Lily leads at Masters finals of Asian cities bowl championship

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Former national team bowler Lily Suhaimi led in the women's first block Masters finals of the 19th Asian Intercity Bowling Championship while Zulmazran Zulkifli of Shah Alam, Malaysia took charge in the men's division.

The 40-year-old Lily scored a total 1,724 from eight games, at the Jaya Ancol Bowl Center, leading by 27 pins ahead of second place Liza Clutario of Paranaque, Philippines.

"Today I bowled well because I put a lot of concentration and focus into my game," Lily, who plays for the Thousands Islands team, based off the northern coast of Jakarta, said.

"I hope I can carry over in tomorrow's crucial second block," said the doubles gold medalist at the 2003 championship in Paranaque, Philippines.

Lily's teammate Sheanny Gunawan took third place with 1,650 while Indonesian hopeful Putty Armein of Jakarta was fourth with 1,644.

Cecilia Yap of Paranaque, who won the women's singles and doubles competition on the previous days, finished fifth with 1,642.

Meanwhile, men's singles champion and Masters defending champion, Purvis Granger of Paranaque took charge early in the first half of the 8-game block but soon found Malaysian bowlers hot on their heels.

Zulmazran Zulkifli and Daniel Lim of Shah Alam took the top two positions with the former posting an incredible 232 points in the final game to top the field with a total of 1880 followed by Daniel Lim with 1857.

"I was hitting the pocket most of the time but didn't get enough carry...but when I switched to my AMF Triumph TNT after the fourth game, almost all my shots were perfect," said the 22- year-old leader.

"I know what I need to do in the first four games and the second four games tomorrow. I hope I can do well.

Doubles silver medalist Wu Siu Hong of Hong Kong shared third spot with pace-setter Granger with the identical total of 1814.

Dominanat Daegu's finalists, Lee Tae Ju and Jeong Jin Ho could only finish fifth and sixth, respectively, with 1804 and 1783.

The women and men will battle it out in another 8 games on Sunday, and at the end of the second block the top 3 will make the cut for the stepladder finals.

A total of 114 men and women from seventeen cities from all over Asia are competing in this 19th Asian Intercity Bowling Championship hosted for the first time by Jakarta.