Tannya Roumimper

Puerto Rican, Jessica M. Santiago and Finn Krista Pollanen set the pace joint leaders in the opening game of the 8-game first block over short oil condition as the top 16 top-class field took to the lanes this morning.

Photo gallery: Women's Squad 1, May 2  

Santiago kept a blistering pace into the second game with another superb 210 to maintain her lead but with masters debutant, Tannya Roumimper of Indonesia closing in second just 1 pin adrift.

Shalin, Tannya and Kirsten

The local hopeful kept up a good momentum going into the halfway mark to move into top spot after a superb 233 in her fourth game and continued to chalked up lines of 247, 204, 222 and 212 to end the first block in pole position.

The 18-year-old amassed a total of 1720, 103 pins ahead of Shalin Zulkifli, who trailed the leader from game 4 onwards, finished with 1617. England's Kirsten Penny claimed third spot with 1615, a further 2 pins away.

"Bowling for the first time in this masters is quite an experience for me and I'm happy and surprised that I can lead the first block," said Tannya Roumimper when interviewed by ESPN. "I didn't know I was leading until the end.

"When we practised yesterday, the lanes were quite tough but this morning, the back-end is very strong in the short oil and I guess it suited my ball better. I'm not strong in the long oil but I'll make the necessary adjustments and try to maintain my score.

The women will resume tomorrow with the second block at 10.00am in the morning while the men will commence their first block after the lane maintenance.

Photos by Terence Yaw.