11th June, Singapore: Last year's third runner-up, Leo Tse of Hong Kong took a well-deserved victory after defeating challenger, Alwin Lau of Singapore in the final stepladder match to lift the 4th Singapore Sports School-Opulent Under-18 Bowling Championship title on Friday evening.

Leo Tse, who finished as top seed in the earlier 12-game Top 24 finals with a total of 2558, set a blistering pace in the final match with four strikes-in-a-row as challenger, Alwin Lau had an opened frame in the first.

Lau never looked comfortable throughout the match managing to roll three strikes as Tse ensured that he made no mistakes to give away the lead he had built up. The Hong Kong lad crusied to a 223-179 victory to claim his first international title.

"I was very tense and nervous in the beginning but after I knocked down four strikes, I was more relax," said the 17-year-old Leo Tse, who will now stand a good chance to be included into Hong Kong's World Youth team bound for Finland next month.

"Everything work well during the finals and I had many high games that helped me to build up a healthy margin so I eased up toward the end."

Lau, who stormed home in his last three games in the finals to finish third, edged second-seed, Rachael Ang, 201-199 in the first stepladder match to face the top seed. Rachael had looked set to take the match but had two open frames towards the end to hand the match to Lau.

Singapore's Justin Lim Chai Loong and Singapore Sports School's Muhammad Danial missed the cut for the stepladder finals by 22 pins tieing in fourth place with 2481. Filipino Jayson Tubid took sixth position with 2477.

Defending champion, Dechochai Tinjiratip, who led in the early stages, fizzled off in the second half to end up in a dismal 16th position while top local qualifier, Jaris Goh managed only 18th place.

Jaris won a Columbia 300 Freeze for his high game of 264 on June 8. Brandon Lee shot 258 on June 9 to receive a Columbia 300 Total Bedlam. Willie Quek received a Track 505A for his high game of 264 on June 10 while Leo Tse won a Track 930T for his 289 today.

Guest of Honour, Mr Goh Ek Piang, Deputy Director of the Co-Curricular Activities Branch of the Ministry of Education presented the prizes to the winners. Mr Irwin Seet, Director of Sports of Singapore Sports School presented a token of appreciation to the Mr Goh.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Singapore.

10th June, Singapore: Defending champion, Dechochai Tinjiratip of Thailand ended the third block of qualifying rounds by taking pole position in both Squad A and the overall standings of the 4th Singapore Sports School-Opulent International Under-18 Bowling Championship on Thursday.

The third day of qualifying started with Chinese Taipei's Yang Shih Hsien retaining his lead in Squad C with an 18-game total of 3654 followed by last year's third runner-up, Leo Tse of Hong Kong in second and Day 1 Squad C leader, Alwin Lau of Singapore third.

Thailand's Dechochai Timjiratip stole the limelight today after he finally was able to end the third block in the lead with 3692. The defending champion had led two squads only to lose it in the final game.

The Thai, who would automatically qualify for the finals, had made good his effort in the final block to clinch the No. 1 spot. Overnight Squad A leader, Brandon Lee of Singapore settled for second with 3677 with Justin Lim Chia Loong clinching third spot with 3596.

"Twice I had a chance to claim No. 1 in each of the two earlier blocks but lost it in the last game," said 17-year-old Thai national youth member, Dechochai. "This time I finally finished first.

"Although I'm a defending champion and don't need to qualify for the finals, it was important to bowl well. There was a lot of pressure being the defending champion but I'm happy with my scores.

In the final squad of the day, Jaris Goh of Singapore Sports School led all the three blocks to secure top spot in both the Squad B and the local pool with 3678 scoring the highest 6-game series of the day with 1297.

Debutants Kenneth Chua and Jayson Tubid of the Philippines, who were fourth and seventh in the previous block, improved on their third block to finish second and third to Jaris with 3574 and 3474 respectively.

The duo will also represent their country in next month's Asian Schools Championship in Malaysia while Jayson is also a team member for the World Youth in Finland. Kenneth will also take part in this year's Men's World Championship in Germany.

After all the three squads have completed their three blocks of 18 games, Jaris led the local pool, just one pin ahead of Squad A block 2 leader, Brandon Lee of SingaporeBowling in second.

Justin Lim Chia Loong took third spot followed by the top girl, Rachael Ang fourth. Alwin Lau, Willie Quek, Keith Saw and Tay Hui Chiang completed the top 8 qualifiers from the local pool.

Squad C leader, Yang Shih Hsien of Chinese Taipei headed the overseas pool followed by Leo Tse of Hong Kong in second and Kenneth Chua third. Phumin Klanbida of Thailand, Chen Po Hsiang of Chinese Taipei rounded the top 5.

Jayson Tubid, Australian Chelsea Oliver and Hong Kong's Alex Li made up the top 8 qualifiers from the overseas pool. Tan Yan Ling headed the qualifiers from the mixed pool while Alexander Tan squeezed in in 23rd position on an average of 191.83.

The top 24 will bowl a total of 12 games from scratch with the girls receiving an 8-pin handicap each game. The top 3 at the end of the finals will advance into the stepladder finals.Photos by Terence Yaw in Singapore.

9th June, Singapore: Singapore national youth, Brandon Lee topped Squad A of the second block to take over the overall lead of the 4th Singapore Sports School-Opulent International Under-18 Bowling Championship on Wednesday evening.

Brandon Lee, who finished third in the first block and took fourth in the local qualifying pool, shot the highest 6-game series of 1327 thus far for a 12-game total of 2536 to move into the overall lead of the qualifying standings.

Dechochai Tinjiratip of Thailand totaled 2483 for second spot but because the Thai is the defending champion, he will get a bye into the finals. Brandon's splendid second block effort allowed the Singaporean to snatch pole from Chinese Taipei's Yang Shih Hsien, who totaled 2444 for second.

Rachael Ang of Raffles Institute Junior College in Singapore, who finished third to Brandon in Squad A, ended up second in the local pool with 2442 ahead of Alwin Lau of Temasek Polytechnic third with 2419.

Chen Po Hsiang of Chinese Taipei trailed his team-mate, Yang in second with 2418 while last year's third runner-up, Leo Tse of Hong Kong finished third with 2374 in the overseas pool.

"I bowl so much better today because the medium oil pattern is my A game condition," said the 17-year-old Brandon, who won the team silver medal at the 2009 Asian Youth Games.

"As for tomorrow's long oil, I plan to attack the lanes using the same angle but changing my equipment to match up with the different conditions rather than making a physical change.

"I didn't make the stepladder finals last although I finished in the top 10. But this year, my goal is to finish in the top 3," added Brandon confidently.

The bowlers will complete their third and final block of 6 games tomorrow staring with Squad C followed by Squad A and lastly Squad B. The top 8 from the overseas pool, top 8 from the local pool and top 7 from the mixed pool with defending champion will qualify for the Top 24 finals on June 11.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Singapore.

8th June, Singapore: Stacy Lian of Raffles Girls School took a surprise lead in the opening block of the 4th Singapore Sports School-Opulent Under-18 Bowling Championship underway at the Bowling Academy Centre on Tuesday.

The 16-year-old Stacy, who shot a 6-game total in the opening squad, led defending champion Dechochai Tinjiratip of Thailand by a mere 8 pins with Asian Youth Games silver medalist and national youth squad member, Brandon Lee of Singapore in third.

The second squad saw Jaris Goh of Singapore Sports School topping the field with 1240 but failed to topple his fellow school-mate. Malaysia's Jivvanraj P. Selvamoothy of Premium Lanes, Kuantan finished second with 1211 to lead the overseas pool.

In the third and final squad of the first day, Temasek Polytechnic student, Alwin Lau finished in pole with 1230 but had to settle for

third in the local pool. Chinese Taipei's Chen Po Hsiang finished second to Alwin with 1189 to take up second in the overseas pool.

Alexander Tan and Muhammad Danial, who both finished third in Squad B and Squad C, ended up in fifth and sixth positions in the local pool respectively while Willie Quek and Ilma Nur Jannah made up the top 8.

Another Malaysian Wan Nadzmi Fikri was second ahead of Taiwanese youth, Chen Po Hsiang third in the overseas pool. Yang Shih Hsien of Chinese Taipei and Jayson Tubid of the Philippines rounded up the top five.

The youths will resume with their second block of 6 games divided into three squads tomorrow and the final block on June 10. The top 8 from the overseas pool, top 8 from the local pool and top 7 from the mixed pool together with the defending champion will qualify for the Top 24 finals on June 11.

The top 3 at the end of the finals will advance to the stepladder finals to determine this year's champion and win the top prize of S$5,000.

The championship is held at the very unique centre which comprises of four wood lanes, four Brunswick synthetic and four AMF synthetic lanes over short, medium and long oil patterns on each block. The Masters will be over medium oil pattern.

A total of 90 youths from eleven countries are taking part which included Australia, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Slovenia, Thailand and Singapore which is sanctioned by ABF and WTBA.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Singapore.