Impressice Show by Jason on Day 1 of 36th Singapore Open
25th October 2003National bowler Jason Yeong Nathan outshined his older teammates by bowling an impressive four-game series of 945 (236 average) to lead all qualifiers on day one of the 36th Singapore Open.
The Ngee Ann Polytechnic student adapted well to the lane conditions at Victor’s Superbowl and scored 259, 236, 238 and 212 during the afternoon session. Shaun Ng, Singapore’s representative to the recent 39th AMF World Cup, was 66 pins behind in second with a 879 series, while spinner David Wong notched up a 867 series.
Veteran Sam Goh, who last won the Singapore Open in 1986, is currently fourth with 866, while national bowling captain Remy Ong is at 865.
“It was a decent start for me,” said Ong, whose last win came almost a year ago at the Santa Claus Open at Victor’s, the same venue for this year’s Singapore Open. “Hopefully, it will be enough for me to qualify for next Saturday’s Masters. I’ve always enjoyed bowling at this venue. But today is only the first day of a long tournament and anything can happen. We should be seeing some pretty high scores when the overseas bowlers arrive.”
Over in the women’s events, veteran Catherine Kang scored 858 to lead all qualifiers, while 2002 World Ranking Masters Jennifer Tan was close behind with 851 and Yap Seok Kim was third with 823.
The 36th Singapore Open offers some $100,000 in prize money with $20,000 and $5,000 going to the men and women’s champion respectively. No Singaporean bowler has won the men’s title since 1988 and there will be a new champion this year as Qatar’s Bandar Al-Shafi will not be returning to defend his title.
Some 300 bowlers from 14 countries are taking part and several gold medallists from last month’s 15th WTBA World Tenpin Bowling Championships are expected to arrive early next week.
An exceptionally strong women’s field is expected as Philippines will be sending their trios world champions of Lisa del Rosario, Liza Cultario and Cecilia Yap, while Malaysia will be sending its team world champions of Shalin Zukifli, Wendy Chai, Sharon Chai, Choy Poh Lai and Sarah Yap. Chai will be aiming to complete her hat trick of Singapore Open titles after winning the last two editions.
Other overseas bowlers expected in the men’s competition include Guam sensation Duane ‘Big Daddy’ Camacho (Far East Asian champion and World Championships singles bronze medallist), former American PBA bowler Purvis Granger, 2001 Asian number one Wu Siu Hong and other bowling superstars from the Aviva Asian Bowling Tour.
Qualification continues tomorrow and the Masters finals will be held on Nov 1 and 2. Admission to the 36th Singapore Open is free.