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Friday November 20, 2009

Yong-kyu prevents a Canadian World Cup sweep

By SHAMSHUL FITRI

MALACCA: South Korea’s Choi Yong-kyu prevented Canada from winning both the men’s and women’s titles in the Qubica AMF Bowling World Cup at the Malacca International Bowling Centre yesterday.

Yong-kyu defeated Michael Schmidt in the step-ladder final after Caroline Lagrange had given Canada the women’s crown with victory over Zara Giles of England.

Yong-kyu, who won the trios gold medal in the men’s world championships in Thailand last year, scored a 236-173, 227-208 win over 2005 champion Schmidt in one of the most exciting matches in the tournament.

Schmidt had claimed a place in the step-ladder after moving up two rungs from fourth after the top-eight round-robin matches. He went on to deny Indonesia’s Ryan Lalisang a spot in the final, winning 202-180, 247-217.

But the phenomenal Korean, who was at the front of the pack after 16 games, stood firmly in Schmidt’s way.

“I was not pressured coming into the final even though I held the lead from Day 2 (Tuesday),” said Yong-kyu.

“I quickly found my lines during practice and just followed it. I always thought that I was going to win this tournament.”

His arrival in Malacca was a stroke of coincidence as the Korean Bowling Congress decided to name him to replace Korean pro Jin Seok-kong at the eleventh-hour. And Yong-kyu turned out to be outstanding, chalking up a perfect 300 in the 38th game.

“I didn’t put a lot of thought in doing a perfect game. But the lane conditions were favourable to me and I guess I was just lucky,” he said.

In the women’s competition, World Cup debutante Lagrange warded off the challenge from Giles before winning the final 189-194, 210-181, 218-211.

The 26-year-old Lagrange was third coming into the top-eight round and she finished as the leader, overtaking Giles, who dropped to third place behind Malaysia’s Siti Safiyah Amirah Abdul Rahman.

But Giles, who was third in the championships last year in Mexico, bounced back to beat Siti in the step-ladder stage to earn a shot at the title.

“As I woke up this morning, I told myself that I have a mission today, which is to be the top seed for the step-ladder stage. I’m glad that I managed to achieve my target,” said Lagrange, who is making a comeback to international tournaments after a two-year hiatus.

She has won two silver medals in the singles event of the Commonwealth championships in 2005 (Cyprus) and 2006 (Australia) and finished a creditable fifth in the 2007 World Ranking Masters in Florida.

“I was consistently travelling for competitions for the previous five years, so I decided to take a break,” said Lagrange.

“It a good start again for me as I want to keep on bowling. The Qatar Open will be up next for me next month and I will try to win more international titles next year.”

* Top-eight round (after 40 games)

Men: 1. Choi Yong-kyu (Kor) 9182, 2. Michael Schmidt (Can) 9062, 3. Ryan Lalisang (Ina) 8988, 4. Martin Larsen (Swe) 8964, 5. Walter Ray Williams Jr (Usa) 8919, 6. Zulmazran Zulkifli (Mas) 8842 7. Surasak Manuwong (Tha) 8743, 8. Hussain Al Suwaidi (Uae) 8512.

Women: 1. Caroline Lagrange (Can) 9006, 2. Siti Safiyah Amirah (Mas) 8880, 3. Zara Giles (Eng) 8823, 4. Baek Seung-ja (Kor) 8719, 5. Helen Johnsson (Swe) 8595, 6. Liza del Rosario (Phi) 8575, 7. Tennelle Milligan (Usa) 8539, 8. Diana Zavjalova (Lat) 8488.

* Step-ladder semi-finals

Men: Schmidt bt Ryan Lalisang 202-180, 247-217.

Women: Giles bt Siti Safiyah 202-180, 226-218.

* Step-ladder finals

Men: Yong-kyu bt Schmidt 236-173, 227-208.

Women: Lagrange bt Giles 189-194, 210-181, 218-211.

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