9th July, P.Jaya: Mohd Nadri of Selangor, Malaysia and Korea's Lee Eun Ock topped the Men's and Ladies' Open Masters first block in the 1st Selangor International Open Bowling Championship this evening at Ampang Superbowl Subang USJ.

Mohd Nadri, who last week resigned from the Malaysian National team, put up a superb display to top the Men's Open Masters at the end of the 8-game first block. Apart from a low in the second, Nadri had three massive games of a back-to-back 267 and 258 to give him a total of 1842 for the lead.

"When I had the low game, Kenny Ang told me what line I should be bowling," said the 20-year-old Business Administration student. "Thereafter, I just got more and more confident. I hope that I can maintain the form for tomorrow so that I can finish in the top 4 stepladder finals.

The best of the National player was Aaron Kong, who totalled 1827, just 15 pins adrift in second with ex-national, Gerald Samuel of Mines Bowl

in third with 1797. Euromed-Storm International Challenge Masters and Philippines Open champion, Chester King took fourth position with 1784.

Asian Ranked No. 1, Alex Liew did well to stay amongst the leaders in fifth spot on a score of 1760 while Youth Boy's Open 2nd runner-up and national youth, Isaac Russell Paul finished sixth with 1758. There is only less than 50 pins separating the top 10 and it could turn out to be one of the best fought finals seen so far.

Meanwhile, Korea's Lee Eun Ock regained the lead she took in the beginning of the Ladies' Open Masters finals. 2004 ABF Tour Indonesia leg champion, Putty Armein led briefly but settled for second with 1769, behind the Lee in front with 1841.

Another Korean, Nam Bo Ra finished third with 1761 with the surprise of the day from national youth and two-time Junior Circuit winner, Nur Syakirah Yeoh in fourth place with 1690. Jaya Ancol Bowl's Happy Soediyono of Indonesia made up the top 5 with 1689.

Malaysia's best lady performer was Shalin Zulkifli in sixth spot with 1681, just 9 pins behind the fourth-placed Nur SYakirah. Selangor's current top women, Siti Khadijah Osman had anther dismal showing finishing 10th.

The bowlers will continue their finals with another 8 games in the second block on Sunday, 10th July. The top 4 at the end of the two block finals will proceed to the stepladder grand finals to determine the champion.

Photos by Terence Yaw, MTBC

9th July, P.Jaya: Selangor dominated the Milo Youth Open Masters finals of the 1st Selangor International Open Bowling Championship as Kelvin Keong and Amalyna Kelana walked away with the titles this afternoon.

Keong, 20, set a cracking pace at the start of the finals to take the lead after two games but soon found himself trailing national youth and two-time Junior Circuit winner, Adrian Charles Dragon from Penang after the third game. A superb second series of 695 saw the Keong regain the lead at the halfway mark.

It was a two-way battle all the way and by the ninth game, Keong's lead was reduced to a mere 6 pins. Adrian got the crowd at Ampang Superbowl on their feet cheering as he strung together 7 consecutive strikes and going for the Proton Gen-2 perfect game prize. But with two splits in the eighth and tenth frame pushed Keong to battle on.

"I know I had to remain calm and focus in my final game and I'm glad that I have now won my first major title since taking up the game 7 years ago," said the Sunway University College student. Kelvin totalled

2212, just 8 pins ahead of Adrian, who posted 2194 for second. National youth and Junior Circuit final leg champion, Isaac Russell Paul storm home with a 290 in his final game to santch third place with 2127.

Another national youth and 2004 Milo Junior International All Stars 1st runner-up, Eric Ang settled for fourth spot with 2063 ahead of 2004 GP Finals champion, Muhd Nur Aiman in fifth with 2043.

Meanwhile, Amalyna Kelana completed a double for Selangor when she triumphed in the Girl's Open Masters finals with a score of 2172. Amalyna, who took the Ladies Graded title in the National Championship in January this year, was 171 pins ahead of her nearest opponent.

Asian Schools Team Gold medalist and two-time Junior Circuit winner, Nur Syakirah Yeoh of Johor came home second with 2001 while SUKPEN 2005 champion, Fatin Syazliana from Penang settled for third with 1996.

Top qualifier, Siti Khadijah Osman of Selangor finished a dismal fifth with 1956, 9 pins behind her team-mate, Christyn Chew in fourth spot with 1975. Kelvin pocketed RM4,000 for his win while Amalyna Kelana won RM3,000.

The Men's and Ladies' Open Masters will take place this evening at 5.00pm with the first block of 8 games and another 8 games tomorrow.

Photos by Terence Yaw, MTBC.

9th July, P.Jaya: Local lass, Bettina Tan of Pyramid Youth and Dao Dung Hung of Saigon Superbowl, Vietnam captured their maiden titles in the 1st Selangor International Open Bowling Championship this morning as the Masters finals got underway.

Junior Circuit First leg champion, Bettina Tan led all the way in the 10-games Milo Youth Girl's Graded Masters finals to capture her first title in international competition when she totalled 1831. The 17-year-old SMK USJ 13 student, who trains under national youth coach, Holloway Cheah at Pyramid Megalanes was a class of her own.

Tan won by 164 pins over second-placed Penangnite, Siti Nur Nadia, who scored 1667 while Tan team-mate, Melisa Lee finished third with 1643. Tan won RM1,500 for her effort with Siti Nur Nadia taking home RM750 and Lee RM500.

Yap Wi Yin (Shah Alam-1632), Nur Hidayah Bte Adam (Shah Alam-1565), Sylvia Chin (Sgor-1520), Sharifah Marissa (Sgor-1510) and Radin Nur Najwa (Kul-1475) finished in the money from 4th to 8th respectively.

In the Boy's Graded division, first-timer, Dao Dung Hung of Vietnam bagged his first-ever international title with another decisive win knocking down a total of 2030 over 10 games. The 21-year-old Saigon Superbowl employee, who turned to hook-ball just two months ago from spinning and trained under Leon Lim, led from start to finish to win RM2,000.

Sabah's Sharidan Latiff of CPS Bowl came home second with a score of 1962, 68 pins adrift while third place went to Mohd Hafizi of Penang with a score of 1915. Sharidan took home RM1,000 for his effort and Mohd Hafizi pocketed RM700.

The Boy's and Girl's Open division will contest their Masters finals this afternoon followed by the Men's and Ladies' Open division at 5.00pm. The Men's and Ladies' Graded division finals will take place this evening at 9.00pm.

Photos by Terence Yaw, MTBC.

8th July, P.Jaya: Youngsters competing in the 1st Selangor International Open Bowling Championship are out to prove their prowess as national youth, Wan Nur Atiqqa of Johor impressed by topping the Ladies' Open Masters qualifying table this evening.

Atiqqa, who won the Masters Silver medal in the 8th Asian Schools Championship in Jakarta in April this year, scorched the lanes at Ampang Superbowl Subang USJ to post lines of 215, 235, 229 and 268 for a total of 947. The 17-year-old first took to the lanes to qualify for the Girl's Open category with 784 and finished 10th.

"I had to take a two-day rest to recover from a sore shoulder before coming to Kuala Lumpur," said Atiqqa. "That was why I only started my qualifying round this evening. Atiqqa stand a chance to pocket RM800 as prize money for topping the table.

Another youngster out to make an impression in the finals was Christyn Chew, who posted 880 at the 9.00pm squad to make the finals in seventh. The 15-year-old had already dropped into the reserves pool before making her attempt.

Meanwhile, national youth and two-time Junior Circuit winner, Adrian Charles Dragon almost snatch the lead from Mustafa Yassin in Men's Open qualifying round. All Adrian needed was to spare pin-7 in the last frame of his final game to at least total 988 but dropped it to end up with 977 and finished third behind Mustafa and Kelvin Keong.

"I was already celebrating in my mind knowing that I had made the finals, so I wasn't thinking about sparing and having a chance to win the top qualifier's prize of RM1,000," said the 17-year-old. "I'm not too disappointed though, afterall all I would win RM400 for topping the Boy's Open table and RM250 for being third in the Men's Open.

National bowler, Adrian Ang managed to squeeze into the finals after knocking down 847 but only taking up 29th position. Another national kegler, Syafiq Ridhwan dropped to 30th. There will be two more squads before qualifying ends this evening.

Photos by Terence Yaw, MTBC

8th July, P.Jaya: Storm Thailand bowler, Annop Arromsaranon missed the perfect game by one pin in his qualifying round of the 1st Selangor International Open Bowling Championship en-route to making the Masters finals.

Annop, who was struggling in the past two days, finally found his line to knocked down lines 201, 299, 172 and 256 for a total score of 928 moving him up to sixth in the Men's Open Masters qualifying table. The 25-year-old almost shot the tournament's first perfect game when he strung together 11 consecutive strikes and on his final shot, he delivered a perfect pocket shot only to see pin 10 standing.

"I don't feel sad for missing the perfect game since I have now made the finals," said Annop, whose last title was two years ago capturing the Thailand Open. "I'm saving the perfect game for the finals because there will be a car," exclaimed Annop.

Joining Annop were Indonesia's Ryan Lalisang of Jaya Ancol Bowling Center, who posted 921 late last night to take up seventh place while Euromed-Storm International Masters Challenge and newly-crowned Philippines Open champion, Chester King squeezed in at 20th with 865.

Most of the national bowlers who started competing only yesterday, have qualified except for youngster, Zaid Izlan and Adrian Ang, who finished in the last two slots, 29th and 30th. The two have just one more squad to improve later this evening.

There were no changes in the Ladies' Open division with Asian Championship Gold medalist, Nam Bo Ra of Korea leading the pack with 927 ahead of local lass, Siti Khadijah Osman in second with 908 and another Korean, Lee Eun Ock third with 900.

Choy Poh Lai, Shalin Zulkifli, Wendy Chai and Zandra Aziela all made the finals despite having ony 3 attempts. The quartet took up 4th, 8th, 10th and 14th positions respectively. Other national bowlers, who have used up their 3 attempts and have not made the cut were Sarah Yap, Zatil Iman and Malaysian Open champion, Siti Safiyah Amirah.

Indonesia's top women, Putty Armein and Happy Soediyono of Jaya Ancol Bowl, tied in 11th position with 868 while two-time Junior Circuit champion, Nur Syakirah Yeoh managed 840 to make the cut in 13th.

Qualifying ends this evening with the top 20 men and top 15 women vying for glory over two blocks of 8 games on Saturday and Sunday. The top 4 at the end of the 16-games finals will proceed to the stepladder finals.

Photos by Terence Yaw, MTBC.

7th July, P.Jaya: Current Asian ranked No. 1 and ABF Tour standings leader, Alex Liew secured his Masters finals slot of the 1st Selangor International Open Bowling Championship taking up sixth in the leaderboard on his second attempt this afternoon.

Liew, who captured the inaugural ABF Tour Qatar leg in March and Bahrain International Open Masters title in June, posted 194, 212, 255 and 247 for a total of 908. Liew only managed to score 771 in his first attempt in an earlier squad.

"I was under a bit of pressure knowing that we were only given 3 attempts for this tournament," said the 29-year-old national bowler. "But I manage to settle down in my second try and I'm glad I was able to post a reasonable score.

All the national bowlers started their qualifying rounds today and Liew was joined by ABF Tour Malaysia leg champion, Zulmazran Zulkifli, who totalled 905 to take up seventh in the table. Ex-national, Mohd Nadri scored 892 to take up ninth position ahead of last year's Milo Internat-

ional Junior All Stars champion Aaron Kong, who also made the cut in 11th with 873. Other national bowlers were Ben Heng (13th-866), Jonathan Lim (16th-859), Syafiq RIdhwan (18th-846), Zaid Izlan and Adrian Ang (tie 19th-834), Mohd Noer Said (21st-830), Daniel Lim (23rd-820) and Azidi Ameran (25th-810).

Overseas men making the finals so far were Choi Jung Hoon of Bowling Camp, Korea in fifth with 944 while his team-mate, Kim Ko Woon was down the field in 17th with 857. Euromed-Storm International Masters and Philippines Open champion, Chester King could only manage 26th with 805.

The contest for a place in the finals of the Ladies' Open division was exciting as there are only 15 slots available. ABF Tour Philippines leg first runner-up, Choy Poh Lai stormed into fourth position with a superb 891, just 9 pins behind third-placed Lee Eun Ock of Korea, who posted 900.

World Ranking Masters first runner-up and current Asian-ranked No. 1, Wendy Chai managed 872 for eighth ahead of two Indonesian, Putty Armein and Happy Soediyono sharing ninth spots with identical 868.

Zandra Aziela and Shalin Zulkifli finished 11th and 12th with 819 and 818 respectively. With two attempts already bowled, national keglers, Sarah Yap, Zatil Iman and Siti Safiyah only has one more qualifying round tomorrow to improve their poor showing today and were in the reserves pool.

Meanwhile, two national youths and both twice winner of this year's Junior Circuit, Adrian Charles Dragon of Penang and Nur Syakirah Yeoh of Johor put up a fine performance. Adrian took over the pole position in the Boy's Open division with a score of 922 while Nur Syakirah finished second to Siti Khadijah in the Girl's Open division with 862.

Qualifying ends on Friday (8th July) where the top 30 men and top 15 ladies will make the Masters finals to be contested on Saturday and Sunday.

Photo by Terence Yaw, MTBC

6th July, P.Jaya: Asian Championship Gold medalist, Nam Bo Ra of Bowling Camp, Korea snatched the lead of the Ladies' Open Masters qualifying table in the 1st Selangor International Open Bowling Championship as competition heats up at Ampang Superbwol Subang USJ.

Nam immediately found her line when she made her first attempt to knock down lines of 198, 224, 258 and 247 for a total of 927 to take over the lead in the Ladies' Open Masters qualifying table. The 25-year-old protege of Bowling Camp in Korea under the watchful coach, James Kim, has since left the Korean national squad.

Early leader, Siti Khadijah Osman dropped one spot to second on a score of 908 posted at the start of the competition while ex-national, Sarawak's Tang Joh Six of CPS Bowl improved with a score of 889 to take up third in the table.

Southpaw, Lai Kin Ngoh, who was recently recalled into the national squad since resigning early this year, returned to Malaysia to be with the team for intensive training before the Women's World Championship in August, posted 877 for fourth place.

National youth, Isaac Russell Paul, who won the Junior Circuit final leg last Sunday, knocked down 216, 236, 236 and 257 for a total of 945 to take up fourth spot in the Men's Open division behind the pace-setter, Mustafa Yassin, Kelvin Keong and Gerald Samuel, all of Selangor. Korea's Choi Jung Hoon of Team Ebonite finished fifth with 944.

Huynh Ngoc Diem Thuy of Saigon Superbowl in Vietnam competing for the first time in Malaysia, totalled 822 to grab the lead in the Ladies' Graded division. Huynh came with two other Vietnamese women, Nguyen Thi Huyen and Nguyen Thi Thao scored 688 and 676 to take up fifth and sixth positions respectively.

ABF Tour Indonesia leg champion, Putty Armein and Happy Soediyono were the two women from Indonesia who have arrived to take part in this championship. They will be joined by 2004 ABF Tour Malaysia leg champion Ryan Lalisang tomorrow.

Also here were 6 Thai youths bowling under the sponsorship of Storm Thailand and will be making their attempts later this evening. Qualifying will end on Friday, 8th July before the commencement of the Masters finals on the 9th and 10th July.

Photo by Terence Yaw, MTBC.

5th July, P.Jaya: National youth, Syahereza Fajrin of Selangor staked his claim on the Boy's Open Masters title of the 1st Selangor International Open Bowling Championship after taking over the lead on Day 5 at Ampang Superbowl Subang USJ.

Syahereza, who won four Gold medals in this year's MSSM championship, posted lines of 226, 204, 231 and 246 for a total of 907, relegating overnight leader, Kelvin Keong into second spot. The 17-year-old, who also represented Malaysia in the 8th Asian Schools championship in Jakarta in April this year, hopes to do well here in order to have a chance to be selected for the next national youth's international assignment.

Keong settled for second with 871 ahead of another Selangor youth, Aiman Kelana with 867. Syahereza also had a crack at the Men's Open division and scored an impressive 898 on lines of 226, 203, 248 and 221, proving that his score in the Boy's Open division was no fluke.

There were no changes in the top positions of both the Men's and Ladies' Open division as the Malaysian National squad has yet to make

their attempts due to their daily training sessions at Megalanes Kuala Lumpur in Endah Parade. They will only be allowed to make their attempts starting Thursday, 7th July which will leave them just two days before the finals.

Meanwhile, ARL Superbowl's Hafeiz Bakri shot to the lead of the Men's Graded division with a total of 943. Hafeiz had lines of 267, 226, 223 and 227 to take over the pole position from two-time Megalanes Super Graded Classic champion, Heric Chong of Selangor, who dropped to second with 940.

Mohd Hazri B Hazali of Ampang Superbowl finished third, just 10 pins adrift on 930 while Samuel Chuah of Century Logistics and Asrul Azmir of Shah Alam Bowling Club took fourth and fifth positions with 924 and 917 respectively.

The first batch of overseas bowlers to arrive Malaysia were the Koreans, led by Asian Championship Gold medalist, Nam Bo-Ra. She was joined by Kim Ko-Woon, Choi Jung-Hoon, Han Jun-Hee and Korea's women representative in the 2003 World Championship, Lee Eun-Ock. They are due to make their qualifying attempts tomorrow.

Photos by Terence Yaw, MTBC.

4th July, P.Jaya: Pyramid Youth, Melisa Lee shone as she grabbed pole position in the Girl's Graded qualifying table of the 1st Selangor International Open Bowling Championship at Ampang Superbowl Subang USJ.

The 14-year-old Melisa and trained under National youth coach, Holloway Cheah at Pyramid Megalanes, knocked down lines of 191, 181, 200 and 191 for a 4-game total of 763 to take over the lead in the Girl's Graded qualifying leaderboard. Newly-crowned Junior Circuit Selangor leg Girl's Graded champion Yap Win Yi of Shah Alam posted 731 to take up second spot while another Pyramid Youth, Bettina Tan finished third with 729.

Syahereza Fajrin of Selangor, who won four Gold medals in this year's MSSM Championship, shot to the top of the Boy's Open Masters table with an impressive 907 from lines of 226, 204, 231 ans 246, pushing down overnight leader, Kelvin Keong into second spot on 871.

Siti Khadijah Osman of Team STBA'04 continued to lead both the Girl's Open and Ladies' Open division. The 20-year-old Business Admin

undergraduate scored 973 for the lead in the Girl's division, higher than the score of 908 she posted for the Ladies's Open division.

2003 SUKMA Singles Gold medalist, Christyn Chew of Team STBA'04, finished second in the Girl's Open division with 833 followed by Nor Amilia in third spot with 828.

In the Men's Graded division, two-time champion of the Super Graded Classic, Heric Chong of Team MAS, Selangor took over the lead with a score of 940 ahead of KL Ampang Superbowl's Mohd Hazri B Hazali in second with 930. Century Logistic's Samuel Chuah took third spot with 924.

There were no changes in the Men's Open division as ex-national, Mustafa Yassin continued to top the table with 979 scored on Day 2 of the championship. Selangor's youngster, Kelvin Keong was second with 978 followed by another ex-national, Gerald Samuel in third with 964.

Qualifying will end on Friday, 8th July and the Masters finals for the Open division will be contested over two blocks of 8 games on the 9th and 10th July. The top 4 at the end of the two blocks will proceed to the stepladder grand finals to determine the champions.

Photo by Terence Yaw, MTBC.

2nd July, P.Jaya: Ex-national bowler, Mustafa Yassin of Selangor led the Men's Open Masters qualifying table of the 1st Selangor International Open Bowling Championship underway at Ampang Superbowl Subang USJ.

Mustafa, who finished runner-up in this year's Malaysian Open in March, posted 266, 255, 221 and 237 for a total of 979 to take an early lead in the Men's Open Masters qualifying table. The 25-year-old Hotel Management graduate had just completed his studies and has been able put in more time to bowling. The leader had laid off active bowling and resigned from the national squad to concentrate on completing his studies.

Second spot went to Selangor youngster, Kelvin Keong knocking down 978 in his 4-game qualifying round while another ex-national, Gerald A Samuel of Mines Bowl posted 964 to take up third position. Another Selangor youngster and SUKMA Games Gold medalist, Lukman Jasril finished fourth with 863.

2004 Malaysian Open second runner-up, Siti Khadijah Osman of Selangor finished top of the Ladies' Open leaderboard with 908 followed by ex-national backup squad memebr and winner of last year's Ampang Superbowl Anniversary, Rohaya Bte Abdul Rahim of Penang in second with 770. Tang Joh Six of CPS Bowl took third spot with 745.

Selangor's Kelvin Keong lead the Youth Boy's Open division with a score of 871 followed by Selangor youths, Ng Jin Yang and Aiman Kelana in second and third positions with 855 and 851 respectively.

Siti Khadijah also topped the Youth Girl's Open division with 973 on lines of 221, 257, 256 and 239. Nor Amilia of Selangor finished a distant second on 828 while SUKMA Gold medalist, Christyn Chew settled for third with 801.

Bowlers from neighbouring Asian countries such as Indonesia, Korea, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam are expected to arrive sometime mid of next week to compete in the championship. They will also be joined by bowlers from the other states of Malaysia. The full national team comprising of 11 men and 8 ladies will also be taking onto the lanes by Thursday, 7th July.

Photos by Terence Yaw, MTBC.

28th June, P.Jaya: The Selangor Tenpin Bowling Association '04 today announced the hosting of the inaugural 1st Selangor International Open Bowling Championship to be held from 1st to 10th July, 2005 at Ampang Superbowl Subang USJ.

The annoucement was made at a press conference held at the Summit USJ, which will also be the official hotel of the championship. Present at the press conference were Dato' Mohd Aini Taib, president of STBA together with Mr Joe Jawi, Honorary Secretary and tournament director, Mr Kenny Ang, ex-national and committee member.

"Since the formation of the new STBA 2004, we have been busy getting our youth development program back on its feet and the hosting of the 1st Selangor International Open marks a new beginning for our association," said Dato Aini, who is also the organizing chairman.

"The Selangor International Open has always been the platform for Selangor bowlers to showcase their skills against some of the top local and Asian bowlers and we are confident that there will be a good

turnout of participants not only from the other States but also the neighbouring countries.

"So far, we have confirmation from Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and of course, Malaysia," said Mr Joe Jawi, tournament director. "MTBC has also confirmed that they will field the full national men and women squad to compete in this tournament.

The total prize money for the championship is a whopping RM150,000 with the top prize of RM20,000 to the men's champion and RM12,000 to the women's champion. Also on offer is a perfect game award of the Proton Gen-2 during the Masters finals, kindly sponsored by Mayban Assurance Berhad.

In addition, Selangor bowlers will get a chance to take home RM500 for the first high game of 279 to 288 and another RM1,000 for a high game of 289 and above during the qualifying rounds. Nestle Products (Milo), a staunch supporter of tenpin bowling has also come forward to sponsor cash and Milo products for the youth categories.

The 1st Selangor International Open is a Singles tournament where 4 senior categories - Men's Open, Ladies' Open, Men's Graded and Ladies' Graded; and 4 youth divisions - Youth Boy's Open, Youth Girls Open, Youth Boy's Graded and Girl's Graded, will compete in the qualifying rounds from the 1st through to the 8th July. The Masters finals will be held on the 9th and 10th July.

At the end of the championship, a victory banquet and prize presentat-

ion will be held at the Ballroom of the Summit Hotel USJ during which time lucky draws including 4 return air tickets, sponsored by Malaysia Airlines for Puket, Bali and two Langkawi destinations.

Photo by Terence Yaw, MTBC.