13th May, Manila: Malaysia's Alex Liew missed the cut for the stepladder finals when he finished fifth in the Stage 3 finals of the 6th Euro-Med Storm International Masters Challenge on Tuesday evening.

The only Malaysian left in the running after the earlier Stage 2 semi-finals, Alex Liew amassed a total of 1832 to finish fifth. Fil-Am Raymond Ledesma topped the semi with a total of 1878 followed by two Koreans, Kim Jun Young and Gu Yong Jin in second and third.

World Ranking Masters runner-up, Zulmazran Zulkifli's run came to an end when he could only managed a 12th place finish with 1758 while Aaron Kong ended up in 18th despite rolling an impressive 1649 and 206 average.

In the Stage 3 finals, Alex Liew was fourth after the seventh game but lost the final position round match against Korea's Gu Yong Jin to slid down to fifth while fifth-seed, Joonee Gatchalian's win over Korea's Oh Tae Hung elevated the Filipino into fourth.

UAE's Shaker Al-Hassan, who squeezed into the Top 8 finals in eighth, was unstoppable in the finals ending with 1837 to advance into the stepladder finals as topseed. Gu retained second while Raymond Ledesma and Gatchalian made up the top 4 into the stepladder.

Shaker set the lanes at Paeng's Midtown Bowl on fire and the local crowd in silence when he stepped up to shoot his 12th frame after rolling 11 consecutive strikes in the title match against fourth-seed and challenger, Joonee Gatchalian.

A stubborn pin 7 prevented Shaker from finishing in style with a perfect game en-route to claiming his third international title. Fresh from his victory in the Saudi Open in Riyadh where he won US$30,000, Shaker rolled 299 to Gatchalian's 205 in an all-lefty finals to win 1 million pesos (US$23,000).

Gatchalian finished second to take home 500,000 pesos (US$12,500). The Filipino reached the finals by outclassing third-seed and Stage 2 leader, Fil-Am Raymond Ledesma, 249-180 in the first stepladder match.

The runner-up was equally impressive by ousting Korea's KPBA Gu Yong Jin, 269-225 in the second match before being over-powered by Shaker in the title match. It was a sweet and lucky chance for Shaker as he had barely made the Top 8 cut with 1777 edging KPBA's Kim Young Pil by 4 pins. Detailed scores: Stepladder Finals and Stage 3 Finals.

Photos by Yap Kok Wee, Bowlmart.

12th May, Manila: Malaysian Aaron Kong, Alex Liew and Zumazran Zulkifli were still in the title contetion of the 6th Euro-Med Storm International Masters Challenge after finishing fourth, 13th and 17th to advance into the semi-final.

Daegu's Lee Tae Ju set a blistering pace with a 279 opening game and as he continued to trade the lead with fellow compatriot, Kim Jun Young for the lead, Malaysia's Aaron Kong kept close to the leaders with 220, 258, 195 and 193 in the first half of the 8-games quarter-final.

Lee went on to cruise to a comfortable lead to end the quarter-final with a total of 1919, 96 pins ahead of Kim in second with 1813. Hong Kong's Wu Siu Hong finished third 10 pins adrift on 1813.

Aaron's second half of 214, 218, 256 and 255 put him in contention for the title in fourth with 1809 followed by Kim Young Pil making up the top 5 with 1806. Day 4 top qualifier, Alex Liew finished 13th with 1752 while Zulmazran Zulkifli took 17th position joining Aaron in the top 24 cut.

Two other Malaysians perhaps were a bit unlucky missing the cut in 25th and 26th positions. Adrian Ang missed by 5 pins and Shalin Zulkifli by a further 3 pins. The final spot went to Korea's An Hyun Lim who scored 1590 plus a handicap of 64 pins to total 1654.

MTBA's Joonee Gatchalian (1804), Korean's Shin Sung Hoon (1802), American Raymond Ledesma (1799), MTBA's Benshir Layoso (1796) and Saudi Yasser Abu AlReesh (1771) completed the top 10 from fifth to tenth positions respectively.

The top 24 advanced into the semi-final round in which they will bowl another 8 games. The top 8 at the end of semi-final will move into the finals. Detailed scores: Stage 1 Quarter-Final and Bevida-Storm Finals.

Photos by Yap Kok Wee, Bowlmart.

10th May, Manila: Malaysians Alex Liew and Adrian Ang stamped their mark to put their challenge for the title of the 6th Euro-Med Storm International Masters Challenge by taking up first and second Day 4 top qualifier.

Alex Liew, who made little impact in last week's 8th World Ranking Masters in Jakarta finishing only in 16th position, recounded with a vengence by setting the lanes at Paeng Midtown Bowl on fire.

Liew first shot 222, 237 and 204 for a 663 series in the 12.00 noon squad. The southpaw went onto the next squad at 1.00pm to opened with 217 and then fired all cylinders for 268 and 290 for a whopping 775 series.

His two best series of 663 and 775 gave the Malaysian a total of 1438 putting him firmly in pole position on Day 4 qualifying round. His teammate, Adrian Ang, who missed Day 3 top 3 position, bettered his score for a total of 1423 earning him second spot and thus assuring hime the automatic entry into the finals.

Korea's Kim Jun Young squeezed into third spot with 1398 from 725 and 673 series. Daniel Lim, who finished eighth yesterday with 1344, did not improve with 1337 although he ended up sixth today.

But his 1344 put him 29th overall and inside the top 48 to make the cut for the finals on May 12th. Shalin Zulkifli could not make any headway knocking down lower than yesterday's total. But her 1309 put the Malaysian in 39th overall.

Aaron Kong did not improve today but would advance to the finals in 28th overall with his best of two series total of 1378. Alex Liew, Adrian Ang and Kim Jun Young filled up the next three slots by being the top 3 qualifiers of Day 4. Detailed scores: Day 4 Qualifiers and Overall Qualifiers.

Photos by Terence Yaw.

9th May, Manila: World Ranking Masters first runnerup, Zulmazran Zulkifli put in a strong showing by finishing second on Day 4 of the 6th Euro-Med Storm International Masters Challenge behind Filipino, Paeng Nepomuceno at Paeng's Midtown Bowl.

After winning the Malaysian International Open in March, Zulmazran Zulkifli was unlucky to finish second in the 8th World Ranking Masters a month later when he went down to Finn Jari Ratia in the finals.

With a bagfull of confidence, Zulmazran took to the lanes at the 12.00 noon squad to shoot back-to-back 279 and 235 to end his first attempt with 793. At 8.00pm squad, the 24-year-old reeled off 224, 212 and 192 for a 628 series and a 6-game best series of 1421 which put him second behind leader, Paeng Nepomuceno of the Philippines.

Zulmazran's second place of Day 4 qualifying rounds gave hime an automatic entry intot he finals. Paeng's sizzling 1516 series from 756 and 760 also put him into the finals. Hong Kong's Wu Siu Hong finished third best with 1404 from 706 and 698 two best attempts.

Adrian Ang just missed the cut in fourth with 1392 from 755 and 637 two best series ahead of Daniel Lim, who amassed 640 and 704 for a total of 1344 to take up eighth. Aaron Kong managed 617 and 726 for a total of 1343 putting him in 11th.

Malaysia's only women and quarter-finalist in the World Ranking Masters, Shalin Zulkifli shot 696 and 606 for a total of 1302 to end up in 19th position. With two more days of qualifying, the 30-year-old Malaysian bowling icon will surely make the grade.

Meanwhile, the top three qualifiers of Day 1, Benshir Layoso, Joonee Gatchalian and Jeff Chan of Philippines, earned their automatic spots in the finals with 1429, 1419 and 1395. Deagu's Kim Hak Hyun, Lee Tae Ju of Korea and UAE's Fuaad Al-Mas, who chalked up 1420, 1401 and 1347 were Day 2's top 3 qualifiers.

Paeng, Zulmazran and Wu Siu Hong were Day 3's top 3 automatice qualifiers. Qualifying continues for the next two days before the finals on May 12th. Detailed scores: Day 3 Qualifiers and Overall Qualifiers

Photos by Terence Yaw.