Bowling: Shayna Ng wins Hong Kong Open Masters

Contributed by Terence Yaw

Hong Kong, Sunday, July 17, 2011 — Shayna Ng of Singapore won the Women’s Open Masters stepladder finals at the 37th Hong Kong International Open.

“I knew that as a top seed, I would have two matches to beat my opponent so I just went all out and took my chances,” said the 21-year-old Shayna, who won the Singles silver and Trios gold medal at the Guangzhou Asian Games last year.

“I’ve been close on many occasions but have always ended up second or third. I’m glad I’ve finally landed my first international title. The victory would boost my chances of getting selected for this year’s World Women Championship which will be held here,” added Shayna.

Hong Kong’s Zoe Tam Shun Yee prevented a Singapore clean sweep of the Women’s Open Masters finals when the fifth seed advanced all the way to the title match.

Zoe eliminated fourth seed and compatriot, Joey Yip, and sixth seed, Jazreel Tan of Singapore, 245-178-217, to face two other Singaporeans in the next match. She ousted second seed, Cherie Tan and third seed, Geraldine Ng, 222-196-180 to face the top seed, Shayna Ng of Singapore.

But in the title match, Zoe ran out of steam going down to the Singaporean, 158-227 to settle for first runner-up.

Shayna brought home 268 and 290 in her final two games in the earlier Round 2 finals to edge teammate and front-runner, Cherie Tan for pole position with 2254. Cherie ended up in second with 2243 after leading most of the way.

Geraldine, who almost shot the tournament’s third perfect game, had 289 in the sixth game and 267 in her final game to snatch third with 2226. Hong Kong’s Joey Yip and Zoe Tam finished fourth and fifth with 2154 and 2145.

A fourth Singaporean and seeded No. 1 in the qualifying rounds, made the top 6 stepladder cut in sixth with 2141. All the four Indonesian women, who occupied the top 4 positions in Round 1, failed to make the cut.

Shayna won HK$26,000 (approx. US$3,360) while Zoe Tam settled for HK$14,000. Cherie Tan, who dropped to third after the stepladder finals, took home HK$7,000.

American PBA pro, Robert Smith, captured his second title this year with victory in the men’s category.

The victory for Robert Smith did not come easy as he had to strike in the ninth and tenth frame to beat No. 3 seed and challenger, Shaker Al Hassan of UAE, 216-208 to win his second Asian title this year.

An opened frame in the first was not an ideal start for Smith but the American downed a double in the third and fourth frames to cover his opened frame as Shaker got a double strike in the fourth and fifth frames to take a slender 2 pin lead.

Smith struck first in the eighth and ninth frames to move ahead and forcing the Emirati to double up to level things. Apparently luck was not on Shaker’s side when he failed to strike after making seemingly perfect pocket shots.

Another strike in the tenth frame allowed Smith to seal the victory and take the coveted title. Shaker also had a strike in the ninth frame and had the left-hander struck in the tenth frame, it would have been a tighter finish which could possibly force a sudden-death decider.

“I haven’t been bowling a lot since I had a lot of coaching programs going on here in Hong Kong and to have qualified and shot a perfect game in the process was a bit of a surprise,” said Smith, who won this year’s Euromed-Storm Masters title back in February.

“Having skipped the first round, I had to work a lot harder to reach the stepladder finals facing a stronger field. I’m happy for what I have achieved so far this year.”

Shaker had earlier cruised into the finals by easily beating No. 2 seed, Annop Arromsaranon of Thailand and winner of the first match and compatriot, Sayed Al Hashemi, 220-156-158.

Sayed edged two Hong Kong stepladder finalists, No. 5 seed Eric Tseng and No. 6 seed, Michael Tsang, 223-222-200 in the first match. Smith pocketted HK$55,000 (approx. US$7,000) for the win while Shaker settled for HK$22,000 (approx. US$2,830) and Annop HK$14,000 (approx. US$1,800).

The champion ended the Round 2 finals with a total of 2229, 22 pins ahead of Annop in second with 2207. Shaker finished third with 2192 followed by Sayed fourth with 2183. Eric and Michael made the stepladder finals in fifth and sixth positions with 2167 and 2139.