International bowlers seized the day in the men's bowling final at the Taipei 2002 Aviva Asian Tour yesterday, while Taiwan's ladies ruled the lanes in the women's section.
Malaysia's young gun Zulmazran Zulkifli imperiously swept aside Wang Tien-fu (王天福) of Taiwan in the semifinal before wrecking the hopes of Singapore's Tom Hahl in the final 214-171.
In the women's draw, Taiwan's Chu Yu-chieh (朱宥潔) squeaked past compatriot Ku Hui-chin (古惠琴) by two points in the semifinal before beating another Taiwan player, Su Shu-wen (蘇淑雯) in the final 205-158.
Chu also beat Zulkifli in the Champions Challenge final between the top two men and women, vanquishing the Malaysian 213-197.
A second-time winner of the event, Chu said she had a little luck that made all the difference as she came through with some below-par scores in the earlier rounds.
"I was so disappointed when I did badly at the Asian Games [where she returned without a medal], so this has made up for that a little."
"I know that bowling is suffering in the current economic
depression and things have been difficult, but I will keep trying until I make it," Chu said.
In his victory speech, Zulkifli thanked his brother for inspiring him, but added he would not be sharing his prize money with him.
Taiwan's top men and women players qualified for the event by finishing in the top 14 at the Chinese Taipei International Open earlier this month.
They were joined in the bowels of Sanchung, Taipei County, by other pro players from the Asian Bowling Tour. ESPN is one of the backers of the bowling competition, which got underway in Malaysia in March earlier this year and will conclude in Singapore in January.
There are seven Asian city stops on the tour leading to the Singapore Grand Slam finals, with the top-ranked 16 players from all the competitions eligible to compete.
At the US$26,000 event in Taipei yesterday, preliminary competition on the previous two days had sorted out the men from the boys to set up a 14-man final day.
Zulkifli had the eye of the tiger straight from the off, scoring 279 and sending Taiwan's Lin Han-chen (林漢成) home.
In the next round he only needed 214 to mop up against a lackluster Tu Chia-yuan (涂家源).
Then he rolled up his sleeves to score 226 and 48 in an extra frame and see off Wang Tien-fu in a tightly contested semifinal.
Against Hahl in the final, Zulkifli was clearly the better player on the day, giving the Singaporean no chance from the off and powering through the final frames.
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