MAIDEN WIN FOR EVELYN, DINO
PIPS LOCAL FAVOURITE REMY AT THE WIRE
SINGAPORE, 2 November 2003
(7pm) – Singapore’s Evelyn Chan and Remy Ong gave 600 plus local supporters
plenty to cheer on the final day of the 36th Singapore Open with
their heartwarming performances at Victor’s Superbowl
Chan, 27, confidently
disposed of teammate Jennifer Tan 204-193 to win her first international title,
while Asian Games champion Ong finished sixth in the Masters finals, climbed up
the step-ladder twice and pushed world trios champion Dino Castillo to two
games, before settling for the $8,000 runner-up cheque.
Women’s champion Chan, who
injured her lower back in Thursday’s Masters qualifiers, looked in control
throughout the day. She started the morning’s second block of 8 games in the
Masters finals with a 109pin lead and finished her series with a 79 pins margin.
In the stepladder final against teammate Tan, Chan was never troubled despite
playing with a heavily strapped back.
“No doubt, this was only my
third step-ladder final,” said Chan, who is only in her first full season on the
Singapore national team. “But I’m playing on home ground and in front of the
home fans, so I only had to worry about my bowling and not the crowd. Although I
was away from serious competitive bowling for the last five years, I had been
training on my own with Jack Wong. I also have to thank my Chinese physician who
helped me with my back injury.”
Chan is the first
Singaporean to lift the women’s title since Jesmine Ho in 1998 and her
well-deserved win makes her $5,000 richer. Her win was all the more significant
as one-third of the top 30 women Masters qualifiers were either current or
former World Champions. World Championships runner-up and current Asian number
one Liz Clutario only managed to finish sixth, while world trios champions like
Liza Del Rosario and Cecilia Yap were 10th and 16th
respectively. World doubles champion Kirsten Penny finished a poor 26th,
Asian Games champion Shalin Zukifli was only 18th position, while and
two-time defending champion Wendy Chai was a distant 22nd.
Singapore bowling captain
Ong nearly become the first Singaporean to win the men’s title since 1988. He
sneaked into the stepladder finals in sixth position, but he managed a narrow
win over Andrew Frawley (173) and Tom Hahl (152) with a 178 showing to move up
the step-ladder. Roared on by the supportive home crowd, Ong (202) managed to
win another tight battle in the next match against Korea’s Lee Sung Il (182) and
Taiwanese Kao Hai Yuan (193).
In the nailing final, Ong
started game one with a 1-3-7 split and trailed throughout to finish with a 196.
Castillo needed just a spare on the tenth frame to seal victory, but a
disastrous 2-10 split left him with a frustrating 193 and the match went into a
second game decider. With the boisterous crowd edging him on, Ong went in for
the kill and was up 118-99 halfway through the second game. But a disastrous
4-7-10 split on frame 8 ended Ong’s run and Castillo ended the match with a
turkey to seal the victory 228-183.
“I felt a bit down after
losing the first game,” said Castillo who walked away with a $20,000 winners
cheque on his first visit to Singapore. “I thought I hit a good shot in the last
frame in game one, but I must have caught an oil spot. My friends really kept me
going in the second game and it’s never easy playing against the hometown
favourite.”
“Finishing second is like
winning,” said Ong, who last victory came exactly a year ago at this same
bowling center. “There was really nothing much for lefties today and I was the
top lefthander in this tournament. I finished second five times before and that
was quite a good run for me, so I really don’t mind finishing second. “
|
FINAL RESULTS |
|
MEN'S STEP-LADDER FINAL |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
MATCH 1 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
MATCH 2 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
TOM HAHL (SIN) |
152 |
|
|
LEE SUNG LI (KOR) |
182 |
|
|
|
MATCH 3 |
MATCH 4 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
ANDREW FRAWLEY (AUST) |
173 |
|
|
REMY ONG |
202 |
|
|
REMY ONG |
196 |
183 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
REMY ONG (SIN) |
178 |
|
|
KAO HAI YUAN (TPE) |
193 |
|
|
|
|
|
228 |
|
CHAMPION |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
DINO CASTILLO (USA) |
193 |
228 |
|
|
DINO CASTILLO (USA) |
|
FINAL RESULTS AFTER STEP LADDER |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
DINO CASTILLO (USA) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2 |
REMY ONG (SIN) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
3 |
KAO HAI YUAN (TPE) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
4 |
LEE SUNG LI (KOR) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
5 |
TOM HAHL (SIN) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
6 |
ANDREW FRAWLEY (AUST) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
WOMEN'S STEP-LADDER FINAL |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
MATCH 1 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
KIM EUN JUNG (KOR) |
190 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
CHU YU CHIEH (TPE) |
222 |
|
|
CHU YU CHIEH (TPE) |
158 |
|
|
|
MATCH 3 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
LIZA CLUTARIO (PHI) |
201 |
|
|
|
202 |
|
|
JENNIFER TAN (SIN) |
193 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
PAN YU FEN (TPE) |
180 |
|
|
EVELYN CHAN (SIN) |
204 |
|
|
|
CHAMPION |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
EVELYN CHAN (SIN) |
|
FINAL RESULTS AFTER STEP LADDER |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
EVELYN CHAN (SIN) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2 |
JENNIFER TAN (SIN) | | 
