22nd June, Macau: Top seed, Tomoyuki Sasaki of Japan successfully defended the Men's Open Masters title of the 2015 Macao-China International Open and Lee Young Seong of Korea claimed the Women's Open crown at COTAI International Bowling Centre.

Sasaki started off the championship tie with a strike and a spare in the first two frames before rolling four consecutive strikes matched by challenger, Baek Jong Yun with a first frame spare and five strikes-in-a-row.

The 28-year-old Japanese downed another three strikes-in-a-row but the Korean failed to response this time. Sakasi went on to cruise to a comfortable 277-224 victory over Baek to win the Men's title for the second consecutive year.

The only other men to have successfully defended the title was 2014 Incheon Games Singles and 28th SEA Games Masters gold medalist, Yannaphon Larpapharat of Thailand winning it in 2011 and 2012.

Baek earned a crack at the title after he dispatched third-seed and local hopeful, Zoe Dias Ma of Macau and winner of the first match, Joshua Chow of Hong Kong, 277-226-227 in the second stepladder match.

Chow, who was seeded fifth, beat fourth-seed and two-time perfect gamer, Daisuke Yoshida of Japan and Round 1 leader, Wu Siu Hong of Hong Kong, 234-217-221 in the opening match.

Sakasi pocketed the Men's Open top prize of MOP$70,000 (approx. US$9,000) as champion with Baek settling for MOP$30,000. Dias Ma retained third spot to pick up MOP$15,000 while Chow, Yoshida and Wu took home MOP$6,000, MOP$5,000 and MOP$4,000 respectively.

In the earlier Round 2 finals, overnight leader Wu led for two games before being overtaken by Sasaki from game nine onwards. Sasaki ended the round with a 12-game total of 2923, 77 pins ahead of Baek in second with 2846.

Dias Ma held third spot with 2813 followed by Yoshida in fourth with 2799. Chow took fifth spot with 2795 while Wu hung on to clinch the sixth and final stepladder spot with 2760.

Meanwhile, Lee Young Seung was forced into a second deciding match after the top seed lost to challenger, Kim So Yeon in the first game, 227-235 in the all-Korean Women's Open championship match.

But Lee bounced back brilliantly to beat Kim, 236-197 in the decider to win her maiden international title. Second-seed, Kim narrowly defeated third-seed and 2013 champion, Hong Hae Ni and winner of the first match, Chou Chia Chen, 202-194-191 to advance.

Chou, who won the 2014 Incheon Asian Games Singles gold medal, ousted fourth-seed, Julia Lam of Macau and sixth-seed, Nur Dyana of Singapore, 215-201-137 in the Women's opening stepladder match.

Lee picked up MOP$40,000 (approx. US$5,000) as champion with Kim earning MOP$18,000 and Hong MOP$10,000 for third. Chou, Lam and Nur Dyana took home MOP$4,000, MOP$3,000 and MOP$2,000 respectively.

The top 16 Asian men and top 8 Asian women qualified for the ABF Tour Macau leg which will be contested tomorrow at the same bowling centre.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Macau.

22nd June, Macau: Top qualifier, Lee Young Seung led her Korean team-mates, Kim So Yeon and Hong Hae Ni to a one-two-three finish in the Women's Open ROund 2 Masters finals of the 2015 Macao-China International Open to advance to the stepladder finals.

Tracy See of Singapore started off where she left off in the first round to continue to lead the field after a 212 in her opening game seven with Chinese Taipei's Chou Chia Chen remaining in second.

Both kept their positions after the eighth game but Lee, who posted 238 and back-to-back 225s took over second spot four pins hot on the Singaporean's tail and Chou slipping back to third, three pins further away.

Lee added another strong game of 258 in the tenth to take over the running as See continued to slide down. 2013 champion, Hong Hae Ni rolled the tournament's fifth perfect game to move up to second.

The leader won the round unchallenged with 235 and 248 on a 12-games total of 2715 to advance as top-seed for the stepladder finals. a third Korean, Kim So Yeon snatched second position with 2640.

Hong settled for third with 1324 while Macau's Julia Lam, who was third before the final game, almost lost her place in the stepladder finals when she stumbled on a 161 and a total of 2576.

Chou, who slipped down to eighth before the final game, bounced back with 232 to tie with Lam. Nur Dyana of Singapore fired 238 to clinch her place in the stepladder finals to tie with Lam and Chou.

A fourth Korean, Jang Ryeon Gyeong missed the cut by two pins finishing seventh while overnight leader, See also missed the cut by 11 pins in eighth. Lam, Chou and Nur Dyana will square off in the Women's first stepladder match.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Macau.

21st June, Macau: Korean National Sports University's Lee Jae Jung emerged as champion in the Men's Graded Masters finals while Ji Eun Sol clinched the Women's Graded crown of the 2015 Macao-China International Open.

Park got off the mark with a stunning 279 to lead Lee Dong Eun by 33 pins followed closely by Huang Sung Hyun third a further 14 pins away. Park continued a strong pace with 225, 203, 214 and 229 in his next four games to remain in the lead.

With just 33 pins margin, the lead ended superbly with 221 for a total of 1371. Little did he know that Lee Jae Jung stormed home with a sizzling 268 to tie with Park. Lee defeated Park in a 9 and 10 frame roll-off, 49-28 to emerge as champion and won MOP$20,000 and Park settled for MOP$10,000. Baek earned MOP$5,000 for finishing third.

Lee Dong Eun, who had trailed Park in the first three games, fizzled out of contention while third perfect gamer, Baek Jong Yun's strong finish earned him third spot with 1360.

Huang Sung Hyun, Lee Dong Eun and Kwon Oh Sung completed the top six positions for Korea with 1309, 1295 and 1280 respectively. Seventh position went to China's Cao Jie Beng with 1230 and Lee Si Young finishing in the money in eighth position with 1214.

Meanwhile Korea totally dominated the Women's Graded division occupying the top seven positions. Whilst Jang Ha Eun made most of the running leading from start up to the fifth game, Ji Eun Sol clinched the title with 1391 on a big game of 290 in the sixth.

Lee Da Woom, who had trailed Jang in the early stages, also stormed home to claim second spot with 1328. Jang Ryeon Gyeong, who was second before the last game by seven pins, slipped down to third with 1327.

Front runner, Jang ended with a poor game of 189 to drop down to fourth with 1323. Ha Yu Rim finished in the money in fifth with 1286 while Kang Kyung Mi and Kim Young Mi completed the top seven for Korea.

The champion pocketed MOP$8,000 as champion, Lee settled for MOP$4,000 and Jang MOP$3,000.Jang Ha Eun and Ha Yu Rim took home MOP$2,000 and MOP$1,000 respectively.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Macau.

21st June, Macau: Singapore's Tracy See and Nur Dyana shone in the Women's Open Round 1 Masters finals of the 2015 Macao-China International Open by taking first and third spots with Chou Chia Chen of Chinese Taipei in second position.

Chou got off to a cracking start spinning her way into the lead with 247 in her opening game, 11 pins ahead of Tracy See and top qualifier, Lee Young Seung of Korea third, a further 16 pins away.

The Taiwanese continued her hot pace with 234 and 233 in her next two games as the Singaporean continued to trail the leader. Lee and her compatriots, Lee Da Woom and 2013 champion, Hong Hae Ni in close company.

Tracy fired a stunning 269 to leapfrog the Taiwanese and taking over the lead past the halfway mark. Chou slipped to second, 34 pins adrift while the nearest rival was Lee Young Seung, 69 pins further away.

The pint-sized Singaporean completed the first round unchallenged with 238 and 197 to take pole with 1396. Chou settled for second position with 1357. A second Singaporean, Nur Dyana stormed home with 256 to snatch third with 1321.

Koreans took the next four positions with Kim So Yeon finishing fourth with 1314, Lee Da Woom fifth with 1300, Hong Hae Ni and Lee Young Seung tieing sixth position with 1286.

Sole Malaysian, Wendy Chai occupied eighth position with 1278. The top Macau, Julia Lam finishing ninth with 1276 and sole Hong Kong finalist, Joey Yip completing the top ten with 1257.

The women will resume with their second round with pins carried forward tomorrow morning at 9.00am local time followed by the men in the afternoon. The top 6 women and the top 6 men at the end of the second round will advance to the stepladder finals.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Macau.

21st June, Macau: Wu Siu Hong of Hong Kong put in an inspiring performance to take pole position in the Men's Open Round 1 Masters finals of the 2015 Macao-China International Open on Sunday.

Defending champion, Tomoyuki Sasaki of Japan and Wu shared the lead after a sizzling 279 in the opening game to lead local favourite, Lee Tak Man in second and Malaysia's Kang Bo Long third.

Sasaki added an identical 279 in the second game to move away from Wu by 12 pins as third perfect gamer, Baek Jong Yun of Korea moved up to third and Lee slipping down to fourth. First perfect gamer, Daisuke Yoshida of Japan stole the limelight with his second 300 and the tournament's fourth to give Japan a one-two as Sasaki remained in the lead with a strong 258.

Wu stayed close to the leading duo in third, three pins off Yoshida while a second Macau national team member, Zoe DIas Ma slowly crawled his way up to fourth, just 4 pins behind Wu.

Despite posting only 196 in the fourth game, Sasaki was able to stay in the lead. Dias Ma added 264 after a 265 in the third to reduce the gap to 7 pins while Wu slipped down to third, 15 pins away.

The Japanese continued to lead the pack after recovering with 230 in the fifth game. Wu regained second with 231 and Dias Ma dropped to third with only 191. With less than 30 pins separating the trio, it came down to the last game.

Wu ended strongest with 265 to win the first round with 1486. Dias Ma also ended strongly with 251 to snatch second spot with 1447 and Singapore's Tay Hui Chiang stormed home with back-to-back 259s to clinch third with 1431.

Wu, who just recovered from a cancer treatment and has only recently begun training again, gave a great account for himself to finish in the lead. "It has been a tough past six months and laying off my favourite sport was the most difficult thing," said the leader.

Sasaki managed only 187 to slipped down to fourth with 1429. Baek took fifth position with 1411 and Yoshida completed the top six with 1405, all surpassing the 1400-mark.

Michael Mak and Joshua Chow of Hong Kong finished seventh and eighth positions with 1388 and 1385 while Yannaphon Larpapharat of Thailand and Bong Kihow of Malaysia rounded out the top ten.

The men will resume with their second round with pins carried forward tomorrow at 1.30pm local time. The top 30 women will contest their first round after lane dressing.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Macau.

20th June, Macau: Koreans continued to lead the Open Masters qualifying standings with Hwang Sung Hyun and Lee Young Seung leading the Men's and Women's table of the 2015 Macao-China International Open on final day.

Hwang's 1563 remained unbeatable as his compatriot, Lee Jae Jung improved to leapfrog into second spot with 1552 giving the Korea a one-two finish. First perfect gamer, Daisuke Yoshida notched up 1504 to go third in the table.

2014 Incheon Asian Games Singles and this year's SEA Games Masters gold medalist, Yannaphon Larpapharat took fourth position with 1484 while Hong Kong's Michael Mak completed the top five with 1471.

Several men improved their scores today to move into safety. Defending champion, Tomoyuki Sasaki of Japan posted 1440 for ninth in the overseas pool. Isaac Russell of Malaysia moved out from the reserves pool to tie with fellow countrymen, Kang Bo Long in sixth with 1462.

Hong Kong's Wu Siu Hong and Lau Kwun Ho also secured their place in the finals 6th and 13th in the mixed pool with 1435 and 1412. Last night's cut at 19th position was 1386 and has now gone up to 1398. The cut could go up to as much as 1400 by the end of qualifying late tonight.

Singapore's Kristin Quah, who took over top spot in the women's division, had to settle for second after early leader, Lee Young Seung of Korea National Sports University regained it with 1471.

Lee's compatriot, Lee So Yeon, who took over the lead briefly before Quah, slipped to third with 1406. Korea's Jang Ryeon Gyeong and Kang Kyung Mi rounded out the top five with 1380 and 1377 respectively.

Jeoy Yip of Hong Kong headed the mixed pool with 1329 ahead of Jang Ha Yun of Korea and Tannya Roumimper of Indonesia second and third with 1326 and 1323.

The cut for the women, however has only gone up by two pins from last night. Chan Chi Yan of Hong Kong held 14th position as press time with 1254.

Forty men and thirty women will contest the 12-game Masters finals over two days with 6 games each round. The top six men and top six women will advance to the stepladder shootout finals to determine the champion.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Macau.

20th June, Macau: Hong Kong national youths swept the Youth Masters titles of the 2015 Macao-China International Open with Jimmy Cheung, Ivan Tse, Tony Wong and Alex Yu occupying the top four positions.

Singapore's Joyan Khoo of Agape Bowling Academy, set a blistering pace with 286 in his opening game to lead Lao Lap In of Macau and a second Hong Kong national youth team member, Ivan Tse Chun Hin tieing second, 42 pins adrift.

Tse grabbed the lead after the second game with 247 overhauling Khoo by 36 pins as Cheung moved up to third with 258 after a poor opening game of 189. Tse continued his blistering pace with another stunning 279 to pull away from the pack.

Cheung kept pace with his team-mate with a superb 266 of his own in the third game. The leader remained in the lead until the fifth game when he stumbled to a 183 while Cheung took over the running with another good 237.

Cheung, 19, who just joined the preliminary Hong Kong national youth team in a roll-off conducted last month, ended the finals with 223 in his sixth game to take the title with 1411.

Tse settled for second with a recovering 204 for a total of 1390 while Tony Wong stormed home to snatch third spot with 1305. A fourth Hong Kong national youth member, Alex Yu Ho Yin, who was third before the last game, missed the podium to end in fourth with 1242.

Pace-setter, Khoo completed the top five with 1241, just one pin off Yu. Cheung pocketed MOP$3,000 as champion while Tse and Wong took home MOP$1,500 and MOP$1,000 respectively.

Meanwhile, two-time Senior Masters first runner-up, Vong Vang Ip of Macau finally nailed his senior title with a total of 1288 plus a 12-pin handicap per game. Cheng Peng Seng gave Macau a one-two finish after taking up second with 1275 on a 6-pin handicap.

Rayomnd Leung of Hong Kong finished second runner-up with 1269, a further 6 pins adrift while Liang Yu Lian of China and top qualifier, Frankie Cheung rounded out the top five with 1229 and 1217 respectively.

Vong won MOP$3,000 as champion, Cheng settled for MOP$1,5000 and Leung MOP$1,000. QUalifying rounds for the Open and Graded divisions will end late this evening and their Masters finals will commence tomorrow.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Macau.

19th June, Macau: 2015 ABF Tour Thailand leg champion, Lee Tak Man and his Macau compatriots will face still competition from the Koreans when they contest the Men's Open Masters finals of the 2015 Macao-China International Open.

Lee, 24, who has been with the Macau-China national team for the past eighth years, lies second in the local seeded pool with 1376 behind team-mate and leader, Choi Io Fai on 1385.

Together with Zoe Dias Ma and seven other Macau local qualifiers, they will be ready for the challenge. However, stiff competition will come from the Korea National Sports University qualifiers.

Overnight leader, Hwang Sung Hyun remained in the lead of the overseas pool with a massive 1563. Lee Jae Jung gave the Koreans a one-two finish with 1552 while Daisuke Yoshida of Japan took third spot with 1504.

2014 Asian Games Singles and 2015 SEA Games Masters gold medalist, Yannaphon Larpapharat of Thailand followed up on his recent form to finish fourth with 1484 as a second Japanese, Yuhi Shinbata rounded out the top five with 1447.

Ryan Nicholas Lin Shou of Singapore headed the mixed pool with 1412 while the current cut of 1363 belonged to Ng Kwun Ting of Hong Kong. The cut was 1336 last night and in just half a day, it has gone up by 27 pins.

Baek Jong Yun of Korea rolled the tournament's third 300 after Daisuke Yoshida of Japan and a first Korean, Ryu Cheol Ho posted the first and second perfect games.

Over in the women's division, Kim So Yeon of Korea National Sports University took over the lead with 1406 from team-mate, Lee Young Seung, who slipped to second with 1394. Kang Kyung Mi gave the Koreans the top three positions with 1377.

No changes atop the local seeded pool with Julia Lam, Hui Tong and Veronica De Souza occupying the top three positions with 1342, 1283 and 1267 respectively.

Tanaprang Sathean of Thailand headed the mixed pool with 1282 followed by Tracy See of Singapore in second with 1281 and Park Ga Ryul and Ha Yu Rim of KNSU sharing third spot with 1279.

Cut in 14th position of the mixed pool was 1225 last night which has been raised to 1248. With two more days of qualifying left, this will rise significantly. The qualifying rounds for the Youth and Senior divisions will end at 8.00pm squad and their Masters Finals are scheduled for tomorrow morning.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Macau.

18th June, Macau: Korean National Sports University students dominated the Open Masters qualifying rounds of the 2015 Macao-China Internatoional Open underway at Cotai International Bowling Centre.

Debutant, Hwang Sung Hyun registered two three-games series of 791 and 772 to lead both the Men's Open overseas pool with 1563. Compatriot, Lee Jae Jung occupied second spot with 1552 while Yoshida Daisuke, who rolled the tournament's first perfect game took third spot with 1504.

2014 Singapore Open champion, Vincent Lim of Singapore finished fourth with 1441 while ex-Hong Kong national, Wu Siu Hong of Hong Kong rounded out the top five with 1435.

The top three local seeded qualifiers were Choi Oi Fai of Macau leading with 1385 followed by 2014 ABF Tour Thailand leg champion, Lee Tak Man in second with 1376. Zoe Dias Ma and Ho Chok San tied third position with 1323.

2014 ABF Tour Indonesia leg champion, Mike Chan and Rocky Hui of Hong Kong tied with 1390 to head the mixed pool while the current cut at 19th position went to Eric Tseng of Hong Kong with 1336.

Last year's cut was 1358 and with three more days of qualifying left, this score could easily be surpassed judging by the high standards shown this year.

The top four local seeded plus positioned 5 to 10 local qualifiers, top 11 overseas qualifiers and top 19 from the mixed pool (40 qualifiers) will 12 games over two blocks of 6 games each on June 21 and 22. The top 6 will advance to the stepladder finals.

Meanwhile, Korea National Sports University students also dominated the Women's Open division with Lee Young Seung and defending champion, Hong Hae Ni, taking up the top two spots with 1393 and 1353.

Jang Ryeon Gyeong and Kang Kyung Mi tied third spot with 1305 while Tracy See of Singapore completed the top five with 1281. Julia Lam topped the local seeded pool with 1342 followed by Hui Tong in second with 1283 and Veronica De Souza third with 1267.

Chinese Taipei's Wang Ting Wen topped the mixed pool with 1258 and the current cut went to 2015 ABF Tour Tournament of Champions winner, Chan Shuk Han of Hong Kong with 1215. Last year's cut was 1222 which is only ten pins away.

The top 7 qualifiers from the local pool, top 9 qualifiers from the overseas pool and the top 14 qualifiers from the mixed pool (30 qualifiers) will 12 games over two blocks of 6 games each on June 21 and 22. The top 6 will advance to the stepladder finals. The top 16 Asian Men and top 8 Asian Women will also qualify for the ABF Tour Macau 2014 on June 23.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Macau.