Sharon strikes for All-Star lead

11/12/2002

SHARON Chai snatched the overnight lead from Yazlin Razlan in the girls' Open Division of the third Milo International Junior All-Stars
Championship at the Pyramid Megalanes in Bandar Sunway yesterday.
Malaysia's Sharon knocked down a total 877 pins in her first attempt in
the qualifying round.
Sharon, a semi-finalist at the AVIVA Asian Bowling Tour in Hong Kong
last week, was in good form to register lines of 253, 247, 175 and 202 to
lead Yazlin by 22 pins.
Esther Cheah of Selangor improved her score to 837 and is in the fourth
spot behind Yazlin and Tang Joh Six, followed by Christine Ong with 824 in fifth.
There were no change among the top-four positions in the Boys' Open
Division yesterday. Overnight leader Sean Hee of Selangor retained his top spot with 916 pins while the other three keglers also maintained their
positions.
Karry Chang of Sarawak (903), Mustafa Yassin from the National Squad
(899) and team-mate Jonathan Lim (894) kept their second to fourth
positions.
Australian Matthew Sofia knocked down 866 pins to set himself seventh
while Selangor's up-and-coming SportExcel Finals Graded winner Zaid Izlan was eighth with 851.
The Korean took to the lanes yesterday and Choi Bok-Eum scored 804 for
18th.
"A big contingent from Indonesia and Singapore arrived yesterday
afternoon and will take to the lanes tomorrow (today). We are expecting
more keglers to arrive in the next few days and the number could be more than the 300 which took part in the Championship last year," said
Malaysian Tenpin Bowling Congress secretary Sidney Tung yesterday.
Keglers from Singapore, Korea, Philippines, Indonesia and Hong Kong will pit their skills in the Third Edition from today.
"The qualifying rounds will end on Friday and the final will be held
over the weekend. In the Girls Open, defending champion Yaslia Razlan of Malaysia is the automatic qualifier to defend her crown," said Tung.
Meanwhile, Sidney also said that Penang will host the sixth Asian
Schools Championships on April 2-7.
"This will be the second time Malaysia will host the Championships. The
first was in Johor in 2000. Penang were handed the task when Australia and New Zealand declined to compete in Indonesia after the Bali bombing
incident.
"The Asian Bowling Federation (ABF) was on the hunt for another location and Malaysia accepted it," said Tung.
Top 10 results - Boys' Open: 1 Sean Hee (Sel) 916 pins, 2 Karry Chang
(Sar) 903, 3 Mustafa Yassin (Nat Squad) 899, 4 Jonathan Lim (Nat Squad) 894, 5 Ang Kean Joo (Sel) 887, 6 Eric Ang (Pg Megalanes) 879, 7 Matthew Sofia (Aus) 866, 8 Zaid Izlan (MTBC-NSC) 851, 9 Abdul Haffez (Sar) 848, 10 Aaron Chin (Nat Squad) 846.
Girls Open: 1 Sharon Chai (Nat Squad) 877, 2 Yazlin Razlan (Nat Squad)
855,3 Tang Joh Six (Nat Squad) 841, 4 Esther Cheah (Pramid ML) 837, 5 Christine Ong (Nat Squad) 824, 6 Zandra Aziela (Pyramid ML) 818, 7 Lim Jiachyi (MTBC-NSC) 808, 8 Sharon Koh (Pyramid ML) 786, 9 Hee Kar Foong (Sel) 757, 10 Vivien Khoo (Nat Squad).
(END)