15th January, Singapore: Qatar's Bandar Al Shafi was crowned the Men's Open Masters champion defeating teammate and defending champion, Saeed Al Hajri as Malaysia's Wendy Chai retained the Ladies' title of the 35th Singapore International Open when she ousted England's Kirsten Penny at Victor Superbowl.

World Ranking Masters first runner-up and top-seed, Bandar Al Shafi of Qatar took the Men's title when he defeated his teammate Saeed Al Hajri in the sudden-death 232 - 212. Saeed had earlier won the first game 215 - 193 to force the sudden death onto Bandar.

In the first step-ladder match, Malaysia's Daniel Lim (5th-seed) won the game against Andrew Frawley of Australia (6th-seed) and Mubarak Ali of Qatar (4th-seed) with 207 vs 189 & 197. In the second match, Saeed Al Hajri (3rd-seed) struck home with 4 stirkes to beat Malaysia's Ben Heng (3rd-seed) and Daniel with 237 vs 221 & 199.

Ben settled for 3rd while Daniel took 4th place. Mubarak Ali and Andrew Frawley took 5th and 6th spots respectively.

Busan Asian Games Doubles Gold medalist defeated European Champion and World Cup runner-up, Kristen Penny of England 220 - 188 in the step-ladder Grand Finals to successfully retained the Singapore International Open title she won last year in the Republic.

Wendy was in cloud nine after clinching her first win of the year. "I am happy with my performance here, and I hope to continue my form and be able to do well in the AVIVA Asian Bowling Tour Grand Slam starting tomorrow at Plaza Bowl," said the champion.

Shalin Zulkifli finished 3rd after loosing to Kirsten Penny by one pin in the second step-ladder match. Kirsten shot 194 to Shalin's 193 and Sarah Yap's 176. Sarah earlier won the first match with 217 to Lai kin Ngoh's 181 and Indonesia' Happy Soediyono who scored 174.

The qualifiers of the AVIVA Asian Bowling Tour will start their preliminary rounds at Plaza Bowl tomorrow.

15th January, Singapore: Overnight leader and defending champion, Wendy Chai retained her top position after the Ladies' Open Masters second block finals of the 35th Singapore International Open at Victor Superbowl going into the ste-ladder finals ahead of England's Kirsten Penny in second and teammate, Shalin Zulkifli in third.

Wendy, the defending champion and Busan Asian Games Doubles Gold medalist, continued her lead after the halfway mark of the second block but dropped to 3rd after 6 games. Her teammate, Shalin Zulkifli took over the lead briefly but she too gave the lead to England's Kirsten Penny after the sixth game. Wendy fought back galantly registering 245 and 225 in her last two games to regain the top spot totalling 3381. Kirsten Penny settle for second with 3356 while Shalin Zulkifli took third spot with 3312.

Indonesia's Happy Soediyono improved from her 6th position last night to 4th on 3225 while Malaysia's Lai Kin Ngoh retained her 5th position with 3191. Wendy's teammate Sarah Yap, who was in 16th position last night, made the biggest move to earn the final place of the step-ladder finals in 6th with 3190. Local hopeful, Jesmine Ho missed the cut and finishing 7th with 3157 followed by another good showing by the Malaysian women, Sharon Chai in 8th with 3154.

Yap Seok Kim from Singapore did well to take 9th on 3120 with Choy Poh Lai in 10th on 3101. The step-ladder finals for both divisions will be played next.

15th January, Singapore: Bandar Al-Shafi of Qatar completed the second block finals as top-seed going into the Step-ladder finals from teammate and defending champion, Saeed Al-Hajri in second while Malaysia's Ben Heng did well to finish third in the 35th Singapore International Open at Victor Superbowl.

Bandar, the 1st runner-up of the inaugural World Ranking Masters in Abu Dhabi in 2001 and who was trailing teammate and overnight leader, Mubarak Ali by 30 pins got the better of the latter to finish top-seed with a total of 3531 after the end of the second block. Defending champion, Saeed Al-Hajri and 2002 Malaysian Open champion, came in second with 3488 while Malaysia's Ben Heng also improved to take third spot with 3453.

Overnight leader, Mubarak Ali ended up in fourth after scoring a total of 3422. Daniel Lim of Malaysia was on a roll scoring 1710 to book himself a place in the step-ladder finals in fifth joined by Australia's Andrew Frawley with 3304 taking up the final spot in 6th.

UAE's Shaker Al Hassan (3296) was unlucky to miss the cut despite scoring 245 in the final game and finishing 7th. Malaysia's Gerald Samuel (3287) who was 21st in the first block, bowled galantly to take 8th spot.

Purvis Granger (3274) and Singapore's Alvin Kwang (3264) rounded up the top 10 positions. The top 6 have qualified for the step-ladder finals and will be played after the ladies complete their second block finals this evening.

14th January, Singapore: Malaysian women outclassed the oposition in the first block of the Open Masters finals of the 35th Singapore International Open Bowling Championship at Victor Superbowl with defending champion, Wendy Chai leading the pack ahead of Shalin Zulkifli and England's Kirsten Penny in third.

Defending Champion and Busan Asian Games Doubles Gold Medalist Wendy Chai was on a roll in a hope to retain the Ladies' Masters title of the 35th Singapore International Open when she led the field of 28 finalists at the end of the first block of 8 games at Victor Super Bowl this evening. Wendy scored 1681 total averaging 210 with score lines of 215, 201, 226, 213, 211, 181, 237 & 197.

Just 20 pins behind Wendy was Busan Asian Games Masters Gold medalist, Shalin Zulkifli with 1661. Shalin had lines of 202, 193, 200, 183, 208, 227, 224 & 224. A further 13 pins away in third place was European Champion and World Cup runner-up, Kirsten Penny of England with a score of 1648. Another two Malaysians, Tang Joh Six and Lai Kin Ngoh occupied 4th and 5th positions with 1635 and 1620 respectively.

Indonesia's Happy Soediyono (1601) took 6th spot ahead of ex-international, Catherine Kang (1594) of Singapore in 7th place. World Youth Singles Gold medalist, Angkana Netrviseth (1577) of Thailand finished 8th, Indonesia's Putty Armein (1576) took 9th while Choy Poh Lai (1565) and Cecilia Yap shared 10th spots. Both the Men and Ladies will continue their finals tomorrow. At the end of the two blocks, the top 6 from each division will make the cut for the Step-ladder finals.

14th January, Singapore: Qatar men had a field day in the first block of the Men's Open Masters finals of the 35th Singapore International Open Bowling Championship at Victor Superbowl today with Mubarak Ali leading a 1-2-3 finish followed by teammate, Bandar Al Shafi and defending champion, Saeed Al Hajri in third.

Mubarak, who has a wild card entry to the AVIVA Asian Bowling Tour Grand Slam Finals on the 16 - 19 January, had lines of 242, 227, 214, 265, 190, 205, 214 and 224 to round off an impressive 222.63 average. Malaysia's Ben Heng did well to stay in contention with the leaders in fourth scoring 1704 followed closely by Busan Asian Games two-Gold medallist, Remy Ong of Singapore in fifth with 1699. 6th Cathay Bowl Junior Classic champion, Singapore's Alvin Kwang took 6th spot with 1698 with Malaysia's Daniel Lim in close company in 7th on 1694.

AVIVA ABT Philippines leg champion and 30th Pesta Penang International Open champion, Purvis Granger from the USA bowling for Philippines came next in 8th with 1692 while Indonesia's Ryan Lalisang (1675) and Azidi Ameran (1672) rounded up the top 10 in 9th and 10th respectively.

The Men will continue their finals tomorrow. The Ladies' first block Masters finals is in progress at press time. At the end of the two blocks, the top 6 from each division will make the cut for the Step-ladder finals.

13th January, Singapore: 16th Asian Intercity Championship Masters champion, Cecilia Yap of the Philippines and Singapore's Ivan Koh took over the lead of the Ladies' and Men's Open Masters qualifying table of the 35th Singapore International Open at Victor Superbowl.

The Filipino lass scored 911 over her 4-games qualifying squad to top the Ladies' overall and overseas pool dislodging overnight leader and Busan Asian Games Masters champion, Shalin Zulkifli of Malaysia into second on 884. Singapore's Evelyn Chan still maintained her lead in the local pool and second overall with 894 while Asian Championship Silver medalist, Valerie Teo dropped to third overall with 892. Shalin became fourth overall. Ex-international, Catherine Kang (871) of Singapore, Malaysia's pair of Sharon Chai (864) and Lai Kin Ngoh (860) came next in 5th to 7th and safely in the finals.

Thailand's newcomer, Napasakorn Pramosh (845) finished 8th ahead of the two Singaporeans, Jesmine Ho (840) and Jennifer Tan (836) in 9th and 10th.

In the men's division, Singapore's Ivan Koh maintained his top spot both in the local and overall with an impressive 948. AVIVA ABT Korea Leg champion, Daniel Lim of Malaysia took second overall with 943 but topping the overseas pool. Mike Lam of Singapore improved to third overall with 940 ahead of ex-international, Rick Tan of Singapore in fourth with 932 just one pin ahead of Hong Kong's Rocky Hui in fourth with 931. Malaysia's Azidi Ameran improved to move out from the mixed pool and into the finals with 928 to take fifth while 16th Asian Intercity Championship Singles champion, Duane Camacho of Guam scoring 927 to snatch 6th place. Singapore's youngster, Lenny Lim also improved to 7th with 922 while Qatar's Mubarak Ali Al-Muraikhi came next in 8th spot with 914.

28th Hong Kong Open champion, Tom Hahl scored 913 to share 9th spots with AVIVA ABT Thailand Leg champion, Alex Liew of Malaysia.

Today is the final day of qualifying for bowlers to make the Masters finals with its first block of 8 games to be played tomorrow, and second block of 8 games on Wednesday. The top 6 at the end of the two blocks will make the cut for the step-ladder Grand Finals.

The 35th Singapore International Open is organized by the Singapore Tenpin Bowling Congress and is sanctioned by Asian Bowling Federation. The championship is also the final Asian Ranking leg for the World Ranking Masters Finals to be held this May in Florida, USA.

11th January, Singapore: National bowler, Evelyn Chan of Singapore and AVIVA ABT Korea Ranking Leg champion, Daniel Lim of Malaysia topped the Open Masters qualifying table on the fourth day of the on-going 35th Singapore International Open at Victor Superbowl.

Evelyn scored 894 pinfalls over the 4-games qualifying round to take the overall lead in the Ladies' Open Masters qualifying table ahead of teammate and runner of the 6th Junior Classic championship last month, Valerie Teo in second with 892. Two-time Asian Bowler of the Year and Busan Asian Games Masters Gold medalist, Shalin Zulkifli took third spot as well as topping the Overseas pool with 884 while ex-international, Catherine Kang of Singapore was well placed in fourth position with 871.

AVIVA ABT Hong Kong Leg runner-up and Busan Asian Games Masters Silver medalist, Lai Kin Ngoh of Malaysia qualified well behind Shalin and fifth overall with 860 ahead of Asian Schools Gold medalist, Sharon Chai, also from Malaysia in sixth with 855. Singapore's Jesmine Ho and World Ranking Masters champion, Jennifer Tan were placed in 5th and 6th in the local pool with 840 and 836 respectively.

In the men's division, Singapore's Ivan Koh took top spot with an impressive 948 to lead both the local pool as well as overall. Hot on his heels was AVIVA ABT Korea Leg champion, Daniel Lim of Malaysia in second overall with 943 but topping the overseas pool. Ex-international, Rick Tan of Singapore finished third with 932 just one pin ahead of Hong Kong's Rocky Hui in fourth with 931. Qatar's Mubarak Ali Al-Muraikhi, who has earned a wild card entry into the AVIVA ABT Grand Slam Finals took fifth spot with 914, another one pin ahead of 28th Hong Kong Open champion, Tom Hahl on 913.

6th Cathay Bowl Junior Classic champion, Alvin Kwang of Singapore was next with 908 followed by ex-international and two-time Malaysian Open champion, Jack Wong with 907. Singapore's Andrew Lee and Busan Asian Games two Gold medalist, Remy Ong both did well with 893 and 892 respectively in the Masters finals.

The qualifying will continue tomorrow and Monday. First block of 8 games in the Masters Finals will be held on Tuesday afternoon and another 8 games will be played on Wednesday followed by the top 6 making the cut for the Step-ladder finals.

The 35th Singapore International Open is organized by the Singapore Tenpin Bowling Congress and is sanctioned by Asian Bowling Federation. The championship is also the final Asian Ranking leg for the World Ranking Masters Finals to be held this May in Florida, USA.