21 September, Tamuning: Athletes from Paranaque, Taipei, Yigo, and Subang Jaya captured the Women, Men, Men Senior, and Women Senior Singles gold medals at the 38th Asian Intercity Bowling Championships on Monday.
Paranaque’s Maria Lourdes Arles clinched the Women’s Singles gold medal after defeating teammate and third seed Dyan Arcel Coronacion, 2–0 (202–170, 193–167), in an all‑Paranaque final.
Coronacion earned the silver after ousting second seed Wang Ya Ting of Taichung, 2–0 (203–198, 212–203), in the semi-finals.
Arles advanced to the final by striking in a one‑ball roll‑off after tying 1–1 (184–192, 193–167) against Lin Shi Han of Taichung. Both Wang and Lin received bronze medals.
In the four‑game qualifying round, Arles topped the field with 819, followed by Wang (803), Coronacion (775), and Lin (757) securing the final semi-final berth.
Fourth seed Tsai Yu Shuo of Taichung captured the Men’s Singles gold after a dramatic one‑ball roll‑off in the final. His challenger, second seed Aldric Andreo Bathan of Paranaque, sent his roll-off attempt into the gutter, while Tsai struck to secure victory.
Both finalists had tied 1–1 (258–180, 177–174), forcing the decisive roll-off.
Tsai also needed a strike in a one‑ball tie-breaker during the semi-final against top seed Jake Cheng Hsing‑Yueh of Taipei, after splitting their matches (178–198, 221–147). Cheng’s nine pin allowed Tsai to advance.
Bathan reached the final by striking in his semi-final tie-breaker against teammate Jeffrey Carabeo, who rolled a nine pin after their 1–1 draw (193–174, 177–205).
Bathan settled for silver, while Cheng and Carabeo earned bronze medals.
Manny Tagle Jr. of Yigo secured the Men Senior Singles gold medal after defeating top seed Ng Yew Hup of Subang Jaya in yet another one‑ball tie-breaker. Tagle rolled a nine pin against Ng’s six pin after splitting their matches (201–172, 195–201).
Tagle earlier eliminated third seed Sam Lam of New Territories with a nine pin to Lam’s three in their semi-final tie-breaker.
Ng advanced to the final by defeating fourth seed Rick Torres of Dededo, 2–0 (155–132, 195–194). Ng took silver, while Lam and Torres earned bronze medals.
Second seed Poziah Atan delivered Subang Jaya’s first gold medal of the championship with a 2–0 victory (206–191, 191–185) over fourth seed Gigie Maria Rhoda Laurel of Pasay in the Women Senior Singles final.
Atan reached the final by defeating third seed Sheila Bangs of Dededo, 2–0 (181–133, 140–138). Laurel advanced after eliminating top seed Datin Rakiah Ali of Subang Jaya in a one‑ball tie-breaker, striking against Rakiah’s nine pin after splitting their matches (175–169, 197–132).
Laurel earned silver, while Datin Rakiah and Bangs received bronze medals.
Earlier, Datin Rakiah topped the four‑game preliminaries with 792, followed by Atan (744), Bangs (727), and Laurel (710) completing the top four.
AIBC Council Members Mr. Mohd Farid Khalid and Mr. Mervyn Foo presented medals to the winners across all four Singles divisions.
Competition now shifts to the Doubles events, with the Men and Men Senior divisions beginning their preliminaries tomorrow at 10:00 AM local time.
The top four Men Doubles pairs and top four Men Senior Doubles pairs will advance to the Baker-style medal rounds on 23 September. Women and Women Senior Doubles qualifying will also take place on 23 September, with the top four pairs in each division progressing immediately to their medal rounds.
The Team of Four event will be contested on 24–25 September.
Story and photos courtesy of Terence Yaw in Tamuning, Guam
Guam Bowling 