26th March, P.Jaya: Daniel Lim and Shalin Zulkifli gave Malaysia a historical and rare double after capturing the Men's and Ladies' Open Masters crown of the 27th Malaysian International Open at Pyramid Megalanes this evening.

It was a sweet day for Malaysia when Daniel Lim and Shalin Zulkifli brought home both the Men's and the Ladies' Open Masters title. Daniel Lim had to, however survive a sudden-death final game for the crown.

His challenger and 2nd-seed Kao Hai-Yuan took the first match 192-163 to force Daniel to the second match.

With sheer determination, Daniel fought back galantly to take the second match and the title with 213-203. Kao settled for second despite knocking out 3rd-seed Lim Khong (183) from Singapore and winner of the first match, Cheng Chao-Sheng (213) with 244. Lim Zhong retained 3rd place while Cheng ended up in 4th. Cheng had earlier disposed off 5th-seed Sultan Abdulla Al-Marzouqi (191) from UAE and Ryan Lalisang (193) from Indonesia.

Similarly in the ladies' division, Shalin was also forced into a sudden-death match to decide the champion after she lost the first game 187-192 to Taipei's Wang Yu-Ling. The three-time National champion displayed great determination to take this title after loosing to Liza del Rosario last year.

Shalin struck home from frame 9th onwards to finish strongly with 229 while her challenger could only score 188. Wang settled for second despite knocking out 3rd-seed Siti Khadijah Osman (203) of Selangor and match 1 winner, Chien Hsiu-Lan (224) with a high game of 234.

The first match amongst 4th-seed Chu Yu-Chieh (219), 5th-seed Chien Hsiu-Lan and 6th-seed Tsai Hsin-Yi (192), Chien trounced both her teammates with a superb 228.

Khalifa Al-Kubaisi (QAT-7th), Mubarak Murikhi (QAT-8th), Wu Siu Hong (HKG-9th), Biboy River (PHI-10th), Mohd Noer Said (MAS-11th), Ahmed Shaheen (QAT-12th), Chester King (PHI-13th), Cheng Tang-Yu (TPE-14th), Mustafa Yassin (MAS-15th) and Azidi Ameran (MAS-16th) all made the cut for the inaugural ABF Tour Malaysia 2004 men's division.

Visit www.abftour.com for LIVE scores.

Photos by Y.S. Liew/MTBC

26th March, P.Jaya: 2002 National champion, Daniel Lim snatched the pole position for the stepladder finals after the second block of the 27th Malaysian International Open to give Malaysia a double.

The 2002 National champion, who finished second in the first block of 8 games yesterday, was bowling consistently to stay second when the leader changed hands. When UAE's Sultan Abdulla Al-Marzouqi lost the lead to Chinese Taipei's Kao Hai-Yuan, Daniel was able to keep in close contact.

A strong game of 204 and 229 in his last two games eventually shot Daniel to the front and completed a double for Malaysia to qualify for the stepladder as top-seed with a total score of 3430. Kao Hai-Yuan was content to finish second with 3421 ahead of Singapore's Lim Zhong who knocked down 3418 for third.

Another Taipei bowler, Cheng Chao-Sheng took fourth with 3391 followed by overnight leader, Sultan Abdulla Al-Marzouqi who dropped

to fourth with 3370. The last stepladder finals spot went to Indonesia's Rayn Lalisang with 3348. The 4th, 5th and 6th placed bowler will play in the first match. The winner will proceed to challenge the 2nd and 3rd seed. The winner of the second match will meet top-seed Daniel Lim for a one-plus-one to determine the champion.

Malaysian bowlers making the cut for the inaugural ABF Tour were Mohd Noer Said (11th), Mustafa Yassin (15th) and Azidi Ameran (16th).

Photos by Y.S. Liew/MTBC

26th March, P.Jaya: Three-time Malaysian national champion, Shalin Zulkifli criused to the top of the Ladies' Open Masters in the 27th Malaysian International Open after the 2nd block finals this morning.

The 25 year-old three-time Asian Ranked No. 1 bowled consistently this morning to amassed a total of 3373 pinfalls to top the 16-game roll-off. Shalin tied with teammate Wendy Chai in 6th after yesterday's first block but her determination to win the elusive title pushed her to the top. Shalin is now poised as she will be seeded for the stepladder finals.

World Youth Championship Gold medalist, Wang Yu-Ling led four Chinese Taipei bowlers into the stepladder finals finishing in second 76 pins behind the leader on a total of 3297. Selangor's Elite squad member, Siti Khadijah Osman continued her superb form to give Malaysia the other stepladder finals spot when she knocked down a total of 3231 pinfalls.

Taipei's Chu Yu-Chieh took 4th spot with 3212 while overnight leader Chien Hsiu-Lan and Tsai Hsin-Yi tied in 5th place with 3194. Hong Kong

Open champion, Wendy Chai of Malaysia missed the cut for the stepladder finals after bowling a 174 in the last game to drop to 7th.

World Championship triple Gold medalist, Zara Glover could not keep up with the pace of the leaders dropping from 3rd overnight to 8th while ex-national Low Poh Lian of Malaysia and Alice Tay from Singapore completed the top 10 with 3155 and 3127 respectively.

Liang Ya-Ping (TPE-11th), Sarah Yao (MAS-12th), Putty Armein (INA-13th), Happy Soediyono (INA-14th), Pan Yu-Fen (TPE-15th), Sharon Koh (MAS-16th) and Jennifer Tan (SIN-17th) made the cut for the inaugural ABF Tour - Malaysia 2004. Jennifer Tan became the 16th bowler to make the cut as England's Zara Glover is not eligible to participate.

Other Malaysian bowlers order were Christyn Chew (20th), Esther CHeah (21st), Choy Poh Lai (23rd), Tang Joh Six (24th), Zandra Aziela (25th) and Voon Kim Ling (29th).

The ladies will play their the stepladder finals at 4.00pm after the men have completed their second block finals.

Photos by Y.S. Liew/MTBC

25th March, P.Jaya: Mohamad Faiz from Penang and Yap Pui Yee of Kuala Lumpur captured the Men's and Ladies' Graded Masters titles of the 27th Malaysian International Open this evening.

The burly 17 year-old student from Penang led from start to finished hung on till the final game to captured this year's Graded Masters title with a score of 2487. Filipino Nico Valderrama, who only qualified after finished second in the single-game desperado squad, did well to moved up to second from from 7th at the halfway mark of the 12-game finals 24 pins behind the champion.

Last year's champion, Micky Un from Pahang and Kedah's Tengku Afnan tie for third with 2456. Yaquob from Kuwait finished 4th with 2436 while Sheqal Jahuri took 5th spot with 2432.

Syafiq Ridhwan (SEL-2407), K.H. Lim (KUL-2401), Eric Lim (PRK-2384) and David Liew (SEL-2366) completed the top 10 finishers from 6th to 10th respectively.

Meanwhile, Kuala Lumpur's Yap Pui Yee won the Ladies Graded Masters title for a second consecutive year when she pipped ex-national and Senior Women champion, Shirley Chow by a single pin on 2325. Pui Yee knocked down 220 in the final and 12th game to Shirley's 190 to snatch the victory.

Shirley Chow was content to have finished second despite feeling disappointed. "I am so busy with the NSC-MTBC development program as a coach that I hardly had time to bowl," said the 55 year-old veteran. "I am happy to finish second considering I have not bowl for almost a year now," added Shirley.

Junior Circuit KL leg Girl's Open champion, Charlotte Sak of Selangor finished 3rd with 2293 ahead of Ziran Nadiah, also from Selangor in third with 2220.

Photos by Y.S. Liew/MTBC

25th March, P.Jaya: Sultan Abdulla Al-Marzouqi from the United Arab Emirates set the pace for a strong field of 44 finalist during the first block finals of the Men's Open Masters in the 27th Malaysian International Open this evening.

The 38 year-old government servant in the licensing department took the lead only in the second half of the 8-game first block with a score of 1755. Sultan started well with high game of 258 but stumbled in the second with a lowly 168. But his determination showed the way as he crawled back to eventually finishing top of the field.

"I had a lot of practice when I was playing in the qualifying rounds after arriving here three days ago," said Sultan. "I also start to use a wrist guard for the first time to help make more consistent delivery," he added.

2002 National Champion, Daniel Lim led in the first half only to hand the lead to Sultan after a poor 188 in the 8th game. Daniel settled for second just 17 pins away on 1738. Singapore's Lim Zhong spinned his

way into third with 1721 while defending champion, Azidi Ameran kept himself in close contention after claiming 4th spot with 1709. Taipei's Kao Hai Yuan followed in 5th with a score of 1703 while 2001 AMF World Cup champion, Kim Haugen found better form to finished 6th.

"My aim was not to miss the head pin and to pick up as many spares as I can," said the Haugen, who made the finals after finishing 3rd in the special desperado squad late last night. "I was able to bowl more consistently today and I had better control of my bowling ball," said the former AMF World Cup champion.

Malaysia's men consisting of Zulmaran Zulkifli (13th-1644), Mohd Noer Said (14th-1643), Eric Ang (18th-1624), Aaron Kong (22nd-1612), Adrian Ang (23rd-1604) and Alex Liew (26th-1579) are fairly close to making the cut for the ABF Tour while Ben Heng (27th-1578), Jonathan Lim (29th-1569) and Mohd Nadri (32nd-1559) needs to do much better in order to stand any chance of joining their teammates.

The men will continue their second block of 8 games tomorrow at 12.00 noon with their scores carried forward. The top 6 at the end of the gruelling 16-game finals will make the cut for the Stepladder Grand Finals which will be played at 4.00pm.

The top 16 Asian finishers will qualify for the inaugural ABF Tour - Malaysia which will be held at the same venue on the 27th and 28th March.

Photos by Y.S. Liew/MTBC

25th March, P.Jaya: Chien Hsiu-Lan of Chinese Taipei topped the first block of the Ladies' Open Masters finals in the 27th Malaysian International Open at Pyramid Megalanes from Malaysia's Siti Khadijah Osman in second and England's Zara Glover in third.

The 24 year-old set the pace after the first 8 of the 16 games final to top the talented field of 33 international finalists with a score of 1707 and averaging 214.56. Bowling for just over 5 years, Chien has just a 20-pin lead over Malaysian Siti Khadijah on 1687 with World Championship triple Gold medalist, Zara Glover from England in third with 1643.

"The lanes are very difficult to read when you follow a lot of the girls who are 'spinners'. I tried to bowl outside, but that didn't work. At times I'm getting very confused." Another player with similar problems is America's Diandra Asbaty.

She commented: "I'm not finding this very easy, but I'm still within 100 pins of the lead, so I'm going to do a lot better over the final eight games tomorrow."

Malaysia's charge consisting of Shalin Zulkifli and Wendy Chai (tie 6th-1601), Zandra Aziela (17th-1529), Sarah Yap (21st-1510), Esther Cheah (22nd-1507), Tang Joh Six (27th-1448), Choy Poh Lai (30th-1371) and Voon Kim Ling (33rd-1347).

The ladies will continue their second block of 8 games tomorrow at 9.00am with their scores carried forward. The top 6 at the end of the gruelling 16-game finals will make the cut for the Stepladder Grand Finals which will be played at 4.00pm.

The top 16 Asian finishers will qualify for the inaugural ABF Tour - Malaysia which will be held at the same venue on the 27th and 28th March.

Photos by Y.S. Liew/MTBC

25th March, P.Jaya: Selangor youths took two out of the four MILO International Youth Masters titles of the 27th Malaysian International Open this morning while Perak and Perlis won one each at Pyramid Megalanes.

Selangor girls dominated the Girl's Open Masters finals with a 1-2-3 finish. 7th Asian Schools-bound, Sharon Koh took the crown with 1994 to finish 9 pins ahead of Siti Khadijah Osman in second. Siti Khadijah, who also qualified for the Ladies Open, scored 1985 while Siti Safiyah Amirah settled for third with 1965.

Selangor again proved that they have a huge pool of talent when Yap Wi Yin and Nur Hadiyah Adam finished 1-2 in the Girl's Graded Masters finals. Yap scored 1767 for the win and 45 pins ahead of Nur Hidayah who knocked down 1722. Sarawak's Nur Hanisa Bte Salam took third spot with 1704.

Eric Chai brought home joy to his state and sponsor when he upset his more experienced opponents to take the MILO International Boy's Open Masters title with a score of 2176 ahead of Aaron Kong and Adrian Ang. Both Aaron and Adrian from Penang scored 2135 and 2088 respectively for second and third.

In the Boy's Graded division, Mohd Yazid Md Din was the toast of his Perlis official when he cruised to an easy victory and the only bowler to score over 200 average. Mohd Yazid scored 2069 over the 10-game roll-off to bag his first major title since taking up the game 2 year ago.

Ronnie Lee from Sarawak finished second with 1979 followed by Muhammad Rifdi Abd Halim from Kedah settled for third with 1976.

The Ladies' Open will be starting their first block Masters finals at 1.00pm while the Men's Open will start theirs at 4.00pm later this afternoon.

Photos by Y.S. Liew/MTBC

24th March, P.Jaya: 2001 AMF World Cup champion, Kim Haugen scored 233 in the desparado squad to join four others for the Men's Open Masters finals of the 27th Malaysian International Open late this evening.

The Norwegian who arrive on the 21st March, has been making numerous attempts but was unlucky not to have qualified through the earlier squads. Haugen bowled 233 to join four other bowlers into the Men's Open Masters finals in the special desparado squad which consisted of only a single game. A total of 22 bowlers bowled in the desperado squad.

Khaled Emadi (QAT-274), Ahmad Muhana (QAT-235), Kim Haugen (NOR-233), Ahmad Murad (UAE-212) and Andrew Lee (SIN-207) will join 38 qualifiers and the defending champion Azidi Ameran for the first block of 8 games at 4.00pm 25th March.

Meanwhile, 13 Men's Graded bowlers also participated in the desparado squad and the top 6 highest game scored included Reese Young (HKG

-256), Nivo Valderrama (PHI-240), Sherman Tan (MAS-208), Lo Tin Fat (HKG-191), Yaqoub (KUW-190) and Kuang Zhi Wen (CHN-185) will join 30 other qualifiers for the Masters roll-off tomorrow at 7.00pm.

Photo by Y.S. Liew/MTBC

24th March, P.Jaya: Emir Cup 2004 champion, Abdulla Al-Qattan from Qatar snatched pole position in the Men's Open Masters qualifying leaderboard of the 27th Malaysian International Open at Pyramid Megalanes with a score of 998.

Qatar's Abdulla Al-Qattan snatched the lead from Biboy Rivera of the Philippines with a superb 998. Rivera dropped one spot to second with 995 while former World Cup champion, Ahmed Shaheen improved to take up 3rd place with 985. Early leader, Khalifa Al-Kubaisi settled for 4th with 979 while 2003 Asian Ranked No. 1, Wu Siu Hong came in fifth with 964.

There was no change in the local pool with Ben Heng and Eric Ang teing top spot on 966 with 15 year-old Zaid Izlan in third with 959. All members of the national squad namely Aaron Kong (4th-945), Mohd Noer Said (6th-943), Jonathan Lim (7th-936), Adrian Ang (8th-935), Alex Liew (11th-917), Zulmazran Zulkifli (12th-910) and Mohd Nadri (13th-908) are safely in the Masters finals except for 2002 National champion, Daniel Lim who has dropped to 9th in the mixed pool on 889.

Meanwhile, the top three positions in the local and foreign pool of the Ladies Open division remained intact. Chinese Taipei's Chien Hsiu-Lan improved to 4th with 877 while World Championship triple Gold medalist, Zara Glover from England moved up to 9th in the foreign pool on 842.

At the local front, three-time Malaysian champion Shalin Zulkifli and Selangor's Siti Khadija Osman continued to share the lead with 890 followed by ex-national Low Poh Lian in third with 886. All the other national squad women have booked their place in the finals. They were Esther Cheah (4th-882), Wendy Chai (5th-873), Choy Poh Lai (6th-855), Sarah Yap (7th-854), Zandra Aziela (8th-851), Tang Joh Six (10th-819) and Elaine Lam (11th-788) except for Voon Kim Ling who has yet to make the cut.

Qualifying ends this evening and the Masters finals first block of 8 games will commence tomorrow, 25th March at 1.00pm for the ladies and 4.00pm for the men. The second block of 8 games will be played on Friday, 26th March when the top 4 from each division will proceed to the Stepladder Grand finals.

The top 16 men and ladies will also make the cut for the inaugural ABF Tour 2004 Malaysia which will be held at the same venue over the next two days, 27th and 28th March. The semi finals and finals on Sunday will be telecast LIVE on Astro Supersport channel.

Photos by Y.S. Liew/MTBC

24th March, P.Jaya: Reigning World Cup champion, C.J. Suarez shot the first perfect game of the 27th Malaysian International Open during the Men's Open Masters qualifying round at Pyramid Megalanes this morning.

The 25 year-old champion from the Philippines shot the magical 300 in the first game of his qualifying attempt to win a Canon XL 1s Digital Camcorder worth RM19,500 sponsored by Canon Marketing. Last year, his fellow-countrymen achieved the same feat and won a Proton TD2000 Vintage car worth RM190,000. Unfortunately Suarez did not settle down after all the excitement and did not bowled well enough to qualify.

"This is my fourth career perfect game and my third was just two weeks ago at the EuroMed-Strom International Masters Challenge back in Manila," said the beaming Suarez. "I’m never good at shooting perfect games and once I’ve done one, it will unsettle me easily," added the businessman from the Philippines.

"This is the first time that I am competing in the Malaysian Open. I hope to go far in this tournament but it will not be easy because the field is strong," said Suarez, who became the toast of the Philippines when he captured the AMF World Cup title in Honduras last year. Suarez was specially flown in by Malaysia Airlines and is sponsored by Sunway Lagoon Resort.

His triumph in the World Cup has earned him fame and also respect from his peers. Suarez was named Philippines' Sportsman of the Year for 2003 and he will also start hosting a youth entertainment programme on television after the Malaysian Open.

"I have two more qualifying squads later in the afternoon and I am confident I will be able to make the cut for the finals," said Suarez.

Qualifying ends this evening and the Masters finals first block of 8 games will commence tomorrow, 25th March at 1.00pm for the ladies and 4.00pm for the men. The second block of 8 games will be played on Friday, 26th March when the top 4 from each division will proceed to the Stepladder Grand finals.

The top 16 men and ladies will also make the cut for the inaugural ABF Tour 2004 Malaysia which will be held at the same venue over the next two days, 27th and 28th March. The semi finals and finals on Sunday will be telecast LIVE on Astro Supersport channel

Photos by Y.S. Liew/MTBC

23rd March, P.Jaya: National youth squad, Zaid Izlan joined the big league when he set the lanes on fire to score 959 for third spot in the Men's Open Masters qualifying local pool in the 27th Malaysian International Open.

Zaid Izlan took to the lanes late last night to record lines of 215, 241, 257 and 246 for a score of 959 and shot up to third spot in the local pool. Zaid was only 7 pins behind joint-leaders, Ben Heng and Eric Ang who scored 966. National rookie Aaron Kong finished 4th with 945 and ex-national Lim Fung Jung of Pahang 5th with 943.

Meanwhile, Filipino Biboy Rivera took over the lead of the foreign pool when he scored 995. Biboy, who will be celebrating his 30th birthday on Saturday 25th March almost repeated the perfect game he had in last year’s championship.

He started the 5.30pm squad with 224 and 238 and then on his third game he stringed together 10 consecutive strikes and was going for a perfect game. However, he left 2 pins standing on his 11th frame to eventually score 288. Biboy then went on to knock down 245 in the 4th game for a 995 total. Last year, Biboy scored a perfect game and won for himself a Proton TD2000 Vintage Car worth RM190,000.

Qatar’s Khalifa Al-Kubaisi dropped to 2nd spot on 979 while 2003 Asian Ranked No. 1, Wu Siu Hong from Hong Kong improved on his second attempt to take up third spot with a superb 964 last night.

Three-time national champion, Shalin Zulkifli continued to share the lead with Selangor's Siti Khadijah Osman on a score of 890. Both are ahead of ex-national Low Poh Lian who scored 886. World Championship Team Gold medalist, Choy Poh Lai improved from 10th in the table to 6th with a score of 854 which assured her of a place in the Masters finals.

"I wasn't able to find a good line to bowl in my first few attempts but this morning was much better," said the 23 year-old national squad member from Johor. "I knew I had to improve on my earlier score to make sure of a place in the finals and I'm glad I was able to do just that," added Poh Lai.

World Championship triple Gold medalist, Zara Glover from England had some difficulties adapting to the condition at Pyramid Megalanes and could only manage 765 in her first attempt. She will be making her second attempt later today to ensure she makes the finals. Meanwhile, World Championship Masters champion, Diandra Asbaty of USA finished 6th in the foreign table with 858.

Qualifying continues until tomorrow, 24th March. The Masters Finals will commence on Thursday, 25th March.

Photos by Y.S. Liew/MTBC

22nd March, P.Jaya: 2002 World Ranking Masters champion, Jennifer Tan of Singapore streaked into the lead of the Ladies' Open Masters qualifying table on Day 9 of the 27th Malaysian International Open at Pyramid Megalanes this morning.

The 26 year-old national team member set the lanes on fire when she knocked down lines of 189, 203, 279 and 233 to total 904 the Ladies' Open Masters qualifying overall and overseas table. Her teammate and Singapore Open champion, Evelyn Chan improved from her 810 score bowled yesterday to 878 to take up second spot while World Championship Masters Gold medalist, Diandra (Hayman) Asbaty from USA finished third with 858.

Alice Tay (SIN-834), Tsia Hsin-Yi (TPE-829), Pan Yu-Fen (TPE-827) finished 4th to 6th positions respectively.

In the local pool, three-time national champion Shalin Zulkifli and Siti Khadijah Osman continued to share top spot with 890 and joint-second overall. Ex-national Low Poh Lian also maintained third with 886.

Meanwhile, in the men's division, Qatar's Khalifa Khaled Al-Kubaisi continued to lead table with 979 scored yesterday ahead of Brunei's Shahwall Mustafa who scored 949. Third in the overseas pool came former World Cup champion, Ahmed Shaheen with 918.

The top spot in the local pool was shared by national bowler, Ben Heng and national youth Eric Ang with 966. Both were joint-second in the overall table. National squad debutant, Aaron Kong maintained third spot with 945.

The 48 lanes at Pyramid Megalanes are packed full with overseas bowlers competiting for places in the Masters finals. The final day of qualifying is 24th March and the Masters Finals will kick-off on this Thursday, 25th March.

Photos by Y.S. Liew/MTBC.

21st March, P.Jaya: Ex-nationals, Shirley Chow and Chan Seng Kong dominated the Senior Masters finals by capturing the Women and Men's divisions titles of the 27th Malaysian International Open this evening at Pyramid Megalanes.

Shirley Chow, a long serving member of the national team and a Gold medalist in the Hiroshima Asian Games Doubles event finally won the women's title after several attempts in the previous Senior Masters. She took the title with a score of 1165 plus handicap. The 55 year-old knocked down 164, 216, 172, 182, 179 and 222 and took home RM1,000.

Another veteran of many championships, Zainab Jiman settled for second with a score of 1145 to win RM500 while ex-national and last year's champion, Faridah Taib finished third with 1136 and took home RM300.

S.H. Goh (1131), Poziah Atan (1041), Dorothy Aw (1022), Saadiah Mahad (1017) and Fathila Rahman (980) finished 4th to 8th positions respectively.

In the men's division, another ex-national, Chan Seng Kong took the title after scoring 1245 plus handicap just 1 pin ahead of last year's champion, Dicky Chew who knocked down 1244. The 60 year-old champion had lines of 204, 279, 192, 165, 193 and 182. Former veteran masters winner, Chong Ka Bu came in third with 1220.

Chan took home RM2,000 top prize for his effort while Dicky settled for RM1,000. Chong Ka Bu pocketted RM500 for finishing third.

Albert Poon (1202), Charlie Khoo (1199), Y.H. Ng (1148), Hamidi Yaacob (1100) andIbrahim Shamsudin (1093) finished 4th to 8th positions respectively.

Photos by Y.S. Liew/MTBC.