30th July, Singapore: Tsai Ting-Yun captured the 17th Cathay Super Classic title in an all-Chinese Taipei stepladder finals to defeat fellow-countrymen, Chen Wu-Chi, 448-400 over two games this afternoon at Cathay Bowl SAFRA Tampines.

Tsai, who made the stepladder finals after finishing second in a two-match final shootout amongst the top 6 semifinalists, defeated top-seed Chen Wu-Chi, 246-216 in the first match and then rounded off a superb day to take the second match, 202-184 and the well-deserved title.

Despite finishing top-seed in the shootout with 245 and 213 for a total of 458, ahead of the champion in second with 221 and 216 for a total of 437, Chen Wu-Chi settled for the first runner-up spot. Singapore's Ong She Na missed a chance to have a crack at the title when she managed 220 and 199 for a 433 plus handicap.

Semifinals leader, Chen Xiao Hu of China, perhaps was the most unlucky bowler as he could only post 183 and 237 for a total of 420 to take up fourth overall while Singapore's vetran campaigner, Jack Wong ended up in fifth with 184 and 235 for a total of 419.

Cheng Chao-Sheng of Chinese Taipei took the last and sixth place in the 6-player shootout with 191 and 206 for a total of 397.

In the earlier 8-game semifinals, Chen Xiao Hu topped the field of 20 with a total of 1766 from Cheng Chao-Sheng in second with 1762. Tsai Ting-Yun was third with 1755 followed by the top women bowler, Ong She Na in fourth with 1738. Jack Wong and Chen Wu-Chi took the remaining fifth and sixth positions for the shootout with 1729 and 1728 repsectively.

Selangor Open champion, Lee Eun Ock, despite tieing with Chen Wu-Chi on 1728, lost a one-game roll-off to finsih seventh while quarterfinals leader, Kim Yeau Jin could only manage an eighth place finish with 1719.

The 17th edition of the immensely popular Super Classic attracted a total of 103 bowlers from Australia, China, Chinese Taipei, England, Finland, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Sweden, Vietnam and Singapore.

Cathay Bowl, a subsidiary of Cathay Organisation Pte. Ltd., started as Orchard Bowling Pte. Ltd. in 1964. It is a pioneer in promoting bowling as a healthy recreation and has a total of 140 lanes in Singapore and Malaysia. Cathay Bowl also organises another International Tournament, Cathay Bowl Junior Classic, for youths.

Scores and photos provided by Cathay Bowl, SAFRA Tampines.

29th July, Singapore: Kim Yeau Jin of Korea, outshone the men in the quarterfinals of the 17th Cathay Super Classic to top the field of 40 to move into the semifinals ahead of Tomas Leandersson of Sweden and Chen Xiao Hu of China.

Kim, the Trios Gold medalist of the 2002 Busan Asian Games, scored the highest game in this afternoon's quarterfinals with 289 in the 10th game to total 2275 and topple leader and pace-setter, Tomas Leandersson of Sweden to finish top of the pack. Leandersson settled for second with 2232 while China's Chen Xiao Hu did well to take up third with 2188.

The 10-game quarterfinals saw a fairly even field with the bowlers all bunched up and less than 50 pins seperating the top 10. 2003 champion, Mohamed Nadri was the sole Malaysian survivor making the next round in fourth with 2176, just 8 pins adrift from Chen.

World Youth Masters Gold medalist, Jason Belmonte of Australia finished a further 10 pins away in fifth with 2166 with Chinese Taipei's Chen Wu-Chi in sixth spot with 2146. Selangor Open 2nd runner-up, Nam Bo Ra of Korea took seventh position 8 pins from Chen with 2138.

Cheng Chao-Sheng, Tsai Ting-Yun both from Taipei and World Championship Doubles Gold medalist, Kirsten Penny of England finished in the top 10 with 2114, 2112 and 2105 respectively.

Making the cut for the semifinals were Jack Wong (SIN-2095), Ong She Na (SIN-2081), Lim Zhing (SIN-2076), David Wong (SIN-2072), Lee Eun Ock (KOR-2069), Andrew Frawley (AUS-2067), Wu Hao-Ming (TPE-2056), Chen Hung-Chu (TPE) and George Frilingo (AUS) tie 2052 and Remy Ong (SIN-2050) from 11th to 20th positions.

Missing the cut were overnight leader, Joonee Gatchalian (PHI-24th), Asian Ranked No. 1, Alex Liew (MAS-25th), 2003 AMF World Cup champion, C.J. Suarez (PHI-29th), Qatar Open champion, Lee Yu Wen (SIN-33rd) and four-

time AMF World Cup champion, Paeng Nepomuceno (PHI-39th). The top 20 will contest in tomorrow's 8-game semifinals at the end of which the top 5 will proceed to the stepladder grand finals to determine this year's champion.

28th July, Singapore: 2004 Philippines Open champion, Joonee Gatchalian of the Philippines stormed home in the third and final block of 10 games of the 17th Cathay Super Classic to lead the top 40 qualifiers for the quarterfinals.

Gatchalian, who finished 14th in the first block and third after the second block, was on fire in his third block this afternoon, taking preliminary pole position with an outstanding 2189. The 27-year-old from Manila amassed a total of 6425 over the three day to lead the pack in the next round.

Pace-setter, David Wong of Singapore, who led both the first and second block eased off with 2011 in his final block to drop to third with 6334, just 7 pins from second-placed, Cheng Chao-Sheng of Chinese Taipei in second with 6341. Korea's Kim Yeau Jin was the top women bowler finishing fourth with 6318 with a handicap of 7 pins per game.

2003 Champion, Mohamed Nadri was the best Malaysia bowler to finish in fifth spot with 6291 while national bowler, Ong She Na did Singapore proud to become the second-best women bowler in the qualifying rounds taking

sixth position. 2003 AMF World Cup champion, C.J. Suarez of the Philippines settled for seventh with 6277.

The top 40 who made the cut for the next round were evenly spread consisting of hook-ball right and left handers as well as spinners. Some of the right-handed hook ball bowlers were Jason Belmonte of Australia (10th-6217), Jack Wong of Singapore (13th-6203), Tomas Leandersson of Sweden (15th-6161), Catherine Kang of Singapore (22nd-6060) and Azidi Ameran of Malaysia (23rd-6054).

Some of the lefties were the leader, Joonee Gatchalian, C.J. Suarez, Singaporeans Lee Yu Wen (16th-6121), Paeng Nepomuceno (18th-6092), and Remy Ong (35th-5948) while the spinners were Cheng Chao-Sheng, Ong She Na, Chen Xiao Hu of China (8th-6240), Tang Joh Six of Malaysia (9th-6225), Lim Zhong of Singapore (11th-6216) and Wang Tien-Fu of Chinese Taipei (20th-6089).

Of the 16 women who competed, eight made the top 40 with the rest being occupied by the men. Out of the total 103 entries, there were 50 Singapore bowlers of which 12 made the top 40. The quarterfinalist will play 8 games Friday, 29th July at the end of which the top 20 will advance to Saturday's semifinals.

The top 5 at the end of the 6-games semifinals will proceed to battle for the top prize of S$25,000 to the champion in the stepladder finals.

Scores and photos provided by Cathay Bowl, SAFRA Tampines

27th July, Singapore: David Wong of Singapore continued a relentless pace to lead the pack at the end of the second block of the 17th Cathay Super Classic from Cheng Chao-Sheng of Chinese Taipei and Filipino, Joonee Gatchalian Wednesday evening.

Wong, who led the first block with 2198, put up another superb performance to knock down 2125 in the 10-game second block bringing his total to 4323. Chinese Taipei's Cheng Chao-Sheng, who topped Squad C in the morning, amassed 2114 to accummulate 4237 for two blocks to take up second overall and 86 pins adrift.

2004 Philippines Open champion, Joonee Gatchalian of the Philippines, took over the top position in Squad A which completed late Wednesday night, surged up to third overall with 4236, just 1 pin behind Cheng. Ex-international and seasoned campaigner, Jack Wong dropped to fourth with 4235, another 1 pin adrift from Gatachalian.

Korea' Kim Yeau Jin did well to stay with the leaders in fifth spot with 4230 followed by 2003 champion best Malaysian finisher, Mohamed Nadri in sixth

position with 4179. 2003 AMF World Cup champion, C.J. Suarez took seventh spot with 4176 ahead of Asian Championship three Gold medalist, Wu Hao Ming of Chinese Taipei eighth with 4139.

Day 1 Squad A leader, Azidi Ameran, finished third in his second block to take up ninth overall with 4112 while former AMF World Cup champion, Tomas Leandersson of Sweden, who struggled in the first block, recovered to move up to finish in the top 10 with 4109.

Positions of some of the world-class bowlers competing in this classic were World Youth Gold medalist, Jason Belmonte of Australia (13th-4100), current Asian Ranked No. 1, Alex Liew of Malaysia (16th-4087), and 6th Qatar Open champion, Lee Yu Wen of Singapore (17th-4085), George Frilingo of Australia (23rd-4031).

Others in the top 40 were Andrew Frawley of Australia (28th-4015), Euromed-Storm Masters and and Philippines Open champion, Chester King of the Philippines (31st-3974), four-time AMF World Cup champion and Hall-

of-Famer, Paeng Nepomuceno (32nd-3965) and World Championship Gold medalist, Martin Larsen of Sweden (38th-3905).

Dropping down the order and may miss the top 40 cut for the quarterfinals were Filipino, Tyrone Ongpauco (53rd-3848) 2003 Thailand Open champion, Annop Arromsaranom (52nd-3857), World Championship Gold medalist, Kirsten Penny of England (55th-3843), newly-crowned Selangor Open champion, Lee Eun Ock of Korea (57th3831).

The 103 bowlers will contest the final third block over 10 games during which the top 40 will advance to another 8-game quaterfinals on Firday, 29th July. The top 20 will then proceed to the 6-game semifinals on Saturday 30th July. The top 5 at the end of the semifinals will make the cut for the stepladder finals.

Scores and photos provided by Cathay Bowl, SAFRA Tampines.

26th July, Singapore: David Wong of Singapore set a cracking pace in the 10-game first block of the 17th Cathay Super Classic to lead a strong field of 103 bowlers late Tuesday evening at Cathay Bowl SAFRA Tampines.

Wong started in Squad B with lines of 233, 199, 222, 235 and 259 to lead by a comfortable 81 pins at the halfway mark. The leader then eased off with 207, 205 and 197 in his next 3 games before rounding off on 216 and 225 for a 10-game total of 2198.

Azidi Ameran of Malaysia, had earlier topped Squad A with the highest score of 2105 and by the time Squad B completed their first block, Wong still led by 83 pins. Ex-international and veteran campaigner, Jack Wong finished second highest with 2130.

Chinese Taipei bowlers dominated the final Squad C of the day occupying the top 4 positions. However, the leader in Squad C, Chen Chien-Han could not topple the overall leader, David Wong when he posted 2169, just 29 pins adrift to settle for second overall. Jack Wong ended up in third by the time all 3 squads were combined.

Korea's Kim Yeau Jin and Singapore's Broncson Tan shared fourth position with 2126 ahead of three Taiwanese with this year's Philippines Open runnerup, Cheng Chao Sheng leading his countrymen in sixth with 2123. Asian Championship Gold medalists, Wang Tien Fu and Wu Hao Ming took seventh and eighth positions with 2120 and 2111.

Squad A leader, Azidi Ameran tied with fellow Malaysian, Mohamed Nadri in tenth with 2105. A total of 103 bowlers are contesting this year's classic with some of the notable world-class bowlers. Current Asian Ranked No. 1, Alex Liew of Malaysia (17th-2059), twice Masters champion, Chester King of Philippines (25th-2007).

World Cup champion, Tomas Leandersson of Sweden (37th-1963), World Championship Gold medalist, Kirsten Penny of England (38th-1961), Jason Belmonte of Australia (41st-1957), four-time World Cup champion, Paeng Nepomuceno of the Philippines (44th-1950), Martin Larsen of Sweden (68th-1869).

Qatar Open champions, Lee Yu Wen (45th-1946) and Remy Ong (66th-1870) finished down the order while their teammates, Sam Goh did much better in 11th with 2099.

Singapore's best women finisher was Ong She Na (13th-2083) ahead of newly-crowned Selangor International Open champion, Lee Eun Ock of Korea (42nd-1956) and teammate, Nam Bo Ra (19th-2025).

The bowlers will play 10 games in the second block and third block for the next two days when the field will be cut to 40 advancing to an 8-game quarter finals. The top 20 will advance to the semifinals for the final 6 games at the end of which the top 5 will proceed to the stepladder finals.

Scores provided by Cathay Bowl, SAFRA Tampines.