6th July, Anyang, Korea: Hong Kong edged top seed, Korea in a thrilling Men's Team final to win their second gold at the 4th Asian Indoor & Martial Arts Games while Chinese Taipei denied host and top seed Korea their first gold in the women's division.

Singles silver medalist, Kim Jun Yung and Cho Young Seon had a nervy start in the match against challenger, Hong Kong both opening their first frame but was covered well by Park Jong Woo and Shin Seung Hyeon with double strikes each.

While Eric Tseng spared in the first, Michael Tsang and Singles gold medalist, Michael Mak doubled to cover an opened frame from Wu Siu Hong and trailed Korea by 9 pins.

When Korea's anchorman had another double strike in the third and fourth frames, Mak was able to match his opponent stride for stride by reducing the gap to just single pin.

The Korean quartet began to mount pressure on Hong Kong pulling away to a 24 pin lead past the halfway mark. Tsang responded by continuing to roll strikes after strikes. When Tseng threw a gutter ball and Mak missed a spare in the seventh frame, the match swung heavily to Korea's favour.

By the ninth frame, Hong Kong was still trailing Korea by 28 pins with the tenth and final frame to decide the final outcome. Kim had a big 1-2-4-6-10 split which he failed to convert and Park too had a 4-10 split and taking one pin.

Kim ended with 187, Cho 211, Park 200 and Shin struck out to end with 278 for an 876 team total. Tseng ended with 178, Tsang struck out for 276 and Wu finished with 221 forcing Mak to mark his final frame to seal the match.

Under tremendous pressure, Mak knocked down 7 pins leaving a tricky 3-6-10. Mak calmed himself, took his time and delivered a spare to the delight of his team-mates and silenced the strong local crowd ending with 211 to capture their second gold with a team total of 886.

The champion had earlier edged 2009 Asian Indoor Games Team champion, UAE in a similar fashion having trailed the Emirati quartet right up to the final frame to clinch the match, 856-838 in the semi-final and advance to the final.

Korea sailed past fourth-seed Indonesia, 847-736 in the first semi-final match to march into the final. Hong Kong's victory meant they have overtaken Korea in the medal tally with 2 gold to Korea's 1 gold and 2 silver medals.

Meanwhie, Korea was again denied a gold medal chance when the top seed of Son Yun Hee, Lee Na Young, Hwang Yeon Ju and Jung Da Wun was eliminated in the Women's Team semi-finals, 771-812 by giant-killers, Chinese Taipei.

Tsai Hsin Yi, Wang Ya Ting, Chang Yu Hsuan and Huang Chiung Yao went on to defeat third-seed Hee Kar Yen, Zatil Iman, Dayang Khairuniza and Siti Safiyah of Malaysia, 845-734 in the final to win their first gold medal.

The Malaysian foursome had earlier ousted second-seed, Japan 862-747 to set up the finale against the Taiwanese. Korea's failure to win a gold medal meant that Singapore, which has 2 gold and 1 bronze medal, emerged as women's champion.

Chinese Taipei finished second with 1 gold and 1 bronze medal with Korea on 1 silver and 3 bronze medals in third.

In the overall medal standings, Singapore also came out on top with 2 gold and 2 bronze medals. Hong Kong finished second with 2 gold, all coming from the men and Korea third with 1 gold, 3 silver and 3 bronze medals.

Twenty countries comprising of 77 men and 54 women competed in the week long games held at the 32-lane Anyang Hogye Gymnasium Bowling Center.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Anyang, Korea.

5th July, Anyang, Korea: Overnight leader, Korea remained unchallenged as the quartet extended their lead to 112 pins at the end of the Team of Four preliminary round of the 4th Asian Indoor & Martial Arts Games on Friday.

Despite continuing where they left off in the first block, Cho Young Seon, Shin Seung Hyeon, Park Jong Woo and Kim Jun Yung kncocked down a respectable 858 in their opening game of the second block on long oil patterm.

But it was the Emirati foursome of Hussain Al Suwaidi, Hareb Al Mansoori, Naif Oqab and Shaker Al Hassan who stole the limelight with a scorching 982 in the fourth game that took them into a 49-pin lead over the Koreans.

Hong Kong's Eric Tseng, Michael Tsang, Wu Siu Hong and Singles gold medalist, Michael Mak also put in a big game of 958 to keep themselves in the running in third with Indonesia posting 888 to haul themselves pass Malaysia into fourth position.

A poor 777 from UAE saw them handling over the lead back to the Koreans when the latter knocked down 857 in the fifth game. Hong Kong followed it up with another superb 879 to move ahead of the Emiratis into second.

Indonesia bettered their fourth game with 893 to stay 11 pins ahead of the Malaysian with Japan and Singapore slipping out of contention for the minor placings.

While the leader ended with yet another strong game of 892 to complete the block with 5281 and advanced as top seed for the semi-finals shootout, Hong Kong too firmed up their spot in second with 5169.

There was a tense moment for UAE when Hareb rolled a poor game of 143 but fortunately, his team-mates were able to cover him to finish third with 5103.

The fourth and last semi-final spot saw a close battle between Indonesia and Malaysia. Indonesia should have sealed the fourth spot but two players failed to spare their last frame ending with 837.

And with a 11 pin cushion after the fifth game, Malaysia needed 859 or more to snatch the final spot. It came down to their anchorman, Johnathan Chan needing to strike in the tenth frame after having already had two strikes in the eighth and ninth.

But to the disappointment of his team-mates and coaches, Chan rolled eight pins, spared and rolled nine pins in the bonus frame to end with 844 for the team and missing the cut by a mere 4 pins.

A late rally from Singapore saw them finishing sixth with 4959 while Japan, who was in the running for a spot in the semi, faded away to seventh position.

Indonesia will have a daunting task of facing the top seed and mighty Koreans in the semi-final while Hong Kong will meet UAE in the other semi at 9.00 am tomorrow morning.

The winners will advance into the gold medal match while the losers will take home a bronze medal each. The women's semi-finals wil also take place at the time time.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Anyang, Korea.

5th July, Anyang, Korea: First block leader, Korea outclassed the field by completing the second block of the Team of Four event at the 4th Asian Indoor & Martial Arts Games to advance into the Semi-finals shootout as top seed.

Son Yun Hee, Lee Na Young, Hwang Yeon Ju and Jung Da Wun, who had a 256 pins margin from yesterday's first block, continued their blistering pace with an opening fourth game of 855 to stretch their lead to 347 pins.

Japan's Misaki Mukotani, Hikaru Takekawa, Natsuki Teshima and Haruka Matsuda moved up from fourth position yesterday with 817 to tie with Tahiland on 3143 after the latter knocked down only 763.

The Korean quartet paced themselves beautifully with another superb 861 in the fifth game before firing another sizzling 915 to end the event in pole position with 5266 and a whopping 436 pins ahead of their nearest opponent.

Japan advanced by maintaining second with 4830 on a final game of 866 while Malaysia's Hee Kar Yen, Zatil Iman, Dayang Khairuniza and Siti Safiyah bowled consistently to come home in third with 4747.

There was a keen tussle amongst three other teams with the final game deciding the fourth team to advance into the semi-finals.

Chinese Taipei's Tsai Hsin Yi, Wang Ya Ting, Chang Yu Hsuan and Huang Chiung Yao finished the strongest to clinch fourth and final spot with 4738. Their neighbour, China ended in fifth with 4686, missing the cut by 52 pins.

Indonesia made a late charge but proved too late as they finished sixth with 4675 while the biggest disappointment was Thailand dropping from second in the first block to seventh.

Korea will face the Taiwanese in the semi-finals while Malaysia, who finished third avoided the mighty Koreans to meet Japan in the other semi which will be held tomorrow morning at 9.00 am local time.

The men will continued with their second block later today and the top 4 teams will advance to the semi-finals, also to be contested tomorrow.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Anyang, Korea.

4th July, Anyang, Korea: Korean women, who has yet to pick up a gold medal at the 4th Asian Indoor & Martial Arts Games put in a commanding performance to lead the first block of the Team of 4 event by a huge margin of 256 pins.

Doubles silver medalists, Son Yun Hee led team-mates, Lee Na Young, Hwang Yeon Ju and Jung Da Wun to get off the mark with a superb 863 in their opening game to open up a decent gap of 48 pins over Thailand.

This year's Sinai Open champion, Korngunya Aree, Natthida Sertluecha, Tanaprang Sathean and recently crowned ABF Tour Macau champion Angkana Netvrseth of Thailand posted a respectable 815.

Indonesia's Tannya Roumimper, Novie Phang, Sharon Limansantoso and Putty Armein also got off to a good start with 796 to hold third spot.

The Koreans stretched their lead to 71 pins after another good game of 815 in the second as the Thais remained in second with 792. Japan and China moved up to third and fourth as Indonesia slipped down to fifth.

The leader thrilled the large crowd of Korean supportes after they fired a sizzling 957 total to end the first block with 2635, 256 pins ahead of their nearest rival.

The consistent Thai quartet maintained second with 2379 while Malaysia's Hee Kar Yen, Zatil Iman, Dayang Khairuniza and Siti Safiyah stormed home with a third game of 863 to snatch third spot with 2347.

Misaki Mukotani, Hikaru Takekawa, Natsuki Teshima and Haruka Matsuda finished fourth with 2326. Strong contender and winner of two gold medals, Singapore managed to crawl their way up to fifth with 2324, 12 pins behind the Japanese.

China took sixth position with 2297, a further 27 pins away. The women will return to Anyang Hogye Gymnasium Bowling Center tomorrow morning for their second block of 3 games over long oil pattern.

The men will resume with their second block in the afternoon. The top 4 men team and top 4 women team will qualify for the semi-finals shootout round on July 6.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Anyang, Korea.

4th July, Anyang, Korea: The mighty Korean men underlined their prowess by taking a comfortable lead in the first block of the Men's Team of 4 event at the 4th Asian Indoor & Martial Games on Thursday.

Cho Young Seong partnering Doubles gold medalists, Shin Seung Hyeon and Park Jong Woo, anchored by Singles silver medalist, Kim Jun Yung blitzed the lanes at the Anyang Hogye Gymnasium Bowling Center with a sizzling 892 for a 30 pin lead over nearest rival, Malaysia.

Hong Kong's Eric Tseng, Michael Tsang, Wu Siu Hong and Singles gold medalist, Michael Mak stayed in a close third a further 6 pins away while defending champion, United Arab Emirates took fourth spot.

The Korean quartet rolled another superb 875 in the second game but the lead remained at 30 pins as UAE pegged them with a higher 885 game.

Hussain Al Suwaidi, debutant Hareb Al Mansoori, Naif Oqab and Shaker Al Hassan snatched second spot 75 pins ahead of the Malaysian with Hong Kong slipping down to fourth.

Korea stamped their authority in the team event with a scitilating 907 in their third game to finish in pole position with 2674.

UAE clinched second spot with 2599 following a good game of 862 while Hong Kong recovered with 860 to claimed third spot with 2505, 169 pins behind the leader.

Malaysia's Timmy Tan, Aris Ardila, Syimir Abd Razak and Johnathan Chan finished fourth with 2485, 20 pins further away. Japan come in fifth with 2408 followed by China and Indonesia in sixth and seventh positions.

The fancied Singapore managed only in ninth position behind Philippines while Macau rounded out the top 10 out of 17 full teams.

The women will contest their first block after lane maintenance and the men will return for their second block of 3 games over long oil pattern after the women completed their second block in the morning.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Anyang, Korea.

3rd July, Anyang, Korea: Bernice Lim and Singles gold medalist, Daphne Tan denied Korean women their first gold at the 4th Asian Indoor & Martial Arts Games when the Singapore duo defeated their opponent, 441-393 in the Women's Doubles final match on Wednesday.

Singles bronze medalist, Son Yun Hee got off the mark with a double strike as her partner, Hwang Yeon Ju spared both her first two frames and so did Tan. After Lim had a spare in the first frame, she fired three consecutive strikes to give Singapore a 11 pin lead.

As Tan doubled in the fifth and sixth frames, Hwang responded with three strikes-in-a-row. When Son opened in the sixth frame and Hwang missing a single pin the the eighth, the Korean pair was already trailing 25 pins.

Tan too missed a single pin in the eighth frame but it mattered little as Lim struck out from frame 8 to end on a high game of 246 as Tan finished off with 195 for a total of 441 to seal the match and claimed their second gold medal of the competition.

Son and Hwang were again denied their first gold after managing 192 and 201 respectively to settle for the silver medal with 393.

"I've to thank my partner, Bernice who was in great form rolling the big game needed to take victory," said the 22-year-old, who won the Singles gold medal two days ago.

"Luckily my mistake didn't cost us the match. We also had a lucky break in the semi-finals against our team-mates. It's hard to bowl against your team-mates and we were fortunate to come away with the win to make the final.

Asked if the two gold medals she has won so far would secure her spot in the team bound for the World Championships in Las Vegas this August, Tan confessed that she is still not sure.

"There is still one more event to go and I'll go all out to help my other team-mates, Hui Fen and Geraldine to take home a gold medal."

Lim and Tan made the finals after narrowly defeating Hui Fen and Geraldine, 372-357 in the all-Singapore semi-final while Korea ousted Chinese Taipei's Wang Ya Ting and Chang Yu Hsuan, 400-378 in the other semi.

The Taiwanese pair edged top seed, Lee Na Young and Jung Da Wun of Korea, 418-416 in a thrilling quarter-final encounter while second-seed, Son and Hwang took out Thailand's Natthida Sertluecha and Angkana Netvrseth, 389-376 in quarter-final round.

The champion advanced to the semi-final with victory over third-seed and the second Chinese Taipei pair of Huang Chiung Yao and Tsai Hsin Yi, 409-354 in the quarter-final. New Hui Fen and Geraldine Ng edged Malaysia's Hee Kar Yen and Siti Safiyah, 367-362 in the quarter-finals.

Lee and Jung topped the 6-games preliminary round with 2618 after taking over the lead at the halfway mark. Son and Hwang gave Korea a one-two finish with 2532. The second Chinese Taipei pair finished third with 2507.

The first Singapore pair took fourth position with 2442, 22 pins ahead of Malaysia in fifth with 2420 followed by the champion in sixth position with 2366.

Thailand finished seventh with 2331 while the first Chinese Taipei pair stormed home in their final game to edge the first Japanese pair by 10 pins. Competition will resume with the Team event tomorrow for the first block of 3 games over short oil.

The second block of 3 games over long oil will be contested on July 5. The top 4 men team and top 4 women team will qualify for the semi-final shootout for the last two gold medals of championships.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Anyang, Korea.

2nd July, Anyang, Korea: Host nation, Korea won their first gold medal on the third day of the 4th Asian Indoor & Martial Arts Games bowling competition after Park Jong Woo and Shin Seung Hyeon defeated Japan, 442-400 in the Men's Doubles final.

Park had a split in the third frame of the title match but was covered by his team-mate, Shin who rolled three consecutive strikes to take a 35-pin lead as Daisuke Yoshida opened in the third and Tomoyuki Sasaki unable to cover his team-mate.

But the Japanese duo recovered with both doubling up in the fourth and fifth frames to reduce the gap to just 5 pins. By the eighth frame, the Koreans had extended their lead to 17 pins and the match could go either way.

Yoshida struck three times and an eight pin in his bonus frame to end with 213. Park, who had another opened frame in the fourth, struck out to finish with 185.

Shin also struck out to end with 257 as Sasaki had no answer ending on a split in the final frame for 187 as Korea took the match to win first gold medal.

The champion had to work doubly hard against fourth-seed, Hussain Al Suwaidi and Shaker Al Hassan of UAE in the second semi-final match in which they edge the Emirati, 441-433 to reach the final.

Japan breezed past seventh-seed, Joel Tan and Keith Saw of Singapore, 468-397 in the first semi to set up the finale with the Koreans. Japan had also easily defeated eighth-seed, Chinese Taipei 499-394 in the quarter-final round.

Korea strolled through the quarter-finals with an easy victory over sixth-seed, Malaysia 381-322 to advance to the semi-finals.

The second Korean pair of Cho Young Seon and Singles silver medalist, Kim Jun Yung lost to UAE, 362-442 in the quarter-finals.

Hong Kong's Wu Siu Hong and Sinlges gold medalist, Michael Mak, who topped the preliminary Squad B with 2598 was seeded second but lost to Singapore, 381-404 in the quarter-finals.

The second Korean pair finished second with 2560 behind Hong Kong while Malaysia's Jothan Chan and Aris Ardila took third spot with 2558.

Zhang Bo Sheng and Chang Chih Ming of Chinese Taipei finished fourth with 2448 to clinch the eighth and last quarter-final spot while the top 4 finishers in Squad A were unbeaten to advance through to the knockout rounds.

Competition will resume with the Women's Doubles tomorrow in one squad and the top 8 pairs will qualify for the quarter-finals shootout.

The Team of 4 for the men and women divisions will be contested over two blocks of 3 games over two days on July 4 and 5.

The top 4 men team and top 4 women team will qualify for the semi-finals shootout to be held on July 6.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Anyang, Korea.

2nd July, Anyang, Korea: Japanese first pair of Tomoyuki Sasaki and Daisuke Yoshida outshone local favorites Korea to take a 56-pin lead in the Men's Doubles opening squad at the 4th Asian Indoor & Martial Arts Games over the short oil pattern.

2011 Asia Ranked No. 1, Shaker Al Hassan and three-times Asia Ranked No. 1, Hussain Al Suwaidi of UAE set a blistering pace with 462 in their opening game as Sasaki and Yoshida matched their strides with 459.

The Emirati pair stretched their lead from 3 pins to 37 pins after they rolled 437 while the Japanese pair faulted with 393 in the second game.

Shaker and Hussain kept their relentless pace to knock down another superb 467 in the third game as Japan trailed in second, 31 pins adrift. Korea's Park Jong Woo and Shin Seung Hyeon moved up to third after a sizzling 481 following their 442 and 409 in their first two games.

Korea shot into the lead after the fourth game with another stunning 469 pushing UAE down into second, albeit only 6 pins ahead. Japan slipped down to third well ahead of Singapore's Joel Tan and Keith Saw in a distant fourth.

Japan bounced back as Sasaki rolled a big game of 270 and Yoshida 202 for a 472 fifth game taking them back into the lead. UAE trailed in second by 16 pins and Korea third a further 71 pins away.

Japan completed their preliminary round in pole position on a total of 2651 with 23-year-old Yoshida registering the highest 6-games series of 1431 and 29-year-old Sasaki 1220. Korea finished stronger to snatch second spot with 2595.

UAE settled for third after a disasterous last game of 343 which may prove costly when Squad B take to the lanes later today. Singapore finished fourth with 2475, 96 pins adrift.

Malaysia's Syimir Abdul Razak and Singles quarter-finalist, Timmy Tan rounded out the top 5 with 2432, a further 40 pins away from Singapore.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Anyang, Korea.

1st July, Anyang, Korea: Second-seed, Daphne Tan defied all odds to bag the first gold medal for Singapore at the 4th Asian Indoor & Martial Arts Games defeating China's Chen Dongdong, 182-167 at the Anyang Hogye Gymnasium Bowling Center on Monday.

Challenger and fourth-seed, Chen had an split in her opening frame while Tan spared her first and followed it up with a strike and another spare in the second and third frame to take a 10 pin lead.

But on her fourth frame, Tah left four pins standing which she failed to spare taking ony 2 pins. Just as the Chinese spinner thought she could draw level, she too came across a split allowing Tan to maintain her slim margin ahead.

When Chen had another split in the sixth frame, the match and title was more or less in the hands of the Singaporean. Although Chen recovered with a double strike in the seventh and eighth frames, it was a little too late.

Tan went on to mark all her remaining frames to take victory and claimed her first gold medal at the games.

"I got a lucky break against Sharon (Limansantoso) of Indonesia when I though I had lost the quarter-final match," said the 22-year-old Tan, who competed at the last Indoor Games in Ho Chih Minh City in 2009 and came home empty handed.

"She failed to spare her last frame which gave me the victory. And although I had an opened frame in the fourth against Chen in the final, I thought it was going to be another tough match.

"But when she had a spit in the same frame, I felt a bit relieved and I qucikly gathered my composure to make sure I don't make any more mistake. I'm extremely glad to win my first individual gold medal."

The champion defeated third-seed, Son Yeon Hee of Korea, 255-223 in the second semi-final match to advance into the final while Chen dispatched top seed and the second Korean finalist, Hwang Yeon Ju, 224-193 to face Tan.

Hwang sailed past eight-seed, Krizziah Tabora of the Philippines, 232-194 in the opening quarter-finals round while Son had an easy victory over sixth-seed, Misaki Mukotani of Japan, 245-200 in her quarter-final encounter.

In the earlier 6-games preliminaries, Hwang topped the Women's Singles with 1354 followed by Tan in second with 1336. Son finished third with 1296 and Chen fourth with 1294.

The third and fourth Korean, Lee Na Young and Jung Da Wun, who finished fifth and sixth had to give away their quarter-final spots due to the rule of a maximum of 2 players from each NOC can qualify for the knockout rounds.

Zhang Yuhong of China and Misaki Mukotani took fifth and sixth places while Sharon Limansantoso of Indonesia and Krizziah Tabora of the Philippines were elevated into seventh and eighth positions.

Tanaprang Sathean of Thailand missed the cut by 3 pins after she finished ninth with 1226 before the two Koreans were relegated.

Competition will resume with the Men's Doubles over short oil pattern, divided into two squads tomorrow. The women will contest their Doubles on July 3. Again the top 8 pairs will advance to the knockout rounds.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Anyang, Korea.

30th June, Anyang, Korea: Fifth-seed, Michael Mak denied host nation, Korea its first gold at the 4th Asian Indoor & Martial Arts Games when the Hong Kong national defeated top seed, Kim Jun Yung by 1 pin to win the Men's Singles gold.

The final match was a tense and thrilling match which had both sides of supporters cheering on their feet. Challenger and fifth-seed, Mak started off with a split in his opening frame but local favourite, Kim was unable to take advantage of it.

Mak recovered with a double strike in the fourth and fifth frames to draw level with the Korean at the halfway mark.

But the Hong Kong national bowler failed to spare a single pin in the sixth frame which provided Kim a bit of confidence to roll a double strike in eighth and ninth frames for a one frame lead.

Again, Mak bounced back superbly by striking out from frame nine to end with a maximum of 204 and forcing his opponent a need to strike in the ten frame to take victory.

A 9 pin count and sparing it would still require the Korean to strike in the bonus frame to tie the match. But to the dismay of the home crowd, he managed only 8 pins to hand the match and the title to Mak with 203.

"If I had struck in the sixth frame, I would have been in a more comfortable position," said the relieved Mak. "Instead I left a pin 10. On the next frame, I thought I had struck but again left the pin 10 which I then missed.

"For a moment, I thought I had the chance of winning slip away from my hands. Fortunately I was able to recover from that mistake and struck home to put pressure on my opponent. It paid off."

The champion had earlier dispatched second-seed, Toshihiko Takahashi of Japan, 243-210 to set up the final with Kim. Mak also ousted fourth-seed, Timmy Tan of Malaysia, 224-202 to advance to the semi-finals.

Kim had a lucky break when his opponent and sixth-seed, Yannaphon Larpapharat of Thailand failed to spare his final frame to hand the match to Kim, 189-193 in the other semi.

The silver medalist also defeated eighth-seed, Muhammad Jaris Goh of Singapore, 257-226 in the quarter-finals to reach the semi. Toshihiko and Yannaphon earned a bronze medal each.

In the earlier Men's Singles Squad B, Kim topped the squad with 1383 followed by Toshihiko in second with 1370. Park Jong Woo, who finished third with 1347 to tie with Squad A leader, Cho Young Seon but had to give up his place due to the rule of only a maximum of 2 from each NOC can qualify for the quarter-finals.

Mak finished fourth with 1318 to take up fifth-seed for the quarter-finals shootout. Yannaphon was fifth in the second squad with 1315 to take up sixth-seed while the last and eighth position went to Muhammad Jaris Goh on 1307.

Squad A second place finisher, Timmy Tan took up the fourth-seed position while third-placed finisher in Squad A, Wu Siu Hong of Hong Kong took up the seventh-seed.

Competition will resume with the Women's Singles in one squad and the top 8 finishers will advance to the Quarter-finals shootout.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Anyang, Korea.

30th June, Anyang, Korea: Korean national bowler, Cho Young Seon set the benchmark in the Men's Singles opening squad of the 4th Asian Indoor & Martial Arts Games to lead Malaysia's Timmy Tan in second and Wu Siu Hong of Hong Kong in third.

Bahrain's Ahmed Algoud set a cracking pace with 249 in his opening game to lead 2012 Asian Championships gold medalist, Keith Saw of Singapore by 2 pins and Timmy Tan in third, a further 9 pins away.

Both Ahmed and Saw were quickly overhauled as the pace quickened with Tan surging ahead with a superb game of 245 following his 212 opening game. Wu Siu Hong moved up to second after he too shot a good 248 following his 224 in the first game.

At the halfway mark, Tan continued to lead the field with 213 but saw his lead of 32 pins reduced to 9 as Wu rolled another strong 236 in the third game.

A lowly 192 in the fourth from the Malaysian put his lead down to just 1 pin with Wu hot on his heels. Wu then shot into the lead with 210 in the fifth while Cho Young Seon fired a sizzling 268 to move up into second and Tan slipping down to third.

Tan recovered with 231 in his final game but it was Cho, who downed 232 to snatch pole position and set a benchmark of 1347. Tan settled for second with 1336, 11 pins adrift.

Wu, who managed 193 finished third with 1311 while a second Korean and 2010 Asian Youth gold medalist, Shin Seung Hyeon were the fourth bowler to surpass the 1300-mark with 1303.

The second Bahraini, Taha Ebrahim finished sixth with 1299 while Annop Arromsaranon of Thailand and Tomoyuki Sasaki of Japan shared seventh position to round out the top 8 with 1236.

The men in Squad B will take to the lanes for their Singles after lane maintenance at 1.30pm local time. The combined scores will determine the top 8 who will advance to the one-match quarter-finals.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Anyang, Korea.

28th June, Anyang, Korea: Twenty countries will battle for glory at the 4th Asian Indoor & Martial Arts Games which will commence on June 30 at the 32-lane Anyang Hogye Gymnasium Bowling Center.

81 men and 54 women from twenty countries - Bahrain, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, AOI (India), Iran, Japan, Kuwait, Macau, Malaysia, Mongolia, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Singapore, Thailand, Chinese Taipei and United Arab Emirates.

The teams, divided into three squads, went through their first day of official practice on short and long oil patterns set up for the championship. They will return for another day of practie tomorrow before adjourning to the official games opening ceremony in Incheon.

The men and women will compete in separate divisions in the Singles (6 games Long Oil), Doubles (6 games Short Oil) and Team of 4 (3 games Short/3 games Long Oil) over the next 7 days.

The top 8 men and top 8 women finishers in the Singles and Doubles event will advance to the quarter-finals shootout where the top seed vs the eighth-seed, second vs seventh-seed, third-seed vs the sixth-seed, fourth-seed vs the fifth-seed in a one-game shootout.

The winners will advance to the semi-finals after which the losers will be awarded a bronze medal each and the winners will advance to the final in a one game championship match.

In the Team of 4 event, the top 4 men team and top 4 women team after the two blocks of 3 games each will advance the semi-finals where the top seed vs the fourth-seed and the second-seed vs the third-seed in a one-match shootout.

The losers will be awarded a bronze medal each and the winners will advance to the final for the gold or silver medals. There will be no Masters finals nor All Events.

Earlier in the day, the team managers' meeting was held at the bowling center where teams confirmed their final line up and lane draws were conducted for the Singles, Doubles and Team of 4 events.

Ms Vivien Lau, Honorary Life President of Asian Bowling Federation welcomed the teams and officials and Mr Choi Jang Kyu, Vice President of ABF and a member of the Jury of Appeal also welcomed the teams in his speech.

Dr. Danny Santos, Techincal Delegate of the championshps chaired the meeting going through the tournament schedule, rules and regulations and all matters pertaining to the championships.

Mr John Janawicz briefed the officials on the two lane patterns - short oil and long oil selected for the championships while Dr Santos condcuted the lane draw assisted by Mr Khoyei Akagi, Honorary Life President of WTBA.

Mr Choi, Mr Akagi and Ms Suwalai Satrulee, VIce President of ABF are members of the Jury of Appeal for the championships.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Anyang, Korea.