13th June, Manila: Filipinas Irene Benitez and Alex Liew of Malaysia claimed their maiden win after capturing the Women's and Men's title of the ABF Tour Philippines at the GVCC Bowling Centre this afternoon.

Benitez defeated former World Ranking Masters champion, Jennifer Tan of Singapore 222-201, in the women's finals to the delight of the local crowd while Alex Liew triumphed over reigning AMF World Cup champion, C.J. Suarez, 267-232 in the men's.

Both Benitez and Tan started off their match on a moderate pace until the champion got a turkey from frame 6 onwards which sent the local crowd wild. The 31 year-old businesswoman from Paranque City began to pull away thereafter and finished off with a double in the tenth frame for a score of

222. Her challenger could not keep pace with the champion to eventually completed her game with 201.

"I have been very lucky throughout the tournament and I was so happy to even reach the finals," said Benitez. "To win it in front of so many supporters gives me event greater satisfaction.

Benitez had earlier edged out 2003 AMF World Cup runner-up, Jojo Canare 228-223 in a closely fought semifinals to make the finals while Tan easily knocked out Indonesia's Putty Armein, 215-163 before going down to the champion.

The match between the champion Liew and Suarez was a thriller to say the least. Suarez opened his account with a four-bagger to take the early lead while Liew did not get his engine fired up until the third frame. Liew was on a rampage when he strung together 9 consecutive strikes from frame 3 onwards to take over the lead. Although Suarez fought back galantly, the runner-up just could not narrow the gap and eventually ended up with 232 while Liew finished it off in style with a high game of 267.

"I was determined not to let the game and title slip away from me after coming this far," said the 28 year-old proshop supervisor. "I kept saying to myself that I need to stay focussed and be consistent in my shots," added the beaming champion.

Liew reached the final after defeating teammate, Ben Heng 214-194 in the first men's semifinal match while Suarez snatched the victory over Thailand's Sitiphol Kunaksorn, 234-214 in the other match.

The ABF Tour comprises six Legs and a Grand Final, the Tournament of Champions. Each Leg will be staged over two competition days where the top 16 men and 16 women bowlers from the preceding International Open Masters Event (Open Grade) will compete in a one-game match play knock-out competition for the individual men's and women's titles.

The Tournament of Champions will be staged over four competition days where the top 16 men and 16 women bowlers (based on ABF Tour ranking points), plus two additional wildcard entries from the West Asia region (thus totalling 18 men in the men's division), will qualify to compete over four rounds of competition for the coveted men's and women's ABF Tour Champion titles.

The semifinals and finals were telecast LIVE over Philippines NBN Channel 4, Malaysia's Astro Supersport and Singapore's Starhub at 16:00 (Hong Kong/Singapore time). Highlights of the leg will also 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 75 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.