19th Asian Youth Tenpin Bowling Championships
Korea sweeps Masters gold medals
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28th October, Manila: Park Geon Ha and Lee Jung Min Korea concluded the 19th Asian Youth Tenpin Bowling Championships by dominating the Boy's and Girl's Masters finals to claim their fifth ans sixth gold medals of the competition.

Top seed, Park easily beat challenger and second-seed, Paolo M. Hernandez of Indonesia in the first match of the two-game total final, 225-171 to ake a 54 pins lead. Although the second match was a much tighter encounter which saw the Korean winning 248-245, Park sealed his first individual gold medal, 473-416.

Hernandez earned a crack at the title after he trashed team-mate and third-seed, Billy Muhammad Islam, 277-192 in the all-Indonesian first match. Hernandez and Islam picked the silver and bronze medals. The champion led from start to finish after taking over the lead at the start of the second block.


Park Geon Ha with his first individual gold medal

Park won six straight matches with 266, 233, 203, 259, 239, 278 before losing the 15th match with 213. But the 20-year-old Korea National Sports University student won his position-round match against Hernandez to claim top seed with 3665 over the two blocks.

Hernandez trailed Park most of the way to end the second block with a 16-match total of 3560 to finish second. Block 1 leader, Islam managed only four wins in the second block to finish third with 3557 and the third and final stepladder spot.

Lee Ju Hyung of Korea, who was second in the first block missed the cut with 3481 from only three wins while Blayne Fletcher of Australia, who was third in the first block, dropped down to fifth to complete the top five with 3448.

Korea topped the Boy's Medal Tally with four gold and a bronze medal. Their first came from the Doubles, their second from the Team of 4, third from the All Events and fourth from the Masters. Malaysia was the only other country to win a gold in the Singles.

Bahrain two silver and one bronze while Indonesia took home two silver and one bronze medal. Japan won one silver and Saudi Arabia two bronze medals.


Paolo M. Hernandez and Billy M. Islam with their silver and bronze

Meanwhile, third-seed Lee Jung Min added Korea's seventh gold medal after she defeated top-seed and twice silver medallist, Nur Amirah Auni of Malaysia, 446-381 in the final match.

Lee easily defeated the Malaysian, 212-163 in the first match and 234-218 in the second match.

Lee had earlier dispatched another Malaysian, second-seed and first block leader, Faten Najihah, 258-211 to face the top seed. Nur Amirah took over the lead at the start of the second block winning the ninth match with 266.

Although the Malaysian lost her tenth match, Nur Amirah bounced back by winning all her remaining matches to seal top spot with 3500 over the two blocks.

Faten kept pace with her team-mate to make the stepladder finals in second with 3456. The Korean edged team-mate and Singles gold medallist, Kim Ye Sol by 39 pins to earn the third and final stepladder spot with 3408.


Third-seed, Lee Jung Min with her first gold medal

Kim finished fourth with 3369 while a third Malaysian, Nur Ameerahusna rounded out the top five with 3343. Korea also topped the Girl's Medal Tally with three gold, one silver and one bronze medal.

Singapore finished second with one gold and one silver while Japan took third spot with one gold and two bronze medals.

Korea emerged as Overall Champion with a total medal haul of 7-1-2. Malaysia finished second with 1-3-1, Japan third with 1-1-1 and Singapore fourth with 1-1-0.

Sixty boys and thirty-four girls from fifteen countries participated in this year's championships host by Philippine Bowling Federation at the 38-lane Coronado Lanes, EDSA Starmall, Mandaluyong.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Manila.


Silver and bronze for Nur Amirah and Faten

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