15th August, Jakarta: Hong Kong and Korea clinched the final two Gold medals as Wu Siu Hong and Nam Bo-Ra triumphed in the Men's and Women's Masters stepladder finals at the concluding 19th Asian Tenpin Bowling Championship Tuesday afternoon.

It was a sweet revenge for the 23-year-old Wu as he outclassed his arch rival, Alex Liew of Malaysia, 506-414 in two-match stepladder matches to win Hong Kong's only medal on the last day of the championship. Wu had lost to Liew on four occasions - twice in 2005 at the same venue in the Indonesia Open and ABF Tour, and again just last month at Jaya Ancol Bowl in the Indonesia Open and ABF Tour.

The champion trashed his opponent, 237-166 in the first match and romped home a convincing 269-248 win in the second match to earn his Gold medal. Liew settled for the silver despite easily knocking out local hero, Ryan Lalisang, 267-214 in the first match.

"I'm very happy that I can finally beat Liew after loosing to him on four occasions," said the delighted Wu. "I must admit that I went into the finals a bit worried

and nervous, but my coach kept reminding me that I can beat my opponent. I tried not to think about it and just went on with my game making sure that I make good shots.

"I was great in the first game when I beat Ryan but somehow I guess I was too eager when I met Wu in the finals," said Liew. "When I changed to a different ball in the second match against Wu, I knew I made a bad choice and the change was probably too late. Overall, I'm very pleased with my performance. I'll work harder for my next assignment in Korea.

At the end of the 15-game round-robin matchplay finals played over two days, Wu finished in the lead 43 pins ahead of Qatar's Saeed Al-Hajri in second and Alex Liew third, another 3 pins further. Lalisang was fourth and trailing Liew by 36 pins.

"There is a lot of pressure bowling on home ground and in front of so many supporters. There is high expectation from everyone here," said the slightly disappointed Lalisang. "But I'm still very happy to win 1 Gold and 2 Bronze medals and especially contributing to Indonesia becoming joint-overall champion.

"I wish to thank my teammates, especially Putty Armein and Tannya Roumimper, our coaches, the Indonesian Bowling Congress for a great championship, and to my parents for their continuous support. We need to improve on our team events if we want to be successful in the Doha Games.

In probably one of the closest ever position-round match, Wu just managed to defeat Saeed, 194-172 to keep his lead while Lalisang stormed home with a 268-203 win over Liew. Both Lalisang and Liew managed to overtake Saeed Al-Hajri to make the cut for the stepladder finals in second and third.

Overnight leader, Biboy Rivera struggled in short oil condition dropping out of contention while the All Events Gold medalist, Azidi Ameran of Malaysia finished a disappointing 12th.

In the all-Korean Women's final stepladder matches, second-seed, Nam Bo-Ra edged top-seed and compatriot, Kim Yeau-Jin, 394-379 in two matches to win her first-ever Asian Championship Masters title. Nam's only other Masters Gold came from the Far East Championship in China four years ago.

The champion had earlier ousted third-seed, Ayano Katai of Japan, 201-195 to earn a crack at the prestigious Masters title. Nam’s gold and Kim’s silver also allowed Korea to emerge joint-champion with host nation, Indonesia on 3 Gold, 3 Silver and 2 Bronze medals.

"I hope my victory here will give me chance to be selected into the Doha Games squad," said the champion, who trains and bowls full-time for Korea. "I like to thank all my teammates and coaches for helping us achieve what we set out to do here.

"I'm not so disappointed since I lost to my teammate," said Kim Yeau-Jin. "I didn't feel good in the second match and I felt that my rythmn was completely out and I just cannot make good shots. I'll have to work harder on this before the next championship.

Korea also emerged as women overall champion dislodging Indonesia into second while Malaysia claim the men's overall title with 2 Gold and 2 Silver medals ahead of Qatar in second with 1 Gold, 2 Silver and 1 Bronze medal.

Photos by Terence Yaw.

14th August, Jakarta: Two Silver medalist, Tannya Roumimper of Indonesia and Filipino, Biboy Rivera surprised the strong field to top the Women's and Men's first block Masters finals of 19th Asian Tenpin Bowling Championship Monday afternoon.

Tannya Roumimper had a slow start in the 8-game round-robin matchplay finals over the long oil pattern with 188, 200 and 208 in her first series but came on strongly with 232 and 225 in the fourth and fifth matches to haul herself up from fifth to second trailing leader, Chien Hsiu-Lan of Chinese Taipei by just 12 pins.

Despite a temporary setback in the sixth match of 184, a superb high game of 258 in the seventh match allowed the youngster from Bandung to take over the lead with one more match to end the first day of the Masters finals.

Tannya posted a strong 230 in her final match to surprise the field of 16 finalists for the lead with 1775 winning five of the eight matches played. Team Gold medalist, Kim Hyo-Mi of Korea finished second with 1744, 31 pins adrift ahead of compatriot, Gye Min-Young in third with 1741.

"I'm surprised that I can lead such an experience field of bowlers," said the 16-year-old rising star of Indonesian bowling. "There is still 8 games tomorrow and I'll just bowl my game and keep my concentration. Two Gold medalist and Indonesia's bowling queen, Putty Armein struggled throughout the finals finishing a disappointing 12th.

Meanwhile, Ho Chin-Ming went all out to ensure that a Gold medal will allow the Chinese Taipei to clinch the overall champions title. The Trios bronze medalist amassed a total of 1790 winning seven out of the 8-game round-robin matchplay finals.

His teammate, Lin Yi-Chien did well to starve off China's challenges by taking second spot with 1782, just 8 pins adrift. Wang Ying Jun and triple Gold medalist, He Jian followed closely in third and fourth position with 1769 and 1711 respectively.

Japan's Yoshinao Masatoki and All Events Silver medalist, Wu Siu Hong of Hong Kong rounded up the top 6 in fifth and sixth positions on totals of 1701 and 1663. The top 3 at the end of another 8-game block tomorrow will make the cut for the stepladder finals.

Photos by Terence Yaw.

13th August, Jakarta: Malaysian men triumphed in the Team of Five and All Events to bag two Gold medals on Day 5 of the 19th Asian Tenpin Bowling Championship while Korea took the Women's Team and Indonesia claimed their third in the Women's All Events.

Having only won the Trios silver medal yesterday, the Malaysian men turn in a superb performance to clinch their first Gold medal of the competition in the Men's Team of Five which ended Sunday evening at a packed Jaya Ancol Bowl.

Malaysia started the Team of Five event this morning with a bang posting a score of 1082 but only to lead with a margin of 3 pins over the Qataris. A 989 in the second game allowed Qatar to grab the lead after the second to trail by 64 pins.

Despite a 1025 in the third and ending the first block in the short oil condition, it was Japan's Tomokatsu Yamashita, Masaaki Takemoto, Tomoyuki Masatoki and Masaru Ito who stole the limelight to top the block with 3113 with Qatar in second and Malaysia third.

With a break for the log oil condition being laid down, Azidi Ameran, Daniel Lim, Mohd Noer Said, Alex Liew and Ben Heng (alternating with Adrian Ang), scorched the lanes with a high game of 1085 to regain the lead after the fourth game by 123 pins.

Again, the Malaysian suffered another set back in the fifth when they could only manage 933 and had their lead narrowed to just 42 pins from first block leader Japan putting in their charge. But the Malaysians turn on their magical touch with another outstanding game in the last to romp home a comfortable victory on a total of 6183 and 78 pins margin.

"I'm so proud of our men," said the ecstatic chief coach, Holloway Cheah. "I have not seen the Malaysian men in such a terrific spirit for a long time. They fuly deserve the win. I'm also glad that Azidi has proven the critics wrong by winning the All Events gold under such a tremendous pressure.

All the players agreed that they have a strong partnership and that all had helped each other all the way. "I've to thank my teammates. They are simply superb and had given me so much encouragement and support," said the debutant Mohd Noer Said.

Qatar's Bandar Al-Shafi, Mubarak Ali, Abdulla Al-Qattan, Ahmed Shaheen and Saeed Al-Hajri settled for the silver medal with 6105 while Japan took home another bronze medal with a team total of 6074. Saeed overtook Indonesia's Ryan Lalisang to claim the silver in the All Events while the Indonesia settled for the bronze medal.

Meanwhile, Korea captured their second gold medal when Hwang Sun-Ok, Kim Hyo-Mi, Gang Hye-Eun (alternating with Gye Min-Young), Nam Bo Ra and Kim Yeau-Jin cruised to victory with a total of 6087, 414 pins ahead of their nearest rivals.

Indonesia's Tannya Roumimper, Ranii Nugroho, Shalima Zalsha (althernating with Ivana Hie), Go Lily and Putty Armein did well to clinch the silver medal with 5673. Malaysia, China and Japan were fighting for the final podium position going into the last game with less than 20 pins separating the three.

In the end, Japan's Yuka Tsuchiya, Haruka Matsuda (alternating with Kumi Tsuzawa), Maki Nakano, Kanako Ishimine and Ayano Katai posted the

winning 1012 to beat the Chinese by 50 pins to clinch the bronze medal with 5620. Malaysia, who was third at the fifth game, crumbled in the crucial game and dropped into eighth.

Putty Armein claimed her second individual Gold medal after topping the Women's All Events with 5173 over 24 games (Singles, Doubles, Trios and Team event). Doubles and Team Gold medalist, Kim Yeau-Jin took home the silver with 4941 with Japan's Ayano Katai winning the bronze medal with 4865.

Host nation, Indonesia topped the Overall medal tally with 3 Gold, 3 Silver and 1 Bronze medal followed by Korea in second with 2 Gold, 2 Silver and 2 Bronze medals. Malaysia is third with 2 Gold and 1 Silver medal. The top 16 in the Men's and Women's All Events table made the cut for the Masters finals which will be played on the 14th and 15th August.

Photos by Terence Yaw and Abipryadi Riyanto.

12th August, Jakarta: First block leader, Qatar sailed to a comfortable victory to claim their first Gold medal in the 19th Asian Tenpin Bowling Championship after amassed a total of 3864, 117 pins clear of their nearest opponent in the second block of the Men's Trios.

With just only a slender margin of 17 pins going into the second block Saturday afternoon, Abdulla Al-Qattan, Ahmed Shaheen and Saeed Al-Hajri stretched their margin to 143 pins after a 667 in the fourth game. Despite a 613 in the fifth game, the Qatari still had 160 pins to spare before the final game.

The champion eased off with a 587 and it was sufficient to seal the victory and claimed Qatar's first gold medal in the championship with 3864. Chinese Taipei, who was sitting firmly in second, was overtaken by Malaysia's Azidi Ameran, Daniel Lim and Alex Liew, and had to settle for the bronze medal with 3741, just 6 pins adrift.

Malaysia, who was placed third after the first block yesterday, maintained its position with 591 and 594 in the fourth and fifth games at the start of today's

block over the short oil condition. The trio set the lanes ablazed in the final game with 666 to snatch the Silver from Chinese Taipei's Kao Hai-Yuan, Cheng Fang-Yu and Ku Ching-Ho.

"Although Abdulla was struggling, fortunately Saeed and I were able to cover him which is very important in this event," said the lanky Shaheen. "We were very confident going into the second block especially after a strong performance yesterday.

"We could achieve our win thanks to our coaches and congress, who sent us to some of the major European tournaments to prepare ourselves for this championship," said Saeed at the press interview after the victory.

"I didn't bowl well on long oil yesterday and I was very disappointed myself," said Alex, the Double title winner in the Indonesian Open and ABF Tour Indonesia Leg just two weeks ago at the same venue. "The condition is totally different in the Asian Championship, but I told myself that I cannot let my teammates down. I'm glad that I was able to do it in the last game," added the releived Alex.

"I was very angry with myself for not being able to adapt to the lane condition after the Doubles," said the champion. "I discussed with my coach and made some adjustments in my line. I'm happy that I was able to help the team in winning the silver, which will give me the confidence that we'll do well in the team event tomorrow."

Azidi, who led the All Events prior to the Trios second block, dropped one to second place, just 18 pins from the new leader, Saeed Al Hajri of Qatar. Local hero and Singles Gold medalist, Rayn Lalisang is third with 3838.

Photos by Terence Yaw.

12th August, Jakarta: First block leader, Korea was overwhelmed by Chinese Taipei's Tsai Hsin-Yi, Chien Hsiu-Lan and Wang Yu-Ling in the second block of the 19th Asian Tenpin Bowling Championship to claim their first gold in the Women's Trios event.

The Taiwanese was trailing Korea's Hwang Sun-Ok, Gye Min-Young and Nam Bo Ra by 14 pins at the end of the first block bowled Friday evening and as soon as the women were back at Jaya Ancol Bowling Centre to complete their second block, Tsai Hsin-Yi, Chien Hsiu-Lan and Wang Yu-Ling was on fire posting a awesome 688 to take over the lead by 57 pins.

The two Korean trios, who finished 1-2 in the first block were locked on in joint-second at the start but the disappointment was from the overnight leader, who could only manage a 588 in their fourth game.

Despite a fight back in the final two games, they failed to catch up the leaders as Chinese Taipei claimed their first gold medal of the championship with a team total of 3701, 26 pins ahead of two Korean trios in second and third to settle for the silver and bronze medal on 3675 and 3639 respectively.

"We are very lucky to win the gold after bowling only managing a 574 in the final game," said anchorwomen, Wang Yu-Ling. "It was a very close fight with the Koreans and we are glad to have come out top. "We wish to thank our association for giving me this opportunity to compete here and we dedicate this win to out teammates and officials," said the emotional Chien Hsiu-Lan.

"It is very physically taxing when you're leading and despite urging each other on in this block, we failed to keep our opponents at bay," said Kim Yeau-Jin through an intrepreter. "Still we are happy to win the silver and also for our teammates for winning the bronze medal.

"We will fight harder now and try to make amends for the trios with the team events tomorrow. We are confident that we can challenge for the team gold and that will be our mission," said Hwang Sun-Ok, who won the Doubles Gold yesterday.

After three events and 18 games played (Singles, Doubles and Trios), Singles Gold medalist, Putty Armein of Indonesia leads the All Events table with 3997 ahead Kim Yeau-Jin of Korea second and Japan's Ayano Katai third with 2689 and 3671 respectively.

Host nation, Indonesia continued to top the overall medal tally with 2 Gold and 2 Silver followed by Korea in second with 1 Gold, 1 Silver and 2 Bronze medals while Chinese Taipei is third with 1 Gold and 1 Silver.

Photos by Terence Yaw.

11th August, Jakarta: Korean women dominated the Trios first block of 3 games over the long oil condition of the 19th Asian Tenpin Bowling Championship finishing 1-2 in the lead while Qatar topped the Men's division.

Singapore's Jennifer Tan, Cherie Tan and Evelyn Chan set the pace with a 652 i the opening game of the 3-game first block to take a 9 pin lead over the Japanese trio led by Singles Bronze medalist, Haruka Matsuda with Doubles Broze medalists and teammates Kanako Ishimine and Maki Kanako, who posted 645.

A 628 in the second game allowed the Singaporeans to maintain their lead with 1282 just 8 pins ahead of the Korean trio of Kim Hyo-Min, Gang Hye-Eun and anchored by Doubles Gold medalist, Kim Yeau-Jin on 1274. A poor 554 by the Japanese dropped them behind the other Korean trio of Hwang Son-Ok, Gye Min-Young and Nam Bo Ra improving to third with 1250.

With less than 30 pins separating the top four teams and moving into the

third and final game of the first block, the Hwang, Gye and Nam combination prevailed with a 630 to snatch the lead with 1880 ahead of their compatriots, Kim Hyo-Min, Gang and Kim Yeau-Jin trio but just 14 pins.

Singapore did well to remained in the hunt in third spot with 1859, a 7 pins adrift while the pace-setter, Japan finished fourth with 1825. Two Gold medalist, Putty Armein and her teammates, Tannya Roumimper and Go Lily could only manage a sixth place finish with 1818.

In the earlier Men's Trios first block, Doubles Bronze medalists, Abdullah Al-Qattan, Ahmed Shaheen and Saeed Al-Hajri of Qatar, led from start to finish to top the field by 17 pins on a total of 1997. The leader, who was leading the the Japanese trio of Tomokatsu Yamshita, Masaaki Takemoto and Toshihiko Takahashi by 71 pins, had their lead narrowed by the strong finishing of the Taiwanese.

"After a good performance in the doubles event last night, we went into the

Trios with full of confidence," said the 2003 Asian Ranked no. 1, Ahmed Shaheen. "And with Saeed in our team, we knew we would do well.

Kao Hai-Yuan, Cheng Fang-Yu and Ku Ching-Ho posted a massive 741 in their final game to storm home for second with a total of 1960 while Malaysia's Azidi Ameran, Daniel Lim and Alex Liew finished a creditable third with 1896.

Malaysia's other trio of debutants, Adrian Ang, Mohd Noer Said and Ben Heng also did well to take up fourth spot with 1833 while Doubles Gold medalist, Jason Yeong Nathan, Carl de Vries and Remy Ong ended the block in fifth on a total of 1817.

Photos by Terence Yaw.

10th August, Jakarta: Singapore's pair of Jason Yeong Nathan and Carl de Vries put in a scintillating performance in the Men's Doubles Squad B of the 19th Asian Tenpin Bowling Championship to snatch the Gold medal from Squad A leader, Chinese Taipei.

Who would have thought that after a disasterous start by Nathan with 154 and de Vries with 169 in the first game would give the pair a chance of a medal. But it turned out, both played their hearts out with a better second game of 460 to put them seventh and 70 pins behind the leader.

Nathan and de Vries continued their relentless pursuit after impressive totals of 431 and 454 in the next two games to move up to third. The magic was then turned on when both had sevent strikes-in-a-row which immediately caught the attention of everyone at the packed Jaya Ancol Bowl.

Nathan went on to his strikefest with four more strikes and with the final frame, Jaya Ancol Bowl was suddenly quite anticipating the firt perfect game to take place. As cool as ice, the 23-year-old delivered a perfect shot and the magical 300.

Inspired by the perfect game, de Vries also posted 264 in the same game to give the champion a 564 total and allowing them to take over the lead with the final game to play. Needing only 330 to beat the Squad A leader's score, the pressure was lifted off and they cruised to a comfortable 404 to snatch the Gold with a total of 2638, 70 pins ahead.

"After our disasterous start, we just didn't want to think about it but to get on with the game," said the 23-year-old debutant de Vries. "In fact we didn't realise that we had seven strikes but was just enjoying ourselves.

"We really inspired each other all the way and only when I shot the perfect game, we were told that we stand a good chance of winning a medal," said the reigning national champion making his second Asian Championship appearance.

Chinese Taipei's Yang Nien-Hua and Cheng Chao-Yu settled for the Silver medal with 2562 followed by Qatar's Abdulla Al-Qattan and Ahmed Shaheen in third with 2556 to claim the Bronze medal. Squad B pace-setter, Han Ji-Hoon and Chung Seung Wan finished fourth with 2507.

"Although we feel a bit disappointed to be beaten into second place, we are still very because we played a lot better today," said the 28-year-old Cheng, who won 2 Gold and 1 silver in the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok. Cheng's partner and 2002 Milo International Junior All-Stars champion, Yang was equally happy and to have won a medal in his debut is a dream come true.

"We didn't really have a good start this morning in Squad A but when we got into our strides, we were feeling confident that we catch up with the leaders," said Shaheen, the former AMF World Cup champion. "We were fortunate that we can cover each other but were disappointed to end the event to trail the Taiwanese by 6 pins.

The win has also moved Jason Yeong Nathan into eighth in the All Events

table on a 12-game total of 2516 with Malaysia's Alex Liew and Azidi Ameran occupying the top two spots on 2575 and 2559. Nathan's teammate, Remy Ong is third with 2557.

Photos by Terence Yaw.

10th August, Jakarta: Indonesia came close to winning their third Gold on Day 2 of the 19th Asian Tenpin Bowling Championship but was overtaken in the final game by Korea to end up with the Silver medal in the Women's Doubles event.

Korea's pair of Gye Min-Young and Gang Hye-Eun immediately grabbed the lead as the women took to the lanes for their doubles event over the short oil condition Thursday morning at Jaya Ancol Bowl. But their lead was soon taken over by the dynamic duo of Singles Gold and Silver medalist, Putty Armein and Tannya Roumimper of Indonesia with a 54-pin cushion at the halfway mark.

The lead was soon reduced to 37 pins by another Korean pair, Hwang Sun-Ok and Kim Yeau-Jin in hot pursuit and by the fifth game, the gap stood at 40 pins with the final game to play. The atmosphere was tense as both Tannya and Putty approached the game cautiously.

With cheers coming strongly from the Korean teammates and supporters

camp, Tannya managed a 192 while Putty had a split and a miss in her game to end with 179 and a team total of 2476. Hwang posted a 224 and Kim 197 to give the Koreans 421 to snatch away the gold by just 10 pins on a 6-game total of 2486.

"We knew were leading but wasn't told by what gap so we just went on to score as much as we can," said Putty. "Of course we are disappointed for missing the gold but this is bowling. We did our best but I guess our best wasn't good enough.

"We don't know our teammate for tomorrow's Trios event but whoever she is, we will fight harder in our next event," said the 16-year-old Tannya. "I have two silver medals now and I'm confident that I'll win a gold medal before the championship ends.

"This is my fourth Asian Championship and I've won many medals but this win is sweeter as we really fought all the way," said the 28-year-old Kim Yeau-Jin. "I'm happy for my teammate, Hwang who is making her debut and helping me to win the Gold.

Hwang, who has been a member of the Korean national team for the past two years, won two gold medals in the Asian Youth Championships in the Doubles Short and Team Long oil. She also bagged two silver medals in the Doubles Long and Team Short oil.

Japan's Nanako Ishimine and Maki Nakano, who was fourth and trailing the Chinese Taipei, at the fifth game, stormed home with a superb 431 to clinch the Bronze medal with 2408 while early leader, Gye Min-Young and Gang Hye-Eun of Korea finished fourth with 2378.

After two events, Putty Armein and Tannya Roumimper lead the All Events in first and second on with 12-games totals of 2704 and 2476 with Haruka Matsuda in third with 2442. Indonesia also leads the medal tally with 2 Gold and 2 Silver medals.

Photos courtesy of HKTBC.

9th August, Jakarta: It was a golden haul for host nation, Indonesia as Putty Armein and Tannya Roumimper dominated the Women's Singles event of the 19th Asian Tenpin Bowling Championship with a 1-2 finish to capture the Gold and Silver medal at Jaya Ancol Bowl Wednesday night.

With one Gold medal in the bag after Ryan Leonard Lalisang had triumphed in the Men's Singles earlier, it was a tense start for Putty Armein as she only posted 217 despite having 5 strikes in her opening five frames. Japan's Haruka Matsuda was on fire with a blazing 268 to take an earlier lead but just 3 pins ahead of Asian Youth triple Gold medalist, Gye Min-Young of Korea in a close second.

In the second game, it was Armein's turn to set the lanes ablazed with a superb 279 and taking over the lead with a 22 pin margin. Another two big games of 242 and 247 in the third and fourth games allowed Armein to build up a cushion of 59 pins.

Maintaining a 193 and a 211 in her final two games was sufficient to claim Indonesia's second gold with 1389 ending a fabulous start to the champion-

ship for the country. The silver medal appeared to be safely in the hands of the Japanese but Tannya Roumimper of Indonesia stormed home with a 268 in the final game to snatch the silver medal by 24 pins.

"I was a bit tense at the start of the block and I was a little disappointed to end the first game with 217 after I had five strikes-in-a-row," said the 24-year-old champion, who also bagged two gold and one silver in the Manila SEA Games and finishing first runner-up in this year's World Ranking Masters in Kuwait.

"But after the 279 in the second game, I had my confidence back and was just making sure I didn't make any mistakes. But I didn't know I was leading by a big margin. Obviously I'm very happy with the results and I have my parents, coaches, the Congress and my teammates to thank for this victory.

Haruka Matsuda of Japan, settled for the Bronze medal with 1291, behind Tannya who won the silver with 1315 over the long oil 6-game singles. Malaysia's Lai Kin Ngoh was a bit unlucky to miss out on the podium finishing fourth on a total of 1265.

"I was very nervous in my first major assignment in last year's SEA Games but after winning the Singles Gold in the Asian Schools Championship in Bangkok this year, I feel more comfortable," said the 16-year-old Santo Aloysius Batununggal student.

"Before the final game, my coach Sid (Allen) told me that I needed a big game in order to stand a chance of winning a medal, so I thought I'll give it a shot. I didn't expect that I could really do it," said the delighted Tanyya.

Indonesia has never won any Gold in the history of the championship and winning two on day one is indeed a rare ocassion. Armein also broke the 2004 record of 1266 set by China’s Xu Yong in Bangkok. In the team's last outing in Bangkok in 2004, Indonesia came home with just one silver from the Women's Trios event where Putty Armein, Ivana Hie and Happy Soediyono finished third.

The women will contest the doubles event over the short oil condition on Thursday morning, 10th August and the Men's Doubles will take place in the afternoon divided into two squads.

Photos by Terence Yaw.

9th August, Jakarta: Mania SEA Games Gold medalist, Ryan Leonard Lalisang struck the first Gold for host nation, Indonesia after topping Squad B and the final standings of the Men's Singles event of the 19th Asian Tenpin Bowling Championship Wednesday evening.

Lalisang, who started in Squad B with a strong game of 237 to trail pace-setter, Abdullah Al-Qattan of Qatar by 2 pins and despite posting 191 in the second game, Lalisang was abe to surge to the lead by 9 pins. The champion then picked up his pace with a 228 but the lead was narrowed to 6 pins with Chinese Taipei's Ku CHing-Ho closely behind.

With the strong crowd support, the Indonesian set his claim for the gold when he posted 265 and 236 in the fourth and fifth game to take a commanding lead of 78 pins going into the final game. Needing only 193 to secure victory, Lalisang crusied to a 208 in his final game to amassed a 6-game total of 1365 and 15 pins ahead of Squad A leader, Tomokatsu Yamashita of Japan.

"This is a great way to start the championship and I'm so happy to win the Gold medal," said the delighted 25-year-old. "After the second game, my coach told me to switch my bowling ball and also play a different line and it paid off.

"I knew I had a chance to win the gold and I just kept telling myself to stay focus and relax. It's not easy to win especially with such a strong field here but the supporters and my teammates really cheered me on," added Lalisang.

The top 2 in Squad A, Tomokatsu Yamashita of Japan and Lee Soung-Jun settled for the Silver and Bronze medals with 1350 and 1334 respectively. UAE's Nayef Al-Abadla and Mahmood Al-Attar missed the podium finishing fourth and fifth spots.

"This is my first championship in the senior ranks and to win the Silver is quite an achievement for me personally," said the 23-year-old whose first international success was winning the Doubles, Team and Masters Gold medal in the 2000 Asian Schools Championship in Malaysia.

"I thought I had lost a chance of a medal after a poor last game but I'm happy to take home the bronze medal," said the fulltime member of the Ulju City Bowling Team and making his debut here in this championship.

Photos by Terence Yaw.

9th August, Jakarta: Japan got off to a hopeful start when championship debutant, Tomokatsu Yamashita snatched the lead in the final game of the Men's Singles Squad A in the 19th Asian Tenpin Bowling Championship which got underway at Jaya Ancol Bowl Wednesday morning.

The 23-year-old member of the Japan national squad since 2000, who was eigtht after two games, crawled his way up the field to trail pace-setter, Lee Young-Jun of Korea by just 1 pin at the end of the fourth game. UAE's Mahmood Al Attar and Bahrain's Mohammad Al Shawwoosh set the tone for Squad A sharing the lead as 24 men took to the lanes for their first event.

A 196 in Yamashita's fifth game allowed the Korean to increase the gap to 30 pins with the final game to play. Disaster struck for the Korea as he could only manage 179 while Yamashita posted a good game of 225 to snatch the lead by 5 pins on a total of 1350.

"I knew I had to play catch-up throughout the 6 games but I wasn't thninking too much about it," said the delighted Yamashita. "I was making sure that I continue to make good shots and to bowl consistently. I hope my score will be good enough for a medal.

Lee Young-Jun settled for second with 1334 ahead of UAE's Nayef Al-Abadla in third with 1325. First game pace-setter, Mahmood Al-Attar, also of UAE fizzled out to finish fourth with 1306. Squad B will bowl their 6-game Singles over the long oil condition and the final results will determine the winner.

Photos by Terence Yaw.

8th August, Jakarta: The official ceremony of the 19th Asian Tenpin Bowling Championship held at Jaya Ancol Bowling Centre saw 16 nations march past in front of a large crowd which was graced by The Honourable, Mr Adhyaksa Dault, the Indonesia Minister of Youth and Sports.

The ceremony kicked off with the march past and parade of 16 countries from Asia namely, Bahrain, Brunei, China, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Kuwait, Malaysia, Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Thailand, UAE and host nation, Indonesia in front of a large crowd that has gathered and attended by government officials, dignitaries, distinguished guests, ABF Assembly delegates and officials.

Amongst the dignitaries were Sheikh Talal Al-Sabah (ABF President), Mr Steve Hontiveros (FIQ President), Mr Agum Gumelar (Chairman of the Sports Committee of Indonesia) and Wismoyo Arismunandar (former Chairman of the Sports Committee of Indonesia).

"Tenpin Bowling has become one the top sport in Indonesia and it is most

appropriate that we play host to such a prestigious event," said Mr Maxi Gunawan, President of Persatuan Boling Indonesia and organising chairman.

"We not only have the top Asian bowlers competing in this championship, but we also have world champions such as four-time AMF World Cup champion, Paeng Nepomuceno of the Philippines, Khaled Al-Dubyyan, reigning World Ranking Masters champion, former World Cup and World Championship champion with us here," added Mr Gunawan in his opening speech.

"Asian Bowling Federation thanked the Indonesian Bowling Congress for playing host to such an important event and I'm sure that all the officials and participants will enjoy the Indonesian hospitality extended to all during this championship," said Sheikh Talal in his speech.

In the guest of honour's address, The Honourable, Mr Adhyaksa Dault said

that the Indonesian Ministry of Youth and Sports is very supportive of tenpin bowling especially after the many international successes achieved by the national team under the ably leadership of PBI's president, Mr Gunawan.

"On behalf of the Indonesian government, we bid a warm welcome to all the officials and participants to this 19th Asian Tenpin Bowling Championship and we hope that you will compete in the true spirit of sportmanship and you will also take home fond memories with you," said the Honourable Youth and Sports Minister.

Top Indonesian national team members, Ryan Leonard Lalisang and Putty Insavilla Armein took the athlete's oath while Larry Chelvan took the officials oath in the simple ceremony.

The Honourabe Minister was also invited to roll the competition's first ball to mark the opening of the championship. A momento was presented to Ms Christina Koo in recognition of her contirbution to the ABF Tour in the past three years and for the development of tenpin bowling in Indonesia.

The official practice will commence later today and the 16 countries are divided into two squads. Squad A will commence at 12.00noon while the other squad will start at 3.00pm. The bowlers will practice on short and long oil conditions.

Photos by Terence Yaw.

7th August, Jakarta: Host nation, Indonesia is quietly confident to do well in the 19th Asian Tenpin Bowling Championship which gets underway at Jaya Ancol Bowl on Wednesday with a well balanced and relatively young team.

The team comprising of Manila SEA Games two Gold medalist, Putty Armein will lead the women's challenge with Go Lily, Ivana Hie and debutants, Tanyya Roumimper, Rania Anisha Nugroho and the youngest member, Shalima Zalsha.

The men's team, captained by Manila SEA Games Singles Gold and Masters Bronze medalist, Ryan Leonard Lalisang, are well prepared and may surprise many opponents in the championship. According to their chief coach, Sid Allen, this championship will be used as a benchmark to gauge the potential of the players for the all-important Doah Asian Games this December.

"We have been training this young team for more than three months and their results will provide us with an idea of the team for the Doha games," said Sid Allen.

"The women team will be much stronger and we are quitely confident that they will do well in the team events.

"We are also betting on our top men bowler, especially Ryan and Yuyi to be amongst the top 10 in the competition. Putty and Tanyya are two of our strong medal chances in the women's division too.

Asked if which team would be Indonesia's biggest opponent, the Canadian said that the Koreans are by far the strongest team in Asian currently and will be the one to watch. The Qataris and Kuwaitis will also be the ones to watch in the men's division.

"The team are well prepared but we are realistically training them for the more important Doha games," said Ruben Ghiragossan, the Technical Consultant for the Indonesian team. "We don't really had a lot of time to try out the lanes but we don't think it is a major factor.

"We are keeping our minds open and will be using this championship to find out the true qualities of the players in their competition skills rather than their technical skills," added Ruben. "We rate our chances good and we expect to do well and if we do get into difficult situations, we want to know how the player can handle them.

Asked how local support will play a role in the championship, Ruben said that if the players are in the hunt for a medal, the enthusiastc crowd will certainly play a part in cheering the players on.

The Indonesian team will be have their official practice commencing at 12.00noon at Jaya Ancol Bowl on Tuesday, 8th August.

Photos by Terence Yaw.

7th August, Jakarta: The 19th ABF General Assembly on Monday morning, kicked off a busy day for the organiser of the 19th Asian Tenpin Bowling Championship following the Team Managers' meeting held in the afternoon and a Welcome Reception which followed in the evening.

Delegates from the Asian zone assembled at the Sheraton Media Hotel for their 19th meeting with ABF President, Sheikh Tala Al-Sabah chairing the assembly. FIQ President, Mr Steven Hontiveros was also invited to attend the meeting which commence at 9.30am.

Countries that were represented were Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Kuwait, Macau, Malaysia, Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Thailand, UAE and Vietnam. Members of the Executive Committee were also present which consisted of Mr Salman Abdullah, representing the Vice President for the Western Region, Mr Li Gao Chao was Mr Winston Chan, Vice President for the Far East Region, Mr Sidney Tung, Vice President for the South East Region and Mr Alex Popov, Vie President for the Oceania Region.

Members of the Exco present were Mr Salman Abdullah and Mr Maxi Gunawan representing their repective federations.

"We are indeed grateful to the Indonesian Bowling Congress for hosting the 19th edition of the Asian Championship and also for hosting both the Exco meeting and the 19th General Assembly," said Sheikh Talal in his opening speech during the assembly.

At 3.00pm, the Team Managers' meeting were also held at Sheraton Media Hotel in which delegates from 16 participating countries attended. Lane draws were conducted and participants confirmed for the championship.

The Indonesian Bowling Congress also hosted the welcome reception at the poolside of the official hotel in which all officials and participants were entertained by a musical group called "After Nine" as well as dances performed by a local traditional dance group.

"We wish to thank Mr Maxi Gunawan, the President of PBI and organising chairman and his hard working committee for undertaking this task of hosting such an improtant event," expressed Mr Steve Hontiveros, President of FIQ in his wlecome speech during the reception.

"It is always not easy to organise an event of this scale and if there are any shortcomings, we wish to express our sincere apology and we will endeavour to make this championship and your stay here in Jakarta a memorable one," said Mr Maxi Gunawan.

The official opening ceremony will take place Tuesday morning and will hopefully be graced by His Excellency, Mr Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, President of Indonesia, and attended by top government officials, dignitaries, distinguished guests, delegates of the ABF Assembly, participating team officials and bowlers.

Immediately after the opening ceremony, the official practice will follow which will be divided into two squads. A pair of short oil and a pair of long oil conditions will be laid down for each team to practice on throughout the two sessions.

Competition will commence on Wednesday, 9th August starting with the Men's Singles Squad A in the morning and Squad B in the afternoon. The women will bowl their Singles in a single squad in the evening.

Photos by Terence Yaw.

6th August, Jakarta: The Asian Bowling Federation Executive Committee held its meeting at the Sheraton Media Hotel which coincides with the 19th Asian Tenpin Bowling Championship being held at Jaya Ancol Bowl from the 8th to 16th August.

Chairing the meeting was ABF President, Mr Sheikh Talal Al-Sabah, and attended by Honorary Life President of the World Tenpin Bowling Association and President of Japan Bowling Congress, Mr Kyohei Akagi, Honorary Life President of ABF and President of Hong Kong Tenpin Bowling Congress, Mrs Vivien Fung.

Mr Steve Hontiveros, President of FIQ was also present at the meeting together with Dr. Danny Santos, Honorary Auditor of ABF and Secretary General of FIQ, Vice Presidents - Mr Sidney Tung (Malaysian Tenpin Bowling Congress), Mr Salman Abdullah Abdul Ghani (Qatar Bowling Federation), Mr. Alexander Popov (Tenpin Bowling Australia).

Other members of the Executive Committee present were Mr Winston Chan (Macau Bowling Association), Mr Takaya Aizawa (Japan Bowling Congress) and Mr. Maxi Gunawan (Persatuan Boling Indonesia).

The meeting started this morning at 10.00am and will end approximately noon time. The ABF 19th General Assembly will be held tomorrow, 7th August with most of the delegates of member affiliations represented.

Delegates and the exco members are also invited to attend a welcome reception hosted by PBI in the evening. The team managers' meeting will be held back at Sheraton Media Hotel at 3.00pm.

The official opening ceremony of the 19th Asian Tenpin Bowling Championship will take place tomorrow on the 7th August at 9.00pm at Jaya Ancol Bowl. Official practice will start on the 8th August and the championship will kick off with the Men's Singles on Wednesday, 9th August.

Photos by Terence Yaw.