14th June, Manila: Filipino ace, Raoul Miranda of MTBA-RP and Malaysia's Fatin Syazliana upstaged topseeds to win the Men's Open and Women's Open Masters titles of the 38th Philippines International Open on Sunday.

Raoul Miranda turned American Tim Mack's blunder into his biggest career win with a 226-188 deciding match to clinch the Men's Open Masters crown. The stocky 39-year-old Mack, who recently earned his PBA Tour card in the trials and was topseed after the Round 2 finals, needed only 9 pins in the tenth frame of the first match to wrap up the title.

But the American choked on his last frame registering only seven pins allowing his challenger, Miranda to earn a second chance with a 188-187 narrow win and forcing the sudden-death decider.

The Filipino capped his victory and pocketted the top prize of Peso 250,000 while Mack settled for the runner-up purse of Peso 100,000.

The American who claimed he was upset by the noisy gallery behind him earlier, was never the same after the match.

"I had a mental lapse in the tenth frame. Basically, I gave it away," rued Mack of his uncharacteristic meltdown after shooting so well earlier. But he felt disappointed by the distrubance behind him while competing in the first match.

"I was very fortunate with that break in the first match so I made up my mind not to waste the opportunity in the second match," said Miranda, who won the singles bronze medal at last year's Asian Championship.

Defending champion, Benshir Layoso defeated fifth-seed, Kang Bo Long of Malaysia and fellow compatriot, Chester King, 228-207-202 in the first stepladder match to advance to the next match.

Third-seed, Miranda earned a crack at the title after he dispatched second-seed, Wu Siu Hong of Hong Kong and Layoso, 217-200-196 in the seccond match before his superb run against the topseed.

Meanwhile, Fatin Syazliana of Malaysia also bag her first international title when she upstaged three-time Philippines Open champion and topseed, Liza Del Rosario 206-202 in the decider. The 19-year-old from Penang prevented a Philippines double winning the first match 213-193.

Second-seed, Fatin, who took home Peso 100,000 for the victory, ousted third-seed, Marjo Reyes and fellow team-mate, Tengku Emanina, 233-190-197 in the second match to advance to the title match.

The sixth-seed, Emanina took the first stepladder match with 228 against fourth-seed Mades Arles' 188 and fifth-seed Lara Posadas' 225

before crashing out to Fatin. Rosario settled for Peso 40,000 as runner-up.

Both Miranda and Rosario also received a four-year, Peso 250,000 scholarship each from the UPHS, courtesy of Philippine Bowling Congress president Marianito Tamayo, whose family owns the educational institution.

Photos by Terence Yaw.

13th June, Manila: National backup squad, Zaid Izlan scorched the lanes at Paeng's Midtown Bowl to claim pole position in the Men's Open Masters Round 1 finals of the 38th Philippines International Open on Saturday.

Kenneth Chua of TBAM-Prima opened accounts with a superb 243 to take an early lead which he held for two games. Four-time World Cup champion and Hall of Famer, Paeng Nepomuceno found his old magic to take over the lead at the halfway mark with a 4-game series of 909.

Filipino, Frederick Ong was second 11 pins adrift with Asian Championship Singles bronze medalist, Raoul Miranda third and Malaysia's Zaid Izlan fourth. A superb 255 from Zaid saw the Malaysian taking over the lead after the fifth game.

Zaid stepped up his pace with 224, 266 and a stunning 279 to end Round 1 with 1895, 91 pins ahead of pace-setter, Paeng in second with 1804. Globe-trotting PBA bowler, Tim Mack of USA stormed home to finish third with 1744.

Malaysia's Kang Bo Long did well to take up fourth with 1743 followed by Faha Al-Rageeb of Kuwait in fifth with 1740 and newly-crowned Singapore Open champion, Shaker Al-Hassan of UAE sixth.

India's Vijay Krishna squeezed into the next round in 12th position and will be joined by the top 6 local seeded and the top 6 overseas seeded qualifiers for another 8 games in Round 2.

Meanwhile, last year's ABF Tour Philippines leg champion, Apple Posadas finished in the lead with 1744 from compatriot and Asian Schools Silver medalist, Kimberly Lao in second with 1697.

Pace-setter, Fatin Syazliana of Malaysia settled for third with 1678 ahead of World Championship Silver medalist, Liza Clutario of PBAP-Bowlmart-RP third with 1630. Milki Ng was Hong Kong's best performer taking up fourth with 1603.

Two-time Philippines Open first runner-up, Syakira Yeoh took fifth spot with 1598 followed by Hong Kong's Sylvia Kong sixth. Mades Arles of TBAM-Prima-RP made the cut into Round 2 finishing 12th.

The top 12 will be joined by the top 3 local seeded and top 3 overseas seeded qualifiers for the Round 2 finals tomorrow.

Sinai Open champion, Hanadi Al-Mezeail, who missed the cut in the Women's Open division in 15th, came away with a victory in the Women's Graded Masters title after she amassed 2265 over the 12-games finals. Gene Basa of PBAP-Bowlmart took the Men's Graded Masters title with a total of 2499 with RJ San Diego of SLETBA in second and UAE's Faud Al-Mas third with 2455 and 2405 respectively.

Photos by Terence Yaw.

12th June, Manila: Two-time champion, Liza Del Rosario will be vying for her fourth title with an impressive second in the Women's Open Masters local qualifying table of the 38th Philippines International Open.

Three-time Philippines Open champion, Liza Del Rosario of TBAM-Prima-RP appeared as the favourite to lead the local challenge for the women's title after an impressive second with 1304 to leader, Lara Posadas.

Rosario, who first won the title in 2000 and 2003, triumphed again in 2007 and will be hoping to move closer to breaking the record of Bong Coo, who won the women.s title nine times.

Posadas registered 1348 to lead the women's local pool followed by Rosario in second and Asian Schools two silver medalist, Kimberly Lao third with 1272. The trio will automatically advance into Round 2 finals.

Hong Kong's Milki Ng topped the overseas pool with 1280 followed by ABF Tour TOC champion, Tang Joh Six of Malaysia in second with 1257 and Hong Kong's Sylvia Kong third with 1238 and getting a bye into Round 2.

Meanwhile, former Filipino national squad member, Richie Poblete maintained atop the Men's Open Masters local qualifying table after chalking up an improved 734 on Sunday to move into the top of the Men's Open Masters local qualifying leaderboard.

With a 673 series posted earlier, the Filipino totaled 1407 to finish ahead of 2006 World Championship Masters gold medalist and 2003 champion, Biboy Rivera in second with 1394.

Asian Championship Trios and All-Events gold medalist, Chester King settled for third, just 2 pins adrift Rivera with 1392 while Jonas Baltasar, Paulo Valdez and Frederick Ong rounded up the top 6 who would advance into the Round 2 finals automatically.

Perfect gamer, Wu Siu Hong led a Hong Kong top 3 charge with a stunning 1504 total from compatriots, Wicky Yeung and Ken Lin second and third with 1422 and 1408 respectively.

Defending champion, Benshir Layoso's 1312 will not be enough to gain him a bye into Round 2 and will have to battle it out with the rest of the qualifiers in the Round 1 finals.

Qualifying ends today (Friday June 12) and the Round 1 finals will be contested on June 13. The top 12 at the end of the Round 1 finals will advance into the Round 2 finals on June 14.

Photos courtesy of PBC.

11th June, Manila: Asian Championship gold medalist, Wu Siu Hong shot the tournament's second perfect game en-route to taking over pole position of the Men's Open Masters qualifying standings of the 38th Philippines International Open.

Wu Siu Hong, who was fourth behind with 1332, notched up the 300 in his first game and went on to 804 to add to his earlier series of 700 for a total of 1504. His stunning effort also made him the first bowler to surpass the 1,500-mark to take over pole position.

Overnight leader, Yeung settled for second with his superb 1422 while third-placed Ken Lin's 1408 gave Hong Kong the top 3 positions in the Men's Open Masters qualifying table. Kuwait's Rakan Al-Amiri and ABF Tour Kuwait and Thailand leg champion, Hussain Al-Suwaidi rounded up the top 5.

Richie Poblete of TBAM-Prima continued to top the local pool with 1407 followed by Biboy Rivera of TBAM-Prima-RP in second with 1394 and Chester King of TBAM-Prima-RP third with 1392.

The first bowler to score a perfect game was youth bowler Jehrt Santos, who won a 4 year university scholarship worth PHP250,000 from University of Perpetual Help System sponsored by PBC President, Nitoy Tamayo.

In the women's division, Lara Posadas of PBAP-Bowlmart, held the lead with 1348 ahead of three-time Philippines Open champion, Liza Del Rosario of TBAM-Prima-RP in second with 1304 while Kimberly Lao finished third with 1272.

Hong Kong's Milki Ng led the overseas pool with a superb 1280 ahead of ABF Tour TOC champion, Tang Joh Six of Malaysia in second with 1257. Another Hong Kong national squad member, Sylvia Kong took third position with 1238.

Meanwhile, Asian Schools Singles gold medalist, Jomar Jumapao of BTA-Prima took a convincing victory in the Youth Boy's Masters finals with a 10-game total of 2257, 83 pins ahead of his nearest rival, Jaris Goh of Singapore Sports School in second with 2174.

TBAM-Prima's Jayson Tubid settled for third with 2065 followed by Hong Kong's Ken Lin and MTBA-RP's Jer Cabangon completing the top 5. Mades Arles of TBAM-Prima-RP upstaged favourite, Lara Posadas of PBAP-Bowlmart to clinch the Girl's title with 2084.

Arles ended the finals with 277 and 228 in her last two games to seal the victory while Posadas settled for second with 2075. Kimberly Lao took third spot with 2020.

Qualifying ends tomorrow, June 12 and the Round 1 Open Masters finals will be staged on June 13 and Round 2 on June 14. The top 6 finishers in the second round finals will advance into the stepladder finals.

Photos by Terence Yaw and courtesy of PBC.

10th June, Manila: Hong Kong's national bowler, Wicky Yeung bowled identical two series of 711 for a total of 1422 to lead the Men's Open Masters qualifying table of the 38th Philippines International Open underway at Paeng's Midtown Bowl.

Wicky Yeung, who took a one-year break from the Hong Kong national team, return this year for his first assignment in the Singapore Open last week. Yeung found it difficult to hit his peak and was fortunate to qualify for the masters finals via the desperado squad.

Yeung only managed to finish the finals in a lowly 39th position. But on reaching Manila for his second international stint, the righ-hander fired a stunning 711 in his first series.

He picked up another sizzling 711 for a total of 1422 to move into pole position as the overall leader. His compatriot, Ken Lin also totaled an impressive 1408 to give Hong Kong a 1-2 finish. Current Asian Ranked No.1, Hussain Al-Suwaisi of UAE finished third with 1383.

35-year-old former RP team member, Richie Poblete shot 734 to add to his earlier 673 for a total of 1407 to take up third overall and topped the local pool. Overnight local pool leader, Biboy Rivera settled for second with 1394.

Chester King of TBAM-Prima-RP took third spot with 1392 followed by Jonas Baltasar of TBAM-Prima-Ad Style-RP in fourth with 1374. Paulo Valdez rounded up the top 5 with 1373.

Meanwhile, Lara Posadas of PBAP-Bowlmart posted two of best series to lead the Women's Open division with 1348 ahead of three-time Philippines Open champion, Liza Del Rosario of TBAM-Prima-RP in second with 1304.

Asian Schools silver medalist, Kimberly Lao impressed with 1272 to take up third spot followed by last year's ABF Tour Philippines leg champion, Apple Posadas and Asian Schools silver medalist, Dyan Caronacion fourth and fifth with 1262 and 1260 respectively.

Hong Kong's Milki Ng, Sylvia Kong and Sarah Cheung, who were the only overseas women in the tournament, naturally took the top 3 spots with 1251, 1238 and 1188 leaving three empty slots in the overseas pool.

PBAP-Bowlmart's Yap Seok Kim, PBAP-Bowlmart-RP's Liza Clutario and TBAM-Prima's Marjo Reyes finished in the top 3 positions of the mixed pool.

The Men's Rookie Masters titla went to Sletba's Van Gambalan, who total 2035 in the 10-games finals held on Monday. MBA's Merlen Pamintuan won the Women's Rookie Masters title with 1726.

The Senior's Masters were contested on Tuesday morning with PTBA's Audi Castro winning the men's division with 2228 on an 8-pin handicap per game. The women's senior crown went to PBA's Carmen Talosig after totaling an impressive 1928.

Qualifying continue through to Friday, June 12 with the Graded Masters finals to be held in the morning of June 13 followed by the Round finals of the Women's Open Masters in the afternoon and the Men's Open Masters in the evening.

Photos by Terence Yaw.