5th May, Jakarta: Jari Ratia of Finland prevented Malaysia a historical double by defeating Zulmazran Zulkifli 2-1 in the title match to clinch the men's crown while Wendy Chai of Malaysia emerged the women's champion at the concluding World Ranking Masters 2008.

Jari Ratai, who reached the finals knocking out his country's national coach, Sami Konsteri 2-0 with scores of 190 and 180 to Konsteri's 171 and 172. The Finn outclassed his challenger, Zulmazran Zulkifli, 248-191 in the first game of the best of 3 matches men's final.

Jari could have sealed the victory in the second game when he only needed to spare home in the final two frames as the Malaysian struggled to find his winning form previously shown in the in semi-final. He could not believe his luck when he struck two perfect pocket shots to see pins 7 and 10 standing and conceding the game to Zulmazran, 173-179.

But in the third and deciding game, the Finn made the best of four strikes-in-a-row putting pressure on Zulmazran, which was evident when he

made numerous mistakes opening the first, second and sixth frames. By the ninth frame, Jari had sealed the match and clinch his first-ever world title and ending the game with 212 to Zulmazran's 185.

"I'm good on short oil but because the finals were played on two different lane conditions, Sami (Konsteri) and I decided to use the urethane ball instead of a reactive one so that I could bowl on extreme right next to the gutter," said the estatic Jari Ratia during his interview with ESPN.

"I'm glad we made the correct decision and it paid off. I was very unlucky to shoot two unbelievable 7-10 splits in the final two frames in the second game but Sami told me to forget about it and go on to the next game.

"Jari is usually comfortable with the second arrow but to bowl on the second board and doing so well is an amazing acheivement for him. But the decision to use the urethane ball made him more comfortable," said the Finish national coach, Sami Konsteri.

The champion had qualified for the knockout stage in seventh position from the three days of qualifying rounds. He moved into the semi-final by dispatching second-seed, Lucas Legnani of Argentina in the quarter-final yesterday.

The runnerup, Zulmazran earned a crack at the title by ending Indonesia's favourite, Ryan Lalisang, 2-1 in the other semi-final. The fifth-seed Malaysian also disposed off Denmark's Jesper Agerbo, 2-1 in yesterday's quarter-final to move into the semis.

"When Jari (Ratia) had two consective 7-10 splits in the second game to give me a second chance, I just didn't take the opportunity," said Zulmazran after losing 1-2 to the Finn in the finals.

"I should have made the necessary adjustments earlier but didn't, so it is my fault. But I'm overall very pleased with my performance as I wanted to at least make the top 8. And to finish second is a great feeling too.

"I had high hopes for Zulmazran as he has been bowling extremely well but this is bowling and sometimes things don't go your way," said Malaysian national coach, Holloway Cheah. Zulmazran settled for US$5,000 while the champion won US$10,000 for his victory.

Malaysia, however took home the women's crown when sixth-seed, Wendy Chai defeated topseed, Karen Marcano of Venezuela, 2-1 in the title match. Marcano edged Wendy, 186-181 in the first game but the Malaysian rebounded with a 200-160 victory over the Venezuelian in the second to move into the deciding match.

When Marcano had a split in the third frame, Wendy gained confidence to knock down four consecutive strikes to open up a 40-pin breather. But an open frame in the seventh from Wendy gave a slim chance to Marcano when she recovered with a double in the sixth and seventh frames.

But when the champion regained her composure to shoot a double strike in the next two frames, the match was more or less sealed giving the Malaysian her first-ever world title. Wendy had lost to a South American, Clara Guerrero in the 2005 World Ranking Masters to finish as runnerup.

"Although I lost the first game, I was a confident that I can win the next two games as Holloway has lined me up on which line to bowl when I was warming up," said Wendy when interviewed by ESPN after her historical victory.

"And when I drew level after the second game, I knew I had a good chance to take the title. Holloway gave me a lot of confidence and encouragement throughout the final. I wish to dedicate this victory to my dad, who passed away last year and my mom, my coach and the whole team.

"We both made the decision on the line to bowl before the start and it paid off handsomely," said the delighted national chief coach, Holloway Cheah. "During the practice, Wendy kept warming up on the short oil so that she will be stronger.

Wendy had disposed off fourth-seed, Krista Pollanen of Finland, 2-0 in the second semi-final to book her place in the finals while Karen Marcano ousted Latvia's Diana Zavjalova, 2-1 in the first semi.

Marcano had also ended Indonesia's hopeful, Putty Armein, 2-1 in yesterday's quarter-final while Wendy Chai also knocked out another Indonesian youngster, Tannya Roumimper, 2-0 to move into the semi-final.

The champion took home US$10,000 as Marcano settled for US$5,000. Sami Konsteri, who won US$3,000 for finishing third, also won an extra US$3,000 for topping Squad A, Squad C and emerging as overall leader after the 24-games qualifying rounds.

Mubarak Al-Muaraikhi of Qatar won US$1,000 for topping Squad B. Tannya Roumimper won US$1,000 for topping Squad A, Krista Pollanen Squad B and Karen Marcano won US$2,000 for topping Squad C and as topseed after 24-games.

Photos by Terence Yaw.

4th May, Jakarta: Topseeds, Sami Konsteri of Finland sailed into the semi-final of the 8th World Ranking Masters 2008 while the topseed i the women's division, Karen Marcano had to move into the third match to advance through.

Sami Konsteri of Finland, who topped the first and third squads, went into the quarter-final as topseed and matched against eighth-seed, Hussain Al-Suwaidi of UAE. The Finn outclassed his opponent, 238-162 in the first match to go 1-0 up in the best of 3 matches knockout round.

Konsteri booked his semi-final spot after edging the Emirati, 205-203 and a 2-0 win. Second-seed, Lucas Legnani of Argentina was ousted by seventh-seed, Jari Ratia of Finland, 178-196 and 175-211 over two straight matches.

Fifth-seed, Zulmazran Zulkifli went into the decider after tieing one-all with Denmark's Jasper Agerbo. Zulmazran took the first match, 225-181 but lost 208-234 in the second. But the Malaysian made no mistake to take the third, 208-195 to advance into the semi-final.

Perhaps the cruest of the quarter-final matches was Qatar's Mubarak Al-Muraikhi against local hopeful, Ryan Lalisang. The Qatari won 215-201 in the first match but lost to the Indonesian, 208-234 in the second.

Mubarak looked set to clinch the decider when all he need was a 8 or 9-pin spare in the final frame but shot a 5-pin split to lose 167-171 to Lalisang and his spot in the semi-final. Konsteri will meet fellow compatriot in the all-Finn first semi-final while Lalisang will meet Zulmazran in the other semi.

In the women's division, topseed, Karen Marcano had to work harder for her spot in the semi-final after going into the third and deciding match. The Venezuelian lost 168-179 to Indonesia's Putty Armein but rebounded 203-155 in the second to tie at one-all.

A series of misses and splits from the Indonesian gave Marcano an easy victory to confirm her place in the next round with a 2-1 victory. Second-seed, Shalin Zulkifli of Malaysia was also forced into the third and decider but her opponent, Diana Zavjalova prevailed and took victory 2-1 over the Malaysian.

Squad A and third-seed, Tannya Roumimper had no answer for Malaysia's Wendy Chai in the third quater-final. Chai edged Tannya, 203-201 and outclassed her younger opponent, 211-136 to advance to the semi-final.

The final semi-final spot went to Squad B leader, Krista Pollanen of Finland after she disposed off Venezuela's Alicia R. Marcano, 2-0 with 215-166 and 244-210. Pollanen will meet sixth-seed, Wendy Chai while the topseed, Karen Marcano will meet Diana Zabjalova in the other semi.

Photos by Terence Yaw.

4th May, Jakarta: Karen Marcano of Venezuela and Sami Konsteri of Finland topped the Women's and Men's final block of the 8th World Ranking Masters 2008 to emerge as overall topseeds for the elimination knockout quarter-final.

Ranked third from the Amercian zone coming into the Ranking Masters, Karen Marcano of Venezuela, made most the the running in the third and final block to win the $1,000 bonus by topping the squad with a score of 1716.

The Venezuelian also emerged as topseed for the elimination knockout quarter-final with a 24-game total of 4832. Overnight leader, Tannya Roumimper of Indonesia bowled her poorest 8-game series for 17th position in the squad eventually finished third overall with 4725.

Malaysia's strongest contender, Shalin Zulkifli retained her second spot overall despite only managing an eighth-place finish in the third squad on a total of 4740, ahead of the Indonesian youngster.

"This is by far my best performance in the World Ranking Masters," said the delighted 28-year-old Karen, who is making her fourth appearance. "It is very difficult to be consistent and I had a lot of low games in the first and second block. But today, I'm so happy that I had no low games.

"I'm very happy to finish third and also happy for Karen," said the older of the two sisters, Alicia. "Last year I finish third and this is my sixth appearance. Maybe I can finish better the third this time.

Squad B leader, Krista Pollanen of Finland ended in fourth spot with 4707 while Karen's elder sister, Alicia R. Marcano improved from eighth overnight to take up fifth spot with 4650. Wendy Chai of Malaysia, joined Shalin for the next round with a sixth place finish.

Debutante, Diana Zavjalova of Latvia, who was 10th after two blocks, made the cut in seventh as Indonesia's Putty Armein posted two final high games of 246 and 238 in Squad C to edge England's Kirsten Penny by 4 pins to clinch the eighth and final quarter-final spot.

Meanwhile, Squad A leader, Sami Konsteri of Finland won his second $1,000 bonus after he topped the final Squad C with 1884 afer a keen tussle for the lead with Argentine Lucas Legnani and Malaysian Zulmazran Zulkifli.

Legnani, who shot 279 in the opening game and 278 in the sixth game, just could not overhaul the Finn and had to settle for second with 1782. Zulmazran posted his highest 8-game series with 1735 to clinch third spot.

Konsteri also emerged as topseed and overall leader with a 24-game total of 5173 ahead of Legnani in second with 5106. Indonesia's Ryan Lalisang, who was second after the second block ended the qualifying rounds in third overall on 4989.

"I had a very lucky strike in the sixth game and I thought I could maybe shoot the first perfect game," said the national coach of Finland, Sami Konsteri. "But I'm still happy with a high game of 279. I felt very confortable throughout this squad and I'm very satisfied to make the top 8.

"The knockout format is very even and a very different game altogether. Anybody can win and I intend to keep my concentration to try and go all the way to the finals.

Zulmazran's third place finish in Squad C moved him up from a dangerous eighth position to fifth with 4942 behind Denmark's Jesper Agerbo, who took fourth place with 4947. Overnight leader, Mubarak Al-Muraikhi of Qatar posted his lowest series to finish sixth with 4936.

Finn Jari Ratia also fell off the pace in the final squad but managed to make the cut in seventh position on a total of 4925 while Hussain Al-Suwaidi of UAE, who was second after two blocks, clinched the eighth and final quarter-final spot with 4892.

Photos by Terence Yaw.

3rd May, Jakarta: Asians dominated the Men's Squad B qualifying second block of the 8th World Ranking Masters 2008 with Qatar's Mubarak Al-Muraikhi, Indonesia's Ryan Lalisang, Malaysia's Daniel Lim and UAE's Hussain Al-Suwaidi taking top fourth spots on Saturday evening.

Finishing sixth in yesterday's first squad, Mubarak Al-Muraikhi of Qatar, opened with a sizzling 255 but just 1 pin ahead of Ryan Lalisang spurred on by a large crowd of local supporters with Malaysia's Daniel Lim a further 2 pins in third.

As the local favourite posted 230 in the second game, Lim matched strides for strides with 232 to share the lead followed by Muabarak 14 pins away in third. A disasterous 167 in the third by the Indonesia provided Lim the opportunity to grab the lead after knocking down 222.

The Malaysian held on to the lead until Muabarak recorded eleven strikes-in-a-row and looking set to shoot the championship's first perfect game. But the Qatari left a single pin standing to the disappointment of the spectators.

Mubarak did however, end the squad in the lead with an 8-game score of 1732 as Ryan recovered to snatch second spot with 1705. Daniel's pace dropped in the last two games to finish a creditable third on 1683 while Hussain Al-Suwaidi of UAE gave Asia the top 4 positions.

The 1732 from Mubarak moved him into the overall lead after the two blocks on a total of 3399. Hussain took second spot with 3364 while the stronger performance from the Indonesian also moved him up to third.

"I'm not exactly happy with my performance even though I'm in the overall lead," said the 33-year-old leader Mubarak, who won the 2007 H.H. Emir Cup, 2007 Bahrain Open and the 2007 Sinai Open. "I missed so many easy spares and that is why I'm not happy.

"I think the long oil helped me alot and I think I've to be very careful when we bowl four games on short oil tomorrow. If I can maintain my scores and then try to do better in the long oil, I beleive I will be able to make the top 8.

"I had two high games at the start of the second block but I'm disappointed as I had 1 bad game," said the Indonesian Ryan Lalisang. "The crowd did raise my spirit today but I think the different condition also helped a bit.

The men will end their final block of 8 games tomorrow at 3.30pm after the women complete theirs at 11.30am. The top 8 finishers from the grueling 24-games qualifying will advance to the two-game total pinfalls elimination knockout quarter-final the same evening.

The winners of the quarter-final rounds will proceed to the semi-final and finals on Monday, 5th May and all the matches will be televised LIVE on local television starting at 10.00am.

Photos by Terence Yaw.

3rd May, Jakarta: Krista Pollanen of Finland snatched pole position in the Women's Squad B of the 8th World Ranking Masters 2008 to move up to third overall after two blocks were completed this morning.

Alica R. Marcano of Venezuela shot the highest game so far in the championship with 268 to take the early lead and maintained it after the second. Diana Zavjalova of Latvia, who was trialing the Venezuelian took over after the third when Marcano fell off the pace.

Hong Kong's Vanessa Fung gradually made up grounds and took over the lead at the halfway mark until Finland's Krista Pollanen mounted her challenge to grab pole after the seventh game. The Finn went on to edge Fung to top the squad with 1597.

Fung settled for second, just 9 pins adrift on 1588 while Malaysian Zatil Iman's better showing today gave her a third place finish on 1558. Shalin kept close to the leaders to take fourth spot with 1552.

Tannya remained in pole position after two squads on 3231, 62 pins in front of Shalin. Squad B leader improved from 10th position overnight to third with 3151 with England's Kirsten Penny dropping to fourth on 3132.

"I was terrible yesterday to finish only 10th but today I bowled much better," said the 34-year-old Finn who was ranked 13th in 2007 and fifth this year. "I'm not good on short oil because my ball speed is not that fast.

"I'm disappointed with myself today even though I retained No. 1," said the overnight leader, Tannya Roumimper. "I made so many silly mistakes missing many pin 10 spares. I was very upset but I'm now abit happier knowing that I'm still in the lead.

The women will resume with their third and final block earlier tomorrow at 9.00am. The men will commence their second block in the afternoon.

Photos by Terence Yaw.

2nd May, Jakarta: Finns Sami Konsteri and Jari Ratia dictated the pace in the Men's first block of 8 games in the 8th World Ranking Masters taking pole and third position sandwitching Argentine Lucas Legnani on Friday evening.

Newly-crowned ABF Tour Kuwait leg champion, Ryan Lalisang got the local supporters cheering as he set the pace for the lead after the first two games got underway at Senayan Sportainment when competition resumed after the women's first block.

But it was the Argentine, Lucas Legnani who stormed to the front of the pack after chalking up 224, 208, 233 and 236 in the first half of the 8-game block and building up a 33 pins margin Finn Sami Konsteri.

But Legnani was off the pace with a lowly 171 in the fifth allowing another Finn Jari Ratia taking over the lead. But Legnani rebounded to regain the lead after the sixth game only to be overtaken by Sami Konsteri of Finland after the seventh game.

Konsteri went on to hang on to pole position with a total of 1708 as the Argentine mounted a late challenge in the final game but settled for second just 4 pins adrift on 1704 pinfalls.

"The lanes were tougher on the right side of the center as the backend was extremely strong," said Konsteri, who coaches the Finland national senior and junior teams. But as we moved over to the left, the oil carried down slightly actually help a bit and I was able to post higher games.

"It will not easy against this strong field for tomorrow's long oil but it will suit my style of play better. Asia's best finisher was Hussain Al-Suwaidi of UAE, who did well to recover from a poor start to take up fourth spot with 1682.

2001 and 2003 Asian Ranked No. 1, Wu Siu Hong of Hong Kong made up the top 5 in a respectable fifth spot on a total of 1671. Local hopeful, Ryan Lalisang faded out to end up in eighth position but was only 50 pins off the leader.

The women will resume with the second block of 8 games at 10.00am followed by the men at 2.00pm. The third block will be contested on Sunday, May 4 at the end of which the top 8 will advance into the 2-games total pinfalls elimination quarter-finals.

Photos by Terence Yaw.

2nd May, Jakarta: Tannya Roumimper gave host nation Indonesia, a great start to the 8th World Ranking Masters 2008 underway at Senayan Sportainment by leading the Women's opening Squad 1 by a comfortable margin.

Puerto Rican, Jessica M. Santiago and Finn Krista Pollanen set the pace joint leaders in the opening game of the 8-game first block over short oil condition as the top 16 top-class field took to the lanes this morning.

Santiago kept a blistering pace into the second game with another superb 210 to maintain her lead but with masters debutant, Tannya Roumimper of Indonesia closing in second just 1 pin adrift.

Three-time Asian anked No. 1, Shalin Zulkifli, who started poorly with 156 in her opening game surged forward after she rebounded with 247 and 205 to take over the lead after the third game albiet only 6 pins ahead of the Indonesian Tannya.

The local hopeful kept up a good momentum going into the halfway mark to move into top spot after a superb 233 in her fourth game and continued to chalked up lines of 247, 204, 222 and 212 to end the first block in pole position.

The 18-year-old amassed a total of 1720, 103 pins ahead of Shalin Zulkifli, who trailed the leader from game 4 onwards, finished with 1617. England's Kirsten Penny claimed third spot with 1615, a further 2 pins away.

"Bowling for the first time in this masters is quite an experience for me and I'm happy and surprised that I can lead the first block," said Tannya Roumimper when interviewed by ESPN. "I didn't know I was leading until the end.

"When we practised yesterday, the lanes were quite tough but this morning, the back-end is very strong in the short oil and I guess it suited my ball better. I'm not strong in the long oil but I'll make the necessary adjustments and try to maintain my score.

The women will resume tomorrow with the second block at 10.00am in the morning while the men will commence their first block after the lane maintenance.

Photos by Terence Yaw.

2nd May, Jakarta: A field of world-class bowlers are ready to do battle at the 8th World Ranking Masters 2008 for the next four days with the official opening held at Senayan Sportainment on Thursday afternoon.

The top 8 men and top 8 women from each of the American zone, European zone and Asian zone making a total of 24 men and 24 women have assembled in the capital city of Indonesia hosted by Indonesian Bowling Association for the first time ever in Asian since its inception seven years ago.

The world-class field reached the World Ranking Masters through their zone ranking tournaments held throughout 2007, where each of the bowlers have earned points from the positions they finished in each of these tournaments.

Defending the men's crown will be England's Stuart Williams, who won the coveted title at the 2007 masters in Florida, USA. Strong title contender

this year will surely be the local favourite and Asian Ranked No. 2, Ryan Lalisang of Indonesia. Newly-crowned Kuwait Open champion, Jason Belmonte of Australia, is not taking part.

2001 and 2003 Asian Ranked No. 1, Wu Siu Hong of Hong Kong will also be one of the favourites so is 2005 Asian Ranked No. 1, Alex Liew of Malaysia. Strongest challengers from the American zone will be Argentine Lucas Legnani and Venezuela's Arturo Hernandez and Canadian Mark Buffa.

Asian Ranked No. 1, Kim Eun Jung of Korea, will carry Asia's battle against the top women from Europe and Americas. 2001, 2003 and 2004 Asia's No. 1 Shalin Zulkifli will surely give her opponents a run for their money.

The large crowd of local supporters will undoubtedly be firmly behind their bowling queen and Asia Ranked No. 1 in 2006, Putty Armein when the 26-year-old take to the lanes at Senayang Sportainment in the western part Jakarta. Masters debutant, Tannya Roumimper from Bandung will be looking for a good showing when the competition gets underway on Friday.

American zone strongest title contender will be the experienced Karen Marcano, who will be appearing at her fourth masters. 2003 World Championship Doubles gold medalist pair of Kirsten Penny and Zara Glover are expected to feature well for Europe.

The championship was officially declared open by the Honorable Mr Adhyaksa Dault, State Minister of Youth and Sports Affairs of Indonesia

and guest of honour, and attended by the Honorable Ms Rita Subowo, Chairman of the Indonesian Olympic Committee.

Also present were Mrs Jessie Phua of Singapore, President of Federation Internationale des Quilleurs (FIQ), American Zone (PABCON) President, Mr José Antonio Guandique of El Salvador representing World Tenpin Bowling Association President, Mr Kevin Dornberger of USA.

In thanking the World Tenpin Bowling Association for awarding the hosting of this year's World Ranking Masters 2008 to the Indonesian Bowling Association (PBI), the organizing chairman and President of PBI, Mr Maxi Gunawan welcomed all the 48 finalists from 21 countries, who have travel from distant lands to participate in the championship.

"This World Ranking Masters help to build personal confidence through engagement in sport that allows every participant who seeks to do so, to reach out and achieve the historic 'Joy of Effort' that is a basic etos of good and honest sport participation," added Mr Gunawan in his welcome address.

"This is the first international event in the history of Bowling in Indonesia being appointed the host," said the guest of honour, Mr Adhyaksa Dault in his speech.

"The trust and honour given by the World Tenpin Bowling Association to Indonesia as the host to a world bowling championship should constitute a challenge equally to Indonesian Bowling Association and the Indonesian community.

The guest of honour, dignitaries, embassy representatives, sponsors and guests were treated to a modern adaption of a traditional dance during the opening ceremony. The bowlers from all the three zones and 21 countries were introduced during their parade and march past.

The championship kicks off tomorrow (Friday) with the women contesting their first block of 8 games at 10.00am while the men will take to the lanes at 2.00pm. There will be three blocks of 8 games each bowled over the first 3 days.

The top 8 men and top 8 women at the end of the 24 games preliminary rounds will advance to the knockout stage in the quarter-final on Sunday May 4. The winners will advnace into the semi-final and eventually the final title round to decide this year's champion.

Photos by Terence Yaw.