Wu and Wendy win ABF tournament of champions

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Men's bowler Wu Siu Hong of Hong Kong and women's bowler Wendy Chai of Malaysia won the titles of the 2004 Asian Bowling Federation (ABF) Tournament of the Champions here on Sunday.

Wu defeated Joone Gatchalian of the Philippines 235-227, while Wendy overcame her teammate, teenager Esther Cheah 206-197 in the finals at the Jaya Ancol Bowling Center in North Jakarta.

"I was glad to win the final. It was a tight match," Wu said after the match.

Wu, who stopped Malaysian Adrian Ang 248-222 in the semifinals earlier in the day, took the top prize of US$20,000, while Gatchalian, who advanced to the final with a 236-223 win over Malaysian Alex Liew, pocketed $6,000 as runner up.

Meanwhile, Wendy had looked to lose her women's final match until, in frame ten, Esther made a blunder with a split.

Wendy also looked to stutter on the left lane, but her strong run on the right lane gave her the momentum to keep Esther at bay.

"I had problems on the left in the early frames, but bowled better on the right," said.

A title for a Malaysian player had already been sealed even before the final was played with four of the neighboring country's players making it to the semifinals.

Wendy and Esther secured their final berths with a 195-183 over Sarah Yap and a 234-175 over Shalin Zulkifli respectively.

Wendy took the top prize of $10,000 and Esther took home $4,000.

The four-day tournament of champions was the final of the seven-leg Asian bowling competition, featuring 18 men and 16 women.

Indonesia's contenders Ryan Lalisang and his female compatriot Putty Armein were stopped in the quarterfinals on Saturday while the other women's player Happy Soediyono had crashed out early.