17th March, Kuwait: Yousif Falah of Bahrain won his first TOC title after edging Yannaphon Larpapharat of Thailand, 187-155 in the men's finals while two-time TOC winner, Chan Shuk Han of Hong Kong picked up her third after ousting Wendy Chai of Malaysia, 221-183 in the women's finals.

Yousif, who has two ABF Tour title to his credit, sailed past 12th Kuwait Open third runner-up, Michael Mak of Hong Kong, 255-201 in the first semi-finals and Chan breezed into the finals after beating Milki Ng, 228-182 in the all Hong Kong semi-finals.

The Bahraini started off with a split in his opening frame as his opponent made no mistake with a spare. Whilst Yousif made slight amends to roll a strike in the second, Yannaphon stubled to a split of his own.

Yousif and Yannaphon appeared to find the conditions difficult and were unable to make any impact. A big split in the fifth frame by Yannaphon put the Thai to trail Yousif even further.

Both found a strike each in the eight providing Yannaphon a slight hope if he could strike out. Yousif made a good pocket shot only to see pin 7 and 10 standing firmly. The spectators were delighted to Yousif sparing the almost impossible 7-10 split. But Yannaphon was unable to strike out and encountering a split in the last frame to end with a low 155 to Yousif's 187.

"The lanes were very much different from the semi-final match we had earlier," said the 31-year-old ex-Bahraini national bowler, who made the TOC after bagging the 2014 Dubai leg.

"Both of us struggled but I was more fortunate than Yannaphon. Sparing the 7-10 split was the saver because if I had failed to spare it, Yannaphon could still take the match by striking home.

"I have been to two TOC but have never progress beyond the second round, so this win is especially sweet for me after I failed to make the finals of the KUwait Open two days ago."

Yannaphon reached the finals by eadging remaining Kuwaiti, Khaled Al Dubyyan, 223-213 in the other men's semi-final match to face Yousif. The champion had earlier ousted third-seed, Hussain Al Suwaidi of UAE, 234-210 in the quarter-finals to reach the semi-finals.

Meanwhile, Chan Shuk Han picked up her third TOC title equalling the three wins set by Wendy Chai of Malaysia. And the victory came after she beat Chai in the women's final match.

The Hong Kong national bowler had a narrow victory over Nadia Pramanik of Indonesia, 188-180 in the Round of 8 before beating team-mate. Milki Ng in the semis.

Chai clinched her spot in the finals with a 201-200 victory over defending champion, Sharon Limansantoso of Indonesia in the second semi-final match.

Yousif won US$20,000 as the men's champion as Yannaphon took home US$8,000 as first runner-up. Chan earned US$10,000 as the women's champion while Chai pocketed US$5,000 as the women's first runner-up.

Mak and Khaled settled for US$4,000 each for finishing as second and third runner-ups while Limansantoso and Ng took home US$3,000 each for third and fourth positions.

Sheikh Talal M. Al-Sabah, President of the Asian Bowling Federation and Kuwait Bowling Federation was on hand to present the trophy and cheques to the champions.

The top 16 men and top 15 women based on their tour rankings earned in 2014 out of nine legs qualified for the Tournament of Champions. They contested 10 games in Round 1 qualifying for the field to be cut to top 8 men and top 8 women for today's quarter-finals knockout rounds.

For further information and details, please contact ABF Tour Committee at Tel: +852 2893 6039, Fax: +852 2893 6290; Email: hktbc@netvigator.com.