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Sports

Wednesday November 18, 2009

Korean Yong-kyu tops standings with 93-pin lead over Swede Larsen

By SHAMSHUL FITRI

BOWLING WORLD CUP
MALACCA

NATIONAL chief coach Holloway Cheah has warned that South Korean bowlers are the force to be reckoned with. And Choi Yong-kyu proved him right yesterday.

The 24-year-old topped the men’s standings after the second block of eight games in the QubicaAMF World Cup at the Malacca International Bowling Centre with a commanding total of 3,666 – a 93-pin lead over Martin Larsen of Sweden.

Yong-kyu, who won the trios gold medal in the men’s world championships in Thailand last year, chalked up a total of 1,788 (224-222-201-236-241-214-228-222) in the second block.

The South Korean came back from behind after trailing Larsen in the first four games. The Swede had lines of 246-227-243-236 but a hiccup in the fifth game (189) proved costly for Larsen and it allowed Yong-kyu to move up the ladder.

Inconsistency then hampered Larsen’s hope to regain the top spot. He scored 225-188-181 for 1,735 pinfalls and a two-day total of 3,573.

“I just lost my momentum in the last few games.

“But the tournament is only halfway done, so there is still much more to come,” said Larsen, who attributed his poor form to a five-minute electrical failure during his seventh game.

Yong-kyu, meanwhile, is determined to maintain his top spot in the third block before going into the knockout stages later tonight.

“Everything is good and I’m very happy today to be on top,” he said.

Malaysia’s Zulmazran Zulkifli received more cheers yesterday as he climbed to third place with a two-day total of 3,534. The Malaysian Open champion posted 1,770 yesterday with lines of 173-246-235-214-233-233-204-232.

Overnight leader Michael Schmidt of Canada fell to ninth place after downing 1,533 for 16-game total of 3,413. American pro Walter Ray Williams Jr. continued with his poor run in 34th place on 3,265.

In the women’s competition, Zara Giles of England remained at the top, posting 1,687 for a two-day score of 3,492.

Still in second spot is Russia’s Evgenia Tsarkovawith on 3,471 while Caroline Lagrange of Canada moved up to third place from 10th after chalking up a second-block score of 1,805 for a total of 3,459.

“I didn’t feel quite settled at the beginning of the block, resulting in a poor 150 score in the third game,” said Giles, who finished third in last year’s championships in Mexico.

“The lanes were a bit drier today, so I had to make adjustments to my game.”

Malaysia’s Siti Safiyah Amirah Abdul Rahman dropped one rung to ninth spot, posting a total of 1,685 yesterday for a two-day score of 3,348.

Bowlers will continue with another block of eight games today before the field is trimmed to the top eight in the night.

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