17th March, Kuwait: Two-time Asia No. 1, Hussain Al-Suwaidi of UAE captured the ABF Tour Tournament of Champions Men's title while ex-Malaysian national bowler, Lai Kin Ngoh returned to the winning circle with victory in the women's division.

Hussain narrowly defeated local favourite, Khaled Al-Dubyyan 233-213 in the title match en-route to emerging as Asia's best for the third consecutive year and Lai edged Hong Kong's Milki Ng, 168-156 in the women's final.

Hussain Al-Suwaidi, who finished second last year, started off with a vengence as he struck twice in his two opening frames against Asian Championship Masters gold medalist, Khaled Al-Dubyyan of Kuwait, who only spared two frames.

Despite a split in the third frame by Hussain, the Emirati rolled three consective strikes to open up a gap of 20 pins as the Kuwaiti continued to struggle in the early stages.

Khaled bounced back with four strikes-in-a-row to draw level at the eighth frame and needing another in the tenth to have any chance of sealing the match.

But Hussain responded by striking out from frame nine to take the match and the coveted title, 233-213. The champion had edged PBA pro, Jason Belmonte of Australia, 195-194 to reach the finals.

"The match against Jason was crucial and I made sure I put in 110 percent focus," said the delighted 29-year-old Hussain. "Khaled was having a good run to the finals and I knew it will be tough match."

"It was very close right up to the end and I needed to strike in the tenth frame to stand a chance of winning. Luckily I kept my nerves and I guess my previous experiences helped me pull it through."

Khaled sailed into the finals with a comfortable victory over Bahrain's Yousif Falah, 207-168 in the first semi-final match. Khaled was equally impressive in the quarter-finals when he ousted Thailand's Phiriyahbhoon P., 256-217.

Belmonte shot the tournament's highest game when he beat No. 3 seed, Wu Siu Hong of Hong Kong, 265-200 in the other quarter-finals and Hussain knocked out defending champion, Ryan Laisang of Indonesia, 195-170 in his quarter-final match.

Meanwhile, ex-Malaysian national bowler, Lai Kin Ngoh returned to the winning circle after she edged Hong Kong's Milki Ng in the low-scoring women's final, 168-156 to capture the women's crown.

Both Lai and Ng had an opened frame each and were locked together at the sixth frame. Two more open frames from Ng gave the Malaysian a lead of 23 pins by the time they reached the eighth frame. Lai went on to beat Ng, 169-156 to win the women's crown.

The champion also eliminated defending champion, Sharon Limansantoso of Indonesia, 200-193 in the second semi-final to advance while Ng beat Korea's Kim Eun Jung, 184-161 in the other semi.

"I came here without any high expectations and my target was to make the top 8 finals," said 35-year-old Lai, whose only victory in the tour was the 2008 Indonesia leg. "I wanted to come and renew my friendship with some of the Asian bowlers.

"To go home with this victory is simply fantastic. I don't bowl as much as I use to when I was a national bowler so the win is beyond my expectation really."

Lai won US$10,000 as champion while Ng took home US$5,000 as runnerup. Both the losing semi-finalists settled for US$3,000 each. Hussain pocketed the biggest prize of US$20,000 for his victory.

Khaled won US$8,000 with Belmonte and Yousif settling for US$4,000 each for finishing third and fourth positions. The top 16 men and top 16 women had qualified for the tournament of champions through eight legs contested in 2010.

Mr Kevin Dornberger, WTBA president presented the trophy to the women champion while Sheikh Talal Al-Sabah, ABF and Kuwait Bowling Federation president gave away the trophy to the men champion.

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

Photos by Terence Yaw in Kuwait.

16th March, Kuwait: Newly-crowned UAE leg champion, Khaled Al-Dubyyan of Kuwait and 2009 TOC champion, Tang Joh Six of Malaysia topped the opening round of the ABF Tour Tournament of Champions underway at Cozmo Bowling Centre on Wednesday.

Following up on his recent successes in Abu Dhabi where he won the gold medal in the Men's Masters of the 21st Asian Championship and the season opening leg of this year's tour in Dubai, Khaled immediately went into the lead with a splendid 259.

The lanky Kuwaiti held on to the lead up the halfway mark when he slipped to second after reigning Asia No. 1, Hussain Al-Suwaidi of UAE took over the running. The Emirati opened up a massive gap of 68 pins by the eight game and looked set to end the round in pole.

But Khaled fought back with 231 and 210 to end the round in front with 2218 and snatching the lead from Hussain by 5 pins.

Hussain settled for second with 2213 while 2004 TOC champion, Wu Siu Hong finished third with 2163. Yousif Falah of Bahrain, PBA pro Jason Belmonte of Australia, Joshua Chow of Hong Kong and Phiriyahbhoon P. of Thailand took up fourth to seventh positions.

Defending champion, Ryan Lalisang of Indonesia, who was tenth before the final game, snatched the eighth and final position to advance into the nest round.

Yannaphon Larpapharat of Thailand, who was eighth prior to his last game, missed the cut by 8 pins to end up ninth.

Meanwhile, 2009 TOC champion, Tang Joh Six cruised into pole position to lead the top 8 into the next stage with a total of 2057, 49 pins ahead of defending champion, Sharon Limansantoso of Indonesia in second with 2008.

Chan Shuk Han and team-mate, Milki Ng had set the early pace in the women's division but soon found themselves slipping down the field as Thailand's Benchawan Poungthong and Korea's Kim Eun Jung started fighting over the lead.

But midway through the 10-game opening round, it was Tang who surged into the lead over the Korean Kim. The Malaysian spinner built up a decent gap of 81 pins by the eighth game and cruised to a comfortable end.

Sharon finished ahead of her compatriot, Putty Armein who took third spot with 2000 to make up the top three having averaged 200 and above. Kim and another Korean, Joung Myo Boub took fourth and fifth spots with 1991 and 1943.

A second Malaysian, Lai Kin Ngoh finished sixth while the remaining two spots went to Hong Kong's Vanessa Fung and Milki Ng tieing seventh position with 1929. Tannya Roumimper shot s disasterous 160 in her final game to miss the cut by 6 pins in ninth position.

The top 8 men and top 8 women advanced into the one-game Round 2 knockout stage of the tournament tomorrow. The winners of the Round 2 will face off in the semi-finals and the title match to determine this year's champion.

The finals will be telecast on local station, Kuwait TV as well as stations throughout Asia where the ABF Tour 2010 legs were held. For further information and details, please contact ABF Tour Committee at Tel: +852 2893 6039, Fax: +852 2893 6290; Email: hktbc@netvigator.com.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Kuwait.