28th June, Macau: Vat Ming Hei retained the youth title for Macau after ending the Youth Open Masters finals of the 2024 Macao China International Open ahead of Vilinkorn Kledkaew of Thailand in second and Mathieu Louis of Singapore in third.

Vat had a poor start with 168 in her opening game as Lau Hoi Yue of Hong Kong set the early pace with 227 to lead Louis and Choi Kwan Ho of Hong Kong sharing second spot. 2023 Asian Youth Singles bronze medalist, Vilinkorn quickly took over the running with 210 following his 205 opener.

Another Macau youth, Fong Hong U moved up to second with 197 and 216. Vat made no grounds with another poor 179 in her second game. Fong led briefly after the third game as Chinese Taipei's Cheng Shao Hua moved up into second. Vat started her bid with 202 in the third before firing a superb 234 to take the lead at the halfway mark.

The 16-year-old suffered another setback with 178 in her fifth game but bounced back brilliantly with 200 and 236 to regain the lead. Despite ending the finals with 172, Vat clinched her maiden title with 1633 with a handicap of 8 pins per game competing against the boys.

The Thai stormed home with 222 in his last game to snatch second position with 1583. Louis also ended strongly to seal third position with 1556. Pace-setters, Cheng, Fong and Choi ended up fourth to sixth with 1547, 1545 and 1538 respectively.

The champion picked up MOP$7,500 for her effort while Vilinkorn and Louis took home MOP$4,000 and MOP$2,000 as first and second runners-up. Meanwhile qualifying rounds for the remaining four divisions will end late this evening.

Women's Open Round 1 Masters finals will be contested tomorrow morning at 9.30am, the Men's Open Round 1 Masters finals at 2.30pm and the Women's Grade and Men's Grade A Masters finals in the evening at 6.00pm.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Macau, China.

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