17th September, Bangkok: 2023 Asian Championships four gold medalist, Rafiq Ismail of Malaysia and 2023 Masters bronze medalist, Daphne Tan of Singapore led the Men's and Women's Singles event of the 27th MWA Asian Tenpin Bowling Championships 2024 after three squads.

Singapore's Jomond Chia had topped the opening squad of the Men's Singles with 1343 pinfalls followed by Takuya Miyazawa of Japan in second with 1329. Izz Naqiuddin Putera of Malaysia almost shot the championships' first 300 in his final game but ended with 299 to take third spot with 1305.

In the second squad, 2024 Malaysian Open champion, Muhammad Hafiz Zainuddin of Malaysia led from the first game until he was overtaken by team-mate and last Asian Championships Trios, Team, All-Events and Masters gold medalist, Rafiq Ismail in the final game for top spot with 1419.

Zainuddin settled for second with 1383 while Jordan Dinham of Australia took third position with 1332. Squad 1 leader, Chia slipped down to third overall after two squads behind both the Malaysians.

Meanwhile in the women's division, 2024 Malaysian Open champion, Gillian Lim topped the opening squad with 1289 followed by Haru Suzuki of Japan and Nur Syazwani Sahar of Malaysia tied second position with 1278. In the second squad, 2023 Asian Championships Masters bronze medalist, Daphne Tan of Singapore also snatched top spot with 1382 in her final game.

Pace-setter, Baek Seung Ja of Korea finished second with 1340 followed by Bernice Lim of Singapore in third with 1317. The top three in this squad replaced the top three spots after two squads have completed their Singles preliminaries.

In the third squad of the day, Nora Lyana Nastasia of Malaysia and Jeong Jeong Yoon of Korea tied top spot with 1301. A second Korean, Kim So Yeon finished a distant third with 1225. Unfortunately, both the Malaysian and Korean only managed fourth position overall while Tan remained firmly in the lead.

The fourth and final squad of the Singles preliminary is scheduled at 9.00 am local time tomorrow. The combined scores of all four squads will determine the winners of both the Men's and Women's Singles. The first two squads of the Doubles preliminaries will follow after completion of the Singles event.