Cherie Tan and Fagan, Rash take early lead in women's and men's division at IBC Japan

    02/10/12

    2012 World Bowling Tour #4

    All 84 women and 84 men will continue qualifying on Friday morning

    2011BWCCherieTan.jpg2011BWCDiandraAsbaty3.jpgCherie Tan (pictured left) of Singapore and PBA champions Michael Fagan and Sean Rash took the early lead in the International Bowling Championship 2012 supported by DHC after the first of the three three-game qualifying blocks at Hakata Star Lanes in Hakata, Japan.

    The Singaporean national team member topped all 168 players with 715 total and an average of 238.33. Tan had games of 225, 222 and 268. Siti Shazwani of Malaysia and Sakamoto Kazue of Japan were eleven pins behind in second and third place with 704. Shazwani was seeded second due to the higher last game, 210 to 178.

    Former World and American Zone champion, Diandra Asbaty (right), United States was fourth with 701. Rounding out the top 5 was Mori Sanae, Japan, with 692. With another six qualifying games to go, Jazreel Tan, Singapore, currently holds the 24th and last place to advance with 639, an average of 213.

    201112PBAMikeFagan.jpg201112PBASeanRash.jpgOn the men's side, three-time PBA champion Mike Fagan (left) and four-time PBA titlist Sean Rash (right) of the United States were tied for first place at 710 (236.67). Fagan was seeded No. 1 in the first of three blocks thanks to the higher last game, 247 to 233. Rash, who started his series with a huge 276 game was seeded second.

    Korea's Choi Bok-Eum was mere four pins behind the Americans in third place with 706. Tommy Jones, United States, who owns 13 PBA Tour titles was fourth with 700 and was followed by the best Japanese bowler, Kobayashi Tetsuya, who closed out his set with 279 for 699 total.

    Malaysian national team member Alex Liew is currently the man on the bubble in 24th place with 651 or an average of 217. Just outside the box looking is PBA and USBC Hall of Famer Norm Duke, United States with 647. Duke is targeting to defend his U.S. Open title later this month.

    Qualifying continues on Friday, Feb. 10 with another two three-game blocks scheduled for 9.30 a.m. and 1 p.m. local time before the cut to the top 24 men and 24 women, who will advance to the semifinals on Friday afternoon.

    2012IBCLogo.jpg The International Bowling Championship 2012 supported by DHC is the fourth stop of the 2012 World Bowling Tour and offers total prize fund of 30 million Yen or more than 380,000 U.S. Dollars.

    Men and women will compete in separate divisions. Each division consists of 84 players - 45 local bowlers (15 each from three pre-qualifying tournament), the top 16 of the international trials (Feb. 7 and 8), as well as 23 seeded and invited players.

    All 84 men and 84 women will bowl nine games of qualifying divided into three blocks of three games - the first block on Thursday and blocks 2 and 3 on Friday. Based on the nine-game total, the top 24 men and the top 24 women will advance to the semifinals.

    Those 24 will bowl another two three-game blocks on Friday with the pinfall from the qualifying being carried forward. The top 9 men and the top 9 women with the highest 15-game total will proceed to TV Finals.

    The top three in each division will directly advance to the TV stepladder finals. Bowlers seeded fourth to ninth will compete in a single-game shoot-out match, The winner of that match will earn the No. 4 seed for the stepladder.

    In the TV stepladder finals, which will be broadcasted nationwide by NHK Global Media Services, Inc., will be staged on specially constructed lanes in Diamond Hall on the second floor of the building.

    In the stepladder, the No. 4 seed will bowl the No. 3 seed. The winner of the single-game match will take on the No. 2 seed for the right to bowl the No. 1 seed for the title.

    The prize money for each division is the same, with the men's and women's winner each taking 6 million Yen or more than $75,000, with $37,500 and $18,750 going to the second and third place finishers, respectively..

    In addition to the enormous prize fund, a 300-game award of 10 million Yen or approx. USD125,000 will be given to EVERY player who rolls a 300 game during the stepladder finals of the International Bowling Championship 2012 supported by DHC.

     


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    Men's Division - Standings after the First Block

     


    Women's Division - Standings after the First Block

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