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Monday April 20, 2009

Joh Six, and Fatin triumph in Thailand Open

By RAJES PAUL

PETALING JAYA: Bowlers Tang Joh Six and Fatin Hazwani stuck to their plans to compete in the Thailand Open bowling championships when many chose to skip the international event due to political instability in Bangkok.

Yesterday, their decisions paid dividends when Joh Six and Fatin brought double joy for Malaysia by winning the women’s Masters and graded titles respectively.

Malaysia’s elite players decided to skip the Thailand Open after the National Sports Council (NSC) advised them to cancel the trip due to the state of emergency in the city on Monday.

Fruitful trip: Tang Joh Six posing with her trophy after winning the women’s Masters crown in the Thailand Open in Bangkok yesterday.

Winning the women’s Masters title did not come easy for ex-international Joh Six, who had to go through some anxious moments before prevailing with a narrow win over defending champion Chan Shuk Han of Hong Kong in a tie breaker for the title.

Both were tied at 175 pinfalls in the final match of the stepladder finals but in a two-frame tie breaker, Joh Six got it right with a 38-36 win against Shuk Han.

It is the second international title for Joh Six this year.

In January, Joh Six, who trains on her own in Kuching, did the country proud by winning the Asian Bowling Tour Grand Finals in Indonesia.

A jubilant Joh Six said: “I almost did not make this trip due to the riots in Thailand earlier in the week. I only decided to come when my sponsor, Desmond Wong confirmed with the organisers that it was safe.”

Meanwhile, the 18-year-old Fatin, who went to Bangkok for the competition and holiday with her family nailed her first international title by winning the women’s graded Masters event.

The Penangite, who trains under South Korean Kim Eun-jung, posted scores of 204-173-196-188-203-146-195-190-160-214-182-200 for a 12-game total of 2,251 pinfalls to win the title with a comfortable 109 pins.

Thailand’s Jutatrip Juymanee and Patteera Ocharoen took the second and third spots with 2,142 and 2,137 respectively.

Masters

Stepladder finals

Men

First match: Surasak Manuwong (Tha) 159, Hussain Al-Suwaidi (UAE) 192, Shaker Al-Hassan (UAE) 170

Second match: Kritchawat Jamparkao (Tha) 226, Mohd Khalifa (UAE) 204, Hussain 234

Final: Yannaphon Larpapharat (Tha) bt Hussain 199-178.

Women

First match: Putty Armein (Ina) 181, Zhang Chun Li (Chn) 179, Kim Eun-jung (Kor) 170

Second match: Park Jin-hee (Kor) 183, Chan Shuk Han (Hkg) 209, Putty 191

Final: Tang Joh Six (Mas) bt Shuk Han 175-175 (38-36)

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