17th May, Manila: Singapore men dominated the qualifying rounds of the PBF 4th Philippine International Open 2023 by occupying the top five spots of the Men's Open division with 2022 SEA Games Doubles and Team bronze medallist, Darren Ong in pole position.

Ong, who was in seventh position overnight with 1305, improved his lower second 3-game series of 587 to 765 and adding his other 3-game series of 718 to give him a 6-game tally of 1483. His compatriot, Timonthy Tham, who led briefly with 1469, settled for second while Ryan Toh impressed with 1423 for third.

Muhd Jaris Goh and Joyan Khoo rounded out the top five with 1422 and 1369 respectively. 2023 Asian Championships Masters gold medallist, Rafiq Ismail slipped from fourth overnight to sixth position with 1353.

In the local pool, Zach Ramin and Ivan Malig retained first and second positions with 1413 and 1406. 2019 PBF 3rd Philippine Open Youth Open champion, Jordan Dinham improved from fifth to third with 1401. Patrick Nuqui, Kenzo Umali and Marc Custodio took up fourth to sixth positions.

In the women's division, overnight leader and first perfect gamer, Jazreel Tan of Singapore remained in top position with 1320. 2022 SEA Games Team silver medallist, Nerosha Keligit of Malaysia, notched up 624 and 695 to move into second spot with 1319.

Charmaine Chang of Singapore slipped down to thrid with 1317 pushing out defending champion, Amabel Chua of Singapore of a chance of securing a Round 1 bye. 2019 Asian Championships Masters gold medallist, Esther Cheah of Malaysia missed the top 3 cut by 15 pins finishing fourth with 1288.

2017 QubicaAMF World Cup champion, Krizziah Macatula remained in the lead of the local pool with 1276. Grace Gella and Rachelle Leon also remained in second and third positions with 1274 and 1266 respectively.

Both the top 3 qualifiers in the local and overseas pool will skip Round 1 finals and automatically advance to Round 2. 2022 SEA Games Team silver medallist, Gillian Lim of Malaysia headed the mixed pool of 9 qualifiers for Round 1 finals with 1251.