25th March, Kuala Lumpur: The ABF Tour 2005 is well on its way, in anticipation of the start of its third leg in Pyramid Megalanes this Saturday, 26 March 2005. Coming off successful stops in Qatar and Kuwait for the inaugural West Asian legs, the Tour returns once again to familiar territory as the top 16 qualifiers from the Malaysian Open compete for accumulated prize money of USD17000, high game rewards of USD2000 and Asian Ranking Points. A total of 7 countries will be represented in the men's division while four countries will compete for honors in the ladies.

2004 Tournament of Champion winner Wu Siu Hong (HKG) leads the way into the men's event with a total of 3662 points and an average score of 228.88. 2004 Tournament of Champion runner-up, Joonee Gatchalian (PHI) scored the ninth highest score total. Local hero, Alex Liew who emerged champion in the Qatar Leg will be also in contention together with his teammates, Aaron Kong,

Zulmazran Zulkifli, Syafiq Ridhwan and former national squad member Mustafa Yassin. Other notable entries include Thailand's top male bowler, Yannaphon who finished in 12th , as well as Kim Ko Woon (KOR), a first time entrant who just makes it into the top 16.

In the ladies' division, the Malaysians make up a vast share of the top 16, with nine representatives in the draw. Local junior Siti Safiyah Amirah makes her debut into the ABF Tour in good fashion as she beats out a list of veterans to emerge top scorer in the Open with 3424 points and 214.00 average

Other locals include 2004 Tournament of Champion winner Wendy Chai, Sarah Yap, Lai Kin Ngoh, Zandra Aziela, Siti Khadijah Osman, Tang Joh Six, incumbent Malaysian champion Shalin Zulkifli, and first-timer Christyn Chew. Other ladies making their first appearance in the Tour include two Singaporeans- Jazreel Tan and Amanda Ng.

Liza Del Rosario and Liza Clutario from the Philippines as well as Wang Yu

Ling from Chinese Taipei will be counted in as hot favourites for the event starting tomorrow.

ABF Tour - Canon Malaysia Leg is organized by ABF in association with Malaysian Tenpin Bowling Congress; sponsored by Canon, Sunway Lagoon Resort and Malaysian Airlines; supported by Pyramid Megalanes.

High calibre bowling from top Asian bowlers will be broadcast LIVE on Astro and Starhub in Malaysia and Singapore respectively on Saturday (15:00-17:00) and Sunday (16:00-19:00).

Story by Mr Fong Min Yuan, Asian Bowling Digest (ABF Tour Official Magazine).

ABF Tour is organized by Asian Bowling Federation in association with Qatar Bowling Federation, Kuwait Bowling Federation, Malaysian Tenpin Bowling Congress, Thai Tenpin Bowling Congress, Philippine Bowling Congress, Indonesia Bowling Congress, Hong Kong Tenpin Bowling Congress and Singapore Tenpin Bowling Congress.

For further information and details please contact ABF Tour Committee Marketing and Event Management Division at Tel: (852) 2810 5191; Fax: (852) 28105192; Mr. Ritchie Lai (Mobile: (852) 93598669; email: ritchie.lai@tndgroup.com) or Mr. Kelvin Pong (Mobile: (852) 9100 0958; email: Kelvin.pong@tndgroup.com).