20th July, Daejeon: Hong Kong Open champion, Esther Cheah and Singapore Open champion, Hong Hae Sol won their second masters titles this year after emerging as Women's Open and Men's Open champions of It's Daejeon International Open 2012.

Esther Cheah, who tied fourth seed with Kang Hyun Jin of Korean National Team after firing a sizzling 279 in her last game in yesterday's 9-games qualifying finals to make the stepladder, had to work hard again in the finals.

Cheah started off slightly better than top seed, Lee Na Young of Daejeon Metropolitan City with a double followed by a spare in the third and then roll four consecutive strikes to take a 20 pin lead.

Lee responded with a turkey after the third frame and then a double in the seventh and eighth frames to narrow the gap down to just 10 pins. As Cheah failed to knock down anymore strikes and ending her game with 236, Lee doubled up again in the tenth and 11th frames but left one pin in the 12th to tie at 236.

In an unsual one-ball roll-off to break instead of a 9th and 10th frame format, Cheah struck first while Lee left another single pin handing the title to Cheah.

"This has been an amazing two days for me," said the 26-year-old Cheah, who won the 2012 Hong Kong Open Women's crown in June. "First I had to roll a big game to make the finals, then I had to endure a one-ball roll-off to win."

Cheah took out two Koreans, third seed Lee Yeon Ji of Seoul Metropolitan City and Kang Hyun Jin, 214-184-201 in the firt match to face second seed, Son Yun Hee of Yong In City Hall. Cheah sailed past the third Korean, 223-180 to earn a crack at the title.

In the Men's Open all-Korean title match, top seed Hong Hae Sol outclassed Korean National team-mate and challenger, Jand Dong Chul, 268-211 to win his second international title this year.

Hong, who won his first-ever open masters title in the 2012 Singapore Open in June, started off the match with a fiery pace reeling in six consecutive strikes. But Jang answered back with four strikes of his own after a first frame spare.

A split in the sixth made the task more difficult for Jang as Hong rolled another turkey from frame eighth to easily take the match and title, 268-211.

"I expected to have a tough match against my more experienced team-mate," said the 23-year-old left-hander, Hong. "But when I started off with six strikes, I was totally relaxed after.

Jang had earlier locked out third seed, Kim Byoung Suk of Gwang Ju City, 245-211 in the semi-finals to book his place in the finals. Kim beat team-mate and winner of the first match, Ka Soo Heung, 208-201 in the second match.

Koo ousted fifth seed, Choi Bok Eum of Korean National Team and Park Geun Woo of Heung Buk City in an all-lefty first match, 199-181-183.

Hong won 50 million Korean won (approx. US$43,000) as the Men's Open champion, Jang settled for 25 million Korean won and Kim 10 million Korean won. Ka earned 6 million, Park 4.5 million and Choi 3 million.

Cheah took home 15 million Korean won (approx. US$13,000) leaving Lee to settle for 7 million. Son earned 3 million, Kang 2 million and Lee 1.8 million.

In a special mixed doubles match between the best Korean men and women who did not make the stepladder and the best overseas men and women, Choi Woo Sub-Gye Min Young easily defeated Zulmazran Zulkifli of Malaysia and Jazreel Tan of Singapore, 236-151 to win 1 million Korean won. The international pair earned 500,000 Korean won.

A total of 156 Men's Open, 101 Women's Open, 155 Graded, 101 Youth Boys and 45 Youth Girls making it a total of 558 bowlers taking part in this year's Daejeon International Open organized by the Korean Bowling Congress and sponsored by Daejeon Metropolitan City.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Daejeon.

19th July, Daejeon: Round 1 leader, Hong Hae Sol of Korean National Team, ended the Men's Open Round 2 finals of It's Daejeon International Open 2012 to advance into the TV Shootout finals as top seed ahead of team-mate, Jang Dong Chul in second.

Hong Hae Sol, who had a 34-pin cushion from yesterday's Round 1 finals, lost his lead to team-mate, Jang Dong Chul after shooting 205 in his opening game to Jang's 264. But the southpaw bounced back with 250 in the second to regain the lead.

There was simply no stopping the Korean national bowler after he rolled 236, 215 and 233 to open up a gap of 32 pins as Jang pursued relentlessly in second.

Hong ended the round with 201 and was almost caught by Jang after the latter knocked down a strong 230. But Hong held on the lead to advance into the TV Shootout finals as top seed with 15-game total 3507.

Jang finished second with 3504, just three pins adrift while Kim Byoung Suk of Gwang Ju City took third spot with 3339. Kim's team-mate, Ka Soo Heung finished fourth with 3260 joined by a third Korean national bowler, Choi Bok Eum in fifth with 3252.

The sixth and last spot of the TV Shootout finals went to Park Geun Woo of Incheon City Hall with 3235 making it an all-Korean grand finals. Choi Woo Sub missed the cut by 2 pins finishing seventh with 3233.

Fourth, fifth and sixth seeds will bowl in the first match of which the winner will advance to face the third seed. The winner of the second match will advance to face the second seed in the third match.

Winner of the third match will earn a crack at the title against the top seed in a single match live on SBS ESPN television network at 1.00pm local time.

Zulmazran Zulkifli of Malaysia will partner Jazreel Tan of Singapore to challenge Korea's Choi Yong Kyu and Gye Min Young in a special Mixed Doubles match before the TV Shootout finals.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Daejeon.

19th July, Daejeon: Two-time Thailand Open champion, Lee Na Young of Daejeon Metropolitan City, cruised to a comfortabe pole position in the Women's Open Masters finals at It's Deajeon International Open 2012 on Thursday.

Lee Na Young, who won the Thailand Open in two consecutive years, had trailed leader and ex-international, Hwang Su Ok of Korea for most part of the 9-games finals. But Lee stepped up her pace after the fifth game with 257 to take over the running.

Korean national team member, Lee Su Jeong trailed in second, 31 pins away but saw the gap widen to 84 pins as the leader rolled another superb 245 in the seventh game.

Lee closed out the finals with 195 and 255 to end as top seed for the stepladder shooutout with 1987. Lee managed only 173 in the final game to drop out of the top 5. Another ex-international, Son Yun Hee shot 246 to leapfrog into second with 1984.

Ten pins away came Lee Seon Ji of Seoul Metropolitan City in third with 1884 while the biggest mover was Malaysia's Esther Cheah tieing fourth spot with the sole Korean national team member, Kang Hyun Jin on 1842.

Cheah had a disasterous start with 127 but slowly crawled her way up until she rolled a sizzling 279 to haul herself from from mid-table to earn her spot in the stepladder finals.

Gye Min Young of Korean national team had a chance to make the cut but a split in the last frame of the final game costed her the place and missing it by 1 pin.

The first match of the Women's Open stepladder finals will be for qualifiers seeded third, fourth and fifth. The winner will challenge the second seed in the second match. The winner of the second match will then face the top seed in a single match.

Meanwhile, the top 24 men from yesterday's Round 1 finals will bowl their second round over 6 games with pins carried forward. The top 6 will advance to the TV Shootout finals on July 20.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Daejeon.

18th July, Daejeon: Singapore Open champion, Hong Hae Sol rolled It's Daejeon International Open first perfect game en-route to snatching pole position from Squad A leader, Jang Dong Chul to give the Korean national team a one-two finish.

Cha Ji Hyun of Korea set a higher opening game than the earlier squad with a scintilating 267 to lead another Korean, Park Kyung Shin by 9 pins and a handful of bowlers posting games of 240s.

Cha's lead lasted only one game as ex-national, Kim Byoung Suk took over the running with back-to-back 246s. Singapore Open champion, Hong Hae Sol moved up to second after rolling 234 and 236 to trail by 12 pins.

Kim continued his blistering pace with 259, 203 and 203 but Cha bounced back to regain the lead past the halfway mark and 18 pins ahead of Kim. Cha kept the lead for another game before Hong stepped up his pace firing 214, 259 and the tournament's first 300 in the eighth game to move ahead of the battling duo.

The southpaw closed out with 254 to take the squad and snatch pole position from his team-mate and Squad A leader, Jang Dong Chul by 34 pins with 2167. Kim finished second to Hong with 2021 to take third spot.

Kim Chul Soo, who was second in the earlier squad finished fourth with 2003 while Ka Soo Heung from Squad B rounded up the top 5 with 1993.

Exactly 12 from the second squad made the top 24 cut. Zulmazran Zulkifli of Malaysia finished 12th to end up in 22nd position with 1911. PBA pro, Ronnie Russell who was 12th in the first squad survive to make the cut in 24th position with 1907.

Singapore's Ng Chiew Pang was the most unfortunate bowler missing the cut by just one pin in 25th position with 1906. Also missing the cut were Mika Koivuniemi of Finland, Josh Blanchard and Mike Wolfe of USA.

Four KPBA pros, two American PBA pros, one Singapore, one Malaysian, one JPBA pro will join 15 Korean finalists in the Round 1 finals for another 6 games with pins carried forward. The top 6 at the end of the round will advance to the TV Shootout finals.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Daejeon.

18th July, Daejeon: Korean national bowler, Jang Dong Chul set a high benchmark of 2133 over the 9-games Round 1 finals of It's Daejeon International Open 2012 to take pole position ahead of two Busan City Hall team members, Kim Chul Soo and Choi Tae Seung.

Korean national bowler and 2009 AMF World Cup champion, Choi Yong Kyu set the early pace with a 246 opening game to lead Uh Sung Moon in second with 244 and Asian Games multiple gold medalist, Choi Bok Eum third.

Jang Dong Chul rolled a superb 256 following his modest 209 opening game to allow the third Korean national bowler to move into the lead followed by Busan City Hall's Choi Tae Seung moving up into second.

Despite posting a good game of 243 in the third game, Jang lost the lead to Choi as rolled a sizzling 270 to take over the running. There was little separating the duo as they go into the fourth game with Choi still hold a 24 pin lead.

Jang then picked up his set with 237 and 235 in his next two games and held a slender 13 pins over another Busan City Hall team member, Kim Chul Soo taking over second spot.

Jang was on a roll as he continue to knock down big games and closing out the squad with 226, 257 and 265 for a massive 333 pins over on a total of 2133. Kim Chul Soo settled for second with 2003, 130 pins adrift.

Choi Tae Seung bounced back with 230, 221 and 246 in the remaining three games to snatch third spot with 1983, 23 pins ahead of Choi Yong Kyu in fourth position with 1980. Choi Bok Eum rounded up the top 5 with 1957.

The 12th place is held by PBA pro, Ronnie Russell with 107 over providing a mark for the second squad finalists to beat in order to stand a chance of making the top 24 by the end of the day.

The top 24 from the combined scores after Squad B has completed their 9 games will advance to Round 2 finals over another 6 games with pins carried forward. The top 6 after the Round 2 will advance to the TV Shootout finals on July 20.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Daejeon.

18th July, Daejeon: Top seeds, Kim Dong Gyun of Korean National Sports University and Lee Young Seung of Geonnam Culinary Science and Arts High School lifted their first Youth Boys and Youth Girls titles at It's Daejeon International Open 2012 on Wednesday.

Top seed, Kim Dong Gyun clinched the Boy's title with a narrow victory over challenger and World Youth brnze medalist, Ryu Jo Hoon of Gwang Yang City Hall, 164-136 in the finals. And the victory did not come easy for the Korean National Sports University student as he had three splits in the low-scoring match.

Ryu, who defeated team-mate and World Youth Doubles gold medalist, Hwang Dong Jun, 201-150 to face Kim, ran into all sorts of problems in the match but a late ball change made no difference to the results.

The champion had earlier snatch pole position in the sixth and last game of the 6-games finals with 1310 as the first runner-up managed only 193 to settle for second with 1293. Hwang shot a big game of 256 to clinch the third and final stepladder spot with 1264.

Pace-setter, Choi Tae Seung and Lee Dong Young completed the top 5 with 1258 and 1252 respectively. The champion won 4 million Korean won (approx. US$3,500) for his effort while Ryu and Hwang earned 2 million and 1.5 million respectively.

In the girl's division, top seed Lee Young Seung of Geonnam Culinary Science and Arts High School denied Korean National Sports University a double victory when the 18-year-old sailed past Hong Hae Ni, 223-183 in the finals.

Hong had earlier edged third seed, Kim Jung Un of Jong Heung High School, 166-161 to have a crack at the title but found the champion too strong.

Lee cruised to a confortable end of the earlier 6-games finals with 1369, 71 pins ahead of Hong in second with 1298. Kim finished third, just 9 pins behind Hong with 1289 while Kim Ga Ram and Lee Ah Reum completed the top 5.

Lee pocketed 2 million Korean won (approx. US$1,750) for her victory while Hong and Kin picked up 1 million and 800,00 respectively. A total of 32 boys and 20 girls contested the finals over 6 games.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Daejeon.

17th July, Daejeon: Malaysia's Adrian Ang is eying the Men's Open Masters title of It's Daejeon International Open 2012 after taking over the lead in the overseas pool while Korean national bowler, Kim Moon-Jeong grabbed pole in the women's division.

2010 Guangzhou Asian Games Doubles gold medalist and 2010 Malaysian Open champion, Adrian Ang notched up 727 after two series of 658 and 625 for a total of 2010 to become the fist overseas qualifier to surpass the 2,000-mark.

Ang, who celebrated his 24th birthday yesterday, took over pole position from overnight leader, Remy Ong of Singapore, who slipped down to second with 1991. Malaysian Open second runner-up, Keith Saw bettered his 9-game tally to 1979 to take up third spot.

PBA Americans, Bill O'Niell and newly-crowned USBC Masters champion, Mike Fagan finished fourth and fifth positions with 1969 and 1962 respectively.

2011 AMF Australian Masters champion, Wu Siu Hong of Hong Kong took up sixth position with 1958 followed by Malaysia's Syafiq Ridhwan, PBA pro Mika Koivuniemi of Finland, Singapore's Ng Tiac Pin and 2011 Malaysian Open champion, Muhd Nur Aiman completing the top 10.

There were no changes in the local pool with Korean national bowler, Cho Young-Seon leading the pack with 2222 ahead of compatriot Kim Myung-Min and team-mate, Choi Bok-Eum in second and third with 2213 and 2188. The current cut in 16th position in the mixed pool is held by Choi Young-Jin with 1830.

Korean national rookie, Mik Moon-Jeong took over top spot of the Women's Open Masters local qualifying pool with 2065. Another Korean national bowler, Kang Hyun-Jin moved up into second with an improved 2065.

Overnight leader and Singapore Open champion, Jung Da-Wun slipped down to third with 2063. There were no change atop the overseas pool with Shayna Ng remaining in the lead with 1950. Two Maaysians, Siti Safiyah and Hong Kong Open champion, Esther Cheah moved into second and third with 1880 and 1871.

The cut is currently tied by three women, Kim Kyung-Hee, Kim Ji-Hye and Jeon Gwi Ae at 1862 and if any one mkes the top 25 cut, the trio may have to bowl in a one-game tie-breaker.

The Youth boys and Youth girls will contest their Masters finals tomorrow morning. The 120 Men's Open qualifiers will contest the 9-game Round 1 finals divided into two squads, one at 1.00pm and the other at 6.00pm local time.

The top 24 will advance to Round 2 finals for another 6 games, with pins carried forward. The top 6 will advance to the TV Shootout finals on July 19. The Women's Open will contest their finals on July 18 morning.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Daejeon.

16th July, Daejeon: National bowler, Cho Young-Seon shot into top spot of the Men's Open Masters qualifying table at the It's Daejeon International Open 2012 while Singapore's Shayna Ng led team-mates to occupy the top 4 spots in the Women's Open overseas pool.

Cho Young-Seon, who was in seventh position, became the first qualifier to register an 800-series with 814, shot into lead with 2222 over a 9-game total. Overnight leader, Kim Kyung-Min slipped down to second on 2213 while Choi Bok-Eum also dropped to third with 2161.

Except for Kyung-Min, Korean national bowlers dominated the standings wby taking up fourth to ninth positions. Park Geun Woo completed the top 10 with 2056. The current cut at 30th position in the local pool is held by Kim Tae-Gyu with a total of 1935.

With Malaysia, Singapore and Chinese Taipei bowlers begining to make their attempts, Remy Ong of Singapore took top spot with 1936 from 706m 660 and 597 series. Hong KOng's Wu Siu Hong finished second with 1895.

Early overseas pool leader, Suzuki Motoshi of JPBA occupied third spot with 1862. Ong's team-mate, Benjamin Lim and another JPBA Kobayashi Tetsuya closed out the top 5 with 1845 and 1831 respectively.

The current cut in the local and overseas pool (mixed) is held by Kang Ju-Young with 1753. The top qualifiers from the 30 local pool, top 30 qualifiers from the overseas pool and top 60 from the mixed pool will qualify for the 9-games Round 1 Masters finals.

While Jung Da-Wun continued to lead the Women's Open local pool with 2063, overseas qualifiers were beginning to make progress. World Women Championship Singles bronze medalist, Shayna Ng of Singapore topped the table with 1913.

DHC International champion, Cherie Tan slipped to second with 1846 after briefly occupying top spot earlier. Jazreel Tan and Jamine Yeong-Nathan completed Singapore's domination by taking tup third and foruth spots.

The current cut at 25th position in the Women's Open mixed pool is held by Kwon Eun-Sil with a 9-game tLly of 1823. The top qualifiers from the 10 local pool, top 10 qualifiers from the overseas pool and top 25 from the mixed pool will qualify for the 9-games Round 1 Masters finals.

Qualifying will end tomorrow and the Youth Boys and Girls Masters finals will be held on July 18 morning. The Men's Open Round 1, divided into two squads will contest the finals in the afternoon.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Daejeon.

15th July, Daejeon: Korean national bowler and 2012 Singapore Open champion, Jung Da-Wun took the lead of the Women's Open Masters qualifying table of It's Daejeon International Open underway at Daejeon World Cup Bowling Center.

The national rookie, who won the Women's Open Masters title in her first international assignment, posted three 3-games qualifying series of 703, 690 and 670 for a 9-game tally of 2063 to lead the local pool.

Team-mate, Kang Hyun-Jin registered the highest 3-games series of 745 to add to her two other series of 664 and 635 to take up second spot with 2044, 19 pins behind the leader.

Hong Hae-Ni of Korean National Sports University finished third by posting 700, 652 and 615 for a total of 1697 while Lee Na-Rae and Hong Su-Yeon completed the top 5 women with 1965 and 1960 respectively.

The top 10 women from the local pool, top 10 women from the overseas pool and the top 25 women from the local and overseas pool (mixed) will qualify for the Masters finals over 9 games and the top 5 will advance to the TV Shootout finals.

Meanwhile, Kim Kyung-Min of Incheon Transit Corporation took over the lead from early leader and Korean national bowler, Hongg Hae-Sol. Kim posted all his best series over the 700-mark with 760, 738 and 715 for a total of 2213.

Hong, who won the 2012 Singapore Open in May, also posted big series of 730, 726 and 705 to settle for second spot with 2161.

Korean national bowlers dominted the qualifying table with Lim Dong=Sung, Choi Bok-Eum, Jng Dong-Chul, Lee Ik Kyu, Cho Young Sun, Choi Yong Kyu and Kim Yeon-Sang taking up third to eighth positions.

Only two overseas bowlers, Suzuki Motoshi and Kobayashi Tetsuya of JPBA have registered attempts and the Japanese duo occupied the top 2 spots with 1862 and 1831 respectively.

The top 30 men from the local pool, top 30 men from the overseas pool and the top 60 men from the local and overseas pool (mixed) will qualify for the Round 1 Masters finals over 9 games. The top 24 finishers will bowl another 6 games in Round 2 Masters finals and the top 6 will advance to the Stepladder Grand finals.

Overseas bowlers are expected to arrive today and will commence their qualifying rounds. Qualifying for local bowlers started on July 7 and for overseas bowlers starting July 15. Apart from the open division, there is also the Youth Boys, Youth Girls and Granded divisions.

The Youth Masters finals will be held on July 18 in the morning and the Men's Open Round 1 over two squads in the afternoon and evening. The Women's Open finals will be contested on July 19 followed by the Men's Open Round 2 finals.

The Graded Grand finals will be held in the morning of July 20 and Open Masters TV Shootout finals will be held in the afternoon and will be telecast LIVE by SBS ESPN.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Daejeon.