18th September, Hong Kong: Lady luck was certainly shinning on tour debutant, Michael Tsang of Hong Kong as he captured the Men's title of the ABF Tour Hong Kong leg while Filipina, Liza Del Rosario ended Lai Kin Ngoh's hope of a back-to-back women title.

The 16-year-old Tsang became the youngest-ever winner of the tour after he edged his fellow-countrymen, Chung Him in what must be the lowest-ever final, 156-148 while Rosario took the women's title by outclassing Lai, 221-197.

Tsang started off his final match well alternating strike and spare in the first four frames but as he realised that he could win the match, nerve must have started to creep into the youngster. A split in the fifth frame and a disasterous miss in the sixth allowed his opponent, Chung Him a chance to close the gap.

Chung missed the opportunity with a miss in the seventh frame to give some breather to the champion but as Tsang drew nearer to the end,

another miss in the ninth frame made the game wide open. Tsang eventually ended the match with a 156 and all Chung needed to do was to spare his last frame to win.

But lady luck was shinning on the youngster as Chung missed the crucial frame to hand the title to Tsang. The champion had earlier defeated Malaysia's Aaron Kong, 191-160 to book his place in the finals while the runner-up trashed Indonesia's Ryan Lalisang, 242-189 in the first men's semifinal match.

ABF Tour Indonesia leg champion, Lai Kin Ngoh of Malaysia was hoping to win her back-to-back title but was defeated by Filipina, Liza Del Rosario in the women's final match, 197-221. Rosario set a fast pace with a double and then followed it up with a four-bagger from frame 5 onwards.

Lai could not response until the seventh frame where she had a double. The 29-year-old needed at least another two more strikes in order to close the gap but was unlucky to see a stubborn pin-7 standing on her ninth frame.

An open frame in the ninth frame by the champion did not matter as she was cruising to a comfortable win to capture her first title this year. Rosario had a lucky break in the first semifinal match against Malaysia's Paulette Choy when her opponent had one split and three opened frames to hand the match to Rosario, 180-169.

The runner-up edged teammate and Women's World Championship Singles Gold medalist, Esther Cheah, 201-196 in the other all-Malaysian semifinal match. Cheah just did not have the luck without any connecting strikes while Lai struck home for the win.

The win has given Michael Tsang 75 valuable ranking points to put him in 13th in the table and stand a chance to make the cut for the Tournament of Champions in Jakarta in January next year. Lai Kin Ngoh has streched her lead in the women's table with 214 points followed by Paulette Choy in second with 140 points.

The ABF Tour - Hong Kong was telecast LIVE on Hong Kong TVB Jade (Sports World) and will be shown on local television stations of the six countries where the tour is being held. It will also be broadcast later from 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. Visit www.abftour.com for LIVE scores.

Photos courtesy of Ritchie Lai, TND Group.

17th September, Hong Kong: Local tour debutants, Chung Him and Michael Tsang moved into the semifinals of the ABF Tour Hong Kong 2005 while three Malaysian women ended Hong Kong women's charge on Day 1 at Thunder Bowl.

Newly-crowned Hong Kong Open champion impressed by winning his Round 1 match against Takahiro Yoshida from the Philippines, 223-201 but ended his campaign loosing to Indonesia's Ryan Lalisang, 237-162 in Round 2. Hong Kong's Chung Him defeated Malaysia's Daniel Lim, 199-187 in Round 2 to progess into the semifinals.

Malaysia was assured of a semifinal spot when Aaron Kong defeated Azidi Ameran, 190-170 in his second round match. Kong had earlier edged Asian ranked No. 1 and leader in the ABF ranking table, Alex Liew, 193-190.

The star of the day was undoubtedly tour debutant, Michael Tsang of Hong Kong. Tsang outclassed TOC champion and crowd favourite, Wu Siu Hong, 246-136 to take up the last men's semifinal spot. Tsang also knocked out Hong Kong Open first runner-up, Zulmazran Zulkifli of Malaysia, 202-192 in Round 1.

Hong Kong's hope of a women bowler in the semifinals was crushed when ex-international, Cookie Lee was edged out by Paulette Choy Poh Lai, 177-175. Lee showed newly-crowned Hong Kong champion the exit door when she defeated Jojo Canare of the Philippines, 247-230 but could not repeat the form when matched against Choy.

Liza Del Rosario took up the women's second semifinal spot when she defeated Hong Kong's top women bowler, Vanessa Fung, 216-199 in Round 2. Despite winning the first match, 214-177 against Malaysia's Tang Joh Six in Round 1, Fung found Rosario quite a handful opponent.

Newly-crowned ABF Tour Indonesia leg champion, Lai Kin Ngoh was given an easy passage into her second consecutive semifinals when Melody Yeung lost to Lai, 145-187. Lai had earlier knocked out Indonesia's Putty

Armein, 208-170 while Yeung defeated Philippines leg champion, Apple Posadas, 181-157 in Round 1.

The last women's semifinal spot went to Women's World Championship Singles Gold medalist, Esther Cheah of Malaysia. The Tournament of Champions runner-up ended Hong Kong's Janet Lam charge when she took the Round 2 match, 188-160. Cheah knockout teammate and second-seed, Wendy Chai, 212-202 earlier in Round 1.

Paulette Choy will meet Filipina, Liza Del Rosario in the first women's semifinal match while the other will be an all-Malaysian match between Lai Kin Ngoh and Esther Cheah. Ryan Lalisang will face off with Chung Him while Malaysia's Aaron Kong will meet favourite, Michael Tsang.

The ABF Tour - Hong Kong will be shown on Hong Kong TVB Jade (Sports World) LIVE tomorrow and on local television stations of the six countries where the tour is being held. It will also be broadcast later from 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. Visit www.abftour.com for LIVE scores.

Photos courtesy of Ritchie Lai, TND Group.