Ryan, Putty stopped in quarters in ABF tourney

Moch. N. Kurniawan,. The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The quarterfinal round of the US$75,000 Asian Bowling Federation (ABF) Tournament of Champions on Saturday saw an anticlimactic performance by Indonesian Ryan Lalisang along with his countrywoman Putty Armein.

Malaysia, in the meantime, is now already assured of a title in the women's division with its four players advancing to the semifinals.

Ryan, who dominated the preceding round-robin matches, was defeated 224-238 points by Joonee Gatchalian of the Philippines in the knockout stage at the Jaya Ancol Bowling Center in North Jakarta, while Putty, the ABF Tour's top-ranked player, lost 224- 234 to Wendy Chai of Malaysia.

Ryan's downfall was mostly attributable to his shaky run in the fourth of ten frames.

"I made one mistake in frame four. It left me with a spare, which I failed to overcome ...I was punished by that mistake," said Ryan, who had to be content with a cash prize of $1,500 as a quarterfinalist.

Asian number one Ahmed Shaheen of Qatar also suffered an upset 163-258 loss to Alex Liew of Malaysia.

In the other matches, Wu Siu Hong of Hongkong defeated Malaysian Daniel Lim 213-157 and Malaysian Adrian Ang outclassed Shaker Al Hassan of the United Arab Emirates 226-177.

Sunday's semifinals are scheduled for 2 p.m., with Gatchalian to take on Alex and Adrian to face Wu. The winners will continue to the final that same day.

In the women's division, after bowling well in the first six frames, Putty faltered in the remaining five, forcing her to bury her hopes for a home victory.

"I was unlucky in frame seven when I split the pins. My opponent proved to be better than me today," said Putty, who pocketed $800.

Malaysia took all four places in the semifinals, with Sarah Yap, Shalin Zulkifli and Esther Cheah prevailing over their respective opponents.

Sarah Yap defeated Vanessa Fung of Hong Kong 182-165; Asian number one Shalin won 206-193 over Irene Garcia Benitez of the Philippines and Esther Cheah outclassed Liza Del Rosario of the Philippines 225-204.

The men's champion is entitled to $20,000, while the women's champion takes home $10,000.