19th December, P.Jaya: It was a perfect Christmas gift for national bowler Esther Cheah when she clinched the Milo International Junior All-star title after defeating Lee Young-im of South Korea in the stepladder finals at Sunway Mega Lanes on Saturday.

Esther, who had arrived from Nebraska, United States, on Monday, fired 279 in the semifinals, against of South Korea's Jo Hyun-Jung (227) and Shayna Ng of Singapore (205) to advance to the finals.

In the final against Lee Young-Im, Esther rolled 198 to take the first match forcing the tie into a deciding secomd match. The Malaysian was equally impressive with a 217 effor against the Korean's 170 to bag the title.

"This is a perfect Christmas gift. I have been bowling in the championships since it began 10 years ago and I managed to win it for the first time this year," she said.

"I've been runner-up twice ... I guess I'm third-time lucky." She was the

runner-up to Siti Safiyah Amirah Abdul Rahman in 2004 and to Sin Li Jane last year. Esther also picked up RM10,000 for emerging as champion while Young-Im settled for RM4,000. Hyun-Jung and Shayna Ng took home RM2,000 and RM1,000 for finishing third and fourth.

Defending champion, Sin Li Jane was unlucky to miss the stepladder finals cut in fifth by 9 pins after she rolled 2323 in the earlier 10-game finals. World Cup second runner-up, Siti Safiyah Amirah finished a dismal 23rd position.

In the boy's competition, it was an all-Korean affair after Kim Jong-Wook beat Park Jong-Woo by a mere pin 212-211 in the title match to win the top prize of RM30,000 leaving his compatriot with RM12,000.

Malaysia's challenge in the boy's finals ended after national youth bowler Aris Ardilla Santos managed a low 143 in the semifinals behind Jung-Woo (254) and Aloysius Goh of Singapore (179).

Howard Saw of Singapore Sports School missed the top 4 cut by 5 pins after he totaled 2335 in the earlier finals. First perfect gamer, Kang Bo Long and Zaid Izlan was Malaysia's other better finishers taking seventh and ninth positions.

Defending champion and three-time champion, Adrian Ang failed to get into his strides to end in a disappointing 24th while top qualifier and third perfect gamer, Sam Cooley of Australia finished 21st.

Photos courtesy of Sunway Mega Lanes.

18th December, P.Jaya: Korean youths swept clean the Graded Masters titles of the 10th MILO International Junior All-Stars Bowling Championship after the boys finished 1-2 and the girls taking the top 5 positions on Friday morning.

Choi Tae Seung opened with a sizzling 278 game only to lead Kua Jian Wen by 10 pins when the Kuala Lumpur youth knocked down a superb 268. But Choi was simply too good for the field of 32 finalists as the Korean reeled in 255, 193, 264, 245, 235, 196, 269 and 259 to romp home a comfortable victory with 2403 to claim the Boy's Graded Masters title.

Kim Sun Woo of UIDUK gave Korea a 1-2 finish after he chalked up a total of 2373, 30 pins adrift in second. Jason Syow Hay Tik of MIBC, Malaysia settled for third spot with 2262, 141 pins from the champion.

Muhd Aizudeen Mustaqim of Malaysia took fourth spot with 2222 followed by NSRCC's Shawn Loh of Singapore in fifth with 2218.

Top qualifier, Dinie Faliq finished a disappointing ninth with 2126 while Kua Jian Wen, who was second in the early stages slipped down to 17th position.

The girl's division was a Korean affair which saw the two front runners, Kim Kyung Sil and Kang Soo Jim battling for the lead. But it was Kyung Sil who finished stronger of the two to claim the title with 2091.

Soo Jim settled for second with 2066 followed by Kim Yeo Jin claiming third spot with 2025. Lee Seul A of UIDUK took fourth spot with 2003 while Kim Hyun Ju completed the Korean top 5 domination in fifth spot on 2002.

Malaysia's best finisher was Selangor's Victoria Chin, who rolled 1969 to take up sixth position ahead of three more Korean lass, who claimed seventh to ninth positions. Girl's Under-15 champion, Selva Nivashini of Selangor rounded the top 10.

The Masters finals for the Open division will be held on Saturday, December 19 after the qualifying ends late tonight with the one-game desperado squad held after the final squad.

Photos courtesy of Sunway Mega Lanes.

17th December, P.Jaya: Australia's Sam Cooley rolled the tournament's third perfect game of the 10th MILO International Junior All-Stars to regain the lead in the Boy's Open Masters overseas pool and take over the overall lead on Thursday.

Sam Cooley, who lost the lead to Jonathan Ang yesterday after the Singaporean youngster shot 769 to better the Aussie's score of 764. But in his latest attempt, Cooley brought the Sunway Mega Lanes to a standstill when he reeled in 12-consecutive strikes for the tournament's third perfect game.

Cooley went on to complete his attempt with 249 and 260 to round off a scintilating 809 to regain the lead in the overseas pool and to become the new overall leader. Malaysia's Kang Bo Long was the first perfect game followed by Esther Cheah, the second perfect 300.

Local pool leader, Tengku Afnan B Tengku Zahri of Kedah settled for second with 760 despite leading the local pool while Jonathan Ang dropped to second in the same pool with Cooley and third overall.

Busan Asian Games gold medalist, Choi Bok Eum of Korea, made little impression in his qualifying rounds but headed the mixed pool with 724. Desappointed with just two silver medals at the recent Asian Indoor Games, the local crowd favourite will surely be able to improve his score in the final day of qualifying tomorrow.

East Asian Games two gold medalist, Shin Bo Hyun stormed into the lead of the Girl's Open Masters overseas pool with an impressive effort of 776 but felled short by 22 pins to grab the overall top spot held by Malaysia's Zatil Iman.

Shin's compatriot, Jo Hyun Jung gave Korea a 1-2 finish in the table with 726 to push overnight leader, Tannya Roumimper of Indonesia into third spot after securing pole with 720 yesterday.

Singapore's Amanda Ng improved to take up fourth with 712 followed by another Korean and World Women's Championship gold medalist, Jeon Eun Hee fifth with 709. Malaysian Elite squad member, Esther Cheah and Pelapis Kebangsaan squad member, Hee Kar Yen tied second with 737.

The Graded Masters finals will be held on Friday morning, December 18 while qualifying for the open divisions will end late in the evening. A desperado squad will also be held after the last squad.

Photos courtesy of Sunway Mega Lanes.

15th December, P.Jaya: National Elite squad members began their challenge for the Masters titles after Zatil Iman and Esther Cheah finished 1-2 in the Girl's Open qualifying table of the 10th MILO International Junior All-Stars Bowling Championship on Wednesday.

The closest Zatil Iman ever got to the title was finishing as second runnerup in the 2005 Junior All-Stars in which Sharon Koh won the crown defeating Christyn Chiew in the finals. And the 20-year-old missed the cut for the stepladder finals in fourth last year.

Zatil has improved leaps and bound since then and after a sizzling qualifying performance rolling 798, the Malaysian will go into the finals as a firm favourite. Esther Cheah, who was the overnight leader, slipped to second with 737 to give Malaysia a 1-2 finish.

Esther also rolled the tournament's second perfect game after which Asian Indoor Games silver medalist, Kang Bo Long had achieved the feat on the first day of the championship.

But her effort was only in the Singles but she came back the following day to post 737 to tie with Hee Kar Yen for the top spot. Indonesia Open champion, Tannya Roumimper is probably the stronger overseas title contender after she claimed top spot in the overseas pool with 720.

East Asian Games Team gold medalist, Jeon Eun Hee of Korea took second spot with 709 followed by Singapore Sports School's Nur Azri Muhd Azan in third with 698. All three pushed overnight leader, Kristel Oh into fourth spot in a single day.

Meanwhile, Tengku Afnan's pole position of 770 remained solid and looked unlikely to be challenged. Elite Backup Squad member, Zaid Izlan also remained in second with 765 while KL's Yusuf Abdul Raof snatched third spot with a 751 effort.

Newcomer, Woo Song Young from Uiduk University of Kyung Buk rolled the tournament's third 300 at the 8.00am squad this morning but it was only his Singles. He ended the round with 175 and 203 for a score of 678.

Sam Cooley of Australia maintained his top spot with 769 with another Korean newcomer, Kim Jong Wook snatching second position with 764. Singapore Sports School's Tay Kun Long and Keith Saw finished third and fourth with 748 and 747 respectively.

With that much Korean youths competing and knowing their capabilities, they will surely make their mark to occupy more Masters final spots and raise their cut off mark substantially with the two more days of qualifying left.

Photos courtesy of Sunway Mega Lanes.

15th December, P.Jaya: Selva Nivashini of Selangor claimed her maiden victory after edging Sharifah Nur Fatimah of Johor by seven pins in the Girl's Under-15 Masters finals of the 10th MILO International Junior All-Stars Bowling Championship on Tuesday morning.

The win was the third time Nivashini finished among the top three in the last ten days in the centre. The Form Three SMK Seafield student won the SportsUnite, Maggi and Sunway Mega Lanes women's graded doubles called U R My Sis, partnering fellow teammate, Natasha Roslan, the Sunday before.

On Wednesday a week ago, in the preluding Nine Pin Tap event, Nivashini, finished second behind national youth bowler Hee Kar Yen. And this morning, Nivashini emerged as champion in the Girl's Under 15 category pipping Johor's Sharifah Nur Fatimah by seven pins with score of 1673 from eight games.

Nivashini, even went to score her highest game in her three and half years of bowling, when she fired a 270 in her second game. Her other lines were 205, 183, 201, 161, 227, 215 and 211 for an average of 209.13.

"I have not won anything the whole year and all of sudden, I finish on top in two events and runner-up in one," said Nivashini who picked up the sports when she joined the bowling club in her primary school - SRK SS 19.

Nivashini has been competing in the SportsExcel Bowling circuit for the last two years, only competed in three legs as she was preparing for her PMR examinations.

"I was disappointed when I failed to make the Grand Finals this year from my points in three legs, but my win here certainly has made up for my disappointment," said Nivashini who finished fifth in the SportsExcel Grand finals the year before.

Singapore, who had 12 bowlers out of 18 bowlers in the final, finished highest on third spot through Tracy See Wan Zhen who had a total of 1640.

However, in the boy's final, youths from Singapore Sports School dominated with a 1-2 finish through Jaris Goh and Ryan Wee with scores of 1733 and 1727 respectively. A third Singaporean, Alexandar Tan Kee Hock had to share honours with Kuala Lumpur's Qalif Adnor who tied third place with 1684.

Meanwhile most of the foreign bowlers from Korea, Australia, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, Holland, Indonesia, India, Germany and Hong Kong have taken to the lanes for their qualifying rounds.

National bowler, Esther Cheah, who bowled a perfect 300 in her singles on Monday afternoon, attempted her first Masters qualifier block late last night and she passed with flying colours with a superb 737 to tie top spot with Pelapis Kebangsaan squad member, Hee Kar Yen.

Asian Indoor Games bronze medalist, Fatin Syazliana dropped one notch to third on 727. In the overseas pool, Singapore Open Youth champion, Kristel Oh continued to lead the standings with 680.

Indonesia Open Masters champion, Tannya Roumimper of Indonesia took second spot with 660 ahead of Wendy Kok of the Netherlands in third position with 648.

Kedah's Tengku Afnan B Tengku Zahri remained atop the Boy's Open Masters qualifying standings with 770 ahead of Elite Backup squad member, Zaid Izlan in second with 765 while Asian Schools bronze medalist and Pelapis Kebangsaan squad member, Amirrul Afif third with 749.

Australian youths dominated the overseas pool with a 1-2 finish. Sam Cooley and Dion Alexander totaled 769 and 736 for the top two positions with Thailand's Badin Lerdpiriyasakulit third on 719.

The qualifiers for the Boy's and Girl's Graded will end tomorrow (Thursday) before the finals is held on Friday, whereas the Boy's and Girl's Open will continue until Friday night, before the Masters is held on Saturday.

Photos courtesy of Sunway Mega Lanes.

14th December, P.Jaya: Last year's first runnerup and National Elite squad member, Esther Cheah shot the tournament's secondperfect game during her singles event of the 10th MILO International Junior All-Stars Bowling Championship on Monday.

After just returning from her studies at Nabraska University in USA five hours ago, 23-year-old Esther Cheah took to the lanes for her Singles event and achieved a rare feat of shooting the tournament's second perfect game.

The 2005 World Women's Championship gold medalist amassed a total of 803 with her effort and her second career 300 to move into the top of the Singles event. The Milo International Junior All-Stars will be her final appearance as she will turn 24 next year.

Esther will be a strong title contender after having lost to Sin Li Jane in the title match last year. But her following effort in the qualifying squad was a bit disappointing scoring only 593 to take up eighth in the mixed pool.

Pelapis Kebangsaan squad member, Hee Kar Yen topped the Girl's Open Masters standings with an impressive 737 ahead of Asian Indoor Games bronze medalist, Fatin Syazliana with 727. Another Pelapis Kebangsaan squad member, Siti Shazwani took third spot with 715.

Singapore Open Youth champion, Kristel Oh of Singapore topped the overseas pool with 680 followed by Wendy Kok of the Netherlands in second with 648 and Marnie Britton of Australia third with 642.

Meanwhile, Tengku Afnan B Tengku Zahri of Kedah, Malaysia topped the Boy's Open table with a scintilating 770 since the start of the qualifying rounds on Saturday. Elite Backup Squad member, Zaid Izlan, as usual, impressed with 765 to take up second spot.

Mohd Amirrul Afif, a Pelapis Kebangssan squad member, posted 749 for third spot while two more Pelapis Kebangsaan members, Aris Ardilla, Mohd Haziq Sahli and Asian Indoor Games Silver medalist, Kang Bo Long tied fourth spot with 733.

The leader in the overseas pool was Sam Cooley of Australia, who shot a sizzling 769 to also become the overall top qualifier. Newcomer, Dion Alexander, also of Australia, trailed in second with 736 followed by David Candra of Indonesia third with 719.

Qualifying continues through to December 17 with the top 42 Boy's Open from the local pool (12), overseas pool (12), mixed pool (16) and two from the Desperado squad plus defending champion, Adrian Ang of Malaysia will qualify for the Masters finals on December 18.

The top 35 Girl's Open from the local pool (11), overseas pool (11), mixed pool (11) and two from the Desperado squad plus defending champion, Sin Li Jane of Malaysia will qualify for the Masters finals on December 18.

Photos courtesy of Sunway Mega Lanes.

14th December, P.Jaya: Hard work paid off for Malaysian youth as Mohd Qayyum Zahari Azar of Seremban captured the Boy's Under-12 Masters title of the 10th MILO International Junior All-Stars Bowling Championship at Sunway Mega Lanes.

Mohd Qayyum Zahari Azar of King George V school in Seremban, finally nailed his first title after a good run in several tournaments he took part in this year. The victory made up the disappointment for not doing as well as expected in the UPSR examnitations.

Mohd Qayyum wrested the title with an 8-game total of 1512 from the strong eleven Singaporean youths out of the 18 finalists, who were expected to dominate the finals. WP Sukma squad member, Muhammad Rafiq Ismail also did well to fend off Singapore's challenges to snatch second spot with 1502.

Chong Tai Wei of SGCC, Singapore settled for third with 1498 followed by fellow compatriot, Isaac Yeo of Bowl Tango, Singapore in fourth with 1484 while Christopher Tiong of Sarawak rounded up the top 5 with 1477.

"I have had a good run this year, but had to spend quite a bit of time in training and competitions, that it affected my studies a little," said the stout well built 12-year-old Qayyum who stands 1.5m in a frame of 60kg.

"I had to show that although I did not do as well as I should have in my UPSR, I could do well in bowling to prove that the sacrifices made were worthwhile," said Qayyum who is the SportExcel U-12 Grand Prix champion, besides winning three legs in the circuit - Pahang, Selangor and Kuala Lumpur.

In the girl's division, Faten Najihah of Pahang clinch the title with 1488 to deny Singapore's Rena Ng Yan Lin the honour, 19 pins away with 1469 pinfalls. Nur Amirah Auni of Penang took third spot with 1388.

Like Qayyum, Faten had also competed in the SportExcel-NSC-Milo-MTBC Junior Circuit with much successes winning two legs but finished a disappointing eighth in the Grand Finals in August. Ayra Nurjehan of Selangor and Jacelyn Ng of Sarawak finished fourth and fifth spots respectively.

National Chief coach, Mr Holloway Cheah gave away the prizes to the winners. The qualifying rounds of the Boy's and Girl's Under-15 Masters finals will end this evening at 7.00pm squad and their finals will be contested on Tuesday morning.

Photos courtesy of Sunway Mega Lanes.

5th December, P.Jaya: The tenth edition of the immensely popular MILO International Junior All-Stars Bowling Championship 2009 is expected to see world-class juniors vying for the coveted title this year at Sunway Mega Lanes.

The organizer of the most prestigious and popular Junior Bowling tournament in this region, Sunway Mega Lanes held its press conference on Saturday afternoon to annouce that around 600 bowlers from 12 countries have confirmed their participation.

Top youths from Australia, Chinese Taipei, Germany, Hong Kong, Korean, Holland, Indonesia, India, Japan, Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam have sent in their registration and the total is expected to grow to more than 700 when all entries are submitted.

An additional two-day event - the All-Stars Classic 2009, will be held after the junior championship to accommodate participants who have exceeded the age limit of 23 but wish to re-visit Malaysia to re-live their younger days here.

The inaugural All-Stars Classic, which is opened to all bowlers will feature a top prize of RM30,000 for the champion and RM15,000 and RM10,000 to the first and second runnerup. Prizes will also be awarded up to the 24th-placed finisher.

"We've been in association with the organizer as a title sponsor since its inception nine years ago and we are more than happy to continue our small contribution," said Mr Ng Ping Loong, Sports Marketing and Sponsorship Manager for Nestle Products (M) Sdn Bhd at the press conference.

"I'm condifent that this year's championship would be as successful, if not better under the efficient organisation demonstrated by Sunway Mega Lanes and MTBC."

Mock cheques were presented by title sponsor, Nestle Products, co-sponsors Mr Kevin Tan, Chief Operating Officer of Sunway Pyramid and Mr Jerry Teow, Executive Director of Century Logistics Holdings Bhd witnessed by Mr Sidney Tung, secretary general of MTBC.

The championship will commence from December 9 with the qualifying rounds until December 18 and will end on December 19 with the Masters finals. The inaugural All-Stars Classics 2009 will follow on December 20 till 21.

Photos courtesy of Sunway Mega Lanes.