16th June, Hong Kong: 2009 ABF Tour Bahrain eg champion, Eric Tseng ended a five-year drought to win his second Men's title at the ABF Tour Hong Kong leg while Putty Armein ended a four-year drought to win her second Women's crown at SCAA Bowling Centre on Monday.
Both Tseng and Wu started the match cautiously sparing the first two frames. Wu rolled a double in the third and fourth frames but Tseng responded brilliantly with four strikes-in-a-row to lead by 19 pins.
Tseng encountered a tricky split in the seventh frame which he crucially managed to spare it as his oppnent was unble to respond. Wu mounted his challenge with a turkey from frame eight to end with 226.
Needing to double in the tenth frame, Tseng answered superbly to beat his fellow team-mate, 223-226 to win the tie.
Eric Tseng winning his second career tour title
"Siu Hong is a very good bowler and to beat hime, you need 110% focus," said the 25-year-old mmember of the Hong Kong national team. "The spare in the seventh frame was important and I thought I had the match already at that stage.
"When Siu Hong rolled three strikes-in-a-row, I knew I had to double up in the final frame. Of course the pressure was great but luckily I made good my shots. It's seems a long time since I've won a tour title. I've finished second on so many ocassions, this victory feels great."
The champion easily defeated tour debutant, Tomoyuki Sakasi of Japan, 200-169 in the second semi-finals to earn a crack at the title. Tseng rolled the highest game of the tournament after thrashing Ryan Lalisang of Indonesia, 254-181 in the opening round.
Tseng went on to edge current Asian ranked No. 1, Shaker Al Hassan of UAE, 200-194 in the second round to reach the semi. Wu beat Wicky Yeung in an all-Hong Kong semi-final, 221-174 to face Tseng in the final.
The women's final was another closely fought tie. Putty Armein got off to a great start after rolling three consecutive strikes to lead team-mate and first runner-up of the 40th Hong Kong International Open, Sharon Limansantoso.
Despite failing to spare in the fourth frame, her opponent had back-to-back splits in the seventh and eighth frames to trail by a bigger gap of 27 pins. Limansantoso mounted a come-back with a turkey from frame nine to end with 190. Armein kept her cool to mark all her frames to end with 199 to win her second tour title.
"It seems such a long time since I last won a tour title," said the 33-year-old winner of the 2010 ABF Tour Macau leg. "This made up a little disappointment I suffered yesterday when I finished fourth in the Hong Kong Open.
"I hope I can carry forward y good form into the Macau Open next week. Another good performance there will certainly boost my confidence in the Asian Games come September in Incheon, Korea."
Second tour title for Putty Armein
The champion had to take a 9 and 10 frame roll-off after tieing with ABF Tour Thailand leg champion, Kritsanakorn Sangaroon of Thailand, 191 in the second women's second semi-final where she beat the Thai, 40-26 to progress.
Armein also registered the highest game when she ousted Chan Shuk Han of Hong Kong, 233-116 in the second round.
Ms Vivien Lau, Chairman of the ABF Tour and Honorary Life President of Asian Bowling Federation presented the prizes to the winners. The next leg will be held on June 23 after the 2014 Macau-China International Open from June 17 to 22.
This year's ABF Tour consists of nine legs - five in the Middle East without women division and four in East Asia with women division. Four more stops remains after Hong Kong which will be in Macau, UAE, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia.
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 Hong Kong, China.
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