Park Jong Woo, Shin Seung Hyeon, Kim Jun Yung, Kang Hee Won, Hong Hae Sol and Choi Bok Eum of Korea averaged 228.47 for three games on medium oil Saturday afternoon at Blu-O Rhythm & Bowl Ratchayothin in Bangkok, Thailand, to easily win the gold medal in the prestigious five-player Team event at the 23rd Asian Tenpin Bowling Championships.

From left to right - Park, Kang, Choi, Kim, Shin and Hong. Click image for larger view. Photos courtesy of TTBA.

With the victory the reigning World Team Champions and Asian Games Team champions completed the "Triple Crown" of major Team victories. Park Jong Woo added another gold medal as he emerged as All-Events champion. It was the fourth gold medal for the Korean men and the sixth overall in this Championships.

Starting the second three games mere 11 pins ahead of long-oil leader Thailand, the Koreans fired games of 1101, 1213 and 1113 for 3427 pinfall and 6663 total, an overall average of 222.10, to lead the field of 20 teams by 201 pins and more.

Three players, Choi (709), Park (708) and Hong (705) cracked the 700-mark today, while Kim and Shin added 662 and 643, respectively.

Rafiq Ismail, Timmy Tan, Johnathan Chan, Nur Aiman and Ahmad Muaz of Malaysia (left) posted the second-best 3249 series on medium oil (217.93) including games of 987, 1180 and 1102 to leap one spot and to earn the silver medal with 6462 (215.40).

Surasak Manuwong, Phumin Klanbida, Atittarat Cheng, Annop Arromsaranon and Yannaphon Larpapharat of Thailand (right), who had games of 1071, 982 and 1063 for 3116 (207.73), slipped one spot to 6341 to take the bronze medal with 6341 (211.37).

Hussain Al-Suwaidi, Hareb Al-Mansoori, Mahmood Al-Attar, Shaker Al-Hassan and Naif Oqab of the United Arab Emirates (left), overtook Thailand by 15 pins after two games (1092, 1025) but had to settle for fourth place with 6287 (209.57) behind a 994 last game.

Mohammed Al-Saud, Yasser Abulreesh, Abdullah Al-Dolijan, Adel Al-Barqi and Bader Al-Shaikh of Saudi Arabia (right) were further 86 pins behind in fifth place with 6201 (206.70).

The Team event also decided the medals in All-Events (combined scores in Singles, Doubles, Trios and Teams). Asian Games All-Events champion Park Jong Woo (center) earned his second gold medal of the day as games of 234, 246 and 228 propelled him to the top of the 125-player board with 5478 total and an average of 228.25 for 24 games.

Rafiq Ismail (left) of Malaysia also leaped one spot behind a 689 pins today to finish in second place to earn the silver medal with 5439 (226.63). Hong Hae Sol (right) beat out his team mate and previous leader Shin Seung Hyeon for third place by five pins to take the bronze medal with 5434 (226.42).

Yeri Ramadona of Indonesia took the 16th and last place to advance to the Masters competition with 5186 and an average of 216.08. Among the 16 finalists are five Koreans, three players from Malaysia, two each from Indonesia and Kuwait and one player each from Japan, Saudi Arabia, Thailand and United Arab Emirates.

The Masters competition will conclude the 23rd Asian Tenpin Bowling Championships on Sunday and Monday.

The top 16 men and 16 women bowl two eight-game blocks of round robin match play (10 pins bonus per win, 5 for a tie) starting from scratch. The first block on Sunday will be played on medium oil, while the second block on Monday will be contested on long oil.

The top 3 with the highest 16-game total including bonus pins will bowl for the medals in the stepladder finals slated for Monday, 5 p.m. local time.