese Taipei's Tsai Hsin Yi finished third with a total of 1811, a further 15 pins away.

The Men will be continuing their 2nd block finals to determine the top 3 for the stepladder finals while the women will continue their 2nd block tomorrow morning (29th April).

Scores and photos courtesy of Dr. Danny Santos, FIQ Secretary General.

27th April, Ulsan: Chinese Taipei won their first Gold medal of the 20th East Asian Championship when they triumphed in the Women's Team event while the Korean team took the Gold in the Men's division.

The Taiwanese, who led in the first block yesterday, survived a last minute attempt by the home team Korea and hung on to the lead to eventually win their first Gold medal in the championship. Wang Yi Fen, Pan Yu Fen, Hung Shu Chun, Chien Hsiu Lan and Tsai Hsin Yi took the well-deserved win with only 26 pins ahead of the Koreans on a combined score of 6157.

Korea's Cha Mi Jung, Han Hye Young, Lee Ma Eum, Kang Hyun Jin and Kim Soo Kyung gave their best but had to settle for the Silver medal with 6131.

Japan's Naoko Sekine, Kazumi Sato, Miki Nishimura, Ayano Katai and Hiroko Shimizu could only managed to score 6002 for the Bronze medal. China finished fourth and picked up 1 point with 5936.

Hiroko Shimizu won her fourth Gold medal of the competition after topping the final Women's All-Events with a total of 5204. Korea's Kim Soo Kyung took the Silver with 5067 while Miki Nishimura settle for the Bronze medal with 5046.

The Men's Team event Gold medal went to the home team after Lee Young Jun, Son Young Seok, Jun Bung Oh, Choi Ki Bong and Choi Jong In totalled 6671 for an easy win. The Koreans were a massive 229 pins ahead of the Japanese. Toshihiko Takahashi, Tomokatsu Yamashita, Tomoyuki Sasaki, Koichi Kawada and Masahiro Hibi could only managed 6442 for the Silver medal.

China scored their first medal by claiming the Bronze with 6246. The team had Liu Shao Yi, Ou Zhi Biao, Ma Xiao Ran, Zhang Ye and Lu Jian Hua playing in the first block while Xu Zhan Kui substituted in the second block for Ou Zhi Biao.

Korea's Choi Jong In confirmed the Men's All-Events Gold medal after another fine display in the team event. His score of 5528 was 165 pins

ahead of Toshihiko Takahashi of Japan who clinged on to the Silver by just 1 pin from Korea' Lee Young Jun who settled for the Bronze on 5362.

Japan maintained the lead in the Women's medal table with 4 Gold, 1 Silver and 2 Bronze medals while Korea has taken over the lead in the Men's table with 2 Gold and 3 Bronze medals. But Japan continue to top the Overall table with 6 Gold, 4 Silver and 2 Bronze medals for a total of 48 points. Korea is in second spot with 3 Gold, 4 Silver and 2 Bronze medals on 39 points. Chinese Taipei with 1 Gold, 2 Silver and 2 Bronze medals is in a distant 3rd on 16 points.

Scores and photos courtesy of Dr. Danny Santos, FIQ Secretary General.

27th April, Ulsan: Japan continued to dominate the 20th East Asian Championship when the first block leader won the Men's Trios Gold medal with Chinese Taipei in second and Korea in third.

The combination of Singles Gold medalist, Masahiro Hibi, Toshihiko Takahashi and Tomokatsu Yamashita paid dividend when the trio romped home to a sweat victory for Japan after their counterpart finished 1-2 in the Women's Trios earlier. The Japanese team scored a combined total of 4020 for the Gold and 73 pins ahead of the strong-finishing Taiwanese.

Cheng Fang Yu, Wang Tuen Fu and Chen Chun Chien again played second fiddle when they settled for the Silver finishing second to the Japanese with 3947. Korea's Kim Dae Sung, Choi Ki Bong and Jun Bung Oh could not keep up with the fast pace and fizzle out into third spot with 3841.

After a hectic 21 games over 3 days, Choi Jong In continued to lead the Men's All-Events standings with a total score of 4861. Japan's Toshihiko Takahashi maintained second position with 4783 followed by Lee Young Jun in third on 4743.

Triple Gold medalist, Hibi Masahiro of Japan, who did not score well in the Doubles event made up grounds with a superb 1420 in the Trios event to bring him up to 4th with a total of 4728 and in contention for yet another medal.

The Japanese men also lead the Men's medal standings with 2 Gold, 1 Silver and a 4th placing on 14 points with Korea in second with 1 Gold, 2 Bronze medals and a 4th placing on 10 points. Japan is on course to break the record by their leading the overall medal tally with 5 Gold, 2 Silver and two 4th placings for a massive 33 points followed by Korea in second with 1 Gold, 2 Silver, 3 Bronze medals and two 4th placings for 19 points.

Photos courtesy of Dr. Danny Santos, FIQ Secretary General.

27th April, Ulsan: Japan claimed their fourth Gold medal in 20th East Asian Championship at Hyundai Art Bowling Centre this morning when the women finished 1-2 in the Trios event with Chinese Taipei in third.

Japan's Kazumi Sato, Mai Takasaka and Miki Nishimura, who had only 22 pins lead in the first block, stretched their lead as soon as the second block commenced this morning and went on to claim Japan's 4th Gold medal of the championship with a combined total of 3836.

Their teammates, Naoko Sekine, Ayano Katai and anchored by two Gold medalist, Hiroko Shimizu improved from third and hung on to complete a 1-2 finish for Japan to clinch the Silver medal with 3700 while Chinese Taipei's Chien Hsiu Lan, Pan Yu Fen and Tsai Hsin Yi settled for for the Bronze with 3693.

After a gruelling 21 games, Japans' Hiroko Shimizu continued her lead in the Women's All-Events standings and look set to win her third Gold. Hiroko's total of 4593 is 163 pins ahead of her nearest opponent and teammate Miki

Nishimura who improved to second with 4430. Asian Championship triple Gold medalist, Kim Soo Kyung and Chinese Taipei's Tsai Hsin Yi dropped to third and fourth with 4395 and 4370 respectively.

The Japanese women dominated by taking all the 3 Gold medals so far to lead the Women's medal standings with 3 Gold, 1 Silver and a 4th placing on 19 points with Chinese Taipei in second with 1 Silver and 2 Bronze medals on 7 points. Japan stretched their lead in overall medal tally with 4 Gold, 2 Silver and 2 4th placings on a massive 28 points followed by Korea in second with 1 Gold, 1 Silver, 2o Bronze medals and a 4th placing for 13 points.

Photos courtesy of Dr. Danny Santos, FIQ Secretary General.