19th January, Nagoya: Reigning AMF World Cup champion, Shayna Ng retained the women's title of the PBA-WBT #4 International Bowling Championships 2013 for Singapore while American PBA pro, Tommy Jones successfully defended the men's crown.

Top seed, Shayna Ng got off poorly with an open frame but got into her usual strides by rolling five consecutive strikes to lead challenger and World Singles champion, Kelly Kulick of United States by 36 pins.

Kulick too had a bad break with an opened frame in the six leaving the Amercian playing catchup. The Singaporean struck out from frame nine to seal a emphatic victory, 248-201.

"I didn't have a good start but then I was determined to fight back," said the 22-year-old national team member. "Winning the World Cup in November was a great achievement for me and now to take another major title is simply fantastic."

The champion made the finals after posting another superb game in the second against two Americans, Liz Johnson and Kelly Kulick. Johnson, who finished second to Ng in the Round 1 finals, was eliminated after managing 201 while Kulick rolled 236.

In the opening match of the women's TV finals, DHC's Nishimura Miki of Japan and third seed, Zandra Aziela of Malaysia were eliminated after rolling 195 and 212 respectively. Ng, Kulick and Johnson advanced after registering 218, 214 and 236.

The all-American men's title match between defending champion and top seed, Tommy Jones and fellow PBA compatriot, Sean Rash was a close game with very little seperating the duo.

Rash opened account with a double strike and another double in the sixth and seventh frames as Jones could only alternate spares and strikes right until the sixth and seventh frames when he finally struck twice.

A bad break for Rash came in the ninth frame when he made a seemingly perfect pocket shot only to see pins 7 and 10 standing firmly and leaving just five pins difference between them.

Jones spared and struck in the final frame while Rash downed seven and spared before striking in the final frame to lose the match narrwoly, 204-209.

"Sean (Rash) is a good bowler and tough opponent and I had to put in total concentration," said the 34-year-old holder of 13 PBA titles, Tommy Jones. "I guess I had the lucky break and Sean didn't.

"It's been a fantastic week although the format was slightly different this year. But I'm totally satisfied with my performance here and I look forward to coming back to Japan again next year.

Both the Americans eliminated 16-year-old Malaysian sensation, Rafiq Ismail in the second match. Jones rolled 229 as Rash topped the match with a splendid 247. Rafiq had two splits but still managed 200 to finish third.

Jones and Rafiq cruised through the first match with 261 and 268 with Rash rolling 215 eliminating third-seed and World Singles champion, Chris Barnes and JPBA southpaw, Suzuki Hiroki, who posted 180 and 190.

Both the champions picked up the top prize of 6 million Japanese yen (approx. US$75,000) each less 20.42% tax. The first runner-ups took home 3 million yen and the second runner-ups 1.5 million yen a piece.

In the earlier Special Trios event bowled in the Baker format, Team International trio of Mike Fagan (USA), Jang Dong-Chul (KOR) and Ryan Ciminelli defeated Japanese trio of Saito Shigeo, Tagata Kengo and Obara Teruyuki 245-193 to win 200,000 yen.

But the Japanese women trio of Asada Rina, Izumune Shion and Washizuka Shima defeated Team International trio of Jazreel Tan (SIN), Jacqueline Sijore (MAS) and Tannya Roumimper (INA) 204-170 to retain the title and win 200,000 yen.

The runner-ups earned 100,000 yen each. Honorary Life President of WTBA and JBC and organizing chairman, Mr Kyohei Akagi gave away the prizes to the Trios winners while Mr Kevin Dornberger, FIQ and WTBA President gave the prizes to the top 5 winners of the main event.

Mayor of Inazawa-Shi, Mr Toshiaki Ohno presented the mascots to both the men and the women top 5 winners. Distiguished guests, dignitaries, sponsors, team officials and players adjourned to the victory banquet hosted by JBC at Inazawa Grand Bowl.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Nagoya.

18th January, Nagoya: Defending champion and American PBA pro, Tommy Jones and reigning AMF World Cup champion, Shayna Ng of Singapore won Round 1 finals of the PBA-WBT #4 International Bowling Championships 2013 supported by DHC on Friday evening.

Jones, who had topped the first block of the Round 1 finals with 2921, shot 722 thanks to a big game of 289 in the 14th game to end the finals in the lead with 3643 and 107 pins ahead of his nearest rival.

Malaysian 16-year-old sensation, Rafiq Ismail stunned the field after putting up another splendid performance to take second spot with 3536.

World Singles champion, who was fourth after the first block, bowled consistently to finish third with 3535 while the top Japanese pro was Suzuki Hiroki, taking up fourth position with 3516 with a superb series of 717.

A third American PBA pro and PBA Bowler of the Year, Sean Rash stormed home to snatch the fifth and final TV finals spot with 3511, pipping qualification round leader, Saito Shigeo of Japan by 1 pin.

A fourth American PBA pro, Mike Fagan finished sixth with 3506, a further 4 pins adrift. Qualification round block 1 winner, Ryan Ciminelli of United States struggled in this round to end in tenth position.

The battle between the front-running Shayna Ng and Liz Johnson was finally decided whan the reigning AMF World Cup champion and Round 1 first block leader, Shayna won the round with 3671.

Johnson, who was the second most consistent bowler, downed 720 in her final series to settle for second with 3575, 96 pins adrift. Malaysia's top performer was Zandra Aziela, who took third spot with 3525.

A second American and World Singles champion, Kelly Kulick finished fourth with 3501 ahead of the unlucky Singaporean, Jazreel Tan who had to give away her TV finals spot despite totaling 3442.

Nishimura Miki of Team DHC was Japan's best female finisher and hence earned a bye into the TV finals as a Japanese representative. She managed only 3311 for 15th spot.

The second Malaysian, Jacqueline Sijore ended in sixth position with 3422 while Indonesoa's Tannya Roumimper, wo was fifth after the first block, slipped down to eighth with 3419.

Defending champion, Cherie Tan failed to defend her title after missing the cut and finishing ninth as A third Malaysian, Sin Li Jane rounded out the top 10 with 3372.

The top 5 men and top 5 women will bowl in the first match in their respective division. The lowest two scorer will be eliminated and ranked accordingly based on their score.

The top 3 will advance to the second match and the lowest scorer will be eliminated and awarded third spot. The top two scorers will then contest the title match over one game.

Before the TV finals, the top 3 Japanese women and top 3 international bowlers for both the men and women division will bowl in a special "Trio" event in a Baker format starting with the women at 10.00am local time followed by the men at 10.30am.

The TV finals will commence at 11.40am with the women followed by the men at 2.50pm. The finals will be telecast LIVE.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Nagoya.

18th January, Nagoya: Japanese ex-national, Saito Shigeo topped the third and final block of the Round 1 finals of the PBW-WBT #4 International Bowling Championships 2013 while Shayna Ng of Singapore remained in pole for the women's division.

The 41-year-old Saito had gradually moved up from eighth after the first block to third at the end of the second block with 1447 to trail leader, Ryan Ciminelli and Tommy Jones of the United States.

But his superb double 277s and a 193 in the eighth game gave the Japanese 747 to pip defending champion, Jones for the lead with a 9-game tally of 2194. Jones had traded the lead with Saito and Ciminelli before settling for second with 2166.

Malaysian 16-year-old sensation, Rafiq Ismail took third spot with 2136 while Korea's Park Jong-Woo registered the highest 3-games series with 804 in todays two blocks to leapfrog into fourth spot with 2127.

There were several 299s rolled today but none could register the tournament's sixth 300. World Singles Champion, Chris Barnes came close with 299, which helped him to up to fifth overall with 2108.

JBC's Wada Shogo finished ahead of two JPBA bowlers, Yamamoto Isao and Tagata Kengo for sixth to eighth positions as overnight first block leader, Ryan Ciminelli slipped down to ninth follwed by PBA pro, Sean Rash rounding out the top 10.

Jay Leon Guerrero of Guam defeated Japan's Yoshida Fumihiro 225-209 in a one-game roll-off to break the tie at 24th position on 1988.

Meanwhile, overnight first block leader, Shayna Ng of Singapore and Liz Johnson of USA traded the lead throughout the two blocks but it was the Singaporean who came out tops with 2162.

Johnson settled for second with 2150, just 12 pins adrift. The biggest mover was Indonesia's Tannya Roumimper gradually moving up from 20th after the first block to ninth after the second.

Tannya registered 706 in the second and 756 in her second and third to take up third spot in the standings with 2140. World Singles champion, Kelly Kulik finished fourth with 2123 ahead of Jazreel Tan of Singapore in fifth spot with 2105.

Malaysia's Zandra Aziela (2072), Daejeon's Lee Na-Young (2031), Japan's Izumune Shion (2020), Malaysia's Sin Li Jane (2013) and USA's Shannon Pluhowsky (2011) completed the top 10.

Singapore's Kristel Oh pipped last year's second runner-up, Jeon Eun-Hee of Korea by 3 pins to snatch the last and 24th spot for the next round with 1940. Singapore's Geraldine Ng was also unlucky missing the cut by 8 pins on 1932.

The top 24 men and top 24 women will contest two additional blocks of 3 games each with pins carried forward this evening. The top 5 men and top 5 women will advance to tomorrow's TV Finals Eliminator.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Nagoya.

17th January, Nagoya: Reigning AMF World Cup champion, Shayna Ng of Singapore and American PBA pro, Ryan Ciminelli got off to a fabulous start to lead the opening block of Round 1 finals at the PBA-WBT #4 International Bowling Championships 2013 supported by DHC.

2011 World Women's Championships gold medalist, Liz Johnson could not have asked for a better start when the American rolled the tournament's fourth 300 in her opening game of the first block Round 1 finals to lead the field of 95 finalists.

Two-time Malaysian Open champion, Zandra Aziela of Malaysia and Japan's Shimizu Hiroko trailed in second and third not far with 279 and 268 while Shayna Ng of Singapore was well placed in fourth with 267.

Despite a 244 in Johnson's second game, the American saw her lead reduced from 21 to just 9 pins as Ng followed up with a second game of 246 and Hiroko third a further 2 pins away.

Ng rounded off a great day with 279 to end block in the lead with 792 while Johnson managed 228 to take second spot with 752. The Japanese pro Hiroko held on to third with 744 after ending with 233.

Zandra took fourth spot with 718 ahead of another Singaporean, Jazreel Tan fifth with 717. Malaysian women showed their prowess with 2012 Asian Championships Singles gold medalist, Sin Li Jane taking sixth position with 709.

World Singles champion, Kelly Kulick of United States tied seventh position with last year's second runner-up, Jeon Eun-Hee of Korea on 706 while Saito Shinobu of Japan and a third Malaysian, Shalin Zulkifli rounding out the top 10 in ninth and tenth positions.

Meanwhile, American PBA pro Ryan Ciminelli started off with ony 226 but registered the tournament's fifth 300 in his second game before rounding off with 269 in his third to lead a field of 136 men in the first block with 795.

His fellow American and defending champion, Tommy Jones settled for second with 757 after taking the early lead. Japan's national team member, Chiba Tetsuya surprised the field by taking third spot with 738.

Newly-crowned Junior All Stars champion and 16-yer-old Rafiq Ismail of Malaysia finished fourth with 735 as American PBA pro, Mike Fagan completed the top 5 with 728.

Guam's Jay Leon Guerrero did extremely well to take up sixth position after a good effort of 728 ahead of two Japanese, Takahashi Nobuaki and Saito Yuta seventh and eight spots with 726 and 720.

World Singles champion, Chris Barnes of United States ties ninth position with Japan's Teraguchi Taku with 716.

The players will resume with their second block of 3 games at 9.30am local time and their third and final block at 1.00pm. The top 24 men and top 24 women will advance to the first block of the semi-finals at 4.00pm and second block at 6.30pm for another 3 games each.

The top 5 men and top 5 women after the foregoing 15-games total will make the cut for the TV Finals Elimination Round on January 18.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Nagoya.

16th January, Nagoya: Korean professional bowler, Son Young-Seok from Ulsan pipped leader and compatriot, Yang Tae-Seon by 3 pins to go pole in the Men's qualifying standings of the PBA-WBT #4 International Bowling Championship 2013 supported by DHC.

Son, who was in 30th position prior to Squad 7, started off slowly with 237 but scorched the lanes at Inazawa Grand Bowl with 290 and 268 for a total of 795 pipping his compatriot, Yang Tae-Seon to become the new leader.

Yang slipped to second with 792 registered in the first squad of the day after rolling the tournament's third 300 in Squad 3 as Alex Liew of Malaysia settled for third spot with 775.

Korean national bowler, Jang Dong-Chul made good grounds to take up fourth in the table with 749 from lines of 289, 225, and 235 and finishing second to Son. Squad 1 leader, Park Jong-Woo rounded out the top 5 with 733.

With no new bowlers registering on the final two squads, Raymond Leung of Hong Kong remained at the cut in 36th position albeit improving slightly to 590.

In the women's division, there were several changes to the table but the biggest mover was KPBA Yoon Sang-Ie posting 724 to take up 10th position. Singapore's New Hui Fen also made the cut leaving 25th spot for 11th with a 721 effort in Squad 7.

Amanda Ng remained firmly in the lead after becoming the only qualifier to hit pass the 800-mark with her astonishing 817 registered this morning. Shalin Zulkifli of Malaysia and Daejeon's Jeong Gwi-Ae also remained in second and third with 790 and 785.

American Lynda Barnes struggled to make headway despite several attempts. Her best effort was 672 and in 27th position, 12 pins off the 24th cut position of Hong Su-Yeon of Korea with 684.

The last squad 8 will end before 9.30pm local time which will then determine the top 36 men and top 24 women from the overseas pool qualifying for tomorrow's finals.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Nagoya.

16th January, Nagoya: Amanda Ng of Singapore became the first bowler to surpass the 800-mark with 817 to lead the women's qualifying standings of the PBA-WBT #4 International Bowling Championships 2013 supported by DHC on Wednesday morning.

The 25-year-old member of the Singapore National team set a cracking pace with 266 in her opening game of Squad 4. Ng almost shot the tournament's fourth 300 but settled for 287 in the second game.

Ng rounded off a fabulous effort with 264 for a total of 817 to take over the lead atop the leaderboard. With just one title to her 12 years bowling career back in 2005, Ng will be hoping to end her title drought and do well in the finals.

Overnight leader and first perfect gamer, Shalin Zulkifli of Malaysia slipped to second with 790 while Daejeon Metropolitan City's Jeon Gwi-Ae shot 785 in the subsequent Squad 5 to leapfrog into third position.

Earlier in this morning's first squad, Singapore's Kristel Oh rolled 779 to take up fourth spot as KPBA's Kim Seul-Ki rounded out the top 5 with 773 from last night's Squad 2. Joey Yeo, who finished second to Kristel, claimed seventh spot behind another Singaporean, Geraldine Ng in sixth.

The cut at 24th spot is held by Singapore's New Hui Fen on 680 (average 226.67) and with just three more squads remaining, this figure could go up to as much as 700.

Meanwhile, the third perfect game came from the early Squad 3 this morning. KPBA's Yang Tae-Seon, 51 from Incheon rolled 300, 247 and 245 to take over the running from overnight leader, Alex Liew of Malaysia on 775.

Squad 1 leader, Park Jong-Woo slipped down to third with 733 while Squad 5 leader and southpaw, Kang Seong-Yu of KPBA claimed fourth spot with 731.

Three Malaysians made headway in Squad 4 with Aris Ardila, Rafiq Ismail and Isaac Russell Paul posting 729, 727 and 719 to finish fifth, sixth and eighth positions respectively.

With just three squads remaining, there are so far only 37 registered overseas qualifiers and the cut at 36th position stood at a lowly 582 occupied by Hong Kong's Raymond Leung. By the end of qualifying tonight, it will probably be around the 640-mark.

Top 36 men and top 24 women will join the seeded players, invited bowlers and local qualifiers for the finals on January 17.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Nagoya.

15th January, Nagoya: Malaysian southpaw, Alex Liew fired the tournament's second 300 during Squad 2 of the PBA-WBT #4 International Bowling Championships 2013 to move to the top of the leaderboard on Tuesday evening.

Reigning World Cup champion, Muhd Sayfiq Ridhwan took the early lead with a scorching 259 in his opening game of the second squad at the 116-lanes Inazawa Grand Bowl ahead of 2006 Asian Games Singles gold medalist, Ryan Lalisang of Indonesia in second.

Another good effort of 223 from the lanky Malaysian in the second game retained him the lead but was being closed down by his team-mate, Alex Liew, who moved up to second with 248 after an opening game of 227.

Liew ended his qualifying round with a bang reeling in 12 strikes-in-a-row to fire the tournament's second perfect game following the first bowled by his team-mate, Shalin Zulkifli in Squad 1.

The perfect game gave Liew a total of 775 moving him up to the top of the leaderboard, 42 pins ahead of Squad 1 leader, Park Jong-Woo of Korea. Park's compatriot, Gu Yong-Jin of KPBA slipped down to third with 727.

Muhd Syafiq ended his third game with 232 to finish second behind Liew in this squad but managed only seventh in the standings with 714.

2006 Asian Games Masters gold medalist, Jo Nam-Yi of KPBA and Muhd Nur Aiman of Malaysia rounded out the top 5 in the men's division with 717 and 716 respectively.

KPBA's Kim Seul-Ki of Seoul, Korea topped the second squad in the women's division after rolling consistent games of 258, 267 and 248 for a total of 773. Singapore's youngster, Kimberly Ooi finished second with 712.

Another Korean, Han Sol, who was the third bowler to surpass the 700-mark, took third spot with 705. Kim's 773 was not good enough to topple current leader, Shalin Zulkifli, who posted 790 in the opening squad.

Singapore's Geraldine Ng slipped down one notch to third overall with 741 while Korean National team member, Kang Hyun-Jin and Malaysia's Jacqueline Sijore completed the top 5 tieing at 705.

The current cut for the women's division at 24th position is held by Singapore's Amanda Ng with 638 which will probably reach 700 by the end of tomorrow's last day of qualifying for the overseas bowlers.

There were only 31 men bowlers making their attempt today. The cut off for the men is at 36th position. Six more squads remain starting at 8.30am local time. The top 36 men and top 24 women will qualify for the Masters finals on January 17.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Nagoya.

15th January, Nagoya: Four-time Malaysian National champion and two-time Asian Bowler of the Year, Shalin Zulkifli rolled the tournament's first 300 in the opening squad the qualifying round of the PBA-World Bowling Tour International Bowling Championships 2013.

The 34-year-old got off the block with 12 consecutive strikes to register the tournament's first perfect game in the opening squad of the qualifying rounds for overseas bowlers. Shalin followed it up with another cracking game of 258 before ending off with 232 for a 790 series.

Displaying a glimps of her old sparkle, the Malaysian will be hoping to add another title to her illustrious bowling career. Her last victory was winning the 2010 Hong Kong Open before taking a break to have her first child.

Singapore's Geraldine Ng did well to complete her first attempt with 741 to trail Shalin by 49 pins while 2011 World Women's Championships Singles gold medalist, Jacqueline Sijore took third spot with a 705 effort.

Korean National team member, Kang Hyun-Jin finished fourth with 667 ahead of newly-crowned Milo International All-Stars champion, Sin Li Jane of Malaysia rounding off the top 5 with 664.

Meanwhile, Korean youngster Park Jong-Woo stole the limelight in the men's division with 733 to lead the squad fllowed by compatriot, Gu Yong-Jin in secon with 727. KPBA's Jo Nam-Yi took third spot with 717.

The top Malaysian was Muhd Nur Aiman, who posted 716 to take up fourth spot. 2009 World Cup champion, Choi Yong-Kyu of Busan Team finished fifth spot with 716.

2012 Asian Championships All Events gold medalist, Yannaphon Larpapharat of Thailand completed the top 6 with 710. Kang Hee-Won and Choi Tae-Seung were the two other Koreans to register 700s with 703 and 701.

One more squads remain today and another 6 tomorrow which will end the qualifying rounds for overseas bowlers. The top 36 men and top 24 women will qualify for the finals scheduled for January 17.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Nagoya.

15th January, Nagoya: A star-studded field of world-class professional and amatuer bowlers has been assembled and will commence their qualifying rounds for the fourth PBA-World Bowling Tour 2013 at the International Bowling Championship supported by DHC in Nagoya on Monday.

At the heart of this "Major" PBA-WTBA World Bowling 2013 is the Guinness Book of Records' largest bowling center in the world, Inazawa Grand Bowl, a Brunswick 116 synthetic lanes spread across 198.39 meters (850.88 feet) without pillars at Inazawa-shi, Aichi-ken, about 50 minutes drive from downtown Nagoya.

Local qualification, which will end today, is being held at another center consisting of 134 lanes over three floors. 77 men and 71 women will qualify for the finals. Qualification for overseas bowlers will commence today at Inazawa Grand Bowl today for the next two days.

36 men and 24 women will join 14 seeded men and 14 seeded women qualifiers comprising of the top 4 men and top 4 women finishers from last year's championship.

6 men and 6 women comprising of World Champions, Masters champions of European Championships and Masters finalists of Asian Championships making it 10 men and 10 women.

There will be 5 seeded PBA men and 2 seeded PBA women qualifiers together with 4 women LBO from Japan as well as 4 men and 4 women from Japan Professional Bowlers Association (JPBA). 5 men and 4 women from Japan National Team will then make up a total of 14 seeded men and 14 seeded women.

A total of 137 men and 119 women will bowl a total of 9 games finals in three blocks of 3 games commencing with the first block of 3 games on January 17 at 5.30pm (local time) following a press conference, bowlers' briefing and opening ceremony.

The finalists will bowl the remaining two blocks of 3 games on January 18 when the best 24 men and best 24 women will advance into the semi-finals over two blocks of 3 games each on the same day.

The top 5 men and top 5 women from the foregoing 15 games total pinfalls will proceed to the TV Final Eliminator scheduled for Janaury 19. Before the TV finals begin, a special Trios event (Baker Format) between Japan Team and International Team for both men and women will be staged in the morning of Jnaury 19.

The TV FInal Eliminator will kick off at 11.40am (local time) for the women and 2.50pm (local time) for the men. Both the men and women champions will walk away with a whopping top prize of 6 million Japanese Yen (US$75,000) each with the first runner-up taking home 3 million.

The following are a list of the seeded qualifiers:
Previous Championships Seeded Players:
• Tommy Jones (United States), Cherie Tan (Singapore)
• Mika Koivuniemi (Finland), Dayang Khairuniza (Malaysia)
• Choi Bok-Eum (Korea), Joen Eun-Hee (Korea)
• Zulmazran Zulkifli (Malaysia), Missy Parkin (United States)

World and Regionsl Champions Seeded Players:
• Chris Barnes (United States), Kelly Kulick (United States)
• Jesper Agerbo (Denmark), Sophie Van Der Meer (Netherlands)
• George Lambert IV (Canada), Shannon Pluhowsky (United States)
• Lim Dong-Son (Korea), Jung Da-Wun (Korea)
• Yousif Falah (Bahrain), Jazreel Tan (Singapore)
• Hardy Rachmadian (Indonesia), Daphne Tan (Singapore)

PBA Seeded Players:
• Sean Rash (United States), Wendy MacPherson (United States)
• Jason Belmonte (Australia), Diandra Asbaty (United States)
• Mike Fagan (United States), Carolyn Dorin-Ballard (United States)
• Pete Weber (United States), Osku Plaermaa (Finland), Ryan Ciminelli (United States)

JPBA Seeded Players:
• Shato Kawazoe, Hiromi Matsunaga
• Shigeo Saito, Mayumi Yoshida
• Shinichiro Tamai, Urara Himeji
• Shuichi Heki, Miki Nishimura

International bowlers:
12 from the Korean National Team, 12 bowlers from the Malaysian National Team, 6 women from the Singapore National Team, 6 from the Hong Kong National Team and numerous individuals from Guam, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Korean Professional Bowlers Association, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Nagoya.