17th September, Hong Kong: Jojo Canare of the Philippines earned a spot in the Tournament of Champions after winning the ABF Tour Hong Kong leg women's crown which ended at Thunder Bowl Sunday evening with Remy Ong of Singapore taking the men's title.

The final match between the World Men's Championship two gold medalist, Remy Ong and tour debutant, Jeffrey Choi of Hong Kong must have been tense as both were hoping to win their first-ever ABF Tour title.

Eventually experience paid off handsomely for the 27-year-old Ong, as he cruised to an easy 245-162 victory over Choi. And despite tieing at 75 points each with Malaysia's Mohd Noer Said, the last spot went to the Malaysian as Ong had less total pinfalls played in this year's tour.

The champion, who currently lead the Asian Ranking, also had a comfortable victory over Thailand Open champion, Yannaphon Larpapharat of Thailand, 211-137 in the second semifinal match while Choi edged favourite and newly-crowned Hong Kong champion, Wu Siu Hong, 242-235 in the first semi.

The only other finalist who have earned a spot in the TOC was Korea's Oh Young-Ki improving from 20th before the final leg to 14th despite loosing to top-seed, Wu Siu Hong in Round 1.

The women's final also witnessed a thrilling ending although both Jojo Canare of the Philippines and Thailand's Angkana Netvriseth would have made the cut for the TOC regardless of who finished top.

But both the finalists were aiming to end the tour with victory taking the match to the final frame. It turned out to be a happy hunting ground for Canare as she narrowly edged the Thai, 231-225 to claim the women's crown. Canare, who won last year's Hong Kong title and failed to defend the title, made up for the disappointment and assuring herself a spot in the grand finals.

The champion reached the finals after she disposed off local favourite and ABF Tour Malaysia leg champion, Vanessa Fung, 203-184 in the first semifinal while Angkana knocked out another local hopeful, Cookie Lee, 182-151 in the other semi.

Newly-crowned Hong Kong Open champion, Shalin Zulkifli of Malaysia, made an early exit after being knocked out by Canare in the opening round while the other Malaysian and second-seed, Lai King Ngoh was also eliminated in Round 1 by debutant, Daphne Tan of Singapore.

Hong Kong's Joey Yip, who defeated compatriot, Sylvia Kong in the opening round but lost to Vanessa Fung in the second round, missed the cut for the grand finals in 17th position. The top 16 men and women based on the rankings have qualified for the TOurnament of Champions which will be held in January, 12-15, 2007.

ABF Tour last stop will be in Hong Kong on the 17th September, 2006. The ABF Tour 2006 comprises 8 Legs and a Grand Final. Top 16 men and 16 women bowlers from the preceding International Open Masters Event (Open Grade) will be qualified and competed in a one-game match play knock-out competition for the individual men's and women's titles.

Highlights of the ABF Tour - Hong Kong will be televised on Hong Kong TVB Jade (Sports World) and later on local television stations of the eight countries where the tour was being held. It is also 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 by visiting ABF Tour official website: www.abftour.com.

Photos by Ritchie Lai, TND Group.