18th September, Hong Kong: Lady luck was certainly shinning on tour debutant, Michael Tsang of Hong Kong as he captured the Men's title of the ABF Tour Hong Kong leg while Filipina, Liza Del Rosario ended Lai Kin Ngoh's hope of a back-to-back women title.

The 16-year-old Tsang became the youngest-ever winner of the tour after he edged his fellow-countrymen, Chung Him in what must be the lowest-ever final, 156-148 while Rosario took the women's title by outclassing Lai, 221-197.

Tsang started off his final match well alternating strike and spare in the first four frames but as he realised that he could win the match, nerve must have started to creep into the youngster. A split in the fifth frame and a disasterous miss in the sixth allowed his opponent, Chung Him a chance to close the gap.

But lady luck was shinning on the youngster as Chung missed the crucial frame to hand the title to Tsang. The champion had earlier defeated Malaysia's Aaron Kong, 191-160 to book his place in the finals while the runner-up trashed Indonesia's Ryan Lalisang, 242-189 in the first men's semifinal match.

ABF Tour Indonesia leg champion, Lai Kin Ngoh of Malaysia was hoping to win her back-to-back title but was defeated by Filipina, Liza Del Rosario in the women's final match, 197-221. Rosario set a fast pace with a double and then followed it up with a four-bagger from frame 5 onwards.

Lai could not response until the seventh frame where she had a double. The 29-year-old needed at least another two more strikes in order to close the gap but was unlucky to see a stubborn pin-7 standing on her ninth frame.

An open frame in the ninth frame by the champion did not matter as she was cruising to a comfortable win to capture her first title this year. Rosario had a lucky break in the first semifinal match against Malaysia's Paulette Choy when her opponent had one split and three opened frames to hand the match to Rosario, 180-169.

The runner-up edged teammate and Women's World Championship Singles Gold medalist, Esther Cheah, 201-196 in the other all-Malaysian semifinal match. Cheah just did not have the luck without any connecting strikes while Lai struck home for the win.

The win has given Michael Tsang 75 valuable ranking points to put him in 13th in the table and stand a chance to make the cut for the Tournament of Champions in Jakarta in January next year. Lai Kin Ngoh has streched her lead in the women's table with 214 points followed by Paulette Choy in second with 140 points.

The ABF Tour - Hong Kong was telecast LIVE on Hong Kong TVB Jade (Sports World) and will be shown later on local television stations of the six countries where the tour is being held. It will also be broadcast later from parts of Europe, Africa, the Middle East, central Asia, China and Australasia with an estimated audience of around 90 million.

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) or Mr. Kelvin Pong (Mobile: (852) 9100 0958; email: Kelvin.pong@tndgroup.com).