27th September, Bangkok: Four-time TV finalist and 2013 champion, Sean Rash of Montgomery, Ill., clinched Round 3 victory of the 2019 PBA-WBT World Bowling Tour Thailand from pace-setter, Wes Malott of Pflugerville, Texas on Friday evening.
2013 Asian Youth Singles gold medallist, Chong Jun Foo of Malaysia got off the round with a sizzling 264 in his opening game to lead Malott by 6 pins as top Japanese pro, Shota Kawazoe also rolled a strong game of 254 for third. Anthony Simonsen of Little Elm, Texas and Chris Barnes of Double Oak, Texas tied fourth spot with 242.
It did not take long for Malott to move into the lead after another superb game of 238, going 16 pins ahead of Kawazoe in second with Chong and Simonsen tieing third position, a further 21 pins away. Michael Tang of Las Vegas, Nev., who started off with 209 and 245 in his first two games, added 237 in the third to take over the running.
Hong Kong's Wu Siu Hong posted a stunning 278 to take up second, just one pin behind Tang. Simonsen remained in third while Malott stumbled to a 176 to slip down to fifth behind the Malaysian in fourth.
Sean Rash clinching victory in his last two games
Tang continuied to lead the pack with 214 in the fourth game but Malott bounced back with 227 to move back up into second. Another Malaysian, Ahmad Muaz had a strong run to move into third with Simonsen and Chong in the top 5. Rash, who had an inconsistent first four games, eventually settled down and picked up good pace. Malott regained the lead with 237 in the fifth game. Rash fired a big game of 268 to leapfrog into third.
Wu moved up into second, 18 pins behind Malott with Muaz, Chong and Simonsen making up the minor places. Rash wrapped up the round with 237 to take victory with 1354. Malott downed 192 to finish second with 1328.
Wu managed 198 to finish third with 1316 while Simonsen and Chong completed the top 5 with 1306 and 1300 respectively. Tommy Jones of Simpsonville, S.C., Muaz and Tang finished sixth to eighth while Singapore's Cheah Ray Han and AJ Johnson rounded out the top 10.
2018 World Men's Championships Masters gold medallist, Mitch Hupe of Canada finished 11th. Kyle Troup of Taylorsville, N.C. made the cut in 12th position with 1250. Wesley Low of USA suffered a 3-6-7 split in his final frame to end up 13th, missing the cut by 2 pins.
Round 2 winner, Atchariya Cheng of Thailand crashed out after finishing a disappointing 24th position. Kawazoe and Barnes also failed to make the cut despite a promising start.
The top 12 alongside qualifiers ranked 1 to 8, advanced to Round 4 finals for a final 6 games. The top 7 plus the top Thai outside the top 7 at the end of Round 4 finals will proceed to the TV Shootout finals.
Photos by Terence Yaw in Bangkok.
Wes Malott setting the eraly pace but finished second to Rash
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