4th December, Manila: Philippines ended the tenpin bowling championship of the 23rd SEA Games with a grand double when Markwin Tee and Liza Clutario captured the final two Gold medals of Men's and Women's Masters event.

Seeded number 2, Markwin outshone top-seed, Remy Ong of Singapore with a convincing win over his opponent, 437-366 to win his first individual Gold medal and to the delight of his wild supporters at Pearl Bowling Center Sunday evening.

The champion edged Ong in the first of the two total pinfalls matches, 200-187 before cruising to a second match triumph, 237-179 to give the host nation its fourth Gold medal of the championship.

Markwin earned a crack at the title after he ousted third-seed and Singles Gold medalist, Ryan Lalisang of Indonesia, 196-179 before outing-classing Ong in the final stepladder matches. Ong settled for the Silver while Lalisang took home the Bronze.

Top-seed, Liza Clutario won Philippines' third Gold after she defeated Singapore's Jazreel Tan, 460-372 in two matches in the women's stepladder finals earlier. Both women had a jittery start to their first match having missed single pin in frame 2.

Clutario managed to settle down quicker than her challenger to chalk up four strikes in a row while Tan continued to struggle and had three more open frames allowing Clutario to cruise to a comfortable win in the first match.

The champion had a clean game in the second match posting a score of 225 whilst Tan only manage to post 195. Tan settled for the Silver medal despite knocking out two Gold medalist, Putty Armein of Indonesia, 203-156 in the first stepladder match.

The double Gold gave Philippines a total of 39 points from 4 Gold, 6 Silver and a 4th placing to emerged over champion. Malaysia dropped to second on 33 points from 3 Gold, 3 Silver, 3 Bronze medals and three 4th placings.

Indonesia also took home 3 Gold, 4 Bronze medals and two 4th placings to finish third with 25 points. 2 Silver and 2 Bronze medals on the final three days of the competition gave Singapore a total of 13 points. Brunei, Thailand and Vietnam failed to win any medals.

In the earlier second block Men's Masters finals, Remy Ong topped the field with a total of 3936 followed by Markwin Tee in second amd Ryan Lalisang third with 3809 and 3721 total respectively.

Photos by B.C. Cheah, MTBC.

4th December, Manila: Filipina, Liza Clutario put up a scintillating performance in the second block to make the Women's stepladder finals of the 23rd SEA Games as topseed ahead of Jazreel Tan of Singapore in second and Putty Armein of Indonesia third.

The 26-year-old Clutario, who has yet to win a Gold medal in the championship, set the lanes at Pearl Bowling Center ablazed winning all but one match of the 8-game second block to top the field with a total of 3782, 93 pins clear of her nearest rival.

With four Silver medals after four events, Clutario is poised to make amends and bring home an individual Gold for her country. Singapore's games debutant, Jazreel Tan Shi Hua was equally outstanding despite only winning five matches to finished second with 3689.

The 16-year-old 2004 Singapore National champion will undoubtedly make history if she can beat all odds to capture the Masters title in the stepladder finals. Overnight leader and Doubles Gold medalist, Putty Armein snatched the final spot finishing third with 3643.

The 24-year-old Indonesian was fifth behind teammate, Novie Phang in fourth and Malaysia's Wendy Chai in third, going into the position round. A convincing 276 in the crucial match moved her ahead of the Malaysian.

Chai was unlucky to miss the cut despite beating fourth-placed, Novie Phang 209-202 in the 16th and final match. The stepladder will take place after the men complete their second block.

Photos by B.C. Cheah, MTBC.

3rd December, Manila: Two Gold medalist, Putty Armein of Indonesia, led from start to finish of the Women's first block Masters finals of the 23rd SEA Games at Pearl Bowling Center Saturday evening.

Putty Armein surprised the strong field of 16 finalists to end the first block of 8 games over the long oil condition in the lead with an impressive average of 232 and a total of 1918. The 24 year-old, who won six of the eight robin-robin matches, built up a comfortable lead of 87 pins after the sixth game and held on to the lead with 27 pins.

Her teammate, Tannya Roummper almost caught up with her at the halfway mark with two superb games of 268 and 279 but soon fizzled out to ninth. Games debutant and 2004 Singapore National champion, Jazreel Tan stormed home with a final game of 266 to take up second spot with 1891.

Filipinas, Liza Clutario and Singles Gold medalist, Cecilia Yap kept in touch with the leaders to finish third and fourth on 1862 and 1851, followed by two Singaporean challengers, Alice Tay and Michelle Kwang in fifth and sixth positions.

The Malaysian contenders were playing catch up most of the way with Wendy Chai finishing seventh and Liza Del Rosario rounding up the top 10. Malaysia's Zandra Aziela and Indonesia's Happy Soediyono could not repeat the form they showed for the last three days to end up in 12th and 13th positions.

The women will take on to the lanes Sunday morning for their second block of 8 games on short oil condition when the top 3 will proceed to the stepladder finals for the final medal.

Photos by B.C. Cheah, MTBC.

3rd December, Manila: Remy Ong of Singapore posted his second perfect game of the 23rd SEA Games Tenpin Bowling Championship to lead the Men's Masters first block over the long oil condition Saturday morning.

Despite a jittery start with 194 in the first game, the Hong Kong Open champion got into top gear with 265 and his second perfect 300 of the tournament to open up a lead of 64 pins. Another 269 in the fourth game gave Ong a comfortable cushion of 80 pins at the halfway mark.

Ong went on to end the 8-game block with 1941 with a 30 pins advantage. His teammate, Lee Yu Wen, who was second at one stage, ended up in fifth behind first perfect gamer, Markwin Tee of the Philippines in fourth.

Singles Gold medalist, Ryan Lalisang posted two massive games of 279 in the fifth and 268 in the final game to take up second with a total of 1911 while two Gold medalist and Malaysia's highest finisher, Daniel Lim claimed third spot with 1902.

Zulmazran Zulkifli of Malaysia finished sixth position with 1874 ahead of two Filipino southpaws, Joonee Gatchalian and CJ Suarez in seventh and eighth on 1821 and 1818 respectively.

The men will continue their 8-game second block over short oil condition at the end of which the top 3 will proceed to the stepladder fianals.

Photos by B.C. Cheah, MTBC.

2nd December, Manila: Malaysia put up a supreme display when both the Men and Women led all the way for a clean sweep of the Team event in the 23rd SEA Games at Pearl Bowling Center Friday evening.

Fresh from a superb performance in the Trios event the day before, Daniel Lim, Aaron Kong and Zulmazran Zulkifli bagged their second Gold medal when the trio teamed up with Ben Heng and Alex Liew to romped home an easy winner with 114 pins to spare.

The Malaysians posted a record-breaking 6781, erasing the 1999 record set by their predecesors in the Brunei Games. Daniel chalked up the highest series of 1424 followed by Alex on 1413 while Aaron contributed 1233, Ben 1317 and Zulmazran 1394.

The tournament's fourth perfect game turned in by southpaw, CJ Suarez in the fourth game could not help the Filipinos to topple the champions and had to settle for the Silver with 6667 team total.

The Malaysians celebrated a grand double when the women were equally dominant in the team event to bag their first Gold medal after four grueilling days of competition. Wendy Chai, Esther Cheah, Crystal Choy, Lai Kin Ngoh and Zandra Aziela set three new records en-route to the victory.

The women set a one-game record with 1190, a three-game series record with 3308 and six-game record with 6654, erasing the previous records set by their predecesors in the 1999 Brunei Games. The Filipinas, who trailed the champions from the start of the team event, had to settle for the Silver with 6325, 120 pins adrift.

Singapore won their second medal of the day finishing third for the Bronze medal with 6186 following the success by the men. Remy Ong scored the fifth perfect game of the tournament in his sixth and final game.

Daniel Lim ended the 24-game from the four events to lead the top 16 into the Masters finals with a total of 5451 breaking two records in the process. Zulmazran Zulkifli finished second with 5440 while Singles Gold medalist, Ryan Lalisang of Indonesia, dropped to third with 5373.

Cecilia Yap turned in another superb display of consistency to top the women's division in the All Events with 5507, again erasing the 1999 record of 4992 set by Shalin Zulkifli. Zandra Aziela took second spot with 5288 ahead of another Filipina, Jojo Canare in third with 5275.

Malaysia has taken over the lead in the Overall Medal tally with 32 points on 3 Gold, 3 Silver, 3 Bronze medals and two 4th placings. Philippines dropped to second with 29 points on 2 Gold, 6 Silver and a 4th placing. Indonesia is third with 21 points on 3 Gold, 2 Bronze medals and two 4th placings.

The top 16 Masters qualifiers based on their All Events will contest their Round-robin matchplay finals over two blocks of 8 games each on the 3rd and 4th December. The top 3 at the end of the 16 games based on pinfalls plus bonus points will make the cut for the stepladder finals.

Photos by B.C. Cheah, MTBC.

1st December, Manila: Malaysia delivered its first Gold medal of the 23rd SEA Games when Daniel Lim, Aaron Kong and Zulmazran Zulkifli cruised to a convincing win in the Men's Trios event while Indonesia claimed their third Gold in the women's division.

The trio, who was trailing favorites, Philippines at the end of this morning's first block of 3 games by 20 pins, overcame the odds to topple the Filipinos by a margin of 92 pins at the end of the second block of 3 games over the long oil condition.

Daniel, Aaron and Zulmazran started the second block with a vengence to post 746, the highest 3-game series in this event to take over the lead by 119 pins. Another superb 702 in the fourth game allowed the champion to stretch the lead to 140 pins.

Despite a strong challenge by the Filipinos in the final game, Malaysia's 695 was enough to seal the country's first Gold with a team total of 4112. The trio also broke the 1999 record of 3822 set by Mustafa Yassin, Ng Yiew Hup and Pang Boon Say of Malaysia, in the Brunei SEA Games.

Indonesia claimed their third Gold medal of the championship when Happy Soediyono, Novie Phang and Putty Armein put up another masterful display to win the Women's Trios event by 72 pins.

The champion started the first block in the lead but lost it to the Filipinas, Liza Del Rosario, Liza Clutario and Cecilia Yap at the halfway mark. The local favorites continued to lead when they took to the lanes in the afternoon for the second block.

With a lead of 82 pins before the final game, the Filipinas looked set to add another Gold to their tally but disaster struck when they could only score 585 while the Indonesian stormed home with 739 to snatch victory.

Indonesia totalled 4060 for the win which also broke the old record of 3811 set in the 1999 Brunei SEA Games by Low Poh Lian, Sarah Yap and Shalin Zulkifli of Malaysia.

Singles Gold medalist, Ryan Lalisang of Indonesia remained top of the Men's All Events standings with 4165 from three events followed by Zulmazran Zulkifli of Malaysia in second with 4046, 1 pin ahead of Filipino C.J. Suarez.

A perfect game by Cecilia Yap in the Trios event moved her up to top spot in the Women's All Events table with 4146. Doubles Gold medalist, Putty Armein and Happy Soediyono of Indonesia are in second and third spots with 4070 and 4036 respectively.

The fight for top honors is wide open and amongst the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia. The host nation leads with 23 points from 2 Gold, 4 Silver and 1 4th placing followed by Malaysia with 22 points from 1 Gold, 3 Silver, 3 Bronze and two 4th placings. Indonesia is third with 3 Gold, 2 Bronze and a 4th placing on 20 points.

The Team of 5 will take place on Friday, again over two blocks of 3 games on Long and Short oil conditions. The top 16 in the All Events table at the end of the Team event will qualify for the Masters finals to be held on 3rd and 4th of December.

Photos by B.C. Cheah, MTBC.

30th November, Manila: Happy Soediyono and Putty Armein celebrated their triumph over favourites Philippines and Malaysia to win the Women's Doubles Gold of the 23rd SEA Games by a comfortable margin.

It was an emotional moment for Soediyono and Armein as they cruised to victory on Day 2 of the competition at Pearl Bowling Center on Wednesday evening with a scintillating performance by the two women from Jakarta.

The pair posted a record-breaking total of 2753 surpassing the 1997 record set by Lydia Kwah and Shalin Zulkifli ironically in the 1997 Jakarta SEA Games. Soediyono chalked up 1330 to Armein's 1423 for a well-deserved win.

Philippines and Malaysia shared second spot with an identical total of 2654 to win the Silver medal. Filipinas, Liza Clutario and Singles Gold medalist, Cecilia Yap was second before the final game while Wendy Chai and Zandra Aziela was fifth.

The Malaysian pair stormed home with a superb 504 in their sixth and final game to finished joint-second pushing another Filipino pair of Liza Del Rosario and Jojo Canare into fourth.

Singapore's Evelyn Chan and Michelle Kwang, who was third before the last game, could only score 357 in the crucial game to drop to sixth behind Indonesia's Novie Phang and Ivana Hanjaya in fifth.

After two events, Putty Armein has shot to the front of the Women's All Events standings with a 12-game total of 2701 ahead of Zandra Aziela of Malaysia second with 2665. Happy Soediyono finished third with 2662 followed by Cecilia Yap in fourth with 2657.

Philippines continue to lead the Overall Medal tally with 2 Gold, 2 Silver and 1 4th placing on 17 points with Indonesia in second, just 2 points adrift on 15 points. Malaysia is third with 13 points.

Both the men and women will contest the Trios event first block of 3 games on Long Oil condition in the morning followed by the short oil in the afternoon.

Photos by B.C. Cheah, MTBC.

30th November, Manila: Pairing the left-handers of C.J. Suzrez and Joonee Gatchalian paid handsome dividend for Philippines as they bagged their second gold medal in the Men's Doubles event of the 23rd SEA Games on Day 2.

It was the left-handed pairs of Suarez-Gatchalian versus the Alex-Ben throughout the six-game battle from the word go. The Filipinos started a cracking pace to lead by 20 pins but Alex and Ben took over the lead briefly with only 9 pins after the second game.

The champions fought back from the third game and gave the Malaysian pair a sniff at the title when they could only post a poor 382 in the final game. Alex and Ben were consistently posting between 450 and 470 in each of their first five games until the final crunch and only managed 437 to miss by just 15 pins.

Saurez and Gatchalian gave Philippines their second Gold medal from the Doubles with a total of 2754 while Alex and Ben settled for the Silver with 2739. The other Malaysian pair of Daniel Lim and Aaron Kong stormed home for the Bronze medal with 2677, courtesy of a 299 from Daniel in the final game.

The last Malaysian duo of Azidi Ameran and Zulmazran Zulkifli did well to finish fourth with 2659. Singles Silver medalist and perfect gamer, Markwin Tee ended up in fifth with partner, Chester King on 2654.

The Singapore's pair of Jason Yeong Nathan and Remy Ong, who was third before the final game, could not sustain the pace and dropped to sixth with 2646.

Singles Gold medalist, Ryan Lalisang of Indonesia, remained the leader in the All Events standings with 2771 after 2 events. Malaysia's Zulmazran Zulkifli shot up to second with 2688 followed by Filipino, Chester King third with 2687.

Philippines topped the Medal Tally with 2 Gold, 1 Silver on 13 points with Indonesia and Malaysia, joint-second on 10 points. The women will commence their doubles event shortly after lane maintenance.

Photos by B.C. Cheah, MTBC.

29th November, Manila: Ryan Lalisang hung onto a slender lead to give Indonesia its first Gold medal in Men's Singles event of the 23rd SEA Games at the end of Day One of competition at Pearl Bowling Center Tuesday evening.

Unlike their teammates who lost the lead in the final game of the women's division earlier today, Ryan Lalisang survived an onslaught from local challenger, Markwin Tee, to bag the Gold with a six-game total of 1425.

Teammate, Lie Joe Tjam set a blistering pace to take the lead with a high game of 290 after the third game followed by Lalisang in second. Filipino, Markwin Tee narrowed the gap with the tournament's first perfect game in the fourth and was trailing the two Indonesians by 60 pins.

Both Lalisang and Markwin kept their relentless pursuit on the leader and was 28 and 40 pins away going into the sixth and final game. But the 25-year-old champion from Jakarta kept his cool to bring home the victory to the delight of his teammates with a superb 236 in the final game.

Markwin settled for the Silver with 1400 while Lie dropped to thrid for the Bronze medal after a poor 173 in the last game. Malaysia's Aaron Kong and Azidi Ameran missed the medal finishing fourth and fifth with 1390 and 1342.

The top 3 men broke a 10 year SEA Games record of 1363 set by Jack Wong of Singapore in 1995 in the Singapore games.

Indonesia takes top spot in the Medal tally after the Singles event on 10 points from 1 Gold, 1 Bronze and a 4th placing with with Philippines in second with 8 points from 1 Gold and 1 Silver. The Men will contest the doubles on Wednesday morning followed by the women in the afternoon.

Photos by B.C. Cheah, MTBC.

29th November, Manila: Cecilia Yap gave host nation, Philippines, a flying start after storming home in the final game to snatch the Gold medal in the Women's Singles of the 23rd SEA Games at Pearl Bowling Center this morning.

Zandra Aziela of Malaysia, had a cracking start with a high game of 267 to take the lead when the opening event got underway on the first day of competition. But a back-to-back 193 in her next two games dropped her to sixth at the halfway mark.

The Indonesian pair of Novie Phang and Happy Soediyono were running away in front to share the lead after the third game. Phang and Soediyono were still leading the field of 32, going into the final game and looked set for a dream start to their games campaign.

But as it turn out, luck was not on their side and the experience of seasoned campaigners pave the way with Filipina, Cecilia Yap winning the host nation's first Gold medal storming home on a 257 in her final game to snatch victory.

Zandra also did well with a final game of 258 but was short of 16 pins and had to settle for the Silver while Novie Phang handed her chance of a gold with a disappointing 186. Likewise, Soediyono only managed a 194 to finish fourth.

Filipinas, Liza Del Rosario and Jojo Canare finished joint fifth with 1302 followed by Indonesia's Putty Armein in seventh with 1278. Singapore's best performer was Alice Tay in eighth with 1273 with Wendy Chai and Ivana Hanjaya making up the top 10 in ninth and tenth respectively.

The top 4 women broke the games record of 1318 set by Shalin Zulkifli of Malaysia in 2001. The men will contest their Singles shortly while the women's next event will be the doubles Wednesday afternoon.

Photos by B.C. Cheah, MTBC.

27th November, Manila: With cries of Mabuhay! (Welcome), the Philippines embraced the participants of the 23rd SEA Games in a glittering opening ceremony at the Luneta Park Sunday evening.

A downpour earlier in the afternoon stopped to allow more than 200,000 Filipinos to throng the historical site to revel in the carnival-like atmosphere. Traffic came to a standstill around the Rizal Park area in Metro Manila hours before the celebrations officially began at 5.30pm as Filipinos lapped up the pre-event entertainment shows.

The formal proceedings kicked off with a giant flag of the Philippines carried by 20 boy scouts and accompanied by 12 famous Filipino sports personalities entering the stadium. Among the 12 were former world pool champion Efren Reyes, former world bowling champion Paeng Nepomuceno and 13-time SEA Games athletics gold medallist Elma Muros.

The exciting and wild "Ati Atihan" tribal dance with dancers dressed in bright and outlandish costumes made the street celebrations look like the famous

Rio carnival in Brazil before the march past by the athletes from the 11 participating nations.

The "Ati Atihan" dancers again took centre stage to welcome the athletes of the host nation, who emerged last. Everyone present was treated to a performance themed One Heritage, One South-East Asia, which highlighted the similarities between the nations in the region.

Incorporating native dances of all 11 countries, the performance tells the story of a boy’s journey through all the South-East Asian countries and the way he absorbs the common heritage to become an extraordinary athlete.

The Philippines president, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, declared the Games open at 6.45pm. Nineteen-year-old taekwondo exponent Maria Antoinette Rivero, a quarter-finalist at the 2004 Athens Olympics, received the Games torch at the adjacent Rizal Monument and ran the length of the Luneta Park field to reach the Games cauldron.

She lit a miniature cauldron, which directed the fire to the main Games cauldron beside the Quirino Grandstand. The lighting of the cauldron was accompanied by fireworks, which lit up the Metro Manila skyline.

Busan Asian Games equestrian gold medallist Mikee Cojuangco-Jaworski, the Philippines’ team captain and the flag bearers of all participating countries went on the stage to lead the taking of oath ceremony by all the athletes present.

Cambodia’s Prince Norodom Ranariddh, Brunei Prince Sufri Bolkiah, Thai Princess Sievannarvari Nariratana, who leads Thailand’s badminton squad, and Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn were among the guests at the opening ceremony.

Official practice will be held Monday morning and the first day of competition will begin on Tuesday with the Singles event at Pearl Bowling Center in Paranaque City.

Photos by Joey De Leon.