Granger clinches Asian bowl crown

National team mentor Purvis Granger was not about to let his players down, whipping Teerapol Sajjaraktrakul in the finals to bag the men’s title of the 2002 CGU Asian Bowling Tour third leg last night.

On the day Filipino bowlers bowed out one after the other in the Asian Bowling Federation sanctioned tournament, Granger rose to the occasion and didn’t disappoint the crowd at the Pearl Bowling Center which expected a big celebration for the host country.

Granger proved too much for his Thai opponent, scoring a decisive 222-204 victory in the final to pocket the $5,000 prize purse and earn 75 ranking points.

The Filipino routed Korean Tae Bum Yang in the semifinals, 246-193, to set up his final meeting with Sajjaraktrakul, a 213-172 winner over fellow Thai Watcharapong Ungtrakul in the other final four pairing.

Granger’s victory softened the impact of Liza del Rosario’s heartbreaking loss to Chinese Taipei’s Wang Yu Ling in the women’s final earlier.

Ling, the former world youth masters champion, played the spoiler’s role as she whipped the Filipina crowd favorite, 226-199, and prevented what could have been a twinkill for the Philippines.

The Taiwanese proved to be the thorn on the Filipinas’ side as she also ousted Irene Benitez (203-179) in the semifinals of the two-day knockout event sponsored by CGU Asia and supported by Royal Selangor.

The loss was a heartbreaker for Del Rosario, ranked ninth in the world, especially after her brilliant victory over Kuala Lumpur Southeast Asian Games gold medallist and former World Bowler of the Year Shalin Zulkifli of Malaysia in their own final four encounter, 227-223.

Similarly, it was also a disappointing setback for Benitez, who pulled off one of the biggest upsets in the meet organized by ESPN Star Sports and AMF Bowling Products and the Singapore Tourism Board as official partners, following her rousing quarterfinal victory over world No. 1 Jennifer Tan.

The ninth-ranked Benitez edged out her Singaporean counterpart by just two pins, 222-220, to set up her final four meeting with Ling.