28th June, Manila: Nur Syakirah Yeoh of Malaysia, was again denied a victory in the Ladies' Open Masters stepladder final of the 37th Philippines International Open for the second time when she was narrowly defeated, 204-205.

In the final stepladder match against top seed, Krizzah Tabora of the Philippines, Nur Syakirah only needed to spare her final frame to force the Filipina into a sudden-death decider but as it turned out, she failed to make the spare.

Despite having an open frame in the first, Nur Syakirah rebounded by stringing together a turkey from frame three which force her opponent making a mistake and opening a frame in the fourth.

The Malaysian was leading quite comfortably but Krizzah managed to knock down three strikes from frame eight putting the pressure back onto Nur Syakirah. The Malaysian could have sealed the first game when she made seemingly perfect shot in her final frame only to see a stubborn pin 10 standing, which she subsequently missed.

"I should have taken my time for the final throw to ensure I make the spare which would at least allowed me to take the match into the decider," said the disappointed Syakirah. "But I rushed into it which proved costly.

Syakirah, who was seeded fifth sailed through the first match with ease, defeating two Filipinas, 4th-seed, Apple Posadas and 6th-seed, Lara Posadas, 228-193-157 to advance into the next match.

The backup squad member also edged another two Filipinas - defending champion and 3rd-seed, Lisa del Rosario and 2nd-seed, Kim Lao, 192-180-167 to set up the match with the champion.

Krizzah Tabora became the youngest-ever Filipina to win the Ladies' Open Masters and 100,000 pesos (MYR 7,550) while Sykairah took home 40,000 pesos (MYR 3,020) and Kim Lao, who finished third won 20,000 pesos.

Meanwhile, second-seed and challenger, Benshir Layoso gave Philippines an historical double when the Filipino southpaw defeated top seed, Jassim Darwish of Kuwait, 269-245 in the first match and 266-210 in the decider.

The champion was extremely lucky to earn a crack at the title when fellow compatriot, Joonee Gatchalian failed to make his single pin 7 spare in the final frame handing the second match to Benshir.

The champion narrowly edged Gatchalian and third seed, Oh Young Ki of Korea, 225-221-224 to advance into the finals. In the first match, Gatchalian breezed through by outclassing 4th-seed, Basel Al-Anzi of Kuwait and 6th-seed, Chester King, 290-234-222.

Benshir won the top prize of 250,000 pesos (MYR 18,875) for capturing his first-ever international open title after being roped into the Philippine national squad last year. Darwish settled for 100,000 pesos (MYR 7,550) while Oh took home 50,000 pesos (MYR 3,775).

Malaysia's only men finalist, Zaid Izlan failed to repeat the better form he displayed in yesterday's round 1 finals in 24th position. Zaid had finished eighth on Friday to make round 2.

Photos by Terence Yaw.

26th June, Manila: Five Malaysians national bowlers competiting in the 37th Philippines International Open barely made the Masters finals with Christyn Chew, Nur Syakirah taking up the last two slots in the Ladies' Open while Zaid Izlan made it through the desperado squad.

Christyn Chew, who was ropped into the national backup squad toward the end of last year after she captured the Youth Open Masters title in the Chinese Taipei Open, had a great start with a 242 opening game.

The 20-year-old continued with 201 but started to fizzled off with 193 and 184 ending the 4-game qualifying round with a total of 820. Her score allowed her to squeeze into 11th spot in the overseas pool and the finals.

Last year's first runnerup, Nur Syakirah Yeoh could not improve on her score of 757 after her last attempt at the 9.00pm squad yet managed to make the finals in 12th position. ABF Tour Hong Kong semi-finalists and ex-national, Tang Joh Six of Malaysia made the finals in 10th.

2007 Asian Ranked No. 1, Kim Eun Jung stormed into the top of the overseas pool with a sizzling 918. Kim, who laid off bowling for two months due to a nagging knee injury, only had four days training before coming to Manila to compete.

The three Malaysian national men in Manila were less fortunate. Zaid Izlan was the best performer but only managed a best 4-game score of 881 putting him 15th in the reserve. But the 20-year-old squeezed into the finals via the back door having topped the desperado squad with a single game score of 225.

National elite, Mohd Noer Said shot 909 but was pushed off the last spot of the overseas pool and into the reserves in seventh. National rookie, Kelvin Keong posted 859 and good enough for 23rd.

Ex-international, Paulo Valdez of TBAM-Prima-Timberpro, who shot the tournament's second perfect game, topped both the local and overall standings with 1063 with Raoul Miranda of TMBA-Henrich and TBAM-Prima's Frederick Ong second and third with 1028 and 1012.

Singapore's ex-national, Lenny Lim led the overseas pool with 1014 followed by Cha Ji Hyun, who shot the third perfect 300 and Kuwaiti Yaqoub Al-Shati second and third with 993 and 986 respectively.

Photos by Terence Yaw.