2nd November, Macau: Korea turned on superb performances to sweep the two final gold medals of the 2nd Asian Indoor Games when the men demolished Qatar, 957-833 while the women convincingly outclassed China, 922-829 in the team of 4 finals.

Having just squeezed into the semifinals in fourth-place at the end of the team of 4 second block yesterday, the Korean quartet of Choi Bok Eum, Kim Hyun Suk, Kim Kwang Wook and Park Min Su ousted top-seed, Japan, 830-766 to earn their semifinal spot.

Second-seed, Qatar comprising of Mubarak Al-Muraikhi, Fahid Al-Emadi, Abdulla Al-Qattan and Saeed Al-Hajri booked their finals after narrowly edging Thailand 783-777 for a showdown with the Koreans in the other semifinal match.

The unlucky team of Tomoyuki Sasaki, Masaru Ito, Daiki Ikeda and Masaaki Takemoto of Japan together with the other loosing semifinalists of Surasak Manuwong, Phoemphun Yakasem, Somjed Kusonpithak and Yannaphon Larpapharat both settled for a bronze medal each.

The champion again proved a formidable force when they met the Qataris in the final by simply demolishing their opponent to their second gold and Korea's fifth in the championship.

Meanwhile, the firmed favorite Koreans again displayed superb performances when Choi Jin A, Gang Hye Eun, Gye Min Young and Kim Yeau Jin outclassed China, 957-833 to cap their third and Korea's fourth gold medal.

China's Chen Dongdong, Wu Suqin, Zhang Yuhong and Yang Suling had to settle for the silver medal despite defeating the stronger Malaysia, 793-720 in the semifinals to reach the final.

Fourth-seed, Hakura Matsuda, Kumi Tsuzawa, Kanako Ishimine and Ayano Katai lost to the Chinese, 764-842 in the other semifinal match to take their fourth bronze medal. The other loosing semifinalist, Malaysia also took home the bronze medal.

Korea ended the championship as a runaway leader in the medal tally with 5 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze medal with the men contributing 2 gold medals and the women 3 gold medals. UAE was the only other country to win a gold in the Singles event to finish second.

Photos by B.C. Cheah, MTBC.

1st November, Macau: Whilst the Korea and Japan remained in pole to progress to the semifinals of the final event of the 2nd Asian Indoor Games, their counterparts squeezed into the knockout stage in fourth.

The strong Korean women, who have already bagged 2 gold medals in the first two events contested, looked the team to beat as Choi Jin A, Gang Hye Eun, Gye Min Young and Kim Yeau Jin ended the second block of the Team of 4 event in firmly in pole position.

The overnight leader was simply too good for the field romping home with a total of 5284 with a convincing margin of 297 pins. Malaysia's Zatil Iman, Sin Li Jane, Trish Khoo and Norhanizah Abu Bakar overcame China to snatch second spot with 4887.

China's Chen Dongdong, Wu Suqin, Zhang Yuhong and Yang Suling settled for third with 4841 while Japan's Hakura Matsuda, Kumi Tsuzawa, Kanako Ishimine and Ayano Katai squeezed in to snatch the final semifinal spot with 4718.

Philippines missed the cut by just 16 pins finishing fifth with 4702. The top-seed, Korea will meet Japan while Malaysia will face off with China in the semifinals.

Meanwhile, first block leader, Japan retained pole going into the semifinals as top-seed with 5378. Tokoyuki Sasaki, Masaru Ito, Daiki Ikeda and Masaaki Takemoto ended the second block with 222 pins margin ahead of the Qataris.

Mubarak Al-Muraikhi, Fahid Al-Emadi, Abdulla Al-Qattan and Saeed Al-Hajri put in a strong 3-game series of 2623 to give themselves a total of 5156 to snatch second spot from the Thais. Surasak Manuwong, Phoemphun, Samjed Kusonpithak and Yannaphon Larpapharat settled for third with 5078.

The Korean men, however, had to work harder than their female counterparts crawling up from seventh overnight to snatch the fourth and final spot in the semifinals with 5017. They will have a daunting task of facing the top-seed, Japan in the semi.

Qatar will meet Thailand in the other semi for a spot in the finals to battle for the last gold medal. Kuwait, who was fourth in the first block, missed out on the cut to finish fifth 4956.

Photos by B.C. Cheah, MTBC.

31st October, Macau: Japan and Korea comfortably topped the Men's and Women's Team of 4 first block of 3 games on Day 5 of the 2nd Asian Indoor Games at the bowling centre of the COTAI International Sports Complex.

Japan's Tomoyuki Sasaki, Masaru Ito, Daiki Ikeda and anchored by Masaaki Takemoto topped the Men's Team of 4 first block of 3 games with a superb 2736 to lead Thailand by a comfortable 164 pins.

The Japanese quartet set a blistering pace in the opening game with a record-breaking 1024 and despite a moderate 814 in the second, they still had 143 pins cushion. The leader posted 898 in the third game to end the first block in pole position.

Thailand's Surasak Manuwong, Phoemphun Yakasem, Somjed Kusonpithak and Yannaphon Larpapharat stormed home strongly to snatch second spot with 2572 from Qatar, who was second before the final game.

Qatar settled for third with with 2533, 39 pins adrift the Thais. Kuwait finished fourth with 2527 a further 6 pins away. Only the top 4 teams will make the semifinals after the second block.

Meanwhile, the Korean women continued their domination in the championship with another fine display to lead the pack with a total of 2588. Singles gold medalist, Choi Jin A led Doubles gold medalists, Gang Hye Eun and Gye Min Young with anchorwomen, Kim Yeau Jin with lines of 893, 902 and 793 in the first block.

China's Doubles bronze medalists, Chen Dongdong, Wu Suqin, Zhang Yuhong and Yang Suling amassed a total of 2465 to finish second, 123 pins adrift while Singles silver medalist, Zatil Iman, Sin Li Jane, Trish Khoo and Norhanizah Abu Bakar of Malaysia, totaled 2448 to claim third spot.

Japan snatched fourth position with 2317 just 5 pins ahead of Hong Kong. The women will continue their second block of 3 games tomorrow with only the top 4 teams making the cut for the knockout semifinals.

Photos by B.C. Cheah, MTBC.

30th October, Macau: The Koreans clearly demonstrated their prowess in Asia by finishing 1-2 in the Women's Doubles when third-seed, Gang Hye Eun and Gye Min Young defeated top-seed, Choi Jin A and Kim Yeau Jin in the all-Korean final to claim the gold medal.

China had set a cracking pace at the start of the 6-game Doubles when Chen Dongdong-Wu Suqin and Zhang Yuhong-Yang Suling shared the lead with 492. Zhang and Wu surged ahead in the second game to lead Chen and Wu after the second game by 17 pins.

Whilst both Chinese pairs suffered low games in the third, Korea's Gang Hye Eun and Gye Min Young took advantage to grab the lead at the halfway mark with Malaysia's Zatil Iman and Norhanizah Abu Bakar trailing in second, just 3 pins adrift.

With Korea and Malaysia fighting over the lead, Chen and Wu came back strongly to take over the lead at the fifth game by 2 pins from the other strong finishing pair of Choi Jin A and Kim Yeau Jin in second. Eventually, it was Choi and Kim who finished the much stronger pair to take pole with 2556

ahead of Chen and Wu in second with 2516 and Korea's Gang and Gye third with 2496.

Both the Korean pairs won their first quarterfinal matches as both the Chinese pairs also triumphed in their quarterfinal matches for a showdown in the semifinals. But unfortunately the Chinese were no match for the mighty Koreans as top-seed, Choi and Kim beat Zhang and Yang, 443-413 to book their final spot.

Third-seed, Gang and Gye made it an all-Korean final when they ousted second-seed, Chen and Wu, 424-341 in the other semifinals. With the top-seed looking the stronger pair, it was third-seed Gang and Gye who upset their teammates to clinch the gold medal, 391-381. The Koreans ending with an outstanding performance by dominating the Doubles with a 1-2 finish.

The victory put the Koreans firmly in the lead of the overall medal tally with 3 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze medal with UAE still in second with 1 gold and 1 bronze. Thailand and Malaysia maintained joint-third with 1 silver each.

Photos by B.C. Cheah, MTBC.

29th October, Macau: Second-seed pair of Choi Bok Eum and Park Min Su upstaged top-seed, Somjed Kusonpithak and Yannaphon Larpapharat of Thailand, 521-416 in the Men's Doubles final match to claim Korea's second gold medal of the 2nd Asian Indoor Games.

The final match of the Men's Doubles between the leader of Squad A, Thailand and the leader of Squad B, Korea was a one-sided affair as Choi Bok Eum almost shot a perfect game en-route to capturing Korea's second gold medal of the championship.

Choi silenced the bowling centre at COTAI International Sports Complex as he reeled off 11 consecutive strikes and lining up for his 12th and final shot. But the perfect game did not come through for the Korean youngster as he only downed 7 pins in his final throw ending with 297.

His partner, Park Min Su posted 224 to give the duo an impressive total of 521 to beat Thailand's Somjed Kusonpithak and Yannaphon Larpapharat. Somjed knocked down 214 while his teammate could only manage 196 to settle for the silver medal.

The champion earned a spot in the semifinals ousting seventh-seed, Hassan Al-Shaikh and Bader Al-Shaikh of Saudi Arabia, 437-406 before edging Singles gold medalist, Nayeg Eqab Alabadla and Shaker Al-Hassan of UAE, 386-269 in the semifinals.

Thailand reached the finals after outclassing the Japanese pair of Daiki Ikeda and Masaaki Takemoto, 483-373 in the semi. The Thais had earlier scrapped through to the semi by narrowly beating Chinese Taipei's Cheng Hsing-Chao and Hsiao Chun-Ho, 389-384 in the quarterfinals.

Japan and UAE settled for a bronze medal each. After two events, Korea leads the medal tally with 2 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze medal with UAE in second with 1 gold and 1 bronze medal. Malaysia and Thailand shared third spot with 1 silver each.

Photos by B.C. Cheah, MTBC.

28th October, Macau: Korea made amends as third-seed, Choi Jin A defeated second-seed, Zatil Iman of Malaysia, 214-191 in the Women's Singles finals of the 2nd Asian Indoor Games to clinch the gold medal on Sunday evening.

Choi, who was tussling the lead with Zatil Iman in the earlier 6-game Singles event, settled for third when her teammate, Gye Min Young snatched pole position in the final two games to end the series with 1349. Zatil finished second with 1332 ahead of Choi third with 1286.

Whilst the Malaysian had fine runs with victories in the quarterfinals knocking out seventh-seed, Saowapha Kunaksorn of Thailand, 217-148, and in the semifinals disposing off China's Yang Suling, 214-172, Choi too was equally impressive in her run to the finals.

The Korean edged Filipina, Apple Posadas, 217-214 in the quarterfinals and almost shot the first perfect game of the championship when she outclassed Hakura Matsuda of Japan, 298-156 in the other semi en-route to the finals. Her teammate and top-seed, Gye Min Young was less fortunate loosing to eighth-seed, Yang Suling of China, 182-195 in the first round.

Choi made up for Korea's disappointment yesterday when both top-seed, Choi Bok Eum and second-seed, Kim Hyun Suk lossing their Men's Singles final matches to settle for the silver and bronze medals.

Kim Yeau Jin also had to give up her spot to Yang in today's quarterfinals being the third Korean as stipulated by the rule where no more than two from one NOC should qualify for the quarterfinals.

The Men will contest the Doubles event on Monday, 29th October divided into two squads while the women will resume competition with the doubles on Tuesday, 30th October.

Photos by B.C. Cheah, MTBC.

27th October, Macau: Fifth-seed, Nayef Eqab Alabadla of UAE denied the first and second seeds, Choi Bok Eum and Kim Hyun Suk to capture the Men's Singles gold medal of the 2nd Asian Indoor Games which ended Saturday evening.

Korea's Choi Bok Eum topped the Singles event after the two squads combined with 1454 to move into the knockout quarterfinals stage with teammate Kim Hyun Suk second and Khaled Al-Dubyyan of Kuwait third with 1394.

The top-seed went on to a comfortable victory over eighth-seed, Hassan Al-Shaikh of Saudi Arabia, 242-168 in the first quarterfinal match. The Saudi had made the knockout stage from a rule that only two bowlers from each country could qualify for the quarterfinals.

Choi's teammate and Squad A leader, Kim Hyun Suk also made the semifinals ousting seventh-seed, Tomoyuki Sasaki of Japan, 247-203 to move into the next stage. The third quarterfinal matche saw Kuwait's Khaled Al-Dubyyan beating Malaysia's Muhd Nur Aiman, 235-215 for his spot in the semi.

The all-UAE final quarterfinal match witnessed fifth-seed, Nayef Eqab Alabadla defeating Hussain Al-Suwaidi, 246-190 to take up the last semifinal spot. Nayef went on to edge favourite, Choi, 195-191 to face Kim Hyun Suk, who beat Khaled, 258-227 in the other semi.

In the final title match, Nayef got off to a fabulous start with a double strike while the Kim suffered a split and just could not get into his strides. Another double strike toward the end by the Nayef sealed a comfortable victory over the Korean, 211-172 to claim the gold medal.

Kim was unlucky to come off with the silver whilst the loosing semifinalists, Choi and Khaled took the bronze medals without a palyoff. The women will kick off their campaign in the singles with just one squad at 1.30pm local time and the top 8 would make the knockout stages to determine the winners.

Photos by B.C. Cheah, MTBC.

27th October, Macau: Kim Hyun Suk of Korea topped the opening event of the Men's Singles Squad A of the 2nd Asian Indoor Games underway at COTAI International Sports Complex ahead of UAE's Hussain Al-Suwaidi and Malaysia's Muhd Nur Aiman.

UAE's Shaker Al-Hassan set the early pace with a 279 opener to lead Korea's Kim Kwang Wook by 14 pins and Hong Kong's Wu Siu Hong, 3 pins further in third. Shaker lost the lead to trail Kim by 10 pins after the second game but regained the lead at the halfway mark to head the pack with 8 pins from Malaysia's Muhd Nur Aiman.

Shaker continued to top the field but the Malaysian closed the gap to just 2 pins after the fourth game while another Korean, Kim Hyun Suk closing in onto the leading duo. A superb 278 by Hyun Suk saw him stretching the lead to 31 pins with the final game to play.

A 237 in the Kim's final game was sufficient to see the Korean topping Squad A with a total of 1428 as UAE's Hussain Al-Suwaidi stormed home to snatch second with a 269. Nur Aiman settled for third with a total of 1373, just 2 pins from Hussain's 1375.

Pace-setter, Shaker Al-Hassan dropped to fourth with 1347 while another early leader, Kim Kwang Wook finished fifth with 1317. Macau's Cheng Peng Cheng was the sixth and final bowler to surpass the 1,300-mark in the 6 game singles event.

The top 8 ranked bowlers from the combined squads shall proceed to the quarterfinals knockout stage scheduled later this afternoon, where a 1-game matchplay will decide the the top 4 semifinalists.

The winners of the semifinals will meet to decide the gold and silver medal winners while the loosing semifinalists will be awarded two bronze medals.

Photos by B.C. Cheah, MTBC.