16th March, Kuwait: Newly-crowned ABF Tour Kuwait leg winner, Rayan Lalisang and women's defending champion, Sharon Limansantoso, both of Indonesia, won the opening round of the ABF Tour Tournament of Champions 2014 underway at Cozmo Bowl on Monday.

Lalisang got off the blocks with a brilliant 235 to lead Michael Mak of Hong Kong by 1 pin followed by Mohammed Janahi of Bahrain in third a further 2 pins and 2012 TOC winner, Yannaphon Larpapharat of Thailand in fourth.

The Indonesian continued to lead after the second and then rolled a stunning 268 in the third game to pull away from the field and extended his lead to 63 pins. But a poor 170 from Lalisang saw Hareb Al Mansoori of UAE taking over the running, 8 pins ahead after the fourth game.

The Emirati held the lead for the next 2 games before slipping 1 pin behind new leader Mak by 1 pin after the seventh game. Lalisang recovered to regain the lead after the eighth game and went on to end the round with 2239 for the lead.

Mak took second spot with 2199, 40 pins behind while a second Emirati, Hussain Al Suwaidi finished third with 2197. 2013 ABF Tour ranked No. 1, Rakan Al Ameeri of Kuwait finished fourth with 2170.

Hareb (5th-2164), Yousif Falah of Bahrain (6th-2146), Yannaphon (7th-2123) and Khaled Al Dubyyan of Kuwait (8th-2115) joined the top 4 for the knockout rounds tomorrow. Yeri Ramadona of Indonesia missed the cut by 22 pins in ninth position.

Meanwhile, defending champion Sharon Limansantoso topped the women's division with 2065, ahead of two Hong Kong national bowlers in second and third. 2012 TOC winner, Chan Shuk Han finished 9 pins behind the Indonesian and last year's first runner-up, Milki Ng third with 2040.

Three-time TOC winner, Wendy Chai of Malaysia claimed fourth spot with 1987 followed by Filomena Choi of Macau (5th-1981), Nadia Pramanik of Indonesia (6th-1950), early pace-setter, Tanaprang Sathean of Thailand (7th-1946) and Joan Cheng of Hong Kong (8th-1934).

Alisha Nabila of Indonesia missed the cut in ninth position with 1912, also by 22 pins. Men who failed to advance to the knockout rounds earned US$2,000 each while the women took home US$1,500 each.

The quarter-final rounds will commence at 10.00am local time. The winners will square off in the semi-finals and the winners of the semi-finals will face each other for the title. The men champion will pocket the top prize of US$20,000 and the women champion US$10,000.

TFor further information and details, please contact ABF Tour Committee at Tel: +852-2893-6039 or fax to +852-2893-6290 or Email: hktbc@netvigator.com.