25th October, Jakarta: Topseeds, Benshir Layoso of Philippines and Nadia Pramanik of Indonesia needed a second deciding match to win the Men's and Women's Open Masters titles of the 13th Indonesia International Open on Sunday.

Layoso, who ended the Stage 2 finals with an eight-game total of 2040 to advance to the stepladder finals as topseed, lost to challenger, Michael Mak of Hong Kong, 196-217 in the first match forcing a second decider.

The 45-year-old Filipino had an opened frame in the first but bounced back with a double in the third and fourth frames as Mak failed to spare two consecutive frames in the fourth and fifth.

When Layoso had big split in the seventh frame, Mak must have thought he had a chance to close the gap. But the 20-year-old ABF Tour Macau leg champion just could not roll as many strikes as in the first match.

The topseed went on to strike home in the tenth frame to win the match and take the title with 202-162. He also picked up the top prize of 150 million Indonesian rupiah (approx. US$11,000). Mak, who had earlier edged third-seed, Yeri Ramadona of Indonesia and winner of the first match, Alex Liew, 226-210-215, settled for 100 million rupiah.

Fifth-seed and three-time Indonesia Open champion, Liew narrowly won the first match by defeating fourth-seed, Hengki Suasanto of Indonesia and sixth-seed Lee Tak Man of Macau, 194-180-176 to advance to the second match.

Meanwhile, topseed Nadia Pramanik became the third Indonesian and the youngest-ever to have captured Women's crown of the Indonesia Open. But it was no easy victory as she was forced into a second deciding match after losing to challenger, Bernice Lim of Singapore.

The defending champion edged Nadia, 257-246 in the first match but when the Singaporean struggled to repeat the form displayed in the first match, the 20-year-old Indonesian took advantage of it to cruise to a 214-186 victory.

Nadia earned 70 million rupiah for the win while Lim, who had earlier breezed past second-seed, Alisha Imam of Malaysia and winner of the first match, Novie Phang, 240-135-171 in the second match to challenge for the title, took home 35 million rupiah.

Phang clinched the first match with victory over fourth-seed, Aldila Indryati and six-seed, Puteri Astari, 192-158-184 in an all-Indonesian first women's stepladder match.

The champion had earlier topped the Stage 2 finals with 1793, 45 pins ahead of Alisha in second with 1748 and Lim in third with 1735. The three remaining spots went to Indonesians Aldila, Novie and Puteri.

The top 16 Asian men and top 8 Asian women qualified for the ABF Tour Indonesia leg which will ne held tomorrow at 11.00am at Jaya Ancol Bowling Centre.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Jakarta.

24th October, Jakarta: Malaysian men and Indonesian women dominated the Men's and Women's Open Stage 1 finals of the 13th Indonesia International Open after the men finished 1-2-3 and women taking first and third positions.

Last year's ABF Tour Indonesia leg first runner-up, Sonny Njoto of Indonesia had a superb start with a big game of 259 to lead Kim Bolleby of Thailand by one pin. But his lead was brief as compatriot, Yeri Ramadona took over the running after the second game and Sonny slipping to second.

Yeri's lead was also brief when Adrian Ang of Malaysia shot into the lead followed by 2015 ABF Tour Hong Kong leg second runner-up, Syaffique Ikhwan of Malaysia in second and three-time Indonesia champion, Alex Liew third.

Ang kept the lead for another two games but was closely followed by Liew in second. With three remaining games, Liew moved ahead of Ang after the sixth game and went on to win the stage with 1880.

Syaffique got the better of Ang to snatch second spot with 1872, eight pins adrift while Ang settled for third place with 1851. A third lefty, Lee Tak Man finished fourth with 1849 while Wicky Yeung of Hong Kong stormed home with a stunning 279 to complete the top five with 1825.

2012 Indonesia Open champion, Isaac Russell of Malaysia clinched 18th and the cut for tomorrow's Stage 2 finals with 1720, 30 pins ahead of Diwan Rezaldy of Indonesia. The top 18 will be joined by three local and three overseas seeded qualifiers for another eight games.

Over in the women's division, Indonesia's national bowlers displayed title-winning performance when Novie Phang and Puteri Astari finished first and third. Aldila Indryati and Alsiha Nabila of Indonesia set the opening pace but soon faded off quickly.

Hong Kong's Chan Shuk Han had a brief lead after the second game so did Macau's Hui Tong after the third game. It was Indonesia's Ivana Hie who led for more than one game through to the halfway mark.

A second Hong Kong national, Milki Ng shot into the lead after the sixth game and led till the seventh game before being overtaken by Indonesia's Novie Phang. Phang finished in the lead with 1668.

Ng settled for second, just one pin behind with 1667 while Puteri took third spot with 1661. Pace-setter, Ivana finished fourth with 1606 while Putty Armein rounded out the top five with 1605.

Newcomer, Kholoud Akram of UAE made the cut in 15th position with 1460 and Ira Nasution of Indonesia missed it by 11 pins after finishing 16th position.

The top 15 will be joined by the three local and three overseas seeded qualifiers for another eight games in tomorrow's Stage 2 finals. The top 6 men and top 6 women will advance to the stepladder finals.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Jakarta.

23rd October, Jakarta: Defending champion, Jeong Tae Hwa put himself in title contention as the Korean pro cracked into the top bracket of the Men's Open Masters qualifying standings at the 13th Indonesia International Open on Friday.

Jeong, who would automatically qualify for the finals as defending champion, improved his earlier 1417 with 1483 to moved into third spot of the overseas pool and crucially earned a bye into Stage 2 finals.

2015 ABF Tour Macau leg champion, Michael Mak remained unchallenged in pole position with 1537. Singapore's Suresh Elangovan also improved his earlier 1455 with 1516 to leapfrog into second position.

2015 SEA Games Singles silver medalist, Annop Arromsaranon of Thailand, who regained third spot briefly, will have to bowl a one-game roll-off to break the tie and decide if he could skip Stage 1 with Jeong.

2014 Asian Games Masters silver medalist, Wu Siu Hong of Hong Kong completed the top five with 1478. The cut as of 5.00pm squad is 1399 which is held by 2015 ABF Tour Hong Kong leg first runner-up, Jimmy Cheung of Hong Kong.

In the Women's Open division, defending champion, Bernice Lim of Singapore remained firmly in top spot with 1425. Malaysia's Alisha Imam also remained in second with 1393. The surprise came from Macau's Fiona Ku after she notched up a stunning 735 to take up third with 1319.

2014 ABF Tour TOC winner, Chan Shuk Han who was sitting comfortably in third, got pushed down to fourth with 1273 while early leader, Hui Tong of Macau rounded out the top five with 1272.

There were no changes in the local front as two-time champion, Sharon Limansantoso, Tannya Roumimper and newly-crowned Youth Girls Under-20 champion, Nadia Pramanik occupied the top three spots with 1400, 1397 and 1381 respectively.

The cut in ninth position in the mixed pool went ot Hong Kong's Zoe Tam with 1113. Qualifying will end late tonight and the Stage 1 finals for the Men and Women will be contested tomorrow at 1.00pm local time.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Jakarta.

22nd October, Jakarta: Hong Kong national bowlers, Michael Mak and Wu Siu Hong put in a stunning performance to occupy first and second positions in the Men's Open Masters qualifying standings of the 13th Indonesia International Open.

SEA Games Singles silver medalist, Annop Arromsaranon of Thailand set the early pace to lead the standings with 1439 but was soon relegated into fourth position when Mak posted a stunning 801 series to go top of the standings with 1537.

Wu, who was second to the Thai, improved his 6-game tally to 1478 to give Hong Kong a one-two finish. 2015 ABF Tour Hong Kong second runner-up, Syaffique Ikhwan of Malaysia edged Kim Bolleby of Thailand by two pins to clinch third spot with 1474.

Bolleby settled for fourth with 1472 and Annop slipped to sixth behind Malaysia's Alex Liew rounding out the top 5 with 1450. There were no changes in the local pool with 2015 Asian Championships Masters gold medalist, Ryan Lalisang leading the standings with 1462.

2011 SEA Games Team bronze medalist, Oscar remained in second with 1421 and Hengki Susanto third with 1419. Newly-crowned Youth Boys champion, Billy M Islam slipped into fourth with 1414. Last year's cut at 11th position in the mixed pool was 1405 and as of today, the cut is only at 1311.

Meanwhile, there were also little changes in the Women's Open division with defending champion, Bernice Lim of Singapore firmly unchallenged and sitting comfortably in pole position with 1425.

Malaysia's Alisha Imam and Hong Kong's Chan Shuk Han also retained second and third spot with 1393 and 1273 respectively. Macau's Hui Tong and Hong Kong's Milki Ng rounded out the top five with 1271 and 1250.

On the local front, Sharon Limansantoso took over the lead with an improved 1400 ahead of Tannya Roumimper in second with 1397. Newly-crowned Youth Girls Masters champion, Nadia Pramanik slipped to third with 1381 but would earn the bye into Stage 2 finals.

Ivana Hie of Indonesia headed the mixed pool with 1331 and the cut at ninth position went to Tilda Shum of Hong Kong with just a three-game series of 558. Qualifying will continue for another two days before the Stage 1 finals to be contested on October 24.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Jakarta.

22nd October, Jakarta: Indonesian dominated the Youth Masters finals as Billy Muhammad Islam and Nadia Pramanik took both the Boys and Girls Under-20 titles of the 13th Indonesia International Open.

Malaysia's Ahmad Safwan set the pace with 219 in the opening game to lead compatriots, Wan Syahmi Razin in second and Mohamed Nazmi third. A third Malaysian, Muhd Syafiq Sajeli was fourth and Billy fifth.

Billy took over the running after the second game with a superb 234 and never look back since continuing with 206, 206, 214 and 215 in his next four games. The Indonesian lost the lead briefly to Singapore's Cheah Ray Han after the sixth but quickly regained it after Cheah suffered a low game in the seventh.

The leader went on to cruise to a comfortable victory following it up with 206, 223 and 244 for a 10-game total of 2153. Wan Syahmi Razin stormed home in his last two games to snatch second spot with 2032.

Cheah settled for third position with 2012 while Muhd Aizudeen Mustaqim of Malaysia and Mohd Nazmi completed the top five with 1991 and 1942. Billy pocketed 8 million rupiah for his victory as Wan Nazmi and Cheah took home 5 and 3 million rupiah respectively.

Meanwhile, Nadia Pramanik gave Indonesia plenty to cheer as she clinched the girl's title with 2047. Malaysia's Nerosha Keligit set the opening pace and led for two games before being over-taken by Nadia after the third.

Nadia held her nerves as Nerosha posted a big score of 268 in the final game to finish second with 2031, 16 pins adrift.

Alisha Nabila finished in a distant third with 1908 while Singapore's Syasya Bte Ismail and Melyssa Chua rounded out the top five with 1869 and 1863 respectively. The other two Indonesian finalists, Aldila Indriyati and Shabira LP only managed to finish 18th and 19th positions.

Nadia earned 5 million rupiah for the victory as Nerosha and Alisha settled for 3.5 and 2.5 million rupiah respectively. Qualifying for other divisions will continue for another two days before the Masters finals on October 24 and 25.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Jakarta.

21st October, Jakarta: SEA Games Singles Silver medalist, Annop Arromsaranon of Thailand stamped his mark by taking over the lead of the Men's Open Masters qualifying standings at the 13th Indonesia International Open underway at Ancol Bowling Centre.

Ex-international and 2012 Indonesia champion, Isaac Russell Paul of Malaysia took the early lead with 1421 from two three-games series of 740 and 681 only to see Annop edging him by two pins after the 1.30pm squad on Wednesday.

The Thai downed 749 and 674 for a 6-game tally of 1423 to leapfrog into the lead of the standings. A second Malaysian and 2015 ABF Tour Hong Kong second runner-up, Syaffique Ikhwan, who also led briefly, slipped down to third with 1415.

The top three qualifiers in the overseas pool will earn a bye and automatically qualify for Stage 2 finals on Sunday. 2014 Asian Games Masters silver medalist, Wu Siu Hong welcomed a return to form to take up fourth in the table with 1385 but will have to contest Stage 1 finals after missing the top three cut by 30 pins.

Top local seeded qualifier and 2015 Asian Championships Masters gold medalist, Ryan Lalisang earned a bye after topping the local pool with 1460. The 29-year-old, who has been successful in many international open championships, has yet to win the Indonesia Open.

The form he displayed will surely put him a firm title contender come this Sunday. Ex-national and 2011 SEA Games Team bronze medalist, Oscar setled for second with 1421 while 2013 Asian Youth triple Gold medalist, Billy M Islam made up the top three with 1414.

Aswin Archy Saputra of Indonesia headed the mixed pool with 1337 while the cut in 11th position went ot Nadzmi Fikri of Malaysia with a 6-game tally of 1161. This is a long way off last year's cut which stood at 1405.

Over in the Women's Open division, defending champion, Bernice Lim of Singapore made her intentions well known after she stormed into the lead with 1425 effortlessly. At just aged 24, she has won the Indonesia Open twice and will be gunning for her third victory.

Macau's Hui Tong, who led yesterday, slipped to a distant second with 1254 while 2014 ABF Tour TOC winner, Chan Shuk Han of Hong Kong, joined the duo for a bye in third position with 1208.

Nadia Pramanik edged her more experienced national team-mate and twice champion, Sharon Limansantoso by nine pins to take the lead in the local pool with 1381. Limansantoso also improved to take up second with 1372, seven pins ahead of early leader, Putty Armein in third with 1365.

The six men seeded qualifiers, local qualifiers positioned 10 to 12, overseas qualifiers positioned 4 to 12 and mixed pool qualifiers positioned 1 to 11 plus defending champion totalling 30 men will contest Stage 1 finals on October 24.

The top 18 after the 8 games Stage 1 finals will advance to Stage 2 finals joined by the top 3 local and top 3 overseas seeded qualifiers for another 8 games on October 25.

The five women seeded qualifiers, local qualifiers positioned 9 to 10, overseas qualifiers positioned 4 to 10 and mixed pool qualifiers positioned 1 to 9 plus defending champion totalling 24 women will contest Stage 1 finals on October 24.

The top 15 after the 8 games Stage 1 finals will advance to Stage 2 finals joined by the top 3 local and top 3 overseas seeded qualifiers for another 8 games on October 25. Qualifying will end on October 23.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Jakarta.