RP bowlers enter Asian Tour semis

Malaysian and Filipino bowlers dominated rounds one and two on the first day of competition of the 2003 Aviva Asian Bowling Tour Malaysia at the Pyramid Megalanes in Bandar Sunway Petaling Jaya with RP bets Liza Del Rosario, Cecilia Yap, Biboy Rivera and Paulo Valdez making it to the semifinals.

Del Rosario, winner of the 26th Malaysian Open, breezed through Round Two with 188 pinfalls to beat Chinese Taipei’s Pan Yu Fen’s 159 points while second seeded Shalin Zulkifli (242 pinfalls) outclassed Sarah Yap (202).

Yap qualified for the semifinals when she beat lone Indonesian bowler, Sheanny Gunawan, 214-148. Facing Shalin in tomorrow’s women semifinals is another Malaysian, Wendy Chai, who booked her semis berth by defeating her sister, Sharon Chai, 215-188, in the earlier round.

In the men’s division, top seed Azidi Ameran (199) of Malaysia downed Yousif Falah (183) from Bahrain. Azidi will face Rivera in the men’s semi-finals match.

Rivera, who won a vintage car for his perfect game in the Malaysia International Open, amassed 220 pinfalls to qualify over Qatarian Abdulla Al Qatan, who had 177.

Valdez, the No. 2 seed, will meet Duane Camacho from Guam in the second set of the semifinals round after beating Yannaphon Larpapharat of Thailand, 204 — 191. Camacho easily trounced Singapore’s Alvin Kwang, 211- 158.

The event is supported by Royal Selangor and organized by ESPN STAR Sports. Sunway Lagoon Resort is the official hotel for the Malaysian leg.