25th March, Kuwait: Thai national bowlers, Yannaphon Larpapharat and Surasak Manuwong again stole the limelight on Day 2 of the ABF Tour Tournament of Champions after finishing first and third at the end of the Men's Round 1 second block on Thursday.

First block leader, Somjed Kusonpithak of Thailand resumed the second block in the lead despite losing his opening match with Kuwait's Khaled Al-Dubyyan taking over second spot from Indonesia's Ryan Lalisang.

The 22-year-old managed to maintain his lead in the next three games despite winning only one match and suffering a lowly 162 in the second match. As Khaled dropped his pace a little, it was another Thai, Surasak Manuwong who made his bid in second.

Two superb matches from overnight third-placed, Yannaphon Larpapharat moved the Thai into the lead followed by Kuwaiti, Khaled regaining second spot as Somjed and Lalisang slipped out of the leading trio.

Yannaphon drew his last match to end the second block with 3310 in the lead from nine wins and one draw to advance into the next stage as top seed. Khaled settled for second with 3231, 79 pins adrift the leader.

"The first three matches was difficult as the back-end was too strong," said the 27-year-old Yannaphon Larpapharat, who won last year's Saudi leg and the Thailand Open Masters title.

"But when the oil carried down a little, it was much easier to bowl and I was able to win the matches with higher scores."

"I actually bowled better yesterday to finish fourth," said the 23-year-old student, Khaled Al-Dubyyan. "But everyone was struggling in the beginning and there were not much high scores.

"I was just maintaining my scores and made sure I don't bowl low games. It's been quite a while since my last title and it would be nice to win on home ground."

Surasak held on to thrid spot with 3218 followed by overnight leader, Somjed in fourth spot with 3161. Lalisang took fifth position just 1 pin off Somjed with 3160 while Bahrain's iYousif Falah finished strongly to take up sixth with 3125.

Hong Kong's sole representative, Eric Tseng finished seventh position with 3120 while the last quarter-final spot went to UAE's Hussain Al-Suwaidi with 3104. Michael Tsang of Hong Kong was unlucky to miss the cut in ninth, 31 pins away.

Top seed, Yannaphon will meet Hussain Al-Suwaidi in the quarter-finals while No. 2 seed, Khaled is matched up against two-time Kuwait leg champion, Ryan Lalisang. Third-seed, Surasak will meet Yousif Falah and Somjed will meet Eric Tseng.

The finals will be telecast on local station, Kuwait TV as well as stations throughout Asia where the ABF Tour 2009 legs were held. For further information and details, please logon to www.abftour.com or contact ABF Tour Committee at Tel: +852-2893-6039 or fax to +852-2893-6290 or Email: hktbc@netvigator.com.

25th March, Kuwait: First block leader, Kim Eun Jung of Korean stamped her mark as firm favourite after leading all the way to end the second block of Round 1 unchallenged in the ABF Tour Tournament of Champions on Thursday.

With 54 pins margin from the first block yesterday, Kim Eun Jung did not have a good start managing only 189 but was still able to win her opening match and remained in front of the pack with Sharon Limansantoso moving into second.

The Korean continued to lead the field as a keen tussle developed for second spot. By the fifth game, she was well ahead of Limansantoso by a comfortable margin of 107 pins. Kim went on to end with 3266 from a total of 14 wins out of 15.

"I bowled in the same line from yesterday but my ball reacted differently and that's why I did not have a good start," said the 37-year-old Kim Eun Jung. "Luckily I made quick adjustment and recovered."

Asia Ranked No. 1, Chan Shuk Han, who was fifth in the first block, improved to second spot with 3102, 164 pins adrift while Limansantoso settled for third spot with 3080. Defending champion, Tang Joh Six dropped to fourth with 3062.

The second Indonesian to make the cut was Tannya Roumimper, who amassed a total of 3019 while the biggest mover was Malaysia's Shalin Zulkifli, recovering from a poor 11th place to sixth with 2999.

Korngunya Aree of Thailand and the second Korean, Park Jin Hee made the top 8 cut in seventh and eighth positions with 2994 and 2984 respectively. Hong Kong's Vanessa Fung was unfortunate to miss the cut by 25 pins in ninth.

The first four finishers will be seeded one to four while the remaining four will draw to see whom they will meet in the one-game quarter-finals knockout round scheduled tomorrow morning.

The finals will be telecast on local station, Kuwait TV as well as stations throughout Asia where the ABF Tour 2009 legs were held. For further information and details, please logon to www.abftour.com or contact ABF Tour Committee at Tel: +852-2893-6039 or fax to +852-2893-6290 or Email: hktbc@netvigator.com.