Indonesians upbeat about Aviva finals

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Happy Soediyono and her Indonesian teammate in the men's division Ryan Lalisang have expressed confidence about their prospects in the grand slam final series of Asia's prestigious Aviva Asian Bowling Tour at the Safra Resort Bowl in Singapore, which started on Thursday.

"We are optimistic about the match. We will do our best and keep ourselves focused on the game," she said in a release here on Thursday.

The Singapore tenpin bowling tourney, which offers US$76,000 in cash prizes, is the final in the seven-series Asian bowling tour after stints in Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore and Hong Kong.

The tour provides a total of US$226,000 in prize money.

Happy, runner-up in the fourth series in Jakarta last October, is drawn against another 15 top Asian women bowlers in the grand slam.

Among the strong contenders are top seed Shalin Zulkifli and Wendy Chai of Malaysia, Cecilia Yap and Liza Del Rosario of the Philippines, and three bowlers from the host country -- Jennifer Tan, Evelyn Tan and Alice Tay.

In the men's group, Ryan is among the 18-strong list which includes American-born top bowler Purvis Granger of the Philippines, Wu Siu Hong of Hong Kong, Shaun Ng and Tom Hahl of Singapore, and Azidi Ameran of Malaysia.

The competition uses a round-robin format with the participants playing each other for two days to decide eight places in the quarterfinals in both the men's and women's divisions.

The quarterfinal, semifinal and final matches, which will be played using a knockout system, are scheduled to be broadcast live on ESPN STAR Sports on Jan. 17 and Jan. 18 at 1.30 p.m. Jakarta time.