Defending women's team world champion United States (pictured left) and their rivals from South Korea won their semifinal matches at the WTBA World Championships and will face each other in the gold medal match starting on Friday at 12.45 p.m. PDT at Sunset Station's Strike Zone in Henderson, Nev.

The top-seeded U.S. women Stefanie Nation, Missy Parkin, Shannon O'Keefe, Kelly Kulick and Liz Johnson had no problems to defeat No. 4 seeded Patricia De Faria, Esther Francys Alvarez, Joan Gonzalez, Karen Marcano and Alicia Marcano of Venezuela, 1014 to 921.

Several unforced errors by the Venezuelans (pictured right) gave the U.S. team, which had chosen to bowl on the 39-feet Seoul lane conditioning pattern, an early lead and they never looked back. Led by Parkin (259), Nation (220) and O'Keefe, the Americans put the match away well before the final frame.

In the other semifinal match was an all-Asian affair between Malaysia's Siti Safiyah, Jacqueline Sijore, Esther Cheah, Shalin Zulkifli and Sin Li Jane (pictured left), seeded second, and Korea's Ryu Seo-Yeon, Lee Na-Young, Kim Moon-Jeong, Jung Da-Wun and Son Yun-Hee.

As the Koreans led the qualifying on the short pattern (33-feet Sydney) and fell to third place after the second block on long oil, the Malaysians decided to bowl on the Seoul pattern.

It seemed to be the right decision as held a slim lead after five frames but when the Malaysian five some opened in six out of 13 frames in the middle in frames 6 thru 9, the Koreans (pictured right) demonstrated their class and struck 10 times at the same time.

Heading into the last frame the Koreans already led by more than 100 pins and cruised to a 1065-966 win.

The women's championship match starts on Friday, August 30, at 12.45 p.m. PDT and will be broadcast live on Bowl.com's BowlTV.

Bowlingdigital's Photo Album

The World Tenpin Bowling Association World Championships run from Aug. 16 thru 31, 2013 at Sunset Station's Strike Zone in Henderson, Nev. in the Las Vegas area. The Championships will award medals in six disciplines - Singles, Doubles, Trios, Team, All Events and Masters.

The entire competition will be broadcast live on BOWL.com's BowlTV. Bowling fans will be able to watch live and on demand for free. The schedule is available at BOWL.com/LiveStream.

 

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World Championships - Women's Team Finals

Championship Round:
1. tbd
2. tbd
3. Malaysia (Siti Safiyah, Jacqueline Sijore, Esther Cheah, Shalin Zulkifli, Sin Li Jane), 999 (1 game)
4. Venezuela (Patricia De Faria, Esther Alvarez, Joan Gonzalez, Karen Marcano, Alicia Marcano), 921 (1 game)

Playoff Results:
Semifinal Match 1 (long oil):
No. 1 Nation (220), Parkin (259), O'Keefe (201), Kulick (168), Johnson (166) def.
No. 4 De Faria (191), Alvarez (174), Gonzalez (214), K. Marcano (159), A. Marcano (183), 1014-921
Semifinal Match 2 (long oil):
No. 3 Seo-Yeon (188), Na-Young (247), Moon-Jeong (208), Da-Wun (205), Yun-Hee (217) def.
No. 2 Safiyah (177), Sijore (194), Cheah (173), Zulkifli (201), Jane (221), 1065-966.
Championship Match (Friday, August 30, at 12.45 p.m. PDT): United States vs. Korea.