THE STRAITS TIMES, SATURDAY, AUGUST 31, 1991
SHIRLYNN HO reports on the 12TH World FIQ Tenpin Bowling Championships
at Superbowl
Oily lanes snit Raatikainen fine Finn shoots to the front on first day MEN'S MASTERS lT SEEMS this is the part of the tournament he has been walting for - where all the games are played in the mornlng. For that time of the day suits Finn Teemu Raatikalnen hest. So good that it has given hlm a 9O-pinlead in the men 's Masters going lnto today's World FIQ bowling championships seml-fInals at Superbowl. Raatikalnen prefers the lane condItions In the mornlng wben the oU has just been applied as that is wben bis Inside line will yield tbe most dividends. . And It showed Immedlately as the 3l-yearold FInn led from the Hrst game to finish at tbe top of the pack with a 1,783 pinfall total atter elght games. Talwan's C.M. Yang contlnued to bring the "hellcopter" style Into world prominence when he sbot a 1,693to be placed second while Denmark's Peer Jensen is third 15 plns adrift. Wlth seven more games to be played before the step-ladder finals this afternoon, no one was willing nor bold enough to hazard a pred1ction as to who tbe top three will be for tbe flnals. Raatikainen himself is keeping his fingers crossed. But tf be was bowling In the earlier part of the day, be would not be surprised to end up among the top trio. "I prefer to lead, no pressure. It's easier for me, there is almost no back reaction at all, actually there is none. You have to sboot very
straight," said the sports centre administrator whose last international triumpb was tbe British Open in 1988. The man who has World Cup champion Tom Hahl as his team-mate could well give Finland its second world-class champion should be continue his form today. With the format adopted in the semi-finals it is essential to not only bowl well but to beat your opponent as well. The reason is that the bowlers take turns to be drawn for a head-to-head competition with the winner getting a 10-pin bonus. ' Should there be a tie, the 10 plns are shared. Raatikainen opened accounts impressively agalnst Suh Bom Suk. 1be Korean thougbt be had a good score wben be totalled 217 in the first game - only for his rlght-banded rival to blast those plns down for a 233. And that was to set the pattern of his scores to follow: 231, 237, 210, 247, 171, :øl and 188. The Finn won every head-to-head confrontation save the ones agalnst Sweden's two qualifiers Ulf Hamnas, whose ~ was slx better In the seventh game, and Lars Andersson wbose 222score gave hlm the 10 bonus polnts agaiDst Raatikalnen's 188In the last game. LeIIIIIq _: I T.J. RaatlkaiDen (Fin) 1'/83 Z C.M. Yang (Tai) 1,693 S P. Jensen (Den) l,rn 4 P. Carreyo (Ven) 1,673 5 S. Kloempken (US) 1,672 I U. Hamnas (Swe) 1,661 '7 Y.C. Ma (Tal) 1,~ I M.J. Koivuniemi (Fin) 1,642 • M. Van de Boscb (HoI) 1,626 I' P. Rolland (Fra) l,fiOOII L.E. Andersson (Swe) 1,579 1% A. Meraikhi (Qat) 1,578 IS P. Net»muceno (RP) 1,527 14 T. Leandersson (Swe) l,S26 li K. Tagata (Jpn) 1,497 II B.S. Suh (Kor) 1,423.
BILLED NÆSTE SIDE,