RI teen wins Grade B at Indonesia Open Bowling Championship

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesian teenager Raniia AN won on Thursday the Women's Grade B Masters final of the second Indonesia Open Bowling Tenpin Championship, changing the lot of local bowlers, from possible failure to an international title at home.

The 14-year-old student Raniia scored 2,254 points in a 12-game series -- held at the Jaya Ancol Bowling Center -- to grab the Rp 4 million (US$440) winning prize of the tournament.

Gina Lim of Singapore took second place with 2,227 points to win a prize of Rp 2.5 million, while Indonesian Yani Dody grabbed third with 2,176 points, and brought home Rp 1.25 million.

Women competing in Grade B have an average score of 170 per game and below. Each game consists of 10 frames.

"Well I threw badly in the early games. It was a mess, but I kept telling myself to improve my throw. Finally, I managed to do it," she said after her victory.

After scoring low -- under 150 points -- in the first two games, Raniia scored 202 in game seven, 225 in game eight, 213 in game nine, 152 in game ten, 181 in game 11 and 220 in the final game.

Earlier on Wednesday, Raniia, who is a member of the Jaya Ancol Bowling Club, also played for the Women's Grade A Masters finals and Junior finals, but she failed to win a title.

"I tried to play in Grade A, and my scores were good enough to reach sixth place. In the Junior category, I lost as I was so weary after playing in Grade A early in the morning," she said.

"But, I was quite confident of winning Grade B," she added.

Earlier on Wednesday evening, two Korean bowlers Jun Jin O and Seo Sang Cheon -- members of the Korea Bucheon College Team -- took first and second places respectively in the Men's Grade A Masters finals.

Third place was taken by Singaporean Rick Tan Ch.

Jun scored 2,706 to win the grade and brought home Rp 10 million, while Seo made 2,595 points to become the runner-up with a prize of Rp 5 million.

Rick scored 2,521 for third place and won Rp 3 million.

Indonesian bowlers were simply outclassed by their opponents in this category, with Herman Filda taking ninth place and Tanjung, tenth.

"We also won on Wednesday evening. I was glad about that," Korean coach Oh Youn Seok said on Thursday.

Korea had also taken first place in the Women's Grade A finals, Thailand grabbed first place in the Boys' Masters finals and Malaysia won the Girls' Masters finals.

The event will reach its peak on the weekend, as the last round of the prestigious Men's and Women's Open Masters finals will be held on Friday, and the Asian Bowling Federation (ABF) tour will be held on Saturday and Sunday at the same venue.