14th January, Jakarta: Jason Belmonte of Australia and Angkana Netvriseth of Thailand turned the tables on overnight leaders, Chester King and Putty Armein to end the qualifying round of the ABF Tour Tournament of Champions by topping both the Men and Women's division.

The Aussie was fifth in the first block of 8 games played on Saturday and trailed overnight leader, Chester King of the Philippines by 131 pins. The 23-year-old Belmonte won four straight matches to narrow the gap to just 19 pins by the 13th game behind new leader, Abdulla Al-Qattan of Qatar.

A superb 290 in the penultimate match saw the Aussie surge into the lead and 62 pins ahead of the Qatari and despite just posting a 206 in his final game, it was enough to top the field with a 15-game total of 3345.

"I started poorly on the first day as this is my first-ever visit to this bowling centre and Indonesia," said the top-seed, Jason Belmonte. "I was merely trying to find my feet as the approach was quite slippery but once I settled down, I was able to make good shots. I used the Columbia Wrath for the first time and it helped me a lot towards the end especially when the lanes were getting drier."

Al-Qattan settled for second with 3301 ahead of Filipino, Chester King in third with a total of 3299. Tour TOC debutant, Mohd Noer Said was the best Malaysian finisher in fourth on 3237 followed by TOC top qualifier and teammate, Zulmazran Zulkifli in fifth spot with 3200.

Two-time Indonesia Open champion, Alex Liew of Malaysia also made the knockout stage in sixth with 3177 while the last two spots went to Hong Kong's Wu Siu Hong and Kuwait's Fadhel Al-Mousawi in seventh and eighth positions respectively.

Thailand's Angkana Netvriseth surprised the strong field by topping the women's division by a comfortable margin of 91 pins on her 15-game total of 3377. The 17-year-old student from Bangkok who trailed Indonesia's Putty Armein in the first block, took over the lead after the 3 games were played in today's second block.

Korea's Kim Eun Jung, who finished third overnight, improved to take up second with a total of 3286 while overnight leader and Doha Asian Games silver medalist, Putty Armein dropped to third with 3201.

"My best performance in the tour was finishing second in the Hong Kong leg this year so I'm thrilled to have made the top 8," said the 17-year-old

Angkana Netvriseth of Thailand. "And it was a pleasant surprise to finish top-seed especially bowling amongst the top bowlers in Asia. Although I intend to make it all the way to the finals, I will take one game at a time."

Two-time Milo Junior All Stars champion, Siti Safiyah Amirah displayed superb consistency to clinch fourth spot with 3108 ahead of her more experienced teammate and TOC top women qualifier, Shalin Zulkifli, who finished fifth with 3100.

Filipina, Liza Clutario made the cut finishing sixth with 3086 while 2004 TOC champion, Wendy Chai joined her fellow Malaysians for the kncokout stage in seventh on a score of 3046. The final spot went to Kang Hyun Jin of Korea who finished eighth with 3016.

The top 8 men and top 8 women will move into the one-game knockout quarterfinal stage and the winners of the first matches will proceed to the semifinals to determine the finalists and this year's TOC champions.

ABF Tour TOC is the grand slam finals for this year's tour. 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.

The ABF Tour - TOC will be telecast on some of the key television stations in the region. 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).