23rd September, Singapore: Competition will be intense as bowlers scramble to make the cut for the ABF Tour - Tournament of Champions in the last leg of the 2005 tour this weekend at Victor’s Superbowl.

Heading the men's rankings is current Asian ranked No. 1, Alex Liew of Malaysia with a total of 264 points. The 29-year-old proshop assistant manager captured the inaugural Qatar leg in February and the penultimate leg in Indonesia in August.

The southpaw is in great form this year after having won five international titles including the two legs. Liew captured the Bahrain International Open in May and the Selangor International Open in July before rounding off his historical double with the Indonesia International Open and the ABF Tour Indonesia leg titles in August.

His success has earned him the privilege to represent Malaysia in the 41st AMF Bowling World Cup this November in Ljubljana, Slovenia for the first time. Second in the table is Liew's teammate, Azidi Ameran with 169 points despite not winning any legs. Azidi finished runner-up in the Thailand leg and made the semifinal in the Indonesia leg as well as featuring in the second round in two other legs.

Winner of the Kuwait leg, Andrew Frawley of Australia is third with 164 points with Malaysia's Aaron Kong and Hong Kong's Wu Siu Hong in fourth and fifth spots on 154 and 149 points respectively. Philippines leg champion, Shaker Al-Hassan (127) of UAE, Thailand leg champion, Yannaphon Larpapharat (125) of Thailand, and Zulmazran Zulkifli (108) of Malaysia have assured themselves a place in the TOC while Hong Kong leg champion, Michael Tsang of Hong Kong, may have to improve his position in 13th with only 75 points.

With less than five possible slots available, the competition will be intense and fiercely fought in the last leg in Singapore.

Meanwhile, Malaysia also has two bowlers topping the women's standings with Indonesia leg champion and Hong Kong leg runner-up, Lai Kin Ngoh. Since resigning as national bowler for her country and moving to Hong Kong, she has been a model of consistency throughout this year.

The 29-year-old southpaw made the semifinals in both the Thailand and Philippines legs and won her first-ever tour title when she took the Indonesia leg last month. Lai almost collected back-to-back titles but lost to Filipina, Jojo Canare in the finals in Hong Kong two weeks ago. She has also won a Bronze medal in the Women's World Championship in Aalborg, Denmark in early August.

The leader has accumulated a total of 214 points, 74 points ahead of

Paulette Choy Poh Lai in second with 140 points. Choy has yet to win a title and only finishing runner-up in Manila and making the semifinals in Hong Kong.

Liza Del Rosario of the Philippines shot up to third spot with 124 points, from outside the top 16 after she captured the Hong Kong leg two weeks ago. Rosario will be vying for more points as she defends the Singapore International Open title this weekend.

World Ranking Masters runner-up, Wendy Chai and 15-year-old Malaysian International Open champion, Siti Safiyah, both of Malaysia, took up the top 5 in the women’s table with 112 and 111 points respectively.

Thailand leg champion, Jennifer Tan (105) of Singapore, Philippines leg champion, Apple Posadas (90) and newly-crowned Hong Kong International Open champion, Jojo Canare (82), both of the Philippines are amongst the top 10 and safely in the TOC while Malaysia leg champion, Amanda Ng of Singapore may have to rake in more points on home ground to assure her of a place in the finals.

Others with a chance are Qatar's Bandar Al-Shafi (17th-63pts), Filipino Chester King (18th-62pts), Korea's YangTae Bum, Qatar's Mubarak Ali, Hong Kong’s Chung Him and Singapore's Carl De Vries (tie 19th-60pts), Women's World Championship Singles Gold medalist, Esther Cheah (17th-63pts) of Malaysia, Korea's Park Jin Hee and Singapore's Jasmine Yeong Nathan (tie 18th-60pts).

The top 16 men and top 16 women qualifiers from the preceding Singapore International Open which ends on the September 30, will battle it out in the ABF Tour Singapore leg in one day at Victor’s Superbowl from 8.30am to 1.30pm which will determine the finalists of the Tournament of Champions.

Highlights of each leg will be shown in the six countries where the tour are being held. It will also be broadcast later in other parts of Europe, Africa, the Middle East, central Asia, China and Australasia with an estimated audience of around 90 million.

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).