Four countries place on the first day of the Youth Championships

The 19th Asian Youth Tenpin Bowling Championships (AYC) took off yesterday with the singles competition. Held at the Coronado Lanes in EDSA Starmall, Mandaluyong City, first to compete for medals were the girls, wherein Korea’s Kim Ye Sol bagged gold after a six-game series of 1330.

Korea’s Kim Ye Sol (center) takes gold, while Malaysia’s Nur Amirah Auni (left) and Japan’s Shion Izumune (right) settle for silver and bronze. Photo courtesy Terence Yaw.

Short of just nine pins was Malaysia’s Nur Amirah Auni, who had to settle for silver after rolling a split on her last frame. Japan’s Shion Izumune squeezed into the podium by bowling 236 and 259 on her last two games, edging Kim’s teammate Lee Hyung Jung. The latter lost the bronze by just 12 pins.

Aside from Korea, Malaysia and Japan, the other countries that dominated the top 16 slots after the first day of competition were Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan.  

The highest ranking that the Philippines attained was 18th place, with Daphne Custodio scoring a total pin falls of 1098. A total of 34 athletes played in the girl’s singles.  

Malaysia’s Tun Ammerul L. Al-Hakim (center) soared to first place with a total series of 1370. Silver and bronze went to Japan’s Takumi Hagasaki (left) and Bahrain’s Ahmed Al-Awadhi (right).
Photo courtesy Terence Yaw.

If the quest for gold among the female youth bowlers was a close fight until the end, Malaysia’s Tun Ammerul L. Al-Hakim seemed to have secured the top spot in the boy’s singles competition after averaging a 238 in his first four games. Scoring a total of 1370 after six games, Tun Ammerul clinched gold and the second medal for his country.

Taking silver was Japan’s Takumi Hagasaki, who managed to immediately bounce back after bowling a 160 in his second game. The Japanese youth bowler finished with 1298, beating Bahrain’s Ahmed Al-Awadhi by just 11 pins.

Equally tight was the battle for 3rd place, Al-Awadhi prevented Chinese Taipei’s Liao Li-Yang from medaling after putting up back-to-back high scores of 235 and 251 in his last two games. The latter missed the podium by 20 pins.

After the first day of competition, Taipei’s four athletes made it to the top sixteen. Other countries that made the cut-off were Korea, Singapore, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Philippines, Indonesia and Guam.  

The Philippines’ Ivan Malig placed 9th out of 60 male youth bowlers with a six-game series of 1213.

The top 16 girls and top 16 boys after a series of 18 games (which takes place from October 23 to 26) will qualify for the Round-Robin Matchplay Masters finals on October 27 and 28.