18th June, Kaoshiung: Korea emerged as overall champion of the 23rd East Asian Pacific Championship when Lee Na Hyun captured the final gold medal of the Women's Masters event defeating teammate, Han Ji Hye.

In the all-Korean finals, Lee took the first game, 215-203 in the best of 3 games finals to go one up. Lee only needed a second game to clinch the gold after winning the second game, 236-224 giving the Korean women their fifth gold and the country's eighth.

The third seed also eliminated two fellow compatriots to reach the finals. She first ousted sixth seed, Choi Hae Yun, 2-0 in the quarter-finals before beating second seed, Kim Hyun Mi by the same margin in the semi-final match.

Han, who was seeded fifth, edged fourth seed, Maki Sano of Japan, 2-1 in the quarter-finals and top seed, Park Ju Yong, 2-1 in the first semi-final match before going down to Lee in the finals to settle for the silver medal.

Because of the rule that only two bowlers from the same country can be awarded a medal, Japan's Maki Sano and Chinese Teipei's Wang Ya-Ting were awarded the bronze medals.

Korea totally dominated the championship with their prowess by emerging as overall champion with 8 gold, 8 silver and 4 bronze medals. The women contributed 5 golds while the men picked up 3.

Chinese Taipei finished second with 3-2-4 while Japan went home with 1-2-11. Macau and Guam won 2 and 1 bronze medal respectively leaving Hong Kong empty handed.

Photos courtesy of CTBA.

17th June, Kaoshiung: Fifth seed, Yang Nien-Hua of Chinese Taipei, bagged the Men's Masters gold medal of the 23rd East Asian Pacific Championship at the Happy Bowling Center on Tuesday evening.

Yang Nien-Hua reached the finals having to dispatch three of his teammates. The fifth seed sailed through to the quarter-finals defeating 12th seed, Lai Ka Long of Hong Kong, 2-0 in the best of 3 games Masters eilimation Top 16 round.

Yang had to work harder in the quarter-finals against fellow compatriot and 10th seed, Shu Liang-Chen. Yang lost the first game, 181-228 but rebounded with 205-199 to draw level. The third game was an easier win crusing to a 221-171 for a 2-1 victory to advance to the semi-final.

The youngster had to face another teammate and 15th seed, Ho Cheing-Chen in the semi but this time round had an easier task to book his final spot with a 2-0 victory and meeting Japanese, Toshiya Nozaki.

The Taiwanese was equal to the task when he took the first game, 225-203 but Nozaki went on a strikefest to draw level with 247 to Yang' 233 in the second game. Nerve must have gotten to the Japanese as he failed to repeat his previous game performance going down to Yang, 157-214 in the deciding game.

Yang's victory gave Chinese Taipei men their second gold medal and his country's third. The men won the Trios gold while the women won the Team event yesterday.

Toshiya Nozaki first ousted teammate and third seed, Shota Kawazoe, 2-0 in the Top 16 round and then went on to beat fourth seed, Won Jun Seong of Korea, 2-1 in the quarter-finals.

Nozaki edged another fellow-countryman and sixth seed, Tomoyuki Sasaki, 2-1 in the semi-finals to earn a crack at the Masters title but conceded defeat to settle for the silver medal. The losing semi-finalists, Ho Cheing-Chen and Sasaki took home a bronze medal each.

Photos courtesy of CTBA.

16th June, Kaoshiung: Chinese Taipei women edged favorite, Korea to capture their second gold medal of the 23rd East Asian Pacific Championship Team of 5 event as their men counterpart went down to the Koreans.

Seeded second after the second block of Women's Team of 5 event played yesterday, Pan Yu-Fen, Wang Ya-Ting, Wang Ting-Wen, Li Shiau-Ping and Wang Yu-Ling outshone the third seed Japan, 1046-983 in the second semi-final to advance to the finals.

Korea's Kim Hyun Mi, Lee Na Hyun, Han Ji Hye, Choi Hae Yun and Park Ju Young, who topped the second block with a total of 5964, easily defeated fourth seed, Macau to face the Taiwanese in the finals.

It was a nail bitting finish when the Taiwanese team edged the mighty Koreans, 1075-1072 to win their second gold medal and denying their opponents from picking up another gold.

The Korean women had already collected four gold medals from Singles, Doubles, Trios and All Events before thodya's finals so the Taiwanese ended their winning streak.

The women's counterpart nearly pull off another upset but was unlucky when the Chinese Taipei men lost to the Koreans in the final match, 996-1039 to settle for the silver medal.

Trios gold medalist, Fang Chin-Nan, Yang Nieh-Hua and Shu Liang-Chen teamed up with Wang Chih-Min and Ho Cheng-Chen to beat second seed, Japan 1025-1014 to advance to the finals after they finished third in the second block.

Korea's Park Min Su, Won Jun Seong, Lim Byung Yun, Eom Young Hyun and Koo Seong Hoi, who topped the second block with 6178 and a 275 pins margin, outclassed fourth seed, Macau, 996-793 to face the Taiwanese.

The Koreans proved a handful for the Taiwanese as they cruised to a 1039-996 victory to claim their third gold medal. The Koreans had captured the Singles and All Events gold earlier.

Both the Korean men (3-3-2) and women (4-4-1) lead the medal tally with 7 gold, 7 silver and 3 bronze medals. Chinese Taipei is second with 2 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze medals.

The top 16 men and top 16 women qualified for the Best-of-3 knockout matches where the top seed would face the lowest seed, the second with the second lowest seed and so on. The winner of the first round to advance to the quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals.

Photos courtesy of CTBA.

16th June, Kaoshiung: Chinese Taipei's Fang Chin-Nan, Yang Nien-Hua and Shu Liang-Chen upstaged the Koreans to win the Men's Trios Gold medal in the 23rd East Asian Pacific Championship while the Korean women added their third.

The Chinese Taipei trio, who finished third over two blocks of 3 games, defeated second seed, Japan, 629-577 to set up the final match against the mighty Koreans. Top seed, Park Win Su, Koo Seong Hoi and Eom Young Hyun ousted their fellow compatriots and fourth seed in the other match, 593-522 to advance to the final.

The Taiwanese trio was simply the better team when Fang shot 225, Yang 210 and Shu 201 to upstage the the Koreans, 636-593 to claim their first gold medal of the championship. Park, Koo and Eom settled for the silver medal.

Japan's Tomoyuki Sasaki, Shota Kawazoe and Takashi Taniai and Korea's Park Dong Joon, Won Jun Seong and Lim Byung Yun took home the bronze medals.

Chinese Taipei's hope of a double victory faded when the trio of Pan Yu-Fen, Li Shiau-Ping and Wang Yu-Ling went down to top seed, Kim Hyun Mi, Choi Hae Yun and Park Ju Yong, 570-643 in the semi-final.

Another Korea-Chinese Taipei clash in the other semi also saw second seed, Lee Na Hyun, Kim Joo Yeon amd Han Ji Hye edging Chinese Taipei's Yang Hao-Ting, Wang Ting-Wen and Wan Ya-Ting, 536-530 to set up an all-Korean finals.

The final saw a closely fought match with the Kim-Choi-Park trio winning the gold when they beat Lee-Kim-Han, 555-549 giving their Korean women their third gold and a third 1-2 finish.

Korea totally dominated the All-Events after winning the gold, silver and bronze medals after all the four events were completed yesterday before today's semifinals and finals. The men also walked away with the gold and silver in the Men's All Events.

Photos courtesy of CTBA.

13th June, Kaoshiung: Japan's Tomoyuki Sasaki and Shota Kawazoe prevented another clean sweep by Korea as the duo claimed the Men's Doubles gold medal of the 23rd East Asia Pacific Tenpin Bowling Championships on Friday.

Sasaki and Kawazoe had earlier squeezed into the semi-finals finished fourth in the 6-game Doubles event 70 pins adrift their fellow contrymen, Takashi Taniai and Yuya Watanabe, who topped the field with a total of 2530.

The champion edged their team-mates, 433-414 in the first semi-final match to reach the finals with Sasaki posting 245 and Kawazoe 188. Takashi disappointed with a 157 despite his partner scoring 257.

In the other semi, Chinese Taipei's Fang Chin-Nan and Yang Nien-Hua easily disposed off Korea's Park Min Su and Koo Seong Hoi, 431-335 to set up the match with the Japanese and despite Fang scoring 204 and Yang 213, Sasaki and Kawazoe were simply to good for their opponent.

Japan won their first gold medal with the Taiwanese settling for the silver medal. Japan and Korea picked up the bronze medal as losing semi-finalists.

Meanwhile, Korean women continued to display their prowess as Kim Hyun Mi won her second gold medal with partner, Park Ju Young when the pair defeated their fellow compatriot, Choi Hae Yun and Lee Na Hyun, 410-362 in an all-Korean finals.

Kim and Park, who topped the earlier 6-games Doubles with a team total of 2541, edged fourth seed, Chan Wend Sam and Lam Sou Keng of Macau, 415-403 to reach the finals. Choi and Lee ousted third seed, Nao Ooishi and Maki Sano of Japan, 450-436 in the other semi-final.

Kim posted 193 with Park knocking down 208 to give the pair a 410 total for the victory over their team-mates. Choi and Lee could only manage 186 and 176 for a total of 362 to settle for the silver medal.

Photos courtesy of CTBA.

12th June, Kaoshiung: Korea totally dominated the Singles event on opening day of the 23rd East Asia Pacific Tenpin Bowling Championships as they clinched the Men's and Women's Singles gold medals on Thursday.

Thirty-six men from six countries contested the 6-game Singles event on the opening day which saw Takashi Taniai of Japan, topping the field with a total of 1377 to advance to the single game finals as top seed.

Fellow countryman, Tomoyuki Sasaki finished a close second with 1372, just 5 pins adrift ahead of two Koreans, Park Min Su and Koo Seong Hoi third and fourth with 1342 and 1319 respectively making the semi-finals.

Fourth-seed, Koo Seong Hoi ousted topseed, Takashi Taniai, 223-191 to advance to the finals while third-seed Park Min Su eliminated second-seed, Tomoyuki Sasaki, 238-226 for an all-Korean finals.

In the final match, Park went on a strikefest to romp home a comfortable victory over fellow compatriot, Koo, 279-177 to win the gold medal while Koo took for the silver medal. The two Japanese had to settle for the bronze medals.

In the women's division, topseed, Maki Sano of Japan edged teammate, Rie Totsuka, 188-180 in the semi-final to advance into the finals. In the other all-Korean semi, second-seed Kim Hyun Mi demolished teammate and third-seed, Park Ju Yong, 267-235 to face the Japanese in the final.

Japan was again denied the gold medal when Maki Sano was edged, 226-237 by Kim Hyun Mi and had to settle for silver. Kim gave Korea a great start to the championship with a double victory in the singles event.

Maki Sano had earlier topped the 6-game Singles event with a total of 1432 followed by Kim in second with 1382. Park and Totsuka made the cut for the semi-finals in third and fourth with 1299 and 1279 respectively.

Photos courtesy of CTBA.