13th April, Bangkok: The final glory went to Chinese Taipei and Hong Kong as Wang Ting-Wen and Michael Tsang emerged Masters champions of the 9th Asian Schools Tenpin Bowling Championship which concluded at S.F. Strike Bowl Thursday afternoon.

The 16-year-old Wang came back from a 5 pin deficit in the first match of the Girl's stepladder match to beat top-seed, Cherie Tan of Singapore, 200-186 for a 404-395 total over two games. The champion had earlier narrowly lost the first game, 204-209 in an intense battle.

Tan started the first game on a roll bringing home four strikes-in-a-row as Wang doubled in the first two frames and spared in the third and fourth frames to trail by 22 pins. Both the bowlers had two open frame each thereafter but the champion strung together 4-in-a-row to level up at the tenth frame. A 6 pin in the bonus frame cost Wang the game.

In the second game, both were cautious not to make any mistake but Tan's disasterous miss in the fifth cost her the title as Wang picked up all her spares to win the fina Gold medal. Wang had earlier edged second-seed, Wan Nur Atiqqa of Malaysia, 193-188 in the first stepladder match.

Undoubtedly, the final day belonged to 17-year-old from Hong Kong as the overnight leader, Michael Tsang prevented Thailand a home vitory after he outsted triple Gold medalist, Somjed Kusonpithak, 409-342 in the two-game shootout.

Defeating third-seed, Zaid Izlan of Malaysia, 248-229 in the first match must have taken its toll as Somjed could not repeat the form he displayed in that match. The 16-year-old, who also won three gold medals in last year's championship, was going to improve his golden haul to four but struggled throughout the match against the champion.

Somjed lost the first game, 149-205 for a 56 pins deficit and despite putting in a strong fight with local crowd backing him up, the top-seed and champion proved too good as Tsang cruised to a well-deserved second Gold medal.

Although the Thai settled for the Silver, he did end the champioship on a high by almost single-handedly brought home 3 Gold, 3 Silver and 1 Bronze medal for Thailand to retain the overall champion's crown. Singapore emerged the overall champions in the girl's division with 1 Gold, 2 Silver and 3 Bronze medals to pip Japan with 1 Gold, 2 Silver and 1 Bronze medal.

A total of 18 teams from 11 countries took part in this year's championship which started on the 8th April and ending with today's stepladder finals which was tlecast LIVE on Channel UBC. The participants and officials will be entertained to a victory banquet later this evening at Chaophya Park Hotel. The 10th edition of the Asian Schools will be hosted by Vietnam in Ho Chih-Min City in 2007.

Photos bt Terence Yaw, MTBC.

12th April, Bangkok: Team Gold medalist, Michael Tsang hung on to the lead of the Boy's first block Masters finals of the 9th Asian Schools Tenpin Bowling Championship with Singapore's Cherie Tan and Gina Lim finishing 1-2 in the girl's division.

Apiwich Watanaphongsakorn of Thailand set the pace at the start of the first block but soon found Team Gold medalist, Michael Tsang of Hong Kong finishing the strongest to lead the first block with 1889. Three Gold medalist, Somjed Kusonpithak of Thailand, who was in the middle of the pack, stormed home to snatch second with 1778.

"I didn't get upset throughout my 8 games and it help me in my game," said the 17-year-old Tsang. "I kept my focus and concentrated more on picking up my spares and I'm gald I finished well. I have to thank my coach, Pedro for pushing me on.

Malaysia's two Bronze medalist, Zaid Izlan came home third with 1730 ahead of Todsaphon Thitiphattawanit of Thailand and Keith Guerrero of Guam completing the top 5 in fourth and fifth positions with 1718 and 1713.

With 3 Gold, 2 Silver and 1 Bronze medal in the bag, Thailand looked set to retain the overall champions title which they won in last year's championship in Jakarta. With three boys in second, fourth and fifth, the Thais will likely feature in the stepladder finals.

She started the block rather tentatively, but Cherie Tan seems to have built up a head of steam after the first block of eight games in the Girls' Masters finals Wednesday afternoon. The 17-year-old led the field of 16 bowlers with an impressive score of 1799 pinfalls and averaging 216.1.

Her closest challenger was compatriot Gina Lim, who trailed by 139 pins with a total of 1660 with Thailand's Angkana Netrviseth finished third with 1652, just 8 pins adrift. Tan, a student of Raffles Junior College student, had on Monday, finished sixth in the Singles before partnering Gina to win the Bronze medal in the Doubles on Tuesday.

Tan appears on course to qualify for the Stepladder Finals later tomorrow (Thursday) and should she win another gold in the Girls' Masters, it will secure the overall champions title for Singapore in the girls division.

With 3 Gold, 2 Silver and 1 Bronze medal in the bag, Thailand looked set to retain the overall champions title which they won in last year's championship in Jakarta. With three boys in second, fourth and fifth, the Thais will likely feature in the stepladder finals.

Another block of 8 games will be contested tomorrow (Thursday) when the top 3 from each division will make the cut for the stepladder finals which will be telecast LIVE on Channel UBC.

Photos by Terence Yaw, MTBC.

11th April, Bangkok: Hong Kong and Malaysia broke the ice to win their first Gold medal of the 9th Asian Schools Tenpin Bowling Championship by claiming the Girl's and Boy's Team of 4 title late Tuesday evening at the end of Day 2.

Hong Kong's Michael Tsang, Ken Lin, Rickle Kam and Eric Tseng was trailing Thailand by 75 pins at the end of the first block, set the lanes at S.F. Strike Bowl ablazed posting 839 to narrow the gap to just 8 pins as the Thais could only managed 772.

Thailand's Pasut Punsanthaveekul, Methasit Sae-Oui, Todsaphon Thitiphattawanit and Singles Gold medalist, Somjed Kusonpithak fought back 834 in the fifth game to regain the lead by 114 pins as Hong Kong managed a poor 728.

The Hong Kong quartet then fired all cylinders to bring home a superb 902 to snatch the victory from the disappointed Thais and snatched their first Gold medal with a team total of 4892, 12 pins ahead of Thailand on 4880. Chinese Taipei hung on to third spot to win the Bronze medal with 4729.

Thailand's Somjed Kusonpithak captured his third Gold medal finishing top of the Boy's All Events table with 4014. Somjed also won three gold medals in last year's championship in Jakarta. Hong Kong's Michael Tsang took the Silver with 3804 while Malaysia's Zaid Izlan again settled for the Bronze medal with 3685.

Malaysia also broke the ice to capture their first Gold medal of the championship but would not contribute to the team's position as it came from Team B. Championship debutants, Fatin Syazliana, Trish Khoo, Nor Atteya and last year's event two Silver medalist, Wan Nur Atiqqa fought back galantly after the fifth game with a final game of 802 for the victory with 4516.

Japan's Suzuna Miyagi, Maya Takemata, Natsumi Koizumi and Singles Bronze medalist, Kyoko Kamagahara overtook Singapore to win the Silver medal with 4482, thanks to a 264 in Kamagahara's 264 in the final game.

Doubles Gold medalist, Shayna Ng and Glenda Quek partnering Gina Lim and Cherie Tan had to content with the Bronze despite leading the field before the final game. The Singapore quartet finished 62 pins adrift on a total of 4454.

Kyoko Kamagahara finally claimed her first Gold medal after two previous appearances in the Asian Schools Championship series when she topped the Girl's All Events with 3530. Shayna Ng and compatriot, Cherie Tan took home the Silver and Bronze medals with 3523 and 3500 respectively.

Thailand looked set to retain the Boy's Overall Champion's crown with 3 Gold, 2 Silver and 1 Bronze medal with Singapore with a chance to win the Girl's Overall Champion's title with 1 Gold, 1 Silver and 3 Bronze medals.

The top 16 boys and top 16 girls made the cut for the Round-robin Matchplay Masters finals Wednesday morning for the first block of 8 games. The second block of 8 games will be contest on Thursday, 13th April. The top 3 from each division will qualify for the stepladder finals which will be telecast LIVE on UBC station at 3.00pm.

Photos by Terence Yaw, MTBC.

11th April, Bangkok: Glenda Quek and Shayna Ng brought home Singapore's first Gold medal of the 9th Asian Schools Tenpin Bowling Championship while Thailand's Pasut Punsanthaveekul and Somjed Kusonpithak struck their second in the Boy's Doubles event.

Championship debutant, Quek and Ng grabbed the lead as soon as 22 teams took to the lanes on Day 2 of the competition Tuesday morning. But the duo lost the lead to Japan's Suzuna Miyagi and Singles Bronze medalist, Kyoko Kamagahar to trail by 20 pins after the second game.

The Singapore pair fought back to regain the lead by just 2 pins at the halfway mark and then went on to take the victory and Singapore's first Gold medal with an eventual team total of 2392. Japan settled for the Silver with 2311 ahead of the fast finishing Singapore's pair of Gina Lim and Cherie Tan in third with 2302.

The victory gave the 17-year-old Quek her first international success after having won 2 Gold medals in the National Schools championship last month. Ng, who won only a Silver medal in the Team event in last year's championship, made amends to claim her first gold medal this time round.

In the boy's division, Thailand's Methasit Sae-Oui and Todsaphon Thitiphattawanit set a cracking pace to lead the field with 835 after the first game and continued to top the pack up the fourth game which saw them dropping to third.

Pasut Punsanthaveekul and Singles Gold medalist, Somjed Kusonpithak of Thailand mounted their challenge to take over the lead by just 7 pins from the strong Malaysia's pair of Muhd Nur Aiman and Singles Bronze medalist, Zaid Izlan.

Pasut's 214 and Somjed's 267 in the final game sealed the victory and the second Gold medal for Thailand with 2537 to the delight of the large crowd of local supporters. Singapore's Aloysius Goh and spinner, Wong Yi Quan settled for the Silver with 2474 while early pace-setter, Methasit and Todsaphon won the Bronze with 2449.

Somjed topped the Boy's All Events with just the second block of the Team of 4 to play and looked set to claim his third Gold of the championship. Zaid Izlan of Malaysia and Michael Tsang of Hong Kong finished second and third.

Photos by Terence Yaw, MTBC.

11th April, Bangkok: Malaysia Team B girls and Thailand Team A boys ended the first day of the 9th Asian Schools Tenpin Bowling Championship to lead the Team of 4 first block of 3 games late Monday evening at S.F. Strike Bowl.

When the girls took to the lanes after the lane maintenance and medal presentation of the Singles event which saw Tannya Roumimper of Indonesia and Somjed Kusonpithak of Thailand winning the girl's and boy's gold, Singapore set the pace with Team A leading the pack with 793 and Team B in second with 768.

Shayna Lim, Gina Lim, Glenda Quek and Cherie Tan continued to lead after two games with another fine 738 but soon found Malaysia Team B and Japan hot in pursuit and closing the gap quickly. Despite a 771 in the third game, it was Malaysia who posted a superb 842 to grab the lead at the end of the first block.

Debutants, Fatin Syazliana, Trish Khoo, Nor Atteya Zainal Abidin and anchored last year's championship two Silver medalist, Wan Nur Atiqqa amassed a team total of 2343 to lead by 66 pins from Singapore Team B in second with 2277.

Japan's Suzuna Miyagi, Maya Takemata, Natsumi Koizumi and Singles Bronze medalist, Kyoko Kamagahara ended up in third with 2244 while Malaysia Team A finished strongly in fourth position with 2095.

Meanwhile, the boys team of host nation, Thailand proved too strong to take the lead with 2498. Pasut Punsanthaveekul, Methasit Sae-Oui, Singles Silver medalist, Todsaphon Thitiphattawanit and Singles Gold medalist, Somjed Kusonpithak posted lines of 903, 816 and 779 for a 65 pins lead over Hong Kong Team A in second with 2423.

Michael Tsang Pak Kei, Ken Lin Ka Yat, Rickie Kam Siu Lun and Eric Tseng Tak Hin had lines of 773, 836 and 814 to stay ahead of Chinese Taipei in third spot with 2409. Japan finished fourth, just 12 pins adrift on a total of 2397.

The Team of 4 second block of 3 games will continue Tuesday evening after the completion of the girls and boys doubles event.

Photos by Terence Yaw, MTBC.

10th April, Bangkok: Indonesian national rookie, Tannya Roumimper led from start to finish in the Girl's Singles event of the 9th Asian Schools Tenpin Bowling Championship to capture the Gold medal ahead of last year's Singles Gold medalist, Sharon Koh of Malaysia taking the Silver.

At the start of the second event of the day, Chinese Taipei and Filipino youths were setting the pace but were soon caught up by Tanyya Roumimper of Indonesia and reigning Malaysian National champion, Sharon Koh. At the halfway mark, Tannya had built up a comfortable margin of 53 pins.

While Sharon mounted her challenge to retain the singles title she won last year in Jakarta, Japan's Kyoko Kamagahara also put in an effort to catch both the leaders. With just one more game to go, the leader had a 77 pins cushion and cruised home for well deserve victory with 1266.

"This is my first international success in an official championship and I wish to thank my country for giving this opportunity to participate in this championship," said the 15-year-od student from Aloysius secondary school in Bandung.

The champions was congratulated by teammates and her father, Robby Roumimper who accompanied her to the championship for the first time. Tannya's last victory was when she captured the under-15 Shalin Cup in Malaysia in 2004 when she was just 13.

Sharon Koh settled for the Silver medal with a score of 1214 while Kyoko Kamagahara was contented with the Bronze medal, which she also won in 2005 with 1212. Local hopeful, Angkana Netrviseth, who was in the running for a medal at one stage, missed out by finishing fourth with 1197.

The Team of 4 first block of 3 games for both the boys and girls division will commence after lane maintenance this evening. The doubles event will be contested on Tuesday morning and finishing with the Team of 4 second block.

Photos by Terence Yaw, MTBC.

10th April, Bangkok: Host nation, Thailand got off to a great start when Somjed Kusonpithak and Todsaphon Thitiphattawanit finished 1-2 to win the Boy's Singles Gold and Silver medal in the opening event of the 9th Asian Schools Tenpin Bowling Championship at S.F. Strike Bowl.

With 72 bowlers taking to the lanes in the opening event, Malaysian Open first runner-up, Zaid Izlan was off the mark quickly with a first game score of 238 to lead Methasit Sae-Oui and Apiwich Watanaphongsakorn of Thailand by just 3 and 4 pins.

Zaid kept the lead until the halfway mark when last year's Asian Schools triple Gold medalist, Somjed Kusonpithak of Thailand, grabbed the lead with 259 and 248 in the third and fourth games. In hot pursuit was compatriot, Todsaphon Thitiphattawanit in third.

With the strong local crowd cheering Somjed on, the champion duly oblidged with 226 and 212 in his fifth and sixth games to win the Gold for Thailand with 1372. "I want to thank my teammate, Todsaphon for pushing me on and giving me a good pace," said the 17-year-old St. Thevesa student, who won the Singles, Doubles and Masters Gold in Jakarta in 2005.

Zaid hung on to take the Bronze medal with 1270, 57 pins behind Todsaphon. Shota Kawazoe of Japan, stormed home with a final game 274 to snatch fourth spot with 1269, just 1 pin adrift. Apiwich Watanaphongsakorn completed the top 5 in fifth spot with 1255.

The girls will contest their Singles immediately following the lane maintenance at the end of which, the Team of 4 event first block of 3 games will be held this evening.

Photos by Terence Yaw, MTBC.

9th April, Bangkok: A colourful parade and traditional performances marked the grand opening of the 9th Asian Schools Tenpin Bowling Championship witnessed by a pack house at S.F. Strike Bowl Centre, Ngamwongsewan in downtown Nonthaburi Sunday afternoon.

Graced by the guest of honour, Mr Prachet Paibulsiri, Vice Governor of Nonthaburi Province and attended by a host of top government officials, tenpin bowling top notches, dignitaries, distinguished guests and a pack house of officials, parents and supporters.

The opening kicked off with the marching of a band from the Raschavinit Schools followed by the superb performances by Klong Sabat Chai, a traditional drum dance to the cheers of the audience present at the S.F. Strike Bowl Centre.

Mixed with a hip-hop dance group from the cheer leaders dancers called "Cheer Cheer", the dance got the younger bowlers clapping their hands in appreciation of the modern dance performances. The performances ended with a modern classical dance by a young group of beautiful dancers who called themselves Andanamad.

With a total of 18 teams from 11 countries, the teams paraded in front of the dignitaries and guests led by beautiful representatives of the metropolitan culture group bearing the placards for each of the countries participating in the championship.

Mr Surawit Mahanom, Committee Member of the National Sports Development Board and co-chairman of the championship gave his welcome address followed by Mrs Vivien Fung, Honorary Life President of Asian Bowling Federation. The championship was officially declared open at the end of the speech by the guest of honour, Mr Prachet Paibulsiri.

The participants and officials attended a welcoming reception back at the Chaophya Park Hotel, hosted by members of the organising committee later in the evening. The boys will kick off the event with the Singles over 6 games at 9.00am Monday morning followed by the girl's Singles at 1.00pm in the afternoon.

The Team of 4 first block of 3 games will be held in the evening of the first day of competition. The Doubles will be contested on Tuesday, 11th April

and ending with the Team event second block of 3 games. The top 16 boys and girls based on the 18-game All Events will make the cut for the Round-robin Matchplay Masters finals played over two days on the 12th and 13th April.

The top 3 from each division based on the total pinfalls plus bonus points will qualify for the stepladder finals which will be telecast LIVE on a local TV station. LIVE scores for each event will also be featured at www.abf-online.org including the stepladder finals.

Photos by Terence Yaw, MTBC.

8th April, Bangkok: The scene is set for keen competition as participants and officials arrive the city of Bangkok for the 9th Asian Schools Tenpin Bowling Championship when the Team Managers' Meeting was held at Chaophya Park Hotel.

The Team Managers' Meeting was held this evening where a total of 11 teams from the 9 Asian countries have been entered for this year's championship. Ms Suwalai Satrulee, organizing chairperson welcomed all the managers who attended the meeting where teams finalised their line up and conducted the lane draws.

Hong Kong (2 boys team), Kuwait (2 boys team), Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and host Thailand (2 boys, 1 girl team) fielded two teams each while Chinese Taipei, Guam and Japan fielded one team each making up the 15 teams. The techincal director for the champions is Dr Danny Santos (FIQ Secretary General). The Jury of Appeal are Mrs Vivien Fung (ABF Hon. Life President), Mr Kyohei Akagi (President, Japan Bowling Congress) and a representative from Thai Tenpin Bowling Congress.

The official practice will take place tomorrow, April 9th followed by the official opening ceremony and welcome reception in the evening, hosted by Thai Tenpin Bowling Congress and S.F. Strike Bowl Center. Competition will commence with the Singles event for both the boys and girls in the morning and afternoon followed by the Team of 4 first block of 3 games in the evening.

The Doubles event for both the divisions will be contested on April 11th and the Team of 4 second block of 3 games in the evening. The top 16 boys and girls based on their All Events (18 games) will qualify for the Masters Finals played over two days on April 12th and 13th. For detailed LIVE scores will be featured here throughout the championship.

Photos by Terence Yaw, MTBC.