22nd June, Macau: Top seeds, Sharon Limansantoso of Indonesia ended a losing streak to capture the Women's Open Masters title of the 2014 Macau-China International Open while debutant, Tomoyuki Sasaki of Japan took the Men's Open crown on Sunday.

The title match between Limansantoso and challenger, Wang Ya-Ting was a one sided affair. The Indonesian top seed got off to a cracking start with three strikes-in-a-row to open up a gap of 13 pins as the Taiwanese spinner rolled a double in the second and third frames.

Wang had back-to-back opened frames in the fourth and fifth frames to trail by a bigger margin and when Limansantoso downed another turkey from frame 5, the tie was more or less sealed.

Limansantoso won the tie, 257-180 to end her losing streak. The champion, who finished first runner-up in both the Hong Kong Open and the ABF Tour Hong Kong just last week, pocketed MOP40,000 (approx. US$5,000) for the victory.

Wang, who beat team-mate and third-seed, Chou Chia-Chen and winner of the first match, Zhang Yu Hong of China, 214-200-176 to face the top seed, took home MOP18,000. Chou settled for MOP10,000.

Zhang, who defeated joint fifth-seed, Chan Shuk Han of Hong Kong and defending champion, Hong Hae Ni of Korea, 217-212-171, earned MOP4,000. Chan and Hong took home MOP3,000 and MOP2,000 respectively.

Limansantoso easily claimed top seed by posting 1204 in the second round earlier to add to her Round 1 score of 1437 for a total of 2551. Wang was second with 2489, Chou third with 2482, Zhang fourth with 2474 and Chan and Hong tied fifth with 2459.

Meanwhile, debutant and top seed, Tomoyuki Sasaki was lucky enough not to be forced into the second deciding match. The Japanese opened in the second frame before recovering with a turkey thereafter.

But another open frame in the eighth nearly cost Tomoyuki when his challenger and two-time Macau-China Open champion, Yannaphon Larpapharat doubled in the eighth and ninth frame only to roll a wash out in the tenth frame which he failed to spare and eventully losing, 191-193.

The Thai won the second match by beating second-seed, Ryan Lalisang of Indonesia and third-seed and compatriot, Sithpihol Kunaksorn, 214-204-169 to advance to the title match.

Yannaphon also had a lucky break in the opening match against fourth-seed, Mohammed Janahi of Bahrain and sixth-seed, Michael Mak of Hong Kong.

The match looked very much over for Yanaphon as he began to pack his equipment. Janahi opened in the final frame leaving Mak only to mark his final frame. But the Hong Kong national bowler rolled a big 6-split and failing to spare allowed Yannaphon to clinch the match, 201-193-200.

Tomoyuki won MOP70,000 (approx. US$9,000) as champion. Yannaphon settled for MOP30,000 and Lalisang MOP15,000. Sithiphol, Janahi and Mak earned MOP6,000, MOP5,000 and MOP4,000 respectively.

The 28-year-old Japanese claimed top seed with a total of 2634 over two rounds of 6 games each ahead of Lalisang in second with 2597. Sithiphol won the one-game tie-breaker (220-209) when he tied with Janahi on 2570 to become the third-seed.

Yannaphon and Mak rounded out the top 6 to advance to the stepladder finals with 2555 and 2540 respectively. HRH Mohammed Al Saud of Saudi Arabia, who was second in Round 1, missed the cut by 24 pins with 2516.

The top 16 Asian women and top 16 Asian men have qualified for the ABF Tour Macau leg which will be held tomorrow at the same bowling center.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Macau.

21st June, Macau: Sharon Limansantoso of Indonesia ended the Women's Open Round 1 Masters finals of the 2014 Macau-China International Open with a comfortable margin over Angkana Netrviseth of Thailand in second and Chien Hsiu-Lan of Chinese Taipei third.

Chien got off the block with a splendid 268 in her opening game to lead Filomena Choi of Macau in second and Ha Yu Rim of Korea National Sport University in third. The Taiwanese spinner had her 22 pins lead reduced to just 3 as Limansantoso closed the gap after the second game.

The Indonesian overtook Chien after the third game albeit only 5 pins ahead of the Taiwanese. Limansantoso continued her good pace to stretch her lead to 29 after the fourth game, 65 pins after the fifth and eventually ended the round with 78 pins cushion on a total of 1347.

The leader will be hoping to end a bad run of finshing second on two occasions, second in last week's Hong Kong Open and second again in the ABF Tour Hong Kong leg.

Netrviseth stormed home in her last two games with 248 and 213 to snatch second spot with 1269 as Chien settled for third position with 1262.

Chan Shuk Han of Hong Kong, who was third before the last game slipped down to fourth with 1260 followed by Zhang Yu Hong of China in fifth with 1255 while Wang Ya-Ting of Chinese Taipei completed the top 6 with 1240.

Veronica De Souza was Macau's best finisher in eighth position. The women will resume with their second round of 6 games with pins carried forward tomorrow morning. The men will start their second round in the afternoon.

The top 6 women and top 6 men will advance to the stepladder shootout finals to determine this year's champions.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Macau.

21st June, Macau: Debutant, Tomoyuki Sasaki of Japan won the opening round of the Men's Open Masters finals at the 2104 Macau-China International Open followed by HRH Mohammed Al Saud of Saudi Arabia and Michael Mak of Hong Kong second and third.

Sasaki set a blistering pace with a supber opening game of 257 to lead Mohammed Janahi of Bahrain in second, 19 pins away and a further 2 pins to Wang Zhiyong of China in third. The Japanese followed it up with another strong game of 232 but found his lead reduced to 9 pins as Surasak Manuwong of Thailand narrowed the gap.

2014 ABF Tour Egypt leg champion, Mohammed Al Saud shot into the lead after gradually incresing his games to lead Sasaki by 3 pins at the halfway mark.

The Saudi added 219 to his fourth game but only by a nose as Michael Mak zeroed in to take up second only by a single difference.

Mohammed pulled away to a 64 pins margin after rolling a stunning 268 in the fifth game with Mak still maintaining second while Sasaki slipped down with a poor 179.

A scintillating 279 from the Japanese hauled him into lead to win the round with 1373, Mohammed settled for second with 1350 with only 181 in his final game while Mak finished third with 1315.

Sarasak clinched fourth position with 1301 with Senior Masters second runner-up, Vong Vang Ip of Macau a surprise fifth with 1284. A second Japanese, Shogo Wada rounded out the top 6 with 1255.

Best Macau national bowler in this round was Zoe Dias Ma managing 11th position with 1204. The men will bowl another 6 games in the second round to decide the top 6 who will advance to the stepladder shootout finals.

The women will take to the lanes in the afternoon for their first round of 6 games. They will resume with the second round tomorrow morning and the men in the afternoon before the stepladder finals closing off the week-long championship.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Macau.

20th June, Macau: Qualifying intensified on the final day of the 2014 Macau-China International Open as the bar to making the cut for the Men's and Women's Open Masters finals was raised significantly.

The cut of 1324 as of the 8.30pm squad last night is now raised to 1349 held by Parvez Ahmed of India 19th in the mixed pool. Heading this pool was Wu Siu Hong of Hong Kong with 1410.

Overnight leader, Rickle Kam of Hong Kong remained in the lead with 1497 and if it stays that way, Kam may win MOP$2,000 as top qualifier. China's Yang Wei and Mohammed Al Saud of Saudi Arabia reamined in second and third with 1462 and 1455 respectively.

Early leader and 2013 ABF Tour TOC winner, Surasak Manuwong of Thailand and 2013 Asian Indoor & Martial Arts Games two gold medalist, Michael Mak rounded out the top 5 in the local pool with 1446 and 1444.

2013 Hong Kong International Open champion, Zoe Dias Ma, who failed to defend hsi title last week in addition to being elimnated after the first stage finals, is the top local seeded national qualifier.

Dias Ma will lead his team-mate and 2013 ABF Tour Macau leg champion, Lee Tak Man, Choi Io Fai and Man Si Kei as the other three seeded qualifiers. Machon Jose Manuel, who won the Senior Masters title this morning headed the local pool with 1292.

There were little changes atop the local and overseas pool of the Women's Open division. Julia Lam topped the seeded pool with 1209 while Veronica De Souza and Filomena Choi were ther other two.

Wendy Chai of Malaysia led the overseas pool with 1311 followed by Lee Hye Jin of Korea National Sport University in second with 1303. Last week's ABF Tour Hong Kong leg champion, Putty Armein took third spot with 1286.

Zhang Yu-Hong of China heeded the mixed pool with 1255 while the cut for the women's table which was 1174 overnight is now raised to 1200 and held by Cheya Chantika of Indonesia.

30 women and 40 men will contest the 6-game Block 1 Masters finals on June 21. All will proceed into Block 2 for another 6 games on June 22. The top 6 women and top 6 men will then advance to the stepladder shootout finals.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Macau.

20th June, Macau: Singapore Sports School youths rule the lanes at Desportivo Internacional do COTAI Bowling Centre with Aqidah Azan, Soh Yong Ping finishing one-two and Daphne Oh, Che Wing Si of Macau sharing third spot in the Youth Masters finals.

Daphne set the opening pace with 237 to lead team-mate, Oh Han Qin by 16 pins but before Daphne can settle down to a good rythmn, a third Singapore Sports School youth, Adiqah Azan quickly shot into the lead with 215 and 233.

Aqidah continued to lead trough to the halfway mark despite a 196 in the third game as Daphne homed in into second, 11 pins adrift. But the leader suffered a setback when she managed only 156 to hand the lead to Wan Nadzmi Fikri of Malaysia.

The Malaysian youth hung on to the lead despite suffering a low game like Aqidah in the fifth game but still had 30 pins cushion over Daphne, who moved ahead of Aqidah.

Again a poor game from Wan Nadzmi dropped him way down to fifth and missing the podium. Aqidah fired a big game of 228 to clinch the title with 1248. Soh Yong Ping of SSP also rolled a superb 257 in the final game to snatch second spot with 1234.

Daphne managed only 166 which allowed Che Wing Si of Macau to tie third spot with the Singaporean with 1203.

Meanwhile, ex-national and senior rookie, Machon Jose Manuel of Macau captured his first-ever senior title with a total of 1245. Turning just 50 this year, bowled consistently with 204, 230, 222, 192, 206 and 191 to take victory.

Ng Kwok Hing of Hong Kong settled for second position with 1225, 20 pins away while last year's first runner-up, Vong Vang Ip climed second runner-up position with 1219.

Lam Cheng Kio of Macau missed the podium and prize finishing fourth with 1197 while Edward Cheng rounded out the top 5 with 1158.

The qualifying rounds for the Open and Graded divisions will end late this evening. The Men's Open Block 1 finals will be staged at 9.00am and the Women at 1.00pm on June 21. The Graded Masters finals will be held in the evening at 6.30pm.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Macau.

19th June, Macau: 2012 ABF Tour Macau leg champion, Rickle Kam of Hong Kong took over the lead of the Men's Open Masters qualifying table of the 2014 Macau-China International Open on Thursday.

The 28-year-old national bowler almost reached the 1500-mark to take over top spot. Kam posted two splendid 3-game series of 759 and 738 for a 6-game aggregate of 1497.

Kam had failed to qualify for last week's Hong Kong Open and a turn-around of form here in Macau put him in a strong title contender and also give himself a boost for this year's all-important Asian Games in Incheon, Korea.

China's Yang Wei, who finished tenth in last week's Men's Open Stage 2 Masters finals, rolled a superb 767 to leadfrog into second position with 1462.

2014 ABF Tour Hong Kong semi-finalist, Tomoyuki Sasaki of Japan took third spot with 1447 while overnight leader and 2013 ABF Tour TOC winner, Surasak Manuwong of Thailand slipped down to fourth on 1446.

2013 Asian Indoor & Martial Arts Games two gold medalist, Michael Mak of Hong Kong rounded out the top 5 with 1444. Up to yesterday, there were only five who had totaled past the 1400-mark.

The table now has 10 qualifiers who have reached that milestone. Lau Kwun Ho of Hong Kong was the only overseas qualifier in 11th position who has not pass that mark with 1393.

The current cut in 18th and 19th positions of the mixed pool is tied by 2014 ABF Tour Thailand champion, Shail Abdul Hameed of India and recently-crowned 2014 ABF Tour Hong Kong elg champion, Eric Tseng of Hong Kong with 1324.

Overnight leader, Wendy Chai of Malaysia remained firmly in pole position in the women's division with 1311. Lee Hye Jin of Korea National Sport University moved up to take second position with 1303.

Last week's ABF Tour Hong Kong leg champion, Putty Armein of Indonesia finished fourth with 1286 while defending champion, Hong Hae Ni completed the top 5 with 1264.

Leading Macau's challenge for the women's title will lie on Julia Lam, who crrently topped the National Team seeded pool with 1201. Youngster and World Youth-bound, Veronica De Souza is second with 1160.

The cut in 14th position in the mixed pool is held by Kang Yoo Ra of Korea National Sport University with 1174. 30 women and 40 men will contest the 6-game Block 1 Masters finals on June 21.

All will proceed into Block 2 for another 6 games on June 22. The top 6 women and top 6 men will then advance to the stepladder shootout finals.

The Youth and Senior Masters will be contested tomorrow as qualifying continued for the rest of the division till late on June 20.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Macau.

18th June, Macau: 2013 ABF Tour TOC winner, Surasak Manuwong of Thailand set the qualifying pace by occupying top spot in the Men's Open standings of the 2014 Macau-China International Open underway at Desportivo Internacional do COTAI Bowling Centre.

Surasak, who also topped last week's Hong Kong Open qualifying table but was eliminated in the first stage of the Masters finals, registered two impressive 3-game series of 726 and 720 to take pole with 1446.

2012 Asian Schools Masters gold medalist and an Indonesia team member of the 2014 World Youth in Hong Kong, Adhiguna Widiantoro also posted two 700-series for 1430 to take up second position.

Last week's ABF Tour Hong Kong leg first runner-up and three-time Hong Kong Open champion, Wu Siu Hong of Hong Kong finished third with 1410 while Yang Wei of China and Ryan Lalisang of Indonesia completed the top 5, both surpassing the 1400-mark with 1407 and 1406 respectively.

2013 Hong Kong Open champion, Zoe Dias Ma, Choi Io Fai, Man Si Kei and top national bowler, Lee Tak Man are the four local seeded qualifiers while Wong Chi Kuong took top spot with 1252.

Parvez Ahmed of India headed the mixed pool with 1340 ahead of Diwan Rizaldy of Indonesia and Wu Cheng Hsun of Chinese Taipei in second and third. The current cut in 19th position in the mixed pool is held by Shaker Al Hassan of UAE with 1278.

10 local men qualifiers, 11 overseas men qualifiers and 19 men qualifers from the mixed pool will contest a total of 12 games over two blocks of 6 games on June 21 and 22. The top 6 finishers will advance to the stepladder shootout finals.

In the women's open division, ex-international Wendy Chai of Malaysia was the only qualifier to surpass the 1300-mark to lead the the field with 1311. Defending champion, Hong Hae Ni took second position with 1262.

Newly-crowned ABF Tour Hong Kong leg champion, Putty Armein of Indonesia tied third place with Cho Chia-Chen of Chinese Taipei on 1261 while another Taiwanese, Tsai Hsin-Yi rounded out the top 5 with 1247.

Qin Xiu Li of China headed the mixed pool with 1213 as the cut in 14th position went to Felda Lau of Hong Kong with 1071.

7 local women qualifiers, 9 overseas women qualifiers and 14 women qualifers from the mixed pool will contest a total of 12 games over two blocks of 6 games on June 21 and 22. The top 6 finishers will advance to the stepladder shootout finals.

Qualifying will continue for the next two days before the start of the Masters finals. The top 16 Asian Men and top 16 Asian Women will also qualify for the ABF Tour Macau 2014 on June 23.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Macau.