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48th MWA-Thailand International Open

Double victory for Thailand

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30th July, Bangkok: Phanupong Permpimol and Sariya Chongvarin gave Thailand a double victory at the 48th MWA-Thailand International Open Bowling Championships after winning the Men's Grade A and Women's Grade A Masters titles on Tuesday.

Debutant, Lee Jae Bong of Korea had a great start with 257 in his opening game and led Tevakorn Angngen of Thailand by two pins. Wanchai Lee, ex-international Phumin Klanbida and Li Yifeng of Chinese Taipei shot 246, 245 and 244 respectively to stay close behind.

Nguyen Phuc Gia Dang of Vietnam, who had rolled the tournament's first perfect game during his qualifying rounds, added his second 300 in the second game to leapfrog into the lead, six pins ahead of the Korean. Phumin and Phanupong followed in third and fourth.

The Vietnamese failed to remain in the lead despite a respectable 222 in his third game. Lee added 232 to his second game of 246 to regain the lead after the third game, albeit just four pins ahead.

Men's Grade A Masters top 3, Lee Jae Bong, Phanupong Perpimol and Phumin Klanbida

Lee extended his lead to a comfortable 79 pins after he posted a sizzling 260 at the halfway mark. Phanupong and Phumin traded second spot with Nguyen slipping down to fourth. The leader kept his lead for another two games before the Vietnamese mounted his challenge again to take over the lead after the seventh game.

Phanupong ended strongest with 243 to clinch the title with 1853. Lee settled for second with 1837 while Phumin almost overtook Lee with a final game of 276 but finished third with 1823. Nguyen ended with a disastrous 148 to drop out from a podium spot with 1818.

Phanupong earned 120,000 Thai baht (approx. US$3,300) as champion. Lee and Phumin pocketed 60,000 and 30,000 Thai baht respectively for finishing first and second runners-up.

In the Women's Graded A division, ex-international Sariya Chongvarin led from start to finish to give her country, Thailand a double victory. She amassed an 8-game total of 1746. Khattiya Ngoenkham of Thailand, who trailed Sariya most of the way, stormed home with 237 but fell short by six pins to settle for second with 1740.

Althea Dang of Singapore also ended strongly to finish third with 1687. Two other Singapore women, Karen Song and Wong Tzer Min rounded out the top five with 1677 and 1599 respectively.

Sariya won 50,000 Thai baht as champion. Khattiya and Dang took home 25,000 and 12,000 Thai baht respectively as first and second runners-up. The Men's Grade B and Seniors will contest their Masters finals later today. The qualifying rounds for the Open division will commence on July 31.

They will bowl three blocks of five games on each day. The top 3 local qualifiers and the top 3 overseas qualifiers in the Men's Open division will skip Round 2 finals and advance automatically to Round 3. Qualifiers positioned 7 to 26 plus the top 4 qualifiers from the one-game Desperado squad will contest Round 2 finals.

Women's Grade A Masters top 3, Khattiya Ngoenkham, Sariya Chongvarin and Althea Dang

Similarly, The top 3 local qualifiers and the top 3 overseas qualifiers in the Women's Open division will skip Round 2 finals and advance automatically to Round 3. Qualifiers positioned 7 to 20 plus the top 4 qualifiers from the one-game Desperado squad will contest Round 2 finals.

The top 12 Men's Open and top 9 Women's Open finishers in Round 2 finals will be joined by the six seeded qualifiers from the qualifying standings for another 8 games in Round 3 finals. The top 6 Men and top 6 Women will proceed to the Stepladder Shootout finals on August 3.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Bangkok, Thailand.

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