6th July, 2002: Cha Mi Jung of Korea won the Gold medal in the Women Masters while Zhang Ye scores China's first-ever Gold in the Men's event on the final day of the 17th Asian Tenpin Bowling Championship at SCAA Bowling Centre, Hong Kong.

Women Trios Gold medalist, Su Kyung scored 3,448 pinfalls plus bonus to tie with Doubles Gold medalist, Cha Mi Jung for the Women Masters Gold medal. Su Kyung defeated Mi Jung 223-206 in a one game roll off to determine the top seed before the step-ladder finals. In the first step-ladder match between 3rd-seed Kate Wilton (AUS) and Cha Mi Jung (KOR), Mi Jung narrowly took the game for a crack at the Gold. Wilton settled for the Bronze.

Cha Mi Jung emerged the Gold medalist when she scored 437 to top-seed Kim Su Kyung's 372. Su Kyung took home the Silver to make it a 1-2 finish for Korea. Liza Clutario (PHI) score one point for Philippines.

In fifth place was Malaysia's Wendy Chai (3,311) followed by two Gold medalist, Liza del Rosario (3,275) of Philippines in sixth. Singapore's Valerie Teo (3,266) finished seventh just 9 pins away while Cecilia Yap (PHI-3,253), Kim Hyo Mi (KOR-3,236) and Cathy Elwell (AUS-3,225) completed the top ten from eighth to tenth respectively.

Liza del Rosario won her second gold medal in the Women's All Events amassing 4,931 pinfalls over 24 games. Korea's Cha Mi Jung took the Silver with 4,878 while Cecilia Yap settled for the Bronze with 4,872. Singapore's Valerie Teo just miss the medal by 7 pins but did manage to score one point for her country finishing fourth.

In the Men's division, 26-year-old Zhang Ye scored China's first-ever Gold medal in an official championship when he defeated Korea's Kim Jae Hoon 419-411 over the 2-game final step-ladder match. Zhang had earlier scored 3,519 for top-seed from two Korean bowlers. Kim Jae Hoon took the Silver while Kim Kyung Min the Bronze. Third-seed Kyung Min lost the first step-ledder match to Jae Hoon 206-223. The Korean almost made a 1-2 finish had it not for Zhang Ye's strong perfomance.

Kao Hai Yuan (TPE-3,442) score the final point for Chinese Taipei while Masaro Ito (JPN-3,438) finished fifth. Seo Kook (KOR-3,393) took sixth spot with former World Cup champion, Ahmed Shaeen (QAT-3,387) in seventh. Completing the top ten were Ryan Lalisang (INA-3,383), Ben Heng (MAS-3,369) and Byun Ho Jin (KOR-3,362).

Kim Kyung Min scored 5,192 to win the Men's All Events Gold medal followed Biboy Rivera of the Philippines for the Silver on 5,176 while Japan's Masaru Ito settled for the Bronze medal with 5,139. Zhang Ye scored one point for China finishing fourth.

For full results, visit 17th Asian Bowling C'ship website or you could download the Masters result by clicking here.

Media released by WTBA and ABF Media Director, Lynne Clay

4th July, 2002: Malaysia scored their first Gold medal from the Women's Team while Korea won their second from the Men's Team event of the 17th Asian Tenpin Bowling Championship at SCAA Bowling Centre, Hong Kong.

Wendy Chai, Lai Kin Ngoh, Lisa Kwan, Sarah Yap and anchored by 2001 Asian Bowler of the Year, Shalin Zulkifli won Malaysia's first Gold medal in the championship with a score 6,040. Former Malaysian Sportswomen of the Year Lisa Kwan, after an absence of more than 3 years made her comeback to win her first Gold medal.

Singapore did well to take the silver medal which consisted of two World Ranking Masters champions, Jennifer Tan and Jesmine Ho with Rena Teng, Yap Seok Kim and Singles Silver medalist, Valerie Teo scoring 5,904. The Philippines settled for the Bronze with a score of 5,878 while the Chinese women impressed with a fourth placing.

After four events, Liza del Rosario won her second gold medal in the Women's All Events amassing 4,931 pinfalls over 24 games. Korea's Cha Mi Jung took the Silver with 4,878 while Cecilia Yap settled for the Bronze with 4,872. Singapore's Valerie Teo just miss the medal by 7 pins but did manage to score one point for her country finishing fourth.

Meanwhile, Korea won their second Gold medal of the competition when the men scored 6,248 to take the Men's Team of 5 event. 1998 CGU Asian Bowling Tour Grand Slam champion, Byun Ho Jin scored an impressive 1,338 to help his team to the win. His teammates were Kim Kyung Min, Cho Nam Ey, Kim Jae Hoon and Seo Kook.

The Malaysian men of Azidi Ameran, Daniel Lim, Alex Liew, Gerald Samuel and Ben Heng took the Silver with 6,016 while Australia did well to finish third for the Bronze. China scored one point finishing fourth.

The third Gold medal for Korea came when Kim Kyung Min finished top with 5,192 followed by Doubles Gold medalist, Biboy Rivera of the Philippines for the Silver on 5,176 while Japan's Masaru Ito won the Bronze medal with 5,139. Zhang Ye scored one point for China finishing fourth.

After four events, Korea leads the medal standings with 3 Gold, 3 Silver and 1 Bronze medal followed by 3 Gold, 1 Silver and 2 Bronze medals. Malaysia lies third with 1 Gold, 2 Silvers and 1 4th placing. Top 16 bowlers from the foregoing 24 individual games will then contest the first eight games of the Masters Final in a one game round-robin format on the morning of 5 July. The second block of seven games, and a positional round will determine the seeding for the Stepladder Grand Final. All pinfall and bonus points from matchplay are dropped, with the third placed bowler playing a one-game match with the second placed bowler. The winner of this match then plays the top seeded bowler in a two-game match to determine the Masters Gold medal winner in each division.

For full results, visit 17th Asian Bowling C'ship website or you could download the Team result by clicking here.

Media released by WTBA and ABF Media Director, Lynne Clay

Kim Hyo Mi's outstanding event average of 221.0 helped push the trio 14 pins ahead of Singapore's Jennifer Tan (1,236), Yap Seok Kim (1,246) and Valerie Teo (1,246) for the Gold medal. Japan's trio of Mari Kimura (1,237), Miyuki Kubotani (1,219) and Nachimi Itakura (1,228) also responded positively to today's Long Oil condition, each returning 600-plus three-game scores to climb from sixth place to take the Bronze, 50 pins ahead of Chinese Taipei and Korea.

Liza del Rosario, and Cecilia Yap of the Philippines and Korea's Cha Min Jung maintained their overnight 1,2,3 standings in the Women's All Events. Valerie Teo of Singapore lies fourth with Australia's Cathy Elwell a close fifth. Trios Gold medalist, Kim Su Kyung takes sixth spot with teammate Nam Bo Ra in seventh. Kat Wilton (AUS), Chien Hsiu Lan (TPE) and Kim Yeau Jin (KOR) occupied eigthth to tenth positions respectively.

In the Men's division, Japan's trio of Masaru Ito, Isao Yamamoto and Sieiji Watanabe overtook Indonesia's narrow lead to finish with a 3,932 total pinfall and created another new Asian Championships record. Korea's Byun Hojin, Kim Kyungmin and Seo Kook just missed the Gold, finishing on 3,920 and Indonesia's Ryan Leonard Lalisang, Joe Tjam (Yuyu) Lie and Rudy Gunawan took Bronze with 3,794.

Overnight placings in the Men's All Events remained unchanged after today's Trios event, with Korea's Kim Kyung Min accumulating a total 4,053 score, 71 pins ahead of Biboy Rivera of the Philippines 3,982 score, with Masaru Ito of Japan lying third on 3,896.

China's Zhang Ye lies fourth just 22-pins ahead of Singles Gold medalist, Shaker Ali Al Hassan of UAE in fifth. Indonesia's Ryan Lalisang and Joe Tjam occupy sixth and seventh while Azidi Ameran (MAS), Hirofumi Morimoto (JPN) and former World Cup champion, Ahmad Shaheen (QAT) take eigthth to tenth positions.

Mr. Abdul Salam Abbas, Vice President of Qatar Bowling Federation and Mr. Aswin Limansantoso, Director of International Relations of Indonesian Bowling Congress (Persatuan Boling Indonesia) made medal presentations on the lanes at the SCAA Bowling Centre following today's Trios event. Play resumes tomorrow with the Team of Five event, commencing at 9am.

For full results, visit 17th Asian Bowling C'ship website or you could download the Trios result by clicking here.

Media released by WTBA and ABF Media Director, Lynne Clay

Japan's Masaru Ito took first block honours in the Men's division with a three-game total of 729, and a 243.0 average. However, Indonesia's trio of Ryan Leonard Lalisang, Joe Tjam (Yuyu) Lie and Rudy Gunawan combined to outbowl the Japanese bowlers with 1,958 total pinfall, ahead of Japan on 1,956 and Korea on 1,911.

Highest scoring female bowler was Kim Hyomi of Korea, while the Singapore trio of Jennifer Tan, Yap Seok Kim and Valerie Teo are currently at the top of the Trios leaderboard with a 1,878 total, just one pin ahead of the Philippine trio and the three Japanese bowlers a further two pins behind in third position.

Women's All-Events lead is currently held by Liza del Rosario of the Philippines on 3,171, followed by teammate Cecilia Yap on 3,120 and Korea's Cha Mi Jung on 3,107. In the Men's division, Korea's Kim Kyung Min on 3,324 leads Biboy Rivera of the Philippines, and Japan's Masuru Ito in third place on 3,219.

All games were bowled on short oil today, in line with the dual lane conditions being trialled at this year's Asian Tenpin Bowling Championships. A long oil pattern will be laid on all lanes for tomorrow's second block of the Men's and Women's Trios.

Play resumes at 9am and the Medal Presentation ceremony is scheduled for 4pm tomorrow at the SCAA Centre.

Local and international media is closely following the action on the lanes this week, with a growing contingent of television and print media from around the region flying into Hong Kong tomorrow to cover the Championship Masters event and the inaugural Expo and New Millennium Symposium.

Tournament organisers, the Hong Kong Tenpin Bowling Congress, report an increasingly high visitation to the Championships' dedicated website 17th Asian Bowling C'ship. You could download the Trios result by clicking here.

Media released by WTBA and ABF Media Director, Lynne Clay

Chester King scored 1,206 while his partner, Biboy Rivera scorched the lanes to score 1,366 for a total of 2,571 to take the gold medal. Second was Malaysian pair of Ben Heng (1,285) and Azidi Ameran (1,274) with a total of 2,559 to take the silver while China's pair of Jiang Yong (1,190) and Zhang Ye (1,310) did well to finished third with 2,500 to settle for the bronze. Scoring one point for Korea was Kim Jae-Hoon (1,114) and Kim Kyung Min (1,364) for a total of 2,478.

The Malaysian duo was leading the Filipinos by a narrow margin of 34 pins after the fifth game. Azidi Ameran did well to score 232 but a poor 171 from Ben Heng saw their lead evaporating while Chester only scored 183, it was Rivera's day when he bowled a high game of 266 to snatch the victory.

After two events, Biboy Rivera leads the All Events standings with 2,680 from Korea's Kim Kyung Min on 2,659 in second and Singles Gold medalist, Shaker Ali Al Hassan a close third with 2,553. Malaysia's Azidi Ameran lies fourth with 2,524 followed by China's Zhang Ye on 2,518 in fifth.

In the women's doubles event, Korea had a 1-2 finish when Cha Mi Jung and Nam Bo Ra had identical score of 1,251 to total 2,502 for the Gold medal while teammates, Kim Su Kyung (1,202) and Kim Yeau Jin (1,297) scored 2,499 for the silver. Japan's Mari Kimura (1,212) and Miyuki Kubotani (1,265) scored 451 in the last game to snatch the bronze medal with 2,477 from Malaysia's Wendy Chai (1,203) and Shalin Zulkifli (1,250) in fourth with 2,453. Also finishing fourth was Singles Gold medalist, Liza del Rosario (1,202) and Cecilia Yap (1,252) of the Philippines.

After two events, Liza del Rosario leads the Women's All Events table with 2,585 followed by Korea's Cha Mi Jung almost a 100 pins away on 2,482 in second. Third is Cecilia Yap of the Philippines scoring 2,466 with Singles Silver medalist, Valerie Teo of Singapore in fourth place with 2,459. Cathy Elwell was consistent in both the events to take fifth spot with 2,455 followed by two Koreans, Nam Bo Ra (2,454) and Kim Yeau Jin (2,435) in sixth and seventh respectively.

For full results, visit 17th Asian Bowling C'ship website or you could download the Doubles result by clicking here.

Media released by WTBA and ABF Media Director, Lynne Clay

30th June, 2002: The first event of the 17th Asian Tenpin Bowling Championships - the Men's Singles - has just reached a thrilling conclusion in Hong Kong with bowlers from West Asia dominating the top placings.

Shaker Ali Al Hassan from UAE won Gold with a total pinfall of 1,348 and six-game average of 224.7, followed by a Silver medal tie between Fadhel M. Al Mousawi from Kuwait and Mohammed Al-Najrani of Saudi Arabia with 1,319 pinfall and a 219.8 average.

Youngest bowler in the Australian team, Jason Belmonte from Sydney finished just three pins behind on 1,316. Biboy Rivera of the Philippines finished with another narrow margin, two pins behind the 18-year old Australian, and Abdulla Al Qatan from Qatar a further 16 pins behind.

"It's a little too early yet to gauge the overall impression of the multiple lane conditions we are trialing in these Championships" said ABF Technical Delegate Danny Santos. "It's the first time this has been used in an Asian Zone Championship and it will probably be after the Trios before we have any real feedback" he added.

Filipino bowler Liza del Rosario blitzed the lanes with a 230.5 average over the six games of the inaugural Women's event at the SCAA Bowling Centre this evening. Her 1,382 pinfall outclassed male Gold medallist Shaker Ali Al Hassan's tally by 35 pins, with Singapore's Valerie Teo also producing an outstanding 1,334 score to win Silver.

Australia's Cathy Elwell made a momentous first appearance at international competition, clinching the Bronze with a 1,261 score, 19 pins ahead of team-mate Amanda Bradley. Korea's Cha Mi Jung and Jojo Canara from the Philippines were next highest placings in a field that saw the top 11 bowlers achieve 200-plus averages.

The Championship program continues tomorrow with six games of Doubles in both Men's and Women's divisions. Medal Presentations will be made on the lanes for the Singles events at 5pm tomorrow.

The first block of three games in the Trios event will commence on Tuesday, 2 July, with Squad A scheduled at 9am, and Squad B scheduled for a 1.30 pm start. The second blocks of the Trios events, plus the Medal Presentation, will be held on Wednesday, 3 July.

Team of Five events for Men and Women will be bowled on Thursday, 4 July.

Top 16 bowlers from the foregoing 24 individual games will then contest the first eight games of the Masters Final in a one game round-robin format on the morning of 5 July. The second block of seven games, and a positional round will determine the seeding for the Stepladder Grand Final. All pinfall and bonus points from matchplay are dropped, with the third placed bowler playing a one-game match with the second placed bowler. The winner of this match then plays the top seeded bowler in a two-game match to determine the Masters Gold medal winner in each division.

Athletes and officials then have the added attraction of participating in an innovative Expo of bowling products and a series of seminars on Ball Drilling, Pro Shop operation and Tournament Lane Conditioning techniques by industry leaders. The finale of this unique bowling experience will be the New Millennium Symposium, featuring Sport Scientists and speakers on Sports Law and Development from throughout the region. Keynote speaker at the Symposium will be Richard Shockley, Head Teaching Professional at the Kegel Training Centre.

For full results, visit 17th Asian Bowling C'ship website or you could download the Masters result by clicking here.

Media released by WTBA and ABF Media Director, Lynne Clay