Paranaque bowlers win masters finals
Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Purvis Granger and Cecilia Yap of Paranaque, the Philippines, kept their winning form at the 19th Asian Intercity Bowling Championship by clinching golds in the masters finals in their respective men's and women's division here on Sunday.
Granger and Yap were also winners of the singles events on the opening day of the tournament at the Jaya Ancol Bowl Center, northern Jakarta.
With a total score of 3,767, Granger defeated the overnight leader Zulmazran Zulkifli of Shah Alam, Malaysia, who finished in second place with 3,726.
Lee Tae Ju of Daegu, South Korea, was third with 3,640 pins.
"I could focus on my bowl today. I did not look at how other players bowled," Granger said after the match.
"Yesterday was different as my focus was split between my throw and the scoring board."
Granger braved an injury to his right finger to keep himself in contention, notching pins above 200 in each of the eight games: 203, 224, 245, 213, 258, 258, 234, 248.
On the opposite side, Zulmazran faltered twice from eight games: 215, 190, 233, 252, 188, 224, 258, 236.
Local hopeful Ryan Lalisang, who played for Jakarta, languished in seventh place with 3,565.
In the women's division, Cecilia Yap brushed her rivals aside with a total score of 2,633, followed by her compatriot Liza Clutario with 3,421.
Jakarta bowler Putty Armein was in third place with 3,312, while fellow Indonesian Lily Suhaimi dropped from the top to fourth place with 3,305.
"This year is better for me as I have won a total of four golds (singles, doubles, masters and all events), while last year I only won one gold."
Meanwhile, Putty, who got three silvers from singles, doubles and all events and two bronzes from four-team and masters said she had been confident when she suffered an abrupt lapse in the last few games.
"I bowled better today that gave me the bronze," she said. "But I knew that I could have been better in the singles and all events to win golds."
In the singles, Putty had been in charge in the scoring up to game five before she threw away the lead with a poor 174 in the last game and ended 18 pins behind champion Yap in the final standings.
Overall, Paranaque won six gold, three silver and a bronze medal, followed by Jakarta with two gold, three silver and three bronze. Hong Kong finished in third place with one gold, two silver and four bronze.