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After converting the difficult 3-6-7 split in the step-ladder final, Cherie Tan went on to win her first major title. -- ST PHOTO: ALBERT SIM
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A Masters' title at the Singapore International Open has finally gone to a Singaporean.
No, it was not the seasoned veteran Remy Ong.
Instead, it was the young Cherie Tan who overcame the odds - and a world champion - to land the Women's Open Masters bowling title yesterday.
The 20-year-old claimed her first major crown, beating Malaysia's Zandra Aziela in the step-ladder final at the Superbowl Safra Mount Faber.
Cherie had finished in pole position in the women's division with a combined two-day score of 3,327 pinfalls yesterday - ahead of five-time world champion and reigning women's world No 1 Diandra Asbaty.
The American, who scraped into the step-ladder finals with 3,237 pinfalls, ended up in sixth place.
It was Cherie who received the plaudits, but not before surviving a tense face-off with Zandra.
The Malaysian forced a decisive second game with Cherie, after prevailing 211-193 in the first game.
But the Singaporean would not be cowed.
After bagging two spares and four strikes in the second game, she was faced with a difficult 3-6-7 split.
To the 200-strong crowd's delight, she made a superb spare.
Zandra crumbled thereafter, and she won 224-179.
'I made a ball change in the second game, and I could see the line and shape of the lanes better,' said the Singapore bowler.
The title was a much-needed lift for Cherie, who failed to win a medal at last year's South-east Asia Games.
She took a six-month break after that for her studies, before making a triumphant return at the Singapore International Open.
For sure, the winner's cheque of $5,000 will come in handy.
She is the first Singaporean woman to win the title since Evelyn Chan in 2003. National bowler Lee Yu-Wen was the Men's Masters winner in 2006.
Meanwhile, Ong will have to wait at least another year for his first Singapore Open title.
The former world champion finished third in the step-ladder finals yesterday.
The final was dominated by the UAE's Hussain Al-Suwaidi, who beat Malaysia's Adrian Ang.
Said Ong, who was struggling with a back injury throughout the tournament: 'I finished in the same position I did last year, but I will never use injury as an excuse.
'There's always next year.'
Terrence Voon
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