Kim Young-Kwan earns No. 1 seed for all-Korean finals at Daejeon International

    08/25/11

    Korea

    Smith, Koivuniemi miss stepladder finals in 7th and 8th place

    2011DeajeonKimYoungKwan.jpg2011DeajeonKimJunSoo.jpgKim Young-Kwan (pictured left), a member of the Korea Professional Bowlers Association (KPBA), posted an 8-4 won-lost record in round robin match play en route to earn the No. 1 seed for the TV stepladder finals in the Daejeon International Bowling Tournament Friday at Daejeon World Cup Stadium Bowling Center in Daejeon, Korea.

    Young-Kwan, who had the 15th 300 game of the main event and the 36th overall, in the 34th of 36 games, finished with 8886 pinfall total including 240 bonus (30 per win) and an average of 240.17.

    The TV finals will be an all-Korean affair as the two remaining international bowlers and the lone Japanese bowler missed the cut to the top 6.

    Trailing Young-Kwan by 40 pins to take the No. 2 seed was Kim Jun-Soo (above right) with 8846 (239.89) despite defeating Young-Kwan in the position round, 252-245. Third place belonged to Jeong Seung-Joo with 8768 including 225 bonus.

    Seung-Joo tied the position round match against Kim Min-Hee, who is one of two women in the stepladder in fourth place with 8683 including seven pins handicap each game and 225 bonus.

    2011DeajeonRobertSmith2.jpg2011DeajeonMikaKoivuniemi.jpgKorean national team (KNT) member, Lim Dong-Sung, was mere four pins behind in fifth place with 8679 including 240 bonus. Semifinal round leader Jeon Gui-Ae, who was still atop the leaderboard after the first half of match play slipped all the way down to sixth place with 8659 after going 0-6 in the second half.

    Seven-time PBA champion Robert Smith (left) was 59 pins off the pace for the stepladder in seventh place with 8600 including a 6-6 match play record and an average of 233.89 for 36 games.

    Reigning PBA Player of the Year and current World Bowling Tour men's ranking leader, Mika Koivuniemi (right), Finland, was 53 pins behind Smith in eight place with 8547 (232.42), also including a 6-6 match play record.

    Sasaki Tomoyuki of the Japan Bowling Congress (JBC) finished in 10th place with 8517 (5-7) including the 14th perfecto of the main event in the first game of round robin match play.

    2011DeajeonOpenLogo2.jpg WBTLogo.jpgThe Daejeon International Bowling Tournament, the sixth stop of the inaugural World Bowling Tour, will be held at Daejeon World Cup Stadium Bowling Center in Daejeon, Korea, from Aug. 8-26, 2011.

    Daejeon, located in the center of the country, is South Korea's fifth largest metropolis with a population of over 1.5 million in 2010. The Stadium was constructed in preparation for the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

    The tournament organized by the Korea Professional Bowling Association (KPBA) offers total prize money of 200 million South Korean Won (KW) or approximately 186.720 U.S. Dollar. 30 million Won will be distributed in the preliminaries and the remaining 170 million are the payout for the main event.

    The winner will walk away with the 50 million KW top prize or approx. $46.680. The first runner-up receives 25 million with 12 million going to the third-place finisher, while fourth and fifth place are worth 9 and 7 million won, resp.

    The top 125 qualifiers joined a group of one hundred players made up from members of KPBA, Korean National Team, DBC, Japan Professional Bowlers Association (JPBA), Japan Bowling Congress (JBC) and invited international players, who were automatically seeded into the finals.

    Those 225 players bowled three blocks of six games over three days on a 44 feet oil pattern to cut to the top 48 who advanced to semifinal round to bowl another six game block with the previous pinfall total being carried forward.

    The top 12 after 24 games advanced to twelve games round robin match play to determine the top six players who made the TV stepladder finals.

    The No. 4, 5 and 6 seed will square off in the opening shoot-out match. The winner takes on the No. 3 seed; the winner of that match bowls the No. 2 seed for the right to bowl the tournament leader for the title.

    The top 50 men and the top 50 women will also earn points for the World Bowling Tour ranking (current standings).

    Results and photos courtesy of Asian Bowling Federation.

     


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    Standings after 12 games Round Robin Match Play (Total 36 games)


    The top 6 advance to the stepladder finals. Women's scores (F) including seven pins handicap each game.

     


    Standings after 6/12 games Round Robin Match Play (Total 30 games)

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