Singaporean, Taiwanese rises to the occasion
27th May, Singapore: Top-seed Lee Yu-Wen of Singapore and
third-seed Huang Chiung-Yao of Chinese Taipei rose to the occasion
and crowned the 39th Singapore International Open Masters champions
after defeating their opponents in the stepladder finals at
Victor's Superbowl this evening.
National bowler, Lee Yu-Wen gave Singapore its second successive
victory when he edged challenger, Surasak Manuwong of Thailand,
197-174 in the final match. Lee captured the title following Jack
Wong's triumph last year.
With a series of strikes from the fifth to eight game, this 2005
Qatar Open champion had the upper edge in the title match while his
challenger, Surasak floundered. Both the finalists had a nervous
start with an open frame each and while the champion got going from
fifth frame, the Thai had another split in the fifth frame which
decided the match.
"The lanes were still fresh at the beginning, but I gradually got
into the groove. I'm very pleased to win my first Singapore
International Open especially to have done it against top
competitors from Asia," said the delighted Lee.
Lee Yu-Wen of Singapore, crowned the Men's champion
The second-seed, Surasak settled for second despite ousting
third-seed, Chester King of the Philippines and winner of the first
match, Mika Koivaniemi of Finland, 253-176-183 in the second match
to have a crack at the title.
In the women's division, top-seed and Manila SEA Games gold
medalist, Liza Clutario of the Philippines, failed to stop her
challenger, Huang Chiung Yao of Chinese Taipei, when forced into
the sudden-death decider after loosing the first match,
176-182.
The Filipino had no answer to the relentless determination shown by
the Taiwanese and found herself training after two splits in the
fifth and sixth frames when she failed to convert. With two double
strikes in the third-fourth and seventh-eighth frame, Huang crusied
to a convincing win.
Huang Chiung-Yao claiming the womens crown
"I was a little relaxed during the first game which almost gave
Clutario an opportunity to catch up. So when it came to the second
game, I had to work harder and kept telling myself that I could do
it," said Huang.
The champion earned the crack at the title after she knocked out
second-seed, Pan Yu-Fen and winner of the first match, Wang Yu-Ling
in an all-Taiwanese second match, 217-206-198 before defeating
Clutario in two matches.
Huang also gave Chinese Taipei its second successive victory
following the footsteps of her compatriot, Hung Shu-Chun, who
captured the same title last year. The Mens Open Masters champion
won the top prize of $25,000 while the Womens Open Masters
champion took home $5,000.
Other Results
http://www.abf-online.org/results/39thspore-res.htm
