7th March, Manila: Top-seed Ku Yung Jin of Korea captured the 2004 Euromed-Storm International Masters Challenge title after surviving a strong challenge from Finland's Lasse Lintila at Pearl Bowling Centre.

The Koreans had a field day in the round-robin finals this morning after finishing 1-2-3 and taking three of the four stepladder finals spots. Leading the charge was Ku Yung Jin who completed the finals with 2022 total plus bonus and a comfortable 94 pins cushion over ABT Singapore Raking Leg champion Kim Eun Jung with 1928. Kim Young Pil took third spot with 1907 while the last and final spot of the stepladder went to Finland's Lasse Lintila on 1806.

Yung Jin was forced into the second and sudden-death match after lossing the first to Lasse Lintila 216-269. But consistency proved decisive when Ku again scored 216 to over-power the Finn who could only manage 203 in the deciding match. The relatively unknown Yung Jin took home the top prize of US$20,000 for the win while Lintila won himself US$10,000 for his effort.

Lintila settled for second and US$10,000 despite winning all his previous stepladder matches. He narrowly defeated 3rd-seed Kim Young Pil 242-222 in the first match and then went on to oust Kim Eun Jung 222-213 before going for a crack at the title. Kim Eun Jung, the only female to make the round-robin finals did extremely well against her male counterparts to reach this far and finishing 3rd.

Singapore's Lim Zhong, who missed the cut for the stepladder finals finished 5th on 1784 in the round-robin finals followed by Filipino Tyrone Ongpauco of TBAM-Prima-Euromed in 6th with 1774. Another Filipino, Frederick Ong took 7th position with 1705 while Australia's Jason Belmonte finished a dismal 8th and last with 1525.

Photos courtesy of MTBC. No photo of the champion was supplied by the organiser.

6th March, Manila: Korean bowlers dominated the semifinals of the Euromed-Storm International Masters Challenge at Peral Bowling Centre this morning with Ku Yung Jin taking over the lead with Kim Eun Jung in second.

Ku, who trailed quarterfinals leader Lasse Lintila from Finland by 2 pins today showed consistency throughout the 10-game semifinals to take over the lead with a score of 2424. Ku only managed to hang on to the lead by 6 pins from ABT Singapore Leg champion, Kim Eun Jung on 2415. Lintila dropped to third spot but only 14-pins away with 2410.

The Koreans almost took the top three positions when Kim Young Pil finished 4th with 2370 followed by Filipino Frederick Ong of PBAP-Bowlmart in 5th place with 2254. 12th Asian Youth Championship two Gold medalist, Jason Belmonte from Australia showed consistency to finish 6th with 2235 while Singapore's Lim Zhong finished 7th with 2234. Another Filipnio Tyrone Ongpauco of TBAM-Prima Euromed squeezed into the next stage in 8th spot with 2231 just 5 pins ahead of the unlucky Wu Siu Hong from Hong Kong in 9th with 2226.

Many world-class bowlers who were expected to move into the next round missed the cut. They were Filipino lass Lisa del Rosario (12th-2183), Purvis Granger (13th-2182), Sweden's Martin Larsen (15th-2147), Singapore's Remy Ong (16th-2116) and 2003 AMF World Cup champion C.J. Suarez (21st-2077).

The top 8 have made the cut for Sunday's round-robin finals. At the end of the finals, the top 4 will move on to the stepladder grand finals.

Photos courtesy of MTBC.

5th March, Manila: 1999 World Championship Trios Gold medalist, Lasse Lintila from Finland took pole position after this morning's quarterfinals of the Euromed-Storm International Masters Challenge at Peral Bowling Centre.

The 36 year-old Finish national team member had three high games over the 10-games quarterfinals of 279 and back-to-back 289 for a total score of 2336 to lead 24 qualifiers into the semifinals just two pins ahead of Korea's Ku Yung Jin with 2334. Lintila had lines of 201, 193, 279, 229, 261, 289, 289, 222, 235 and 245 for an impressive average of 233.6.

Sixty-five pins behind the leader came 2003 Asian Ranked No. 1, Wu Siu Hong who knocked down 2271 for third spot one pin ahead of 12th Asian Youth Championship two Gold medalist, Jason Belmonte from Australia in fourth position with 2270. AVIVA ABT Grand Slam Champion, Purvis Granger kept in touch with the leaders in fifth with 2230 while top qualifier and ABT Singapore Leg champion, Kim Eun Jung finished sixth on 2226.

Jung Tae Hwa (KOR-2225), 2003 AMF World Cup champion, C.J. Suarez (PHI-2207), Martin Larsen (SWE-2191) and Kim Young Pil (KOR-2191) completed the top ten from 7th to 10th positions respectively.

Notable world-class bowlers who failed to make it to the next round were ABT Indonesia Leg champion Vanessa Fung (25th-2105) from Hong Kong, 2003 World Championship Masters Silver medalist Liza Clutario (27th-2098) of PBAP-Bowlmart, 12th Asian Youth Championship two Gold medalist, Valerie Teo (29th-2078) from Singapore, 36th Singapore Open champion Dino Castillo (33rd-2041) from USA, 2002 World Ranking Masters champion Jennifer Tan (38th-2010) and Malaysian Open champion Azidi Ameran (44th-1942) from Malaysia.

The top 24 bowlers will proceed to the semifinals tomorrow, Saturday 6th for another 10 games during which the top 8 will make the cut for the round-robin finals. At the end of the finals, the top 4 will move on to the stepladder grand finals.

Photos courtesy of MTBC.

3rd March, Manila: AVIVA Asian Bowling Tour Singapore Ranking Leg champion, Kim Eun Jung from Korea stormed into the lead of the Euromed-Storm International Masters Challenge qualifying table with an incredible 1563 scoreline.

Kim, the 31 year-old 2003 ABT Grand Slam quaterfinalist, showed a clean pair of heels to her male opponent to knock down 872 in the first series and 691 in the second for an incredible 1563 total and an average of 249.83 scratch. Although the leader had a 64-pin handicap, she still managed to score 1499 to overtake previous leader, Cecilia Yap (PBAP-Bowlmart) by 11 pins.

Cecilia, who won the Trios Gold medal in the 2003 World Championship, settled for second in the table with 1488 ahead of another Korean, Ku Yung Jin in third with 1479. ABT Indonesia Leg champion, Wu Siu Hong from Hong Kong improved from 21st to take up 4th place with a fine display scoring 1477 while Singapore Open Masters champion, Dino Castillo of USA qualified in 5th with 1475 after a disappointing 1127 first attempt yesterday.

6th Asian Schools Masters Gold medalist, Sharon Limansantoso (PBAP-Bowlmart) dropped to 6th to tie with Malaysian National Champion, Jonathan Lim who also made the finals with 1443. Australia's George Frilingos settled for 8th spot with 1440 followed by Busan Asian Games Trios Gold medalist, Sam Goh of Singapore in 9th position on 1435. 2003 AMF World Cup champion, C.J. Suarez took up the top 10 position in 10th with 1434.

Other world-class bowlers competing in this prestigious championship were 2003 World Championship Team Gold medalist - Martin Larsen (SWE-1428) in 12th, 1999 World Championship Trios Gold medalist - Lasse Lintila (FIN-1417) in 16th, 2003 World Championship Masters Silver medalist, Liza Clutario (PBAP-Bowlmart-1404) in 18th, Busan Asian Games triple Gold medalist, Ramy Ong (SIN-1398), ABT Grand Slam champion, Liza del Rosario (PBAP-Bowlmart-1392), 2002 World Ranking Masters champion, Jennifer Tan (SIN-1392), 2003 Malaysian Open Champion, Azidi Ameran (MAS-1392) all tieing in 23rd, ABT Grand Slam champion, Purvis Granger (PBAP-Bowlmart-1379) in 31st, Jason Belmonte (AUS-1359) in 36th and Andres Gomez (COL-1336) in 43rd position.

Qualifying will end tomorrow, Thursday, 4th March where the top 48 bowlers will qualify for Stage 1 10 games roll-off. The top 24 at the end of roll-off will make the cut for Stage 2 for another 10 games. 8 bowlers will then bowl in the 7 plus 1 round-robin matchplay Stage 3 and thereafter the top 4 will proceed to the stepladder grand finals.

Photos courtesy of ESPN Star Sports.

2nd March, Manila: World Championship Trios Gold medalist and early leader Cecilia Yap of the Philippines maintained her lead in the qualifying table of the Euromed-Storm International Masters Challenge at Pearl Bowling Centre.

Cecilia (PBAP-Bowlmart) who scored 737 in the first series and 751 in the second for a total of 1488, maintained her lead after 5 days of qualifying round. Newcomer, Ku Yung Jin from Korea stormed into second spot with a fine display to knock down 713 in the first series and 766 in the second for a total of 1479. 6th Asian Schools two Gold medalist, Sharon Limansantoso (PBAP-Bowlmart) from Indonesia dropped one spot to third with 1443.

Another newcomer, George Frilingos of Australia finished 4th with a score of 1440 just 6 pins ahead of 2003 AMF World Champion champion, C.J. Suarez (PBAP-Bowlmart-Paperclips) in 5th on 1434. World Championship Masters Silver medalist, Liza Clutario dropped 2 spots from 4th to tie in 6th position with World Championship Team Gold medalist, Martin Larsen of Sweden and Joonee Gatchalian (DATBI) with 1428. Korea's Kang Seong Yu (1423) and Sandra Sageran from Singapore finished in the top 10 in 9th and 10th respectively.

Other notable top bowlers competiting in the championship were Robert Andersson (11th-1404) from Sweden, Liza del Rosario (tie 13th-1392), Lee Sung Il from Korea (tie 13th-1392), Jennifer Tan (tie 13th-1392) from SIngapore, Azidi Ameran (tie 13th-1392) from Malaysia, Purvis Granger (20th-1379) of PBPA-Bowlmart, Wu Siu Hong (21st-1373) from Hong Kong, Jerry Castro (33rd-1314), Valerie Teo (38th-1302) from Singapore and Jason Belmonte (53rd-1256) from Australia.

Qualifying continues through to Thursday, 4th March where the top 48 bowlers will qualify for Stage 1 10 games roll-off. The top 24 at the end of roll-off will make the cut for Stage 2 for another 10 games. 8 bowlers will then bowl in the 7 plus 1 round-robin matchplay Stage 3 and thereafter the top 4 will proceed to the stepladder grand finals.

Photos courtesy of MTBC.

29th February, Manila: World Championship Trios Gold medalist Cecilia Yap of the Philippines led the qualifying table of the Euromed-Storm International Masters Challenge underway at Pearl Bowling Centre.

Cecilia was in fine form to score 737 in the first series and 751 in the second for a total of 1488 to lead 6th Asian Schools two Gold medalist, Sharon Limansantoso from Indornesia in second with 1443. Both the ladies are representing Team PBAP-Bowlmart in this tournament. Biboy Rivera (Team-Prima) tied third spot with 2003 AMF World Champion champion, C.J. Suarez (PBAP-Bowlmart-Paperclips) 10 pins further away on 1434.

Jonnee Gatchalian (DATBI) took 5th spot with a score of 1428 followed by Sweden's Robert Andersson in 6th position with 1404 and Irene Benitez (PBAP-Euromed) in 7th with 1399.

ABT Grand Slam champions, Liza del Rosario and Purvis Granger both from Team PBAP-Bowlmart took 8th and 9th positions with 1392 and 1379 respectively. Chester King (PBAP-Bowlmart) took up 10th position with a score of 1359.

Qualifying continues through to Thursday, 4th March where the top 48 bowlers will qualify for Stage 1 10 games roll-off. The top 24 at the end of roll-off will make the cut for Stage 2 for another 10 games. 8 bowlers will then bowl in the 7 plus 1 round-robin matchplay Stage 3 and thereafter the top 4 will proceed to the stepladder grand finals.

Photos courtesy of MTBC.