Malaysian Mohd Syafiq Ridhwan outdueled Hall of Famer Paeng Nepomuceno, 234-227, to retain the PBAP-Bevida Storm Challenge International Classic crown at Paeng’s Midtown Bowl at Robinsons Place-Manila late Sunday.

Ridhwan had earlier rolled a 1923 series to top the 24-man semifinals and gain a twice-to-beat incentive in the stepladder finals.

Hong Kong’s Michael Mak came in second at 1893 and Nepomuceno finished third at 1859.

Completing the top eight in the stepladder finals were Thailand’s Pasut Punsanthaveekul at fourth with an 1833, Malaysian Kelvin Keong (fifth at 1796), Malaysian Christin Chew and Korean Kim Eun Jung (joint sixth at 1775).

In the stepladder, Chew ousted Kim, 227-195, and followed this up by ousting Punsanthaveekul and Keong with her 211 against the Thai’s 185 and Keong’s 194.

Nepomuceno stopped Chew’s run as well as Mak with the Filipino lefty rolling a 220 against Chew’s and Mak’s similar 218 to set up a finals duel with Ridhwan.

Unfortunately, Nepomuceno failed to extend the finals to a winner-take-all match when a stubborn 7 pin ruined his bid for a double in the 10th frame and Ridhwan escaped with the seven-pin victory and the P150,000 top prize.

Mak claimed third spot in this annual event presented by Euro-Med Laboratories and Bevida Distilled Drinking Water and sponsored by Storm Products Inc., Wave Products, Roto grip and AZO. Chew claimed fourth spot with Keong (fifth), Punsanthaveekul (sixth) Kim (seventh), Malaysian Muhd Nur Aiman (eighth), Singaporean Shaun Ng (ninth), Liza Clutario (10th), and Cebuanos Jomar Jumapao (11th) and Kimberly Lao (12th) completed the list of money winners.

In the Classified Division, local ace Liza del Rosario, the semifinals topnotcher, routed Singaporean Sunny Man Shung Lai in, 258-219, in the winner take-all-match for the P150,000 purse.

Shung Lai, who was only fourth in the eliminations, had earlier forced a sudden death with a 218-202 decision.

In the quarterfinals, Shung Lai bowled a 233 to oust compatriot Andrew Lee (205) and Taiwanese Chen Po Yu (176) before setting up the duel with Del Rosario by rolling a 236 to bump off Filipinos Francis Manalaysay (202) and Liza Clutario (171) in the semifinals.

Meanwhile, the 14-year-old Mak claimed a wire-to-wire victory in the Junior Division late Saturday for P20,000.

Cebuano Jomar Jumapao settled for second place and P10,000 while Malaysian Symir Abd Ruzak, TBAM’s Collins Josew, Malaysian Kang Bo Long and Hong ong’s Eric Tseng followed him in that order.

The tournament, held under the supervision of the Bowlmart Training Institute under GM Yap Kok Wee and which had the Manila Hotel as the official hotel, the Philippine Airlines as the official airline and Manila Bulletin as the official media partner, saw a perfect game by Tseng.