24th February, Indianapolis: Two-time PBA Bowler of the Year, Norm Duke of Clermont, Fla., defeated Ryan Shafer for the second consecutive year in the finals of the PBA Denny's World Championship to win his third major title at Woodland Bowl.

Duke, 44, who was on a verge of losing his Denny's PBA Tour exemption, beat Shafer, 202-165, to win his third career major and 27th title overall. The veteran had struggled through various injuries this season and came into the week 51st in the PBA World Point Rankings with just five events remaining.

The victory gave Duke a much-needed two-season Tour exemption. Suffering from the flu all week, Duke showed his usual flair for the dramatic, gutting it out to advance to the final round, which moved him up to 37th in the point rankings. His win, however, means he does not have to worry about points for the next two years.

In a final round where all four bowlers had a hard time finding their way on the lanes, Duke did just enough to overcome two great champions who struggled mightily on Sunday, in Shafer and PBA Hall of Famer

Walter Ray Williams Jr. The all-time titles leader Williams, who was looking for his record-tying eighth career Major, had two opens in their semifinal match while Shafer had three late in the title match.

204-158 over Australian amateur Andrew Frawley. Duke was clinging to a slim lead in the title match until Shafer opened three consecutive times in the sixth, seventh and eighth frames. Duke's strike in the ninth frame sealed the deal.

Duke earned $50,000 in addition to his two-season Denny's PBA Tour exemption through the 2009-10 season. Shafer (Horseheads, N.Y.) earned $25,000 for second while Williams (Ocala, Fla.) and Frawley (Sydney, Australia) took home $11,500 each for third and fourth, respectively.

Photo and story courtesy of www.bowl.com.

22nd February, Indianapolis: Zulmazran Zulkfili's fairy tale at the PBA Denny's World Championship came to an abrupt end as he went down to PBA pro, Tom Daugherty 2-4 in the best 4 of 7 games Super 16 Finals on Friday.

Malaysia's sole representative left in the pro circuit, Zulmaran Zulkifli had the worst start when he could only manage 155, his lowest game throughout the championship to loose the first match to the first round leader, Tom Daugherty, having bowled a low game himself with 189.

But the 23-year-old recovered in the second match to beat Daugherty, 225-191 to draw level at one match each. Zulmazran got the upper hand in the third match with a 221-203 victory over his opponent to go 2-1 but his opponent squared off with 192-180 to tie 2-2 after the fourth match.

Daugherty took the next match 194-163 as Zulmazran had a woeful game of 163 and in the sixth match, it was a close match between the two but the American manage to edge the Malaysian, 178-166 giving Daugherty the four matches he needed for the victory, 4-2 to move into the Round of 8.

A disappointed Zulmazran had to be consoled by his teammates as he truely believed he could do much better in the tricky conditions that presented him. Overall, Team Malaysia has earned the recognition as well as won the accolades from the participating crowd and supporters for a par excellence performance by a Malaysian in his first-ever pro outing.

The only other Asian, Andrew Frawley of Australia, defeated Dino Castillo, 4-2 to progress to the next round as Ryan Shafer demolished top-seed, Chris Barnes, 4-0, Walter Ray Williams Jr. beat Sean Rash, 4-1, Norm Duke ousted Mika Koiveniemi 4-2.

Wes Malott had to go all the way to oust Steve Harman, 4-3 so did Chris Loschetter winning 4-3 against Tod Brook to make the next round. Tom Daugherty's run came to an end also when he was beaten by Ryan Shafer in the Round of 8, 0-4 as Walter Ray Williams and Norm Duke both knocked their opponents 4-0.

Andrew Frawley had to work harder going to the wire with a 4-3 victory over Wes Malott to make the semifinals. Frawley will face Ryan Shafer while the Walter Ray Williams Jr.-Norm Duke match promises to be a gigantic clash.

Photos by B.C. Cheah, MTBC.

21st February, Indianapolis: Zulmazran Zulkifli, the sole Malaysian left in the pro circuit, PBA Denny's World Championship 2008, walked tall at Woodland Bowl with another superb performance to automatically qualified for the round of Super 16.

The 23-year-old Zulmazran Zulkifli, who was fifth after 18 games played two days earlier, meticulously bowled his way up to his target, registering 202, 212, 194, 176, 205 247, 245, 179 and stormed home with a high 254 game for a 1914 series.

Coupled with yesterday's subtotal of 3952, Zulmazran was ecstatic with his combined total of 5866 earning him a bye into the top Super 16 Finals. The manner in which Zulmazran romped home from behind to edge out two established PBA all time greats, Pete Weber and current PBA ranked No.1, Walter Ray Williams Jr., would live long for Zulmazran to tell his grand children his achievement.

Both coach Holloway and Team manager, BC Cheah as well as other Malaysian bowlers were overwhelmed to witness the historic

phenomenon. After the third round, Zulmazran was swamped by his new found supporters and interviewed by bowlers' Journal, USA on his spectacular performance.

Overnight leader, Chris Barnes of Double Oak, Texas, finished where he left off, to top the round with 6097, just 3 pins ahead of Danny Wiseman of Baltimore in second with 6094. Finn and last year's Singapore Open champion, Mika Koiveniemi of Hartland, Mich., retained third spot with 6038.

Steve Harman, Dino Castillo, Todd Brook and Sean Rash all earned automatic berths in the Super 16 from fourth to seventh positions whilst the final eighth spot went to Zulmazran Zulkifli. Positions 9 to 40 would contest for the remaining 8 spots in the Super 16 in the next two rounds of Best of 7 games.

Photos by B.C. Cheah, MTBC.

20th February, Indianapolis: Malaysia's Zulmazran Zulkifli continued his fine run in the second block of 9 games at the pro circuit Denny's World Championship 2008 to finish fifth and kept in touch with leader, Chris Barnes of USA.

After a gruelling first block debut yesterday, Zulmazran accelerated his pace and stayed focus with confidence to repeat his versatility. Unperturbed by the freezing atmosphere, the 24-year-old gave another polished display of prowess in reeling 183, 210, 191, 201, 225, 279, 196, 212 and 209 for a respectable 1906 series.

The cumulative scores of 2046 and 1906 resulted in 3952 and earned him a spot higher from sixth overnight to fifth place on combined squad plus an automatic qualification into the next round.

American PBA Pro bowlers maintained the proceeding by securing the top 3 positions with Chris Barnes of Double Oak, Texas leading the field with 4061 combined total. Danny Wiseman of Baltimore came in second with 4037 aggregate whilst Finn Mika Kolvuniemi of Hartland, Mich. was placed third on 4021 total.

Other Malaysians could not capitalised on their lines' versatility, thus ending their maiden PBA Pro Tour campaign. Aaron Kong ended in 92nd position with 3615, Adrian Ang 95th with 3606, Alex Liew 108th with 3562, Mohd Noer Said 111th with 3549 and Daniel Lim 127th with 3508.

The 25% of the field (Top 57) will bowl another 9 games with the Top 8 automatically qualifying for the Super 16 while the remaining 32 will proceed to the knockout stage (best of 7 games). The Top 8 winners will join the Top 8 in the Super 16 round.

The third block of 9 games will be contested at 9:00am tomorrow (Thursday, 21st February).

Photos by B.C. Cheah, MTBC.

19th February, Indianapolis: Team Malaysia had a dream start competing in the pro circuit Denny's World Championship at Woodland Bowl Tuesday morning as Zulmazran Zulkifli impressed with a third place finish in the first round of 9 games in Squad A.

On a fresh snow white morning, Team Malaysia couldn’t asked for a better dream start than to watch young Malaysian, Zulmazran Zulkifli surging to the top 3 positions after a gruelling first block of 9 games. The 23-year-old Zulmazran won the accolades from the capacity crowd by putting up a scintillating performance, much to the delight of the admiring audience.

Zulmazran made heads turned when he registered the lines of 234, 196, 231, 211, 238, 224, 186, 279 and 247 for an impressive 2046 total, averaging 227.33. Zulmazran also earned the honor of being the best ranked non-PBA bowlers in Squad A, only 12 pins behind PBA Pro leader, Tom Daugherty of USA on 2058. In second position was another PBA Pro bowler, Michael Fagan of New York with 2049 total.

Bowling for the first time on American soil, youngster, Adrian Ang gave a creditable account of himself after being placed 24th after the 8th game, but dropped to 34th place after suffering a hiccup with 4 spilt frames for a poor 168 on 9th game. Ang knocked down 224, 176, 193, 208, 220, 213, 201, 247 and 168 for a 1850 total.

Southpaw, Alex Liew gave a par performance with lines of 202, 176, 199, 217, 193, 185, 223, 201 and 207 for a 1803 aggregate for 53rd position while Aaron Kong recuperating from food poisoning on the day of arrival, bowled 186, 227, 169, 193, 212, 200, 196, 172 and 189 for a 1744 total to finish 66th position.

Daniel Lim could not lift up his game plan and had to settle for 72nd place with 222, 158, 188, 213, 191, 199, 181, 181 with 186 for a 1719 series ahead of Mohd Noer Said, who ended up in 73rd place, reeling 193, 199, 179, 195, 201, 189, 168, 232 and 160 for a 1716 total.

The second block of 9 games for Squad A will resume tomorrow, Wednesday February 20 at 4:30 pm local time where the top 57 bowlers out of the combined 229 participants shall proceed to the next round.

Photos by B.C. Cheah, MTBC.

18th February, Indianapolis: The Malaysian National Elite squad will be hoping to make an impact when they compete in the pro circuit Denny's World Championship 2008 for the first time on Wednesday at Woodland Bowl.

The team which comprises of Aaron Kong, Adrian Ang, Alex Liew, Daniel Lim, Mohd Noer Said and Zulmazran Zulkifli, have arrived safely in Indianapolis, USA in the wee hours of Sunday 17 February.

Greeting their arrival with a chilly -2 degrees Celcius, the team were very fortunate to secure the warm hospitality and services of our fellow Buffalo-based Malaysians, Sherene P Milizia, her husband, Pete and her sister, Sharon Cheah to receive them upon their arrival at the airport.

Sherene, daugther of team manager, B.C. Cheah, was instrumental in helping out to collect their rented minivan much earlier as the car rental office would be closed by the time of their arrival.

By mid-day, Cheah and Alex Liew drove south to the airport to receive Holloway Cheah and Foong Tak Meng, who flew in from snow-stormed Milwaukee after attending the USBC coaching certification course for the last five days.

National Coach, Holloway Cheah was generally satisfied with the men's run-in on the lane conditions. Likewise, the bowlers responded with positive confidence when asked to comment on their practice session.

"We are the only Asian country with a big number of bowlers competing in the Denny's World Championship. We were given a warm welcome. In fact, the Americans are excited about our participation in the pro circuit," said Holloway.

"I just hope our men bowlers can adapt. The weather is very cold and there is heavy snowing outside. They have arrived here after a long journey. It is important to settle down quickly. Hopefully, this will be a good exposure and training ground for our men bowlers.

Holloway is hoping that the tournament would help the men to gauge where they stand among the professionals. This year, the pro bowlers are eligible to compete for the first time in the World Championships for men in Thailand in August.

The bowlers later that day, took to the lanes at 4:00 pm for an hour of Official practice. Prior to that, a briefing session was conducted by PBA Pro Tour coordinator on the Do's and Don'ts of the championships.

The Malaysians will commence their first taste of professional PBA Pro Tour tomorrow, Tuesday February 19, bowling 9 games at 9:00 am in Squad A and would bowl another 9 games on Wednesday February 20 at 4:30 pm, competing against a field of 230 Pro-Am participants.

After 18 games, the top 25% of field would proceed to bowl another 9 games on Thursday February 21 at 09:00 am to decide the top 40 bowlers with the Top 8 bowlers automatically advancing to the Super 16. The remaining 32 bowlers would compete in the knock-out Round of 32, best of 7 games' format at 6:00 pm.

Friday February 22 would feature - 9:00 am: Round of 16 (Best of 7 games); 2:00 pm: Super 16 (Best of 7 games) and 7:00 pm: Round of 8 (Best of 7 games). The Super 16 consist of the top 8 bowlers after 27 games of Qualifying, and 8 winners from the Round of 16. On Saturday February 23 - PBA Pro-Am day and Sunday February 24 - Finals on Live ESPN TV. Live scores will be available at www.bowl.com.

Photos by B.C. Cheah, MTBC.