9th September, Kuching: Second-seed, Peter Khor of Singapore bagged his first-ever title with victory in the Youth 25 & Under Stepladder finals of the Sarawak International Open Bowling Championships 2019 at Megalanes Sarawak.

Khor forced the final into a second decider after the 15-year-old Haising Catholic student beat topseed, Abang Afiq Yazid of Malaysia in the first match, 222-199. Khor started well in the second match with a double in his first two frames.

Abang failed to convert a spare in his second frame to trail the Singapore youth by 24 pins. But the Malaysian recovered with two consecutive strikes in frames three and four to reduce the deficit to 14 pins.

Another costly miss in the seventh frame by Abang gave Khor some breathing space. Khor rolled another double in the ninth and tenth frames to shut out his opponent. And although Abang bounced back with three strikes-in-a-row from frame 9, it was a little too late allowing Khor to take the match and the title, 223-198.

In the earlier 8-games Masters finals, Abang Afiq topped the the field with 1751 pinfalls, 24 pins ahead of Khor in second with 1727. Muhammad Aiman finished third with 1721 while Thailand's Chanasorn Wutti missed the cut by 9 pins finishing in fourth with 1712.

Ryan Loo of Singapore rounded out the top 5 with 1708. Prizes were awarded up to 12th position in a field of 60 finalists. The Open Division Masters finals will be held tomorrow and the top four with the highest pinfalls will proceed to the Stepladder elimination shootout finals.

The four will bowl in the first match and the finalist with the lowest score will be eliminated. The remaining 3 will bowl in the second match in which the finalist with the lowest score will again be eliminated.

The remaining two finalists will battle for the title over the third match to decide the champion. The top prize of RM20,000 (approx. US$4,800) awaits the champion and the first, second and third runners-up will earn RM10,000, RM5,000 and RM2,500 respectively.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Kuching, Sarawak.