5th May, K.Lumpur: Ahmed Hairoman of PDRM, Cheras won his first-ever international title after beating defending champion, Suhaimi Rahmat of Johor in two games in the stepladder finals of the 2nd Ampang Superbowl International Challenge just concluded at Berjaya Times Square.

The 43-year-old chief inspector of Batalion PGA, Cheras and top-seed, had to work hard for his title when he was forced into the sudden-death decider. Hairoman could not get into his stride which allowed his challenger, Suhaimi closed the match with a turkey from frame 9 and went on to win 200-183.

But Hairoman settled down to a good rythmn in the crucial match with a turkey from frame 4 forcing his opponent to make a mistake by opening a frame in the sixth. Suhaimi never recovered from that moment onwards and could not find his striking form allowing Hairoman to end with 200 against 181.

The police inspector bagged the RM25,000 top rpize to celebrate his well-deserved victory whie the runner-up took home RM12,000.

In the first stepladder match amongst, fourth-seed, Johan Jamaludin of Selangor, fifth-seed, John Kaveetesh of Bintang Ceria and last year's second runnerup, Heric Chong of Zing, Kaveetesh outclassed his opponents to progress with 223 against Johan's 200 and Heric's 178.

The second match went to the wire when Selangor's youngster, Aziem Azemi of Bintang Ceria tied with third-seed, Suhaimi at 202 while Kaveetesh was knocked out after posting only 195. In the 9th and 10th frame roll-off to break the tie, it was the much experienced Johorean that came home with 58 to edge Aziem's 40 and a crack at the title.

Aziem won for himself RM 6,000 while Kaveetesh took home RM3,000, Johan Jamaludin RM2,000 and Heric Chong RM1,800. RM1,000 each was also awarded to the best veteran finisher, Ng Yiew Hup, best local John Kaveetesh, best overseas Jeremy Fang of Singapore and the best lady Nur Umirah.

Photos by Terence Yaw, MTBC.

3rd May, K.Lumpur: Selangor's youngster, Syimir Abdul Razak of Pyramid Youth bagged the 2nd Ampang Superbowl International Challenge Youth Boy's Masters title while Sukan Teras Selangor member, Dina Nurnadia took the girl's crown.

At the start of the Youth Boy's Masters finals this morning, Syimir Abdul Razak set a blistering pace to grab the lead with 222 and was the only youth to bowl a 200 game. The 15-year-old youngster stretched his lead to 81 pins with another superb 236 after the second game.

At the halfway mark, Syimir had amassed a comfortable 120 pins margin in the field of 16 finalists on a total of 1077 pinfalls. The champion went on to cruise to a convincing victory to bag the youth title with 2094 and an impressive 209.4 average.

Kevin Tan from Melaka stormed home to finish second with 1926 ahead of Perak's Muhammad Zakwan in third spot with 1912. Yusuf Abd Raof of Sukan Teras Kuala Lumpur, who was at one stage second, dropped to fourth on 1867 while Chong Jun Foo of Sarawak rounded up the top 5 with 1864.

Syimir won RM3,000 for his effort with Kevin taking home RM1,500 and Muhammad Zakwan RM1,000. The top 3 have also earned a spot in the Masters Challenge finals in the Youth Boy's winners pool.

Meanwhile, Junior Circuit Kelantan leg champion, Hee Kar Yen almost gave Pyramid Youth team a double celebration but was pipped by Sukan Teras Selangor youth, Dina Nurnadia. Dina's teammate, Siti Nur Harini was the early pace-setter having led for the first three games.

Dina Nur Nadia took over the lead at the halfway mark by 10 pins after she posted back-to-back 220 and 204 in the fourth anf fifth games. Despite loosing the lead after the sixth game, Dina fought back to regain the lead and went on to win her first-ever title with 1943 pinfalls.

Hee Kar Yen settled for second with 1929, just 14 pins adrift while pace-setter, Siti Nur Harini ended up third with 1867. Favourite and GP Finals champo, Syaidatul Afifah of Sukan Teras Perak could only manage a fourth place finish with 1830.

Nur Umirah Abd Rahman of Team Adzer, who led briefly after game 6, dropped to fifth with 1825. Dina Nur Nadia won RM3,000 with Hee Kar Yen and Siti Nur Harini winning RM1,500 and RM1,000 respectively.

The top 3 winners have also earned a spot in the Masters Challenge finals in the Youth Girl's winners pool. Qualifying for the Masters Challenge will end on the 4th May at the 12.00am squad. The finals will be held on Saturday, 5th May.

Photos by Terence Yaw, MTBC.

1st May, K.Lumpur: The cut off score to qualify for the Masters finals of the 2nd Ampang Superbowl International Challenge 2007 at Berjaya Times Square got higher and stood at 851 on Tuesday evening.

While ex-national, Allan Chia maintained his lead with 936 for over five days, Zing's Sheqal Jahuri improved from 24th position overnight to assure himself a spot in the finals with 874 on lines of 226, 212, 224 and 212. Ahead of Sheqal were last year's champion, Suhaimi Rahmat of Johor and Fariz Rahman of TNB in second and third.

Last year's stepladder finalist, Heric Chong took fifth spot with 872 while Pahang's Kenny Yap finally made the finals with 869 to share six spots with Mat Salleh Jalani of Proton Berhad.

"The pins are very stuborn and I've made more than 10 attempts to make the cut," said Kenny, who is also the Deputy President of Pahang Tenpin Bowling Association and a keen bowler. "I understand that the new pins were only put in for the championship a week before it started so I guess they are now seasoned.

The cut off score for the finals stood at 851 and was shared between K.H. Lim of Century Logistics and Mohd Riduan Sadin of Team Ampang Superbowl.

Meanwhile, ex-national youth, Nadya Izzati of Kuala Lumpur took over the lead of the Youth Girls division with 792. She could have becomed the only girl to surpass the 800-mark had she not bowled a low game of 161 after she had 217, 224 and 190 in her three earlier games.

Nur Umirah Abd Raduan of Team Adzer, Selangor stormed into second spot with 776 pushing down 2006 GP Finals champion, Syaidatul Afifah of Sukan Teras Perak into third spot with 774. Syimir Abdul Razak continued to lead the Youth Boy's division with 860.

Mohd Syafiq of Kuala Lumpur and Yusuf Abd Raof of Sukan Teras Kuala Lumpur finished second and third with 825 and 823 respectively. The cut off for the youth boys division was 775 in 16th position posted Mohd Shahzuan of Sukan Teras Kedah.

Photos by Mustafa Yassin, ASB Malaysia.

29th April, K.Lumpur: Defending champion, Suhaimi Rahmat of Johor staked his claim on retaining the title of the 2nd Ampang Superbowl International Challenge 2007 at Berjaya Times Square after six days of qualifying.

The 32-year-old Johor businessman started moderately with 212 and 200 in his first two games of the 4-game qualifying round but then picked up his pace to romp home 228 and 245 to finish second behind leader, Allan Chia with 885.

Suhaimi took the title last year after he ousted challenger, Heric Chong in the final deciding match to win RM20,000. With the stakes higher by RM5,000 this year and a good showing in his qualifying round, he would surely start the finals as favourite.

Ex-national, Allan Chia continue to top the field with 936 posted two days ago. Chia also look on course to pocket the Singles with the same score. TNB's Fariz Rahaman did well to finish third behind Suhaimi on 876 and partnering Chia, both also topped the Doubles with 851.

Last year's runner-up, Heric Chong of Team Zing and Mat Salleh Jalani of Proton Berhad rounded up the top 5 with 869 and 867 respectively. The current cut-off at position 24th was 832 scored by Nazshahrizad Nasir of MBF.

The top 24 qualifiers in the mixed pool together with the top 3 ladies, top 3 veterans, top 3 from the desperado squad and the top 3 winners of the Youth Boys and Youth Girls finals will make up the 39 finalists who will bowl 2 blocks of 8 games on Saturday 5th May.

Meanwhile, the top 3 ladies in this pool remained the same with 2005 Pahang Open champion, Jenny Yap in front with 785 followed by reigning national youth champion, Nor Amilia Mohd Noor on 729. Newcomer, Arvinder Kaur of Bintang Ceria was third with 661.

There was also no change at the top of the Youth Boy's qualifying table with Syimir Abd Razak of Pyramid Youth on a score of 860. Ex-national youth, Nadya Izzati of Kuala Lumpur pipped reigning GP Finals champion, Syaidatul Afifah to the lead with 792.

Qualifying continue through to 4th May and the youth finals will be held on May 3rd. The top 3 boys and girls winners will join the mixed pool for the Masters finals on May 5th.

Photos by Terence Yaw, MTBC.

27th April, K.Lumpur: Ex-national, Allan Chia of Shah Alam Bowling Club, stole the limelight on Day 5 of the on-going 2nd Ampang Superbowl International Challenge 2007 at the new 48-lane Ampang Superbowl Times Square.

Chia, who finished Men's Graded joint first runner-up in this year's Malaysian Open, scorched the lanes with a scintillating 4-game qualifying series of 936. The leader posted 257, 237, 225 and 217 to take over the lead of the qualifying leaderboard.

Southpaw, Fariz Rahman of TNB also impressed with a first attempt of 876 to take up second spot displacing overnight leader and last year's runner-up, Heric Chong of Zing into third position on a score of 872.

Proton Berhad's Mat Salleh Jalani and Shazally Khamis of Ampang Superbowl team completed the top 5 in fourth and fifth positions on scores of 869 and 867. The top 24 in the mixed pool will make the finals and currently the cut off was 808 posted by Kuala Lumpur's youth, Mohd Fahd.

There was no change in the top 2 position of the top 3 Ladies' pool with 2005 Pahang Open champion, Jenny Yap of Pahang in the lead with 785 ahead of reigning national youth champion, Nor Amilia Mohd Noor of Sukan Teras Selangor in second with 729.

Ex-national, Ismail Yahya of Perak continue to top the veteran's pool with 828 followed by Abdul Rashid Abd Lajis of Selangor and Abd Rahman of ASM second and third on 795 and 782.

Syimir Abdul Razak of Pyramid Youth and SUKMA triple gold medalist, Syaidatul Afifah Bt Badrul Hamidi of Perak continue to top the Youth Boy's and Youth Girl's division with 860 and 774 respectively.

The top 24 qualifiers in the mixed pool together with the top 3 ladies, top 3 veterans, top 3 from the desperado squad and the top 3 winners of the Youth Boys and Youth Girls finals will make up the 39 finalists who will bowl 2 blocks of 8 games on Saturday 5th May.

Photo by Mustafa Yassin, ASB Malaysia.

25th April, K.Lumpur: Last year's runner-up and favourite, Heric Chong of Team Zing, stake his claim on the Masters title of the 2nd Ampang Superbowl International Challenge 2007 after 3 days of qualifying at Ampang Superbowl Times Square.

Chong, who tied with the eventual champion, Suhaimi Rahmat of Johor and had to bowl an extra game to break the tie and determine who make the stepladder finals as top-seed in last year's finals. And luck was not with the 25-year-old when he lost the crucial match to hand the title to the Johorean.

This year, he has returned with more determination and this was shwn when he posted 872 to take over pole position in the mixed pool qualifying leaderboard. Chong chalked up lines of 201, 214, 213 and 244 to improve from 715 posted on the first day.

Teammate, Michael Ooi also improved from 829 to 866 to finish second dislodging overnight leader, Muhamad Fadzli of Asari Murni into third position. Fadzli had taken an early lead with a score of 852. Fadzli's teammate, Al Hafiz did well to finish fourth ahead of Mat Salleh Jalani rounding up the top 5.

As usual, a strong contender in the ladies division, 2005 Pahang International Open champion, Jenny Yap claimed top spot as the best lady qualifier with 785. Yap started off with a high game of 223 but fizzled off with 183, 170 and 177. Selangor's Sukan Teras youth, Nor Amilia Mohd Noor took second spot with 729.

In the verteran pool, ex-national, Ismail Yahya of Perak occupied top spot with 828 ahead of Abdul Rahman of Team ASB in second and S.T. Pank of Century Logistics third with 782 and 695 respectively.

The top 24 qualifiers in the mixed pool together with the top 3 ladies, top 3 veterans, top 3 from the desperado squad and the top 3 winners of the Youth Boys and Youth Girls finals will make up the 39 finalists who will bowl 2 blocks of 8 games on Saturday 5th May.

The 2nd Ampang Superbowl International Challenge boasts a top prize of RM25,000, the richest prized championship for graded bowlers in the country. The tournament is co-sponsored by Berjaya Times Square, Sports Toto, AM Bowling, Power Root, Mesuma Sports, Truchem, Restoran Roday and Spritzer Mineral Water.

The official hotel is The Royale Bintang and the official media are Harian Metro, The Sun, Oriental Daily News while the official magazine is Asian Bowling Digest. The championship is also supported by KL Tenpin Bowling Association and Sukan Teras and is sanctioned by Malaysian Tenpin Bowling Congress and Asian Bowling Federation.

Photo by Terence Yaw, MTBC.

23rd April, K.Lumpur: Muhamad Fadzli of Asari Murni took an early lead in the Masters qualifying round of the 2nd Ampang Superbowl International Challenge 2007 underway at the new 48-lane Ampang Superbowl Times Square.

The regular campaigner chalked up lines of 209, 201, 220 and 202 to take the lead with 852 and an average of 213. Michael Ooi, Micky Un and Sheqal Jahuri, all members of the Zing Bowling team finished second to fourth with 829, 795 and 791 respectively.

Last year's runner-up, Heric Chong, also from Zing, could only manage 715 in his first attempt in ninth behind Shazally Khamis of ASB Malaysia, Peter Lai of Century Logistics and Terengganu youngster, Imran Ali in fifth, sixth and seventh positions.

Meanwhile, perfect gamer in the Malaysian Open, Ismail Yahya of Perak and S.T. Pank of Century Logistics were the only two top veterans having made their attempts and posted 828 and 695 for first and second spots.

The top 24 in the Masters mixed pool, top 3 ladies qualifiers, top 3 winners in the Youth Boys finals, top 3 winners in the Youth Girls finals, top 3 verterans and top 3 from the desperado squad on final qualifying day will form the 39 finalists.

In the Youth Boy's qualifying table, Syimir Abdul Razak of Pyramid Youth team led with a 4-game total of 860. The 15-year-old youngster from Selangor knocked down lines of 181, 221, 257 and 201 to round off an average of 215.

Terengganu's Ahmad Dzikri finished second with 823 ahead of Xavian Ang and Aniq Aiman of Selangor in third and fourth positions on 677 and 673 scoreline.

Qualifying continues through to 2nd May for the youths and the rest on 4th May. The finals will be held on Saturday, 5th May.

Photos by Terence Yaw, MTBC.