29th October, Singapore: Malaysian bowlers stamped their presence in the 36th Singapore Open when Ziad Izlan and Sarah Yap shot to the front of the Men's and Women's overseas qualifying table on Day5.

Zaid, the Malaysian national backup squad member took to the lanes at the 11.30am squad to record lines of 233, 227, 224 and 278 to take over pole position of the men's overseas pool with a total of 962.

Zaid is on his first overseas assignment since being recruited into the national squad in a roll-off before the World Championship in September. Dropping to second spot was overnight leader, Kim Jin Han from Korea on 955 followed by another Malaysian, Zulmazran Zulkifli who scored 931.

Zulmazran, who missed the cut for the stepllader finals in the 5th Sinai Open despite scoring a perfect game, hopes to improve on his performance in the Masters finals. Colombia's Andres Gomez improve his earlier score of 866 to 912 to move up to 4th spot.

Singapore's youngster, Faizal Chew maintained his lead in the local pool with a score of 978 followed by Jason Yeong Nathan on 945 while veteran Jack Wong was 3rd with 914.

World Championship Team Gold medalist, Sarah Yap shot to the front of the women's overseas pool with a score of 896 pushing teammate, Tang Joh Six to 3nd position on 847. Korea's Kim Eng Jung moved down to 3rd spot with 841 while 6th Asian Schools Doubles Gold medalist, Voon Kim Leng of Malaysia finished 4th with 830.

There was not much changes in the local front with Catherine Kang still leading the field with 941 followed by ex-international, Regina Lau in 2nd with 920 and 2002 World Ranking Masters champion, Jennifer Tan in 3rd with 895.

Wendy Chai of Malaysia will be defending her title while Qatar's Bandar Al-Shafi was not in Singapore and will not defend his title when the Masters finals gets underway on Friday, 31st October.

For more information, please contact the media center at 65-62241012
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Media released by Octagon RTA, the Event Communications Consultants for the 36th Singapore Open.

28th October, Singapore: World Championship Trios Gold medalist Dino Castillo of USA and Singapore's Remy Ong became the latest participants to join the 900 club as big guns started to fire on Day 4 of the 36th Singapore Open.

Castillo, who has over 35 perfect-sanctioned games, overcame jet lag to score a 905 series (246, 189, 257, 213) in only his second MQ of the day. The 32-year-old is now third in the overseas pool, behind South Koreans Kim Jin Han (955) and Lee Sung Il (910).

"I had to fly from Egypt to London, before getting a flight to Singapore," said Castillo, who won the 5th Sinai Open in Egypt last weekend. "I was a bit jet-lagged last night, but I felt pretty good this morning and I even managed to watch an NLF game before coming to the alley. This is my first trip to Singapore and I'm really excited about this tournament."

Also notching up a score of 905 was local favourite and Asian Games champion Remy Ong. The Singapore national captain improved on his previous day's best of 865 to breach the 900 mark with games of 223, 237,

211 and 234. Ong is now fifth among local qualifiers behind Faizal Chew (978), Jason Yeong Nathan (945), Jack Wong (914) and Rohezan Manaf (911).

"The conditions are pretty fair at the moment," said Ong, who last victory came almost a year ago at this same venue. "It doesn't favour either the right handers or left handers. The standard of competition is very high and you can expect good scores in the next few days. You will probably have to go above 880 to be assured of a place in this weekend's Masters."

Defending champion Wendy Chai notched up a day high 277 and led teammates Choy Poh Lai and Shalin Zukifli to the top of the trios event with a team total 1237. Lai Kin Ngoh, Sarah Yap and Sharon Chai were not far behind with 1222 team total, but significantly in front of Singapore's best of Jennifer Tan, Evelyn Chan and Alice Tay who had a 1188 total on Monday.

With the Philippines world champions trios team of Liza del Rosario, Liza Cultario and Cecilia Yap all set to take to the lanes tomorrow, expect to see changes on the leaderboard.

At press-time, Catherine Kang and Regina Lau continued to lead all women qualifiers with 941 and 920 respectively.

The 36th Singapore Open was also officially declared opened by guest of honour, the Minister for Defence and President, Singapore National Olympic Council, Rear Admiral Teo Chee Hean at a special ceremony this evening. After a parade of nations, Radm Teo handed a bowling ball to Special Olympics bowler Eric Foo who delivered the ceremonial roll-off.

A Charity Bowl was conducted after the opening ceremony with all proceeds going to needy school children under the Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund. A total of 32 corporations and individuals pledged between $300 and $500 to enter a team of three to participate in the Charity Bowl. Each team was also anchored by a national bowler competing in the Singapore Open. Among the star bowlers who took part in this fund-raiser was Australia's Jason Belmonte, Philippines Del Rosaro, Malaysia's Zukifli, and American Castillo.

Well-wishers also donated $1 for every pinfall accumulated by a team of four Special Olympics bowlers in game one of the Charity Bowl. In total, a sum of $12,000 was raised for the Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund.

For more information, please contact the media center at 65-62241012
Kelvin Phang Tel: 65-92375118, Email: kelvin.phang@octagon.com
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Media released by Octagon RTA, the Event Communications Consultants for the 36th Singapore Open.

27th October, Singapore: Korea's Kim Jin Han and Singapore's Catherine Kang took over the lead of the Men's and Women's Open Masters qualifiers on Day 3 of the 36th Singapore International Open at Victor's Superbowl.

Kim Jin Han scored 955 to take the lead in the Men's overseas pool briefly only to loose the lead to local youth, Faizal Chew who stormed into the lead with a score of 978. Apart from leading the local pool, Faizal leads overall in the men's qualifying table dislodging Jason Nathan Yeong into 2nd spot with 945 scored on the first day of competition.

Former national bowler, Jack Wong who was occupying top spot in the mixed pool with a score of 836, improved on his qualifying round to move up to 3rd spot in the local pool. The 51 year-old winner of the 1987 Singapore Open and twice winner of the Malaysian Open (1994 and 1995) downed 914 pinfalls.

Another local, Rohezan Abd Manaf finished 4th with 911 just one pin ahead of 2001 ABT Grand Slam champion, Lee Sung Il of Korea on 910.

National keglers and SEA Games Trios Gold medalists, Sam Goh and Lee Yu Wen shared 5th spot with 883.

In the women's division, Singapore's Catherine Kang took over the lead from former national, Regina Lau scoring 941. Catherine will be hoping maintain her form especially after finishing 2nd runner-up of the Guam International Open just two weeks ago.

World Ranking Masters 2002 champion, Jennifer Tan also improved to maintain 3rd spot with 895 while Ong She-na (835) and Michelle Kwang (829) took up 4th and 5th places respectively.

There were no changes in the overseas pool with Malaysia's Tang Joh Six still in top spot with 847 followed by Kim Eun Jung of Korea in 2nd with 841 while Indonesia's Tan Bie Sian in 3rd with 803.

Qualification continues tomorrow and the Masters finals will be held on Nov 1 and 2. Admission to the 36th Singapore Open is free.

For more information, please contact the media center at 65-62241012
Kelvin Phang Tel: 65-92375118, Email: kelvin.phang@octagon.com
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Media released by Octagon RTA, the Event Communications Consultants for the 36th Singapore Open.

26th October, Singapore: Former Singapore national bowler Regina Lau grabbed the limelight with a blistering 4-game series of 920 to take pole position of the Women's Open Masters qualifiers in the 36th Singapore International Open at Victor's Superbowl on Day 2.

The 35-year-old representative of Seletar Country Club notched up scores of 204, 257, 182 and 277 to lead all women qualifiers during her third MQ of the day. Her eight-bagger and nine-bagger efforts in game two and four respectively on lanes 13 and 14 delighted a sizeable crowd at Victor's Superbowl.

"When I bowled my first MQ this morning, I decided that the outside line was the right area to adopt," said Lau, who represented Singapore in the 1994 Asian Games in Hiroshima. "I decided to go for three more MQs in the afternoon and I'm delighted to get a good score. I'm really looking forward to next Saturday's Masters finals."

Lau will be hoping to be third time lucky at the Singapore Open. In 1994, she was the top qualifier, but was unable to take part in the Masters final due to a

bereavement in her family. The hook bowler left the bowling scene after the 1995 season in which she competed in the World FIQs. The mother of one only made a comeback to bowling late last year, but failed to make the cut in January's 35th Singapore Open.

"I love my bowling," said Lau, when asked whether she would consider a return to regular international competition. "But I doubt I will attempt a comeback into the national team. I'm now running my own family business and I can't afford the time and commitment."

Veteran Catherine Kang remained second in the local pool at 858, while 2002 World Ranking Masters Jennifer Tan stayed in third with 851.

The first of the overseas competitors have arrived and Malaysia's Tang Joh Six, winner of July's PBAP-Bevida Storm International Classic, topped the overseas pool with an 847 (224, 224, 215, 184) series at press-time.

There were no significant changes on the men's leaderboard today. At press-time, Jason Yeong Nathan stayed top with a 945 series. Rohezan Abd Manaf trailed in second with 911, veteran Sam Goh is third at 883, while Asian Games champion Remy Ong remained sixth with 865.

Qualification continues tomorrow and the Masters finals will be held on Nov 1 and 2. Admission to the 36th Singapore Open is free.

For more information, please contact the media center at 65-62241012
Kelvin Phang Tel: 65-92375118, Email: kelvin.phang@octagon.com
Ken Yong Tel: 65-90601774, Email: ken.yong@octagon.com

Media released by Octagon RTA, the Event Communications Consultants for the 36th Singapore Open.

25th October, Singapore: National bowler Jason Yeong Nathan outshined his older teammates by bowling an impressive 4-game series of 945 to lead Men's Open Masters qualifiers on Day 1 of the 36th Singapore International Open at Victor's Superbowl.

The Ngee Ann Polytechnic student adapted well to the lane conditions at Victor's Superbowl and scored 259, 236, 238 and 212 during the afternoon session. Shaun Ng, Singapore's representative to the recent 39th AMF World Cup, was 66 pins behind in second with a 879 series, while spinner David Wong notched up a 867 series.

Veteran Sam Goh, who last won the Singapore Open in 1986, is currently fourth with 866, while national bowling captain Remy Ong is at 865.

"It was a decent start for me," said Ong, whose last win came almost a year ago at the Santa Claus Open at Victor's, the same venue for this year's Singapore Open. "Hopefully, it will be enough for me to qualify for next Saturday's Masters. I've always enjoyed bowling at this venue. But today is only the first day of a long tournament and anything can happen. We should be seeing some pretty high scores when the overseas bowlers arrive."

Over in the women's events, veteran Catherine Kang scored 858 to lead all qualifiers, while 2002 World Ranking Masters Jennifer Tan was close behind with 851 and Yap Seok Kim was third with 823.

The 36th Singapore Open offers some $100,000 in prize money with $20,000 and $5,000 going to the men and women's champion respectively. No Singaporean bowler has won the men's title since 1988 and there will be a new champion this year as Qatar's Bandar Al-Shafi will not be returning to defend his title.

Some 300 bowlers from 14 countries are taking part and several gold medallists from last month's 15th WTBA World Tenpin Bowling Championships are expected to arrive early next week.

An exceptionally strong women's field is expected as Philippines will be sending their trios world champions of Lisa del Rosario, Liza Cultario and Cecilia Yap, while Malaysia will be sending its team world champions of Shalin Zukifli, Wendy Chai, Sharon Chai, Choy Poh Lai and Sarah Yap. Chai will be aiming to complete her hat trick of Singapore Open titles after winning the last two editions.

Other overseas bowlers expected in the men's competition include Guam sensation Duane 'Big Daddy' Camacho (Far East Asian champion and World Championships singles bronze medallist), former American PBA bowler Purvis Granger, 2001 Asian number one Wu Siu Hong and other bowling superstars from the Aviva Asian Bowling Tour.

Qualification continues tomorrow and the Masters finals will be held on Nov 1 and 2. Admission to the 36th Singapore Open is free.

For more information, please contact the media center at 65-62241012
Kelvin Phang Tel: 65-92375118, Email: kelvin.phang@octagon.com
Ken Yong Tel: 65-90601774, Email: ken.yong@octagon.com

Media released by Octagon RTA, the Event Communications Consultants for the 36th Singapore Open.