22nd May, Manila: 2012 ABF Tour Macau leg champion, Rickle Kam of Hong Kong became the second qualifier to surpass the 1400-mark and took over the lead of the Men's Open Masters qualifying standings of the 2017 Philippine International Open.

Kam, who had two earlier attempts of 727 and 609, improved his lower three-game series with a splendid 758 for a new six-game tally of 1485 to take over top spot in the leaderboard. Overnight leader and compatriot, Michael Mak slipped down to second on 1468 to give Hong Kong a one-two finish.

A third Hong Kong national and 2015 AMF World Cup champion, Wu Sui Hong improved to take up third position with 1420 while India's Dhruv Sarda continued to drop down to fourth with 1346. Tong Wong made up the top five with 1341 giving Hong Kong four of the top five places.

Hashim Guinomla of MBA-DFBC, who became the third qualifier to break the 1400-mark, took over the lead of the local pool with 1423 dislodging compatriot and first perfect gamer, Kenneth Chua into second spot with 1389.

There were not many changes in the Ladies' Open division as Sharon Limansantoso of Indonesia continued to lead the overseas pool with 1208. Jermaine Seah and Amabel Chua took second and third spots with 1202 and 1137.

Filipina veteran, Liza Clutario also remained in the lead of the local pool with an improved 1237. Marjo Reyes of TBAM-Prima and Lara Posadas of PBAP finished second and third with 1235 and 1220 respectively to earn the bye into Round 2 finals.

Qualifiying will continue through to May 22 and the Round 1 and Round 2 finals will be contested on May 23 and 24. Qualifying for the Youth Open division will end on May 25 with the finals on May 26.

The Masters finals for the Youth Under-16 division and the Senior division will be held on May 27. The championships will conclude with the Masters finals for the Associate division and the Graded division on May 28.