13th December, Abu Dhabi: Third-seed, Jung Da Wun capped off a fabulous outing for Korea by winning the third gold medal at the Women's World Bowling Championships 2015 with victory in the Masters finals to emerge as overall champion.

Jung had a better start in the final with a double strike as her opponent, Liz Johnson of USA had a split in the second frame but managed to convert it into a spare. The match did settle down but the pace was slow with neither making much headway.

It was the Korean who had a better carry, reeling in six consecutive strikes as Johnson failed to strike until the eighth frame. By that time, the tie was very much in favour of Jung, who went on to win the match, 256-183.

"It didn't matter who wins the match when we are bowling against team-mates," said Jung through her interpreter, Mr Choi Hosik, executive secretary of Korea Bowling Congress. "I had a little bit of problem on the long oil and I had to make a some adjustments.

"I just had to focus on making good shots which helped me beat Eun Hee, who has been a better bowler in this championships. Liz (Johnson) has been bowling extremely well and I thought it was going to be a tough match. But when I saw her struggling, it gave me more confidence.

"Winning the Masters gold medal is great but it would have been better had we won the Team gold. We've worked so hard for this championship before we came to Abu Dhabi and we're very happy to become the overall champion with three gold, three silver and three bronze medals."/p>

"I didn't want to finish with a 180, but it was a great week, and we accomplished what we came here to do, and that was win the team event," Johnson said.

"Masters was a fun day. I couldn't believe the ball reaction I had. Then, after the way Danielle started, I was fortunate to get to the final, but the carry just went away. (Dawun) bowled great and earned it. Overall, it's been a great trip."

Johnson bowled out team-mate, Danielle McEwan 238-213 in the all-American semi-final while Jung easily defeated Jeon, 256-183 in the all-Korean semi-final.

Johnson started off the Step 2 finals with the fourth 300 and her second in the competition to beat McEwan. She went on to end the finals with 1750 for a 37 games total of 8705 winning four round-robin matches.

Jeon moved up to second with a big game of 268 for a grand total of 8497 from five wins. Jung also ended strongly to finish third with 8476 from four wins while McEwan, who rolled the championship's fifth 300, qualifed for the semi-final in fourth with 8442 from four wins.

All Events gold medalist, Shayna Ng and Cherie Tan of Singapore, who were second and joint-third in the Step 1 finals could not get into their usual strides to slip down to sixth and seventh positions.

A third Korean and Trios gold medalist, Son Hye Rin missed the cut by 48 pins to settle for fifth position with 8394 despite winning five out of the seven matches contested.

Korea's victory in the Masters took their medal tally to 3-2-3. USA, who could have emerged as overall champion had Johnson won the Masters, settled for second with a medal haul of 2-2-2.

Singapore, who had their best outing since 2005, went home with 1 gold, 2 silver an 3 bronze medals. England, Denmark and Germany were the other three countries to have won a medal with one bronze each.

A total of 147 bowlers from 30 countries participated in the championships from December 6 to 13. Five perfect games were acheived. The first and second 300 came from Venezueleans, Joan Gonzalez and Karen Marcano. Johnson rolled the third and fourth and McEwan the fifth.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Abu Dhabi.

13th December, Abu Dhabi: Team gold and All Events silver medalist, Liz Johnson of USA topped the Step 1 Masters finals of the Women's World Bowling Championships 2015, just 20 pins ahead of Shanya Ng of Singapore with Cherie Tan and Jeon Eun Hee tieing third.

Johnson had a better start in the finals with 241 to move into the lead with Ng trailing in second, 13 pins behind. Singles gold medalist, Jeon Eun Hee of Korea followed in third and Cherie Tan in fourth.

The American kept a good pace with 235 and 236 in her next two games and continued to lead Ng by 20 pins as the gap between the leading duo increased over Tan and Jeon.

A poor 159 from Johnson saw Ng taking over the running and moving 30 pins ahead. The Korean closed the gap slightly while Tan slipped firther away in fourth.

Johnson did recover in the fifth game but Ng remained in the lead. Ng ended on a poor 172 to let Johnson take the round with 6875 on a 1289 six-games series. Ng finished 20 pins behind with 1268 for a 6855 total.

Tan bounced back with two big games of 257 and 233 to tie third spot with Jeon on 6808. Team gold medalist, Danielle McEwan of USA finished fifth with 6805, three pins away.

Two Koreans, Jung Da Wun and Son Hye Rin finished sixth and seventh positions with 6767 and 6694 while the eighth and last spot went to Diana Zavjalova of Latvia with 6673.

Ne Hui Fen of Singapore missed the cut by 21 pins to end in ninth position while Doubles gold medalist, Kelly Kulick of USA rounded out the top ten with 6633.

The top 8 qualified for the Step 2 Masters finals which will be contested immediately after lanes maintenance. Players will bowl 7 Round-robin Matchplay, 20 binus pins for a win and 10 for a draw with pins from Step 1 finals carried forward. The top 4 will advance to the medal round.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Abu Dhabi.

12th December, Abu Dhabi: All Events silver medalist, Liz Johnson anchored Team USA to a perfect victory in the 5-player Team final with a 300 to win USA's second gold at the Women's World Bowling Championships 2015 on Saturday.

Trios bronze medalist, Shannon Pluhowsky and Liz Johnson got off to a cracking start reeling in five consecutive strikes with Doubles gold medalist, Kelly Kulick firing a double.

Singles gold mealist, Jeon Eun Hee and Trios gold medalist, Kim Jin Sun both had opened in the first and second frames. Whilst Jeon recovered with a double, their team-mates, Jung Da Wun and anchorwomen, Baek Sung Ja both struck thrice.

Kim and Shannon O'Keefe struggled with two open frames each, Kulick covered with a turkey while Jonhson continued her striking streak. Although two Koreans did managed to add more strikes, Johnson continued to blitz the lanes up to the ninth frame.

Son Hye Rin ended with 209, Jeon had a split in the final frame for 212, Kim suffered a lowly 172 while Jung rolled 268 and Baek 199 for a total of 1066.

Johnson ended the victory with the third perfect game of the championship to put the icing on the cake and to take a perfect victory. Pluhowsky added 238, O'Keefe and Kulick posted identical score of 214 and Danielle McEwan came home with 202 for a convincing 1168.

"This was 100 percent a team effort, and it means a lot that we were able to accomplish what we came here to do," Johnson said. "We've worked hard all year, especially on the short patterns, and we knew we'd have to keep firing strikes to be successful today. We got what we wanted today, and shooting 300 just made it even better."

"We worked so well together today and kept each other balanced the whole way," said McEwan, a four-time Team USA member.

"This is an absolutely unbelievable feeling and a dream comes true. It was a goal of mine just to be on Team USA, and to be able to travel and win, is incredible."

"We spent a lot of time reviewing our strengths and weaknesses after that loss in Las Vegas, and the girls did everything they could to be ready for this team event," Team USA head coach Rod Ross said. "It was only fitting for us to be able to take on Korea and come away with the win on the short oil pattern."

USA had earlier took out arch rival and third-seed, Singapore 1105-1026 in the semi-final match while Korea easily defeated fourth-seed, Germany 1195-1067 in the other semi. Team USA, who was fourth in the first block yesterday, completed their second block of three games to advance to the semi-final in second position with 6670.

Korea, who was in fifth overnight, leapfrog into top spot with 6738 while first block leader, Germany hung on to clinch the fourth and last semi-final spot with 6506. Sweden dropped from second to fifth to miss the cut by 49 pins.

Meanwhile, Shanya Ng finally delivered Singapore's first gold medal of the championships when she topped the All Events standings with 5587. Johnson settled for the silver medal after missing the gold by just one pin.

Jeon Eun Hee added a bronze medal to a gold and a silver medals she had won in the Singles and Doubles with 5521 in the All Events.

"It has been a great week for Team Singapore, not just for me, because we made the semi-finals in every event so far, and to finally get the gold medal after being close many time, is special," Ng said.

"I knew roughly what the numbers were, but I told myself to take it one shot at a time. I finished first and knew I was guaranteed the gold medal, but I was ready to share it with Liz. She bowled so well, and I really felt for her when that pin didn't fall."

Two silver medalist, Cherie Tan, who was third before the second block today, slipped down to fourth and missed by 55 pins on 5466. The cut at 24th position went to Birgit Poppler of Germany with 5200 (average 216.67).

Five from Korea, four each from Singapore and Sweden, three each from USA and Germany and one each from Finland, Latvia, Malaysia and Venezuela made up the top 24 qualifiers for the Masters finals on Sunday, December 13.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Abu Dhabi.

11th December, Abu Dhabi: Germany took a slender lead in the first block of the 5-player Team event at the Women's World Bowling Championships 2015, 54 pins ahead of Sweden in second and Singapore in third on Friday.

Sweden's Rebecka Larsen, Joline Persson Planfors, Nina Flack, Victoria Johansson and Jenny Wegner led the field of 22 teams with a superb 1109 in their opening game, just nine pins ahead of Colombia in second.

Germany's Laura Beuthner, Martina Schutz, Patricia Luoto, Nadine Geissler and Birgit Poppler added another superb game of 1197 in the second game to take over the running as the Swedes slipped to second despite another good game of 1124, 23 pins adrift.

Favourite Korea stayed close to the leading duo in third with USA and Singapore in fourth and fifth positions while Colombia stumbled to a 991 to slip out of contention.

The German quintet ended the first block over the long oil pattern with 1102 in the lead with a team total of 3358. Sweden finished second with 1071 for a total of 3304.

Singapore's Cherie Tan, Joey Yeo, Shanya Ng, New Hui Fen and Jazreel Tan stormed home with 1141 to snatch third spot with 3273 while USA completed their first three games with 1103 for fourth position with a total 3264.

Korea managed only fifth position with 3247 followed by Malaysia in sixth position on a total of 3207. Shayna Ng shot the highest three-game series of 738 to move into the lead of the All Events standings with 4896 after 21 games contested.

Liz Johnson of USA moved up from third overnight to second with 4835 ahead of Singles and Trios silver medalist, Cherie Tan on 4809. Singles gold medalist, Jeon Eun Hee of Korea and Doubles gold medalist, Danielle McEwan of USA rounded out the top five.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Abu Dhabi.

10th December, Abu Dhabi: Top-seed, Kelly Kulick and Danielle McEwan broke Korea's domination by defeating them, 486-461 in the finals to win Team USA's first gold medal at the Women's World Bowling Championships 2015 on Thursday.

Trios gold medalist, Son Hye Rin and Singles gold medalist, Jeon Eun Hee took an early lead after three frames but Kulick and McEwan fought on gallantly to draw level after the fourth frame.

The Americans got in front of the Koreans by 5 pins after the next three frames but fell behind again by a same margin of 5 pins after the eighth frame. McEwan spared in the ninth and doubled in the tenth frame ending with a 9-pin count to finish with 247.

Son struck in the ninth frame but could not repeat another strike to end with 204 giving USA a light advantage. Fortunately, Kulick was able to strike out from frame 9 to finish with 239.

Jeon also struck in the ninth but failed to knock down another to end with 257 for Team USA to take a well-earned victory.

"I've never felt anything like that game in my life," said McEwan, a four-time Team USA member. "It was so intense and in the moment. I've been in that situation before bowling on TV, but nothing compares to getting up there and throwing that shot for (Kelly) and Team USA and everyone at home."

"This is huge momentum going into the team event, which is our main focus for the week," said Kulick, who earned the doubles silver medal in 2013 and bronze in 2011.

"Short is not one of my strengths, so to help Danielle today and win gold on short is so special. Having to throw it to win is more pressure, of course, but it's also so much more rewarding. We bowled so well together today, and this is the perfect ending."

McEwan and Kulick dispatched fourth-seed, Cherie Tan and Shayna Ng of Singapore, 453-412 in the semi-final while the Koreans defeated second-seed, Mai Gine Jensen and Britt Bronsted of Denmark, 444-422 in the other semi.

Team USA and Denmark remained unbeaten after they finished first and second in the first squad on 2843 and 2812 respectively. The fancied Korean topped the second squad with 2784 while Singapore beat out Malaysia's Victoria Chin and Sharon Koh for the last spot by a single pin.

Malaysia had posted the highest single game score of 546 in the fifth game of the second squad to go top of the field before ending with just 437 for a total of 2774.

Singapore occupied the top two spots of the All Events standings after 18 games with Cherie Tan leading on 4174 and Shayna Ng on 4158. Liz Johnson of USA was third with 4153. The cut for the Masters finals at 24th position is tied at 3896 (average 216.44) between Rebecka Larsen of Sweden and Rebecca Whiting of Australia.

Competition will resume with the 5-player Team event with the first block of three games on long oil pattern tomorrow and the second block of three games on short oil pattern on December 12. The top 4 teams will advance to the semi-final and final.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Abu Dhabi.

10th December, Abu Dhabi: The first American pair of Danielle McEwan and Kelly Kulick led the first squad of the Doubles event at the Women's World Bowling Championshis 2015, 31 pins ahead of Denmark in second and another 114 pins ahead of Germany in third.

The first Malaysian pair of Natasha Roslan and Sin Li Jane set a cracking pace with 503 in their opening game to lead the first American pair and the second Singapore pair of New Hui Fen and Jazreel Tan sharing second with 485.

McEwan and Kulick fired an identical 485 in their second game to move ahead of the Malaysians, who slipped to fourth as the first Danish pair of Mai Ginge Jensen and Britt Bronnsted took over second spot, 18 pins adrift.

The American duo led for another game with 453 in the third and briefly lost the lead to Germany's Nadine Geissler and Birgit Poppler before regaining back their lead with 505 in the fifth game.

Malaysia bounced back to regain second spot after a splendid 485 while Denmark shot a superb 513 to stay close to the leading duo. Germany stumbled to a poor 351 to drop off to fourth.

McEwan and Kulik ended with another good game of 482 to seal top spot in this squad with 2843 team total. Denmark claimed second position with 2812, 31 pins behind the leader. Germany recovered to snatch third spot from Malaysia with 2729.

Malaysia ended on a disasterous 375 to sipped down to fourth on 2693 while Singapore made up the top five with 2686. Three reached the 1,400-mark with Bronsted posting the highest six-games series of 1455.

Kulick and Li Jane scored 1406 and 1400 respectively. The second squad will take to the lanes after lane maintenence. The top four finishers from the combined scores will qualify for the semi-final and final shootout later today.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Abu Dhabi.

9th December, Abu Dhabi: Son Hye Rin, Kim Jin Sun and Baek Sung Ja again denied Singapore their first gold medal with a resounding victory in the Trios Final of the Women's World Bowling Championships for Korea' second gold medal.

Son rolled 237 with Kim adding 203 while anchorwomen, Baek shot a high game of 255 to beat second-seed, Cherie Tan, Shayna Ng and New Hu Fen, 695-594 in the final match. Tan managed only 180 with Ng rolling 221 and New contributing 193.

But the most exiting match was in the semi-final against fourth-seed, United States. Son did well to knock down 248 and Kim 199. Shanon Pluhowsky had finished with 196 and Kelly Kulick with 215 and Liz Johnson struck out from frame eighth to end with 215 and a team total of 626.

Baek, who had three splits in her game but needed to strike in her final frame and a spare in the bonus frame to win by a single pin. She kept her nerve and composure to deliver what was needed to the delight of her team-mates to end with 189 and win with 627.

In the other semi-final, England's Danni Hopcroft, Jo Allsebrook and Lisa John had no answer to the prowess of the Singapore trio, going down 567-625 to settle for the bronze medal as Singapore advance to the final.

The champion claimed top-seed with 4116 in the preliminaries contested yesterday. Singapore and England finished second and third with 4080 and 4056 respectively in the second squad.

United States, who had topped the first squad made the cut for the semi-final shootout in fourth with 4039. The second Singapore trio of Daphne Tan, Joey Yeo and Jazreel Tan missed the cut by five pins after finishing fifth with 4034.

Competition will shift to the Doubles event tomorrow with the preliminary over six games divided into two squads. The top four will advance to the semi-final shootout to be contested the same day.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Abu Dhabi.

9th December, Abu Dhabi: Top-seed, Jeon Eun Hee won Korea's first gold medal at the Women's World Bowling Championships with victory over third-seed, Cherie Tan of Singapore, 279-189 in the Singles final.

Jeon had a better start in the final match with a double strike in her first two frames. As Tan stumbled to a split in the fourth frame, Jeon went on a strikefest while the Singaporean southpaw failed to make any progress.

The Korean struck home to take a comfortable victory to win the first gold medal of the championship. The champion dispatched the other Singaporean and fourth-seed, Shayna Ng 266-238 in the earlier semi-final.

"I bowled well during the qualifying round on Monday and I knew the line I had to play in the semi-final against Shayna," said Jeon through an interpeter. "So when it came to the match, I was quite confident.

"I'm glad to have given my country the first gold medal in the championship and I'm also glad for my team-mate, Hwang, who is competing in her first world championship, for adding a bronze."

Tan rolled a big game to beat the other Korean and second-seed, Hwang Yeon Ju, 250-160 in ther other semi to advance to the final match.

Jeon had qualified for the medal shootout semi-finals after topping the preliminaries on December 7 with 1457. Hwang gave Korea a one-two finish in second with 1408. Tan topped the second squad with 1395 to qualify as third-seed.

Her team-mate, Shayna Ng gave Singapore a one-two finish in second in the squad with 1366 to clinch the fourth shootout semi-finals. The semi-finals and finals of the Trios event will take place later today.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Abu Dhabi.

7th December, Abu Dhabi: Korea's Jeon Eun Hee and Hwang Yeon Ju dominated the opening squad of the Singles event at the Women's World Bowling Championships with a one-two finish while Singapore's Cherie Tan, Shayna Ng and New Hui Fen took the top three spots in the second squad.

Denmark's Britt Brønsted and Jeon shared the lead after both got off to a superb start with 279 in their first game of the opening squad as Malaysia's Sin Li Jane trailed in second with 247.

Brønsted opend up a gap of 32 pins with 217 in the second game while the Korean managed only 190 to slip into third behind compatriot, Hwang Yeon Ju moving up to second with 265 following her 214 in the first game.

Despite a 200 in the third from the Dane, Hwang took over the running with 244. Jeon moved up to second with a much better 242 as Brønsted slipped to third.

The squad saw both the Koreans fighting it out for the lead and eventually, Jeon was able to draw away to end the squad in the lead with 1457. Hwang gave Korea a one-two finish with 1408.

Patricia Luoto of Germany stormed home with 268 in her final game to clinch third spot with 1353 while a third Korean, Jung Da Wun and Malaysia's Syaidatul Afifah rounded out the top five with 1342 and 1327 respectively.

Meanwhile, Singapore dominated the second squad as Cherie Tan, Shayna Ng and New Hui Fen took the top three spots with 1395, 1366 and 1359 respectively. Liz Johnson of USA led the first three games but was unable to keep up her pace to finish fourth with 1354.

Tan needed 287 in her last game to topple Squad 1 leader or 238 to snatch second from Hwang, but managed 225 to settle for third overall. Ng edged Luoto by 13 pins to clinch fourth position for the last semi-final spot.

The third Singaporean, who finished third in the second squad, missed the semi-final by five pins for fifth position overall.

The semi-final, which will be contested on December 9 will be a Korea versus Singapore affair. Jeon will meet Ng while while Hwang will face Tan over one match. The winners will bowl in the title match and the losers will be awarded a bronze medal each.

Competition will shift to the Trios event to be bowled over two blocks of three games each divided into two squads on December 8. The top four trios will qualify for the semi-finals which will be contested also on December 9.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Abu Dhabi.