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.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Kuwait.

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.

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.