Tun Hakim Wins PBA Chameleon Championship for First Career Title

The PBA World Series of Bowling (WSOB) has always served as a global stage for the sport of bowling, and this year’s WSOB XVI has been the greatest manifestation of that goal.

Malaysia’s Tun Hakim won the PBA Chameleon Championship title on Tuesday night, becoming the third international player to win a PBA Tour title in as many nights.

Hakim defeated Kevin McCune, 269-227, to win his first career title and the $20,000 top prize. He became the first player from Malaysia to win a PBA Tour title.

"It's a dream come true," Hakim said. "It's amazing. I really didn't expect to win. I'm just really speechless. I need a few days to put out some words."

In January, the Malaysian men won the gold medal in the International Bowling Federation (IBF) World Cup team event. Since then, three of the four team members have made the championship round in PBA Tour events.

Timmy Tan finished fourth in the PBA Pete Weber Missouri Classic, Rafiq Ismail finished as the runner-up two nights ago in the PBA Scorpion Championship, then Hakim won tonight.

"It felt great to win the World Cup and be world champions. That win really boosted our energy to try to win more," Hakim said. "I really thought Rafiq was going to win on Scorpion. After that match, I wanted to break history and be the first Malaysian to ever win a PBA title. That really boosted me up to win today."

The fourth member of the team, Ahmad Muaz, has his own opportunity in Wednesday’s PBA Shark Championship.

As the top qualifier, Muaz will clinch a berth in the championship round if he wins his Round of 16 match against Tim Foy Jr. Even if Muaz were to lose in the next round, he would be the highest-seeded qualifier and thus earn the No. 5 seed for the stepladder finals.

Hakim qualified fourth during the 12-game qualifying round last week, then defeated Boog Krol and Jesper Svensson — the two finalists in last season’s PBA Playoffs — in match play to make his first career championship round appearance.

"I would say I have few experience bowling with the pros, even in Asia," Hakim said. "(Bowling against a) few of them who have won majors, even world championships, I just told myself to bowl well and try make my shots."

In the title match, Hakim opted to throw urethane on the 41-foot Chameleon pattern, just as he did throughout qualifying and match play. The unique strategy paid off, as he cruised to a 269-227 win over McCune.

McCune took down Andrew Anderson in the semifinal match, 265-215, as Anderson left three 10-pins and a pocket 7-10 in the second half of the game.

Anderson once again bested EJ Tackett in the second match of the stepladder. Anderson, who beat Tackett in Saturday’s PBA Mike Aulby Nevada Classic presented by Pilgrim’s title match, survived a nail biter on Tuesday.

After Anderson missed left in his second shot of the 10th frame, Tackett had a chance to double for the win. Tackett tripped the 4-pin on his first shot, but his second shot left a ringing 10-pin.

Tackett said he moved one board and executed the shot perfectly; the pins just didn’t cooperate.

In the opening match, Anderson prevailed over Mitch Hupé, 258-233. 

After Hupé fired five strikes in a row, he mustered only one strike in his final three frames. Anderson ended the match with six consecutive strikes to surpass the Canadian.

The WSOB continues with the PBA Shark Championship on Wednesday at the National Bowling Stadium.

Tackett has made all three championship rounds thus far in the WSOB, and also made the championship rounds of the two singles events prior to the WSOB. He enters the Round of 16 as the No. 2 qualifier, putting himself in strong contention for yet another show.

The Round of 16 will begin at 9 a.m. Pacific/local (12 p.m. Eastern) time, followed by the Round of 8 at 11:30 a.m. PT (2:30 p.m. ET) on BowlTV.

The PBA Shark Championship stepladder finals will air live on FS1 and the FOX Sports app at 4 p.m. PT (7 p.m. ET).

The PBA World Championship continues with round-robin match play on Thursday and the championship round on Saturday, March 22.

The full upcoming PBA television schedule is available here.

Round of 16 Results

No. 1 Mitch Hupé def. No. 17 Thomas Larsen, 3-1
No. 24 Andrew Anderson def. No. 8 Zach Weidman, 3-2

No. 15 EJ Tackett def. No. 2 Yuma Haraguchi, 3-0
No. 10 Zach Wilkins def. No. 7 Pontus Andersson, 3-1

No. 3 Lanndyn Carnate def. No. 19 AJ Johnson, 3-1
No. 11 Kevin McCune def. No. 6 Chris Via, 3-1

No. 4 Tun Hakim def. No. 13 Boog Krol, 3-1
No. 5 Jesper Svensson def. No. 21 Tomas Käyhkö, 3-0

Round of 8 Results

No. 4 Tun Hakim def. No. 5 Jesper Svensson, 3-0
No. 11 Kevin McCune def. No. 3 Lanndyn Carnate, 3-2
No. 15 EJ Tackett def. No. 10 Zach Wilkins, 3-1
No. 24 Andrew Anderson def. No. 1 Mitch Hupé, 3-2

Championship Round Scores

Match One: No. 4 Andrew Anderson def. No. 5 Mitch Hupé, 258-233
Match Two: No. 4 Andrew Anderson def. No. 3 EJ Tackett, 237-228
Match Three: No. 2 Kevin McCune def. No. 4 Andrew Anderson, 265-215
Championship: No. 1 Tun Hakim def. No. 2 Kevin McCune, 269-227

Full standings and match results are available here.

Final Standings

1. Tun Hakim, $20,000
2. Kevin McCune, $13,500
3. Andrew Anderson, $10,000
4. EJ Tackett, $7,500
5. Mitch Hupé, $6,000

More information on the PBA Chameleon Championship is available here.

Tournament Schedule

National Bowling Stadium | Reno, NV

All times Pacific/local

Wednesday, March 19
9 a.m. — PBA Shark Championship - Match Play Round of 16 (best-of-five games)
11:30 a.m. — PBA Shark Championship - Match Play Round of 8 (best-of-five games)

Four winners and highest-seeded loser in Round of 8 advance to PBA Shark Championship stepladder finals

4 p.m. on FS1 — PBA Shark Championship - Finals
Free Tickets

Thursday, March 20
10 a.m. — PBA World Championship - Round-Robin Match Play Round 1 (eight games)
5 p.m. — PBA World Championship - Round-Robin Match Play Round 2 (eight games)

Top five players advance to PBA World Championship stepladder finals

Saturday, March 22
12 p.m. on FOX — PBA World Championship Finals
Free Tickets

More information on the PBA World Series of Bowling XVI is available here.