4th September, Jakarta: Cecilia Yap and Purvis Granger captured the women's and men's Masters Gold medals in the concluding 19th Asian Intercity Bowling Championship to retain the overall champions' title.

Yap emerged as the star of the championship, winning her fourth Gold medal. The 29-year-old had won the Singles, Doubles with Liza Clutario, and the All Events before ending the great outing by winning the Masters.

The champion, who was fifth in yesterday's first block, put up a scintilating performance today winning all the eight games and amassed a total of 3633, 212 pins ahead of her nearest opponent. Her teammate, Liza Clutario retained second to give Paranaque a 1-2 finish for the silver medal on 3421.

"I used the same line as yesterday but today it seems to work better," said the champion. "I also made some adjustments towards the the end and it paid off.

"I bowl poorer than yesterday but I'm still happy that I can finish third for yest another Bronze medal," said Putty. "I'm disappointed as I had three chances to win the Gold but I threw it away each time.

The men's contest was more hotly contested with the lead being swapped between defending champion, Purvis Granger of Paranaque and Zulmazran Zulkifli of Shah Alam. Zulmazran started the second block in the lead but a poor 13th game of 188 allowed his teammate, Daniel Lim to grab the lead at the halfway mark.

Despite regaining the lead after the 12th game, Granger mounted his challenge from game 13 onwards to lead Zulmazran by 19 pins at the end of the 15th game before the final position-round match. Granger kept his momentum to bring home 258 against Zulmazran's 236 to eventually win by 41 pins on 3767.

"As usual I couldn't get the carry but I kept telling myself to be patient," said the champion. "I only started to make better shots in the second half. I just concentrated on my own game and not look at the other bowlers and the scores.

Zulmazran again settled for the silver, just as he did in last year's championship, loosing to Granger in the masters. Daegu's Lee Tae Ju stormed home to snatch the Bronze medal with 3640 relegating Daniel Lim to fourth on 3635.

Paranaque retained their overall champions' title with 6 Gold, 3 Silver and 1 Bronze medal for a total of 42 points. Host city, Jakarta came in second with 2 Gold, 3 Silver and 2 Bronze medals on 23 points. Hong Kong came in third with 1 Gold, 2 Silver and 4 Bronze medals on 19.5 points.

The 20th Asian Interncity Bowling Championship will move on to the city of Tamuning in Guam next year.

Photos by Terence Yaw and Daniel Winardi, PBI.

3rd September, Jakarta: Indonesian, Lily Suhaimi of Kepulauan Seribu sprang a surprise to top the women's first block Masters finals of the 19th Asian Interncity Bowling Championship while two Malaysian men occupied the top two positions.

Suhaimi, a housewife from Jakarta and a former national bowler, took over the lead from the seventh game and then rounded off with a superb 238 in the eighth and final game to top the pack on a total of 1724. Suhaimi won 7 of the 8-game round-robin matchplay finals this morning to lead by 27 pins ahead of pace-setter, Liza Clutario.

"Today I bowl well because I put a lot of concentration and focus into my game," said Suhaimi, who won the Doubles Gold medal in the 2003 championship in Paranaque City. "I hope I can have the same focus in tomorrow's crucial second block," added the 40-year-old.

Clutario settled for second with 1697 while another Kepulauan Seribu finalist, Sheanny Gunawan in third with 1650. Favourites and two Gold medalist, Cecilia Yap coud only manage a fifth place finish with 1642, behind her arch rival and Jakarta's hopeful, Putty Armein in fourth spot with 1644.

In the men's division, Singles Gold medalist and Masters defending champion, Purvis Granger of Paranaque City led the first half of the 8-game block but soon found Malaysian bowlers hot on his heels.

Shah Alam of Malaysia, who has yet to win any medals, had national bowlers, Zulmazran Zulkifli and Daniel Lim storming home to take the top two positions and finishing 1-2. Zulmazran posted 232 in the final game to top the field with 1880 followed by Daniel Lim in second with 1857.

"I was hitting the pocket most of the time but didn't get enough carry but when I switched to my AMF Triumph TNT after the fourth game, almost all my shots were perfect," said the 22-year-old leader. "I know what I need to do in the first four games and the second four games tomorrow do I hope I can do well.

Doubles Silver medalist, Wu Siu Hong of Hong Kong brought home a 269 in his final game to share third spot with pace-setter, Granger on identical total of 1814. Dominanat Daegu's finalists, Lee Tae Ju and Jeong Jin Ho could only finish fifth ans sixth with 1804 and 1783 respectively.

The women and men will battle it out in another 8 games tomorrow and at the end of the second block, the top 3 will make the cut for the stepladder finals.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Jakarta.

2nd September, Jakarta: Hong Kong upset first block leader and host, Jakarta City to capture the Women's Team Gold while Daegu cruised to a comfortable win in the Men's Team event just conlcuded at Jaya Ancol Bowling Center.

Hong Kong's quartet of Joey Yip, Kylie Lui, Janet Lam and Vanessa Fung were 28 pins adrift at the end of the first block played this morning. And when the second block commenced in the afternoon, the gap was stretched to 95 pins after a poor 702 from the team.

The table was turned when the Hong Kong ladies posted a superb 881 while the leader, Jakarta suffered a lowly 655 in the fifth game which allowed the champion to take over the lead by 62 pins. It was down to the final game to decide the champion and Hong Kong came out stronger of the two teams to eventually win by 34 pins on a total of 4651.

"The team bowled just great and extremely well under pressure," said coach Pedro. "It's a great achievement for the team. Vanessa played a major part in this win and she needed to finish off the last game with a spare inorder to retain third in the all events to win the Bronze medal.

Paranaque came home strongly to edge host city, Jakarta for the silver with 4617 while Jakarta settled for the Bronze medal with 4452. Busan took one point by finishing fourth with a team score of 4318.

The men's team champion was an uncontested affair as the second block went underway. Daegu's Jeong Jin Ho, Park Dae Soon, Kim Young Pyo and Lee Tae Ju made sure of the win by posting consistent 782, 895 and 840 to a runaway win by a hugh margin of 270 pins on 5175.

Hong Kong retained their second spot from the first block to win the Silver medal with 4905 while favourite, Paranaque City could only manage a third place finish for the Bronze medal with 4830.

Jakarta almost scored a double in the All Events when Ryan Lalisang and Putty Armein were leading the standings before the Team second block. Lalisang had a 51-pin cushion and had managed to total 622 against his nearest opponent, Purvis Granger of Paranaque City on 602. Wu Siu Hong settled for the Bronze in the all events.

Meanwhile, Putty had an 85-pin margin over two Gold medalist, Cecilia Yap before the start of the second block Team event. But a disasterous second block saw Putty only managing 555 while Yap brought home 649 to snatch the Gold by a mere 9 pins.

"I always ended my game in the corner lanes similar to the last two events where I just could not do well," said the dejected Putty. "All I needed was to spare my last frame and I had a 4-6-7-10 split.

The fight for the overall champions is not over yet as only 8 points separate the defending champion, Paranaque and host city, Jakarta. Paranaque leads with 4 Gold, 2 Silver and 1 Bronze on 29 points followed by Jakarta with 2 Gold, 3 Silver and 1 Bronze medal.

The top 16 men and women, who have qualified for the Masters finals will contest the round-robin matchplay first block on the 3rd September and the second block on the 4th September. The top 3 at the end of the two blocks will make the cut for the stepladder finals for two more gold medals.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Jakarta.

2nd September, Jakarta: Host city Jakarta and Daegu from Korea are determine to wrestle the team title from favourite, Paranaque City when they led the first block of the Team event contested this morning at Jaya Ancol Bowling Center.

The quartet led by two Silver medalist, Putty Armein with 3 youngsters, Raniia A Nugroho, A. Ayu and anchored by 14-year-old Shalima Zalsha grabbed the lead with a strong 801 in the third game with a slender margin of 28 pins on a team total of 2356.

"This is the first time that I have been given the task of anchoring the team and I feel a little bit pressure," said the secondary 3 student of Al-Izhar Secondary School, who won a Team Bronze medal in last year's championship. "But my coach Henry Tan gave me a lot of encouragement.

Hong Kong city's Joey Yip, Kylie Lui, Janet Lam and Vanessa Fung settled for second on a total of 2328 despite taking the lead briefly after the second game. Favourites, Paranaque City finished third with 2311.

Meanwhile, Doubles Silver medalist, Jeong Ji Ho and Lee Tae Ju teamed up with Park Dae Soon and Kim Young Pyo to take a commanding lead of 142 pins after a scintilating 993 in the third game. The foursome posted lines of 848, 817 and 993 for a total of 2658 pinfalls.

Hong Kong's Wicky Yeung, Hui Chi Ho, Daniel Yiu and anchorman, Wu Siu Hong pipped favourite, Paranaque City for second spot with a 903 in the third game on a team score of 2516. 2003 AMF World Cup champion, CJ Suarez together with Sandy Cotoco, Johnson Cheng and Singles Gold medalist, Purvis Granger took third place with 2469.

"I am very happy with the team's performance in the first block," said team manager, Seo Wooi Geum through an interpreter. "I have told the team to keep their focus for the second block and not to give away our lead.

Daegu, who missed last year's championship in Shah Alam, Malaysia due to other championships, have won the Team Gold in three consective years.

The second block of three games will be played in the afternoon which will determine top 16 men and women from the All Events standings qualifying for the Masters finals.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Jakarta.

1st September, Jakarta: Paranaque City put up another dominant display when Liza Clutario and Cecilia Yap teamed up to win the Women's Doubles Gold medal with host city Jakarta settling for the Silver and Hong Kong the Bronze.

The win has made up the slight disappointment for Clutario after missing this year's Women's World Championship due to a shoulder injury when she partnered Singles Gold medalist, Cecilia Yap to take a comfortable win over their nearest rivals by 152 pins. Clutario's 6-game of 1333 and Yap's 1174 gave the duo a total team score of 2507.

"Fortunately Liza bowled well today and was able to cover my poor score," said Yap after the win. I was just aking my spares and made sure I don't let her down. Yap also won the same event last year partnering Lucy Chen.

"Apart from the second game when I could only managed 185, the rest of the game were perfect," said Clutario. "When we took over the lead after the fourth game, we said to ourselves that if we could maintain at 400+ a game, we could win the Gold.

Jakarta was again denied the glory when Putty Armein and youngster, Shalima Zalsha finished second for the silver. Putty, who won the silver in the Singles event yesterday, was consistent today but the scores were not high enough to topple the Filipinas.

Putty posted 1248 in her 6-game event while her partner, Shalima scored 1104 to give the pair a total of 2352. But their effort put them in front of the pace-setter, Hong Kong by just 8 pins.

Janet Lam and Singles Bronze medalist, Venessa Fung took the Bronze medal with a total of 2344 with Lam posting 1132 while Fung scored 1212.

"We had a chance to finish second but a disasterous miss in my last game cost us the silver medal," said a disappointed Fung. "The lanes suited us very well in the beginning but when the lanes started to break down towards the end, we just couldn't score.

Lily Suhaimi and Sheanny Gunawan of Kepulauan Seribu was amongst the leaders before going into the last game but a poor 377 saw them dropping to fourth.

After two events, Putty Armein has shot to the front of the Women's All Events standings with 2531 from 12 games folowed by Liza Clutario in second and Cecilia Yap third on 2504 and 2475 respectively. Paranaque City topped the overall medal standings so far with 3 Gold ahead of Jakarta in second with 1 Gold and 2 Silver.

The participants will contest the Team of 4 event Friday, 2nd September over two blocks of 3 games each. The top 16 men and women from the All Events standings will qualify for the Masters finals to be played on 3rd and 4th September.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Jakarta.

1st September, Jakarta: Jakarta city celebrated a convincing win in the Men's Doubles of the 19th Asian Intercity Bowling Championship when Ryan Lalisang and Yuyu Lie led from start to finish for their first Gold medal on Day 2.

Top local Indonesian, Ryan blazed the lanes at Jaya Ancol Bowling Center this morning to knock down an impressive 1383 with lines of 235, 220, 219, 268, 228 and 213. Ryna's partner and Indonesia Open third runner-up, Yuyu Lie posted 1288 to give the duo a team total of 2671.

The pair set a blistering pace from the word "Go" with 491 to take a 66 pin lead followed by another superb second game of 455. The champion stretched their lead to 152 pins by the fourth game and never looked back since crusing to a confortable 92 pin margin at the end of the 6-game event.

"We were doing great after the third game but not so good at the fourth and fifth game because the lanes were drying very fast," said Yuyu, who has represented Jakarta for the third time. Yuyu had only managed a Bronze in last year's championship in Shah Alam, Malaysia.

"I hope I can carry forward the confidence gained from today to our next event tomorrow," added Yuyu. "I wasn't feeling too well this morning due to a stomach upset and I was week in my delivery," said Ryan after the win. "Perhaps it help as I wasn't feeling any pressure to do well with my condition.

"I'm aiming to do better this year with the Team event and hope to qualify for the Masters," added Ryan, who won the Masters Silver medal last year.

Hong Kong's Wicky Yeung and ABF Tour Grand Slam champion, Wu Siu Hong settled for the silver medal with a total of 2592. Yeung knocked down 1268 and contributed largely by Wu's 1324 to give them second spot. Daegu's Jeong Jin Ho and Lee Tae Ju took home the Bronze medal with a team total of 2571.

"I was a bit nervous in the beginning but after a good third game, I gained more and more confidence towards the second half," said Yeung who is making his debut for Hong Kong. "We started well but found the changing lanes condition quite challenging," said Wu.

Wu added: "The champion were too far away for us to do anything and we were able to maintain our second position towards the end to win the silver. We are looking forward to the team event tomorrow and perhaps we go improve on our performance today.

Fourth position went to Happy Valley's Rickle Kam and Michael Tsang, who totalled 2512, just 59 pins from bronze medalist, Daegu. The women will contest their doubles later in the afternoon.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Jakarta.

31st August, Jakarta: Paranaque City is off to a good start in their bid to retain the champions' title as Purvis Granger ended the first day of the 19th Asian Intercity Bowling Championship with a win in the Men's Singles.

Granger, who only managed to win the Silver in last year's championship, made amends by taking the Gold with a superb 1360 with lines of 203, 258, 277, 216, 194 and 212. The champion started his campaign in 26th but came on strongly from game two onwards to eventually win by a margin of 51 pins.

"I was waiting for the oil to set in the beginning and I knew I wouldn't be able to score in the beginning," said Granger. "I was also a bit jitterish at the start.

"When we move over to the left side of the center, I brought out massive games to allow me to close the gap and move up to the leaders," added the confident Granger. "I made all my spares and I didn't have too much trouble.

Uiwang's Oh Young Ki and Shah Alam's Zulmazran Zulkifli stormed home to tie for second for the Silver medal with 1309. Both posted 233 and 247 respectively to snatch the silver from Deagu's Park Dae Soon, who was second going into the final game. Park settled for fourth place tieing with Wu Siu Hong of Hong Kong, just 3 pins adrift on 1306.

"I started with a poor game of 163 and I thought there will be no chance," said the Malaysian national bowler, Zulmazran. "I started to pick up the pace from game 3 onwards when we moved over to the left side of the lanes and thereafter I just had a lot of good shots and had good carry.

Paranaque City looks set to retain the champions' title with a great start. Cecilia Yap had earlier won Paranaque's first Gold medal in the women's Singles event.

The Doubles event will be contested Thursday morning, 1st September with the men while the women will play in the afternoon.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Jakarta.

31st August, Jakarta: Cecilia Yap won the first Gold medal for defending champion, Paranaque City as the filipina snatch the win from local favourite, Putty Armein of host city Jakarta underway at Jaya Ancol Bowling Center this morning.

Cecilia was 21 pins behind leader, Putty Armein after the fourth game and came on strongly with the final two games to snatch the gold medal on a total of 1301. Putty managed to stretch the lead to 31 pins after the fifth game but a poor 174 in her final game saw her settling for the Silver medal with 1283.

"My coach told that I was only 31 pins behind the leader and that I could win so I naturally went for it," said the 27-year-old Philippines national bowler. "The lanes were not easy but I kept telling myself to be patient.

"I have competed in many Intercity championships and I'm always a slow starter. Hopefully with this good start, I can keep up the momentum right to the end," added the champion, who managed to win 1 Gold and 1 Silver in last year's championship.

"The lanes from 16 onwards suited me better and I was able to score bowling on the outside but when we got to the lanes the left, I couldn't use that line so I didn't bowl well," said the slightly disappointed Putty. "But I'm happy to win a medal for my city.

Hong Kong city's Vanessa Fung finished strongly to win the Bronze medal, 70 pins adrift on 1213. Pace-setter, Sheanny Gunawan of Kepulauan Seribu started the event with 230, 224, 224, faded away to finish a dismal 12th. The men will take onto the lanes for their singles after the lane dressing later in the afternoon.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Jakarta.

29th August, Jakarta: Jaya Ancol Bowling Center and the organising committee put up a grand opening of the 19th Asian Intercity Bowling Championship attended by the Guest of Honour, Mr Moerdiman, Assistant Cirector General of Town Planning, Jakarta Tuesday evening.

Eighteen teams participated in the march past in front of 400 comprising of government officials, bowling federation and clubs officials, distinguished guests, press media and participatants which went like clockwork.

"We are indeed happy to have the previlege to play host to the Asian Intercity Bowling Championship here in Jakarta for the 19th edition," said organising chairman, Mr Oki Harwanto in his opening address. "I know that all of you have come to Jakarta to compete in the championship but I hope you'll find time to visit the many interesting tourist attractions available here besides bowling.

A minute of silence was observed as a mark of respect to the recent demise of AIBC President, the late Mr Huang Wan Cheng before the speech of Mr Gordon Chu, acting president of AIBC.

"We are indeed glad that Jakarta can play host to this year's championship and I'm sure that they will provide a fair and condusive condition for competitive bowling," said Mr Chu.

The guest of honour, Mr Moerdiman, Assistant Director of Town Planning, Jakarta was on hand to official declace the championship open on behalf of the mayor of Jakarta. The guests were treated to a traditional "Gitek Balen Dance" which signifies the dyanmism of the youths of Jakarta.

Jaya Ancol Bowling Center hosted the welcoming reception that followed the opening, where all the guests, officials and participants were treated to a diner at the Restaurant Hailai, next to the bowling center.

A total of eighteen teams took part in the opening comprising of Busan (Korea), Capitol Hill (Saipan), Chennai (India), Daegu (Korea), Happy Valley Club (Hong Kong), Kepulauan Seribu (Indonesia), Kowloon (Hong Kong), Hong Kong (China), Macau (China), Paranaque City (Philippines), Pasay City (Philippines), Shah Alam Bowling Club (Malaysia), Saipan (Saipan) Taipei City (Chinese Taipei), Tamuning (Guam), Uiwang (Korea), Victoria (China) and host Jakarta City (Indonesia).

The competition will start with the Women singles (6 games) Wednesday 31st morning followed by the Men's singles in the afternoon. The Doubles and Team events will be contested on the 1st and 2nd September. The top 16 men and women from the All Events standings (18 games), will qualify for the Masters finals which will be held on the 3rd and 4th September.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Jakarta.

29th August, Jakarta: The 19th edition of the Asian Intercoty Bowling Championship is all set to roll as officials of eighteen participating cities attended the Team Managers' Meeting held at Sheraton Media Hotel Monday evening.

A record of eighteen teams are participating in this year's championship, hosted by Jakarta City at Jaya Ancol Bowling as the officials attended the Team Managers' Meeting conducted by Chief Technical Director, Dr Danny Santos, AIBC Secretary General, Mrs Nena Yap and Organising Chairman, Mr Oki Harwanto.

"We are indeed happy to have the previlege to play host to the Asian Intercity Bowling Championship here in Jakarta for the 19th edition," said Harwanto in his opening address. "I know that all of you have come to Jakarta to compete in the championship but I hope you'll find time to visit the many interesting tourist attractions available here besides bowling.

The officials present gave a minute of silence as a mark of respect to the recent demise of AIBC President, the late Mr Huang Wan Cheng.

"We wish to record our sincere appreciation to Jakarta for hosting the 19th Asian Intercity Bowling Championship and for extending their hospitality to the participating teams," said Mrs Nena Yap, secretary general.

A total of eighteen teams will be competing in this year's championship comprising of Busan (Korea), Capitol Hill (Saipan), Chennai (India), Daegu (Korea), Happy Valley Club (Hong Kong), Kepulauan Seribu (Indonesia), Kowloon (Hong Kong), Hong Kong (China), Macau (China), Paranaque City (Philippines), Pasay City (Philippines), Shah Alam Bowling Club (Malaysia), Saipan (Saipan) Taipei City (Chinese Taipei), Tamuning (Guam), Uiwang (Korea), Victoria (China) and host Jakarta City (Indonesia).

Official practice will be held over two sessions commencing Tuesday 30th August for the men and women participants with the official opening ceremony in the evening.

The championship proper will kick off with the Singles on Wednesday 31st August followed by the Doubles on 1st September and Team event on 2nd September. The top 16 from each of the women and men division based on the 18 games (Singles, Doubles and Team events) will make the cut for the Masters finals over two days, 3rd and 4th September, ending with the stepladder finals.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Jakarta.