Foundation Games XIII

July 2002 17th Asian Tenpin Bowling Championships ( Hong Kong, China )

Men's Division
1.  Zhang Ye  (China)
2.  Kim Jae Hoon  (Korea)
3.  Kim Kyung Min  (Korea)

Women's Division
1. Cha Mi Jung (Korea)
2. Kim Suk Yung (Korea)
3. Kate Wilson (Australia)

S.C.A.A. Bowling Centre, Hong Kong, China: Hong Kong, the land of high finance and old tradition, was this year's host of the 17 th Asian Tenpin Bowling Championships. The Asian Bowling Federation's event is a prestigious one and is held once every two years. This year's tournament used two different oil patterns for each event which consisted of: Singles, Doubles, Trios, 5-Man Teams, All-Events and the Masters. There were both men's and women's divisions in each event. The decision to use The Foundation Games format was made at the request of Ms. Vivien Fung, who is the highly respected President of the Asian Bowling Federation. The Master's event (in both divisions) would also determine who would receive the Foundation Games medals of Gold, Silver and Bronze. The short pattern was 32 feet of Offense Lane Conditioner, with a ratio of 2.83 from the 20 th board to the 2nd board. The volume was 20.44 mls per lane. The long pattern was 41 feet of Offense Lane Conditioner, with a ratio of 2.71 from the 20 th board to the 2 nd board. The volume was 24.2 mls per lane. The lanes were wood and had been resurfaced recently in April with DBA 100% solid coating on the top of the lane. A total of three machines were used for the tournament. Two Kegel Sanction Elites were used strictly to apply conditioner; the long pattern was in machine #1 and the short in machine #2. The third machine was a Sanction AC, which is owned by the Asian Bowling Federation, and it was used only for cleaning. The cleaner used was Defense C and it was mixed at a 4-to-1 ratio.

Kegel Technical experts, John Forst and Don Agent, arrived in Hong Kong and were taken to the bowling center to check to see if all of the needed equipment had arrived and to also do a mini-inspection of the lanes. While watching some of the open play bowlers, they noticed that their bowling equipment (balls) were rolling very early, and upon inspecting the lanes they could easily put their thumbnails into the very soft surface. During the tournament they kept track of the hardness of the lane with the Sword Hardness Rocker, which is commonly used by our staff. The readings from the rocker during the tournament ranged from 3-6 rocks at the 10-foot mark, 4-6 rocks at the 25-foot mark and 5-7 rocks at the 50-foot mark. Readings that low indicated a very soft surface, about the hardness of Guardian.

Asian "games" Medals were awarded in all of the events; however the Masters event was pre-determined to be a separate Foundation Games "tournament". The same 2-conditions were used. The format was 16-games of competition on the two patterns (8-games on each), followed by 16-games of head-to-head match play. The top-3 (in each division) received the coveted Foundation Games Medals.

The final results are listed below:

Masters (Men)
1 st Place- Zhang Ye China 3424 + 95 214.0 Ave. GOLD
2 nd Place- Kim Jae Hoon Korea 3393 + 90 212.1 Ave. SILVER
3 rd Place- Kim Kyung Min Korea 3379 + 80 211.2 Ave. BRONZE

Step Ladder Finals
Kim Jae Hoon defeated Kim Kyung Min 223-206 on the short pattern.
2 game Championship total pins:
Zhang Ye defeated Kim Jae Hoon 219+200= 419 to 166+245= 411 (Short).

Masters (Women)
1 st Place- Cha Mi Jung Korea 3348 + 100 209.3 Ave. GOLD
2 nd Place- Kim Suk Yung Korea 3348 + 100 209.3 Ave. SILVER
3 rd Place- Kate Wilson Australia 3210 + 110 200.6 Ave. BRONZE

One game roll-off for first place was won by Cha Suk Yung 204-177

Step Ladder Finals
Kim Suk Yung defeated Kate Wilson 204-192 on the short pattern.
2 game Championship total pins:
Cha Mi Jung blasted Kim Suk Yung 213 + 224= 437 to 182 + 190= 372 (Long)

Tournament Officials, Team Coaches and participants deemed the tournament a huge success and plans for the Foundation Games format to be used in the future of International Championships are currently underway.

The Foundation Officials concur and are very proud to say that ALL thirteen (13) Foundation Games events that have been held (both in America and abroad) have been overwhelming successes.