Esther ends up fourth in Louisville

Esther Cheah ended her campaign at the PWBA Louisville Open a commendable fourth while her teammates faded in Kentucky on Saturday.

The Malaysian had come in third in the round-of-32 on a 5,518 total pinfall followed by fourth in the subsequent roundof-12 (6,901) to book her spot in the stepladder finals.

Esther, however, fell short in her match against Colombian, Maria Jose Rodriguez, going down 265-168. Maria went on to beat Danielle McEwan 228-149 before losing to Erin McCarthy 259-210 in the title decider.

Erin and Danielle, both Americans, had emerged 1-2 in the round-of-12.

Esther felt that she had a positive start to her campaign in the US.

The national squad will next compete in the Greater Harrisburg Open on Friday followed by the US Women's Open in Florida on June 23-30.

"I think fourth is a good start to my outing in the US. I played well throughout the tournament and believed I had a high chance of winning it," said Esther.

‘Unfortunately, my opponent, Maria was playing really well and I also had some trouble on the right lane. I was not really comfortable."

Teammates Siti Safiyah Amirah Abdul Rahman, who topped the qualifying round on Friday, and Sin Li Jane placed sixth (5,499) and seventh (5,463) in the round-of-32.

The duo's good run, however, came to an end after missing the top-four cut in the round-of-12 when Safiyah came in seventh on (6,724) while Li Jane settled for 12th on 6,531.