10th September, Kuching: Ambrose Hon Nga Pok of Confianza, Hong Kong, China took his maiden international title after defeating challenger, Nur Amirah Ng of Agape, Singapore, 243-173 in the Challenger Crown Masters final match at the Sarawak International Open Bowling Championships 2026.

Hon put in a fabulous display in the final match as he cruised to a convincing victory against the top female, Nur Amirah. Seeded 28th, Hon ousted fourth-seed, Phanupong Permpimol of Thailand, 247-216 in the first semi-final match to advance to the final.

Nur Amirah defeated second-seed, Melvin Gilbert Gimang Anak Tingau of ABAS/Sarawak, 225-209 in the other semi to face Hon in the final. Hon narrowly beat 14th-seed, Eldred Kho Yek Zhen of Malaysia, 204-203 in the quarter-finals continuing his fine run.

In the Top 16 round, the 23-year-old Hon eliminated top-seed, Muhammad Qaish Rayyan of Malaysia, 230-201 and in the Top 32 round, Hon had an easy passage against 29th-seed, Wilbert Koh Tiat Meng of Singapore, 177-134.

Hon started the elimination knockout match in the Top 60 round with a victory over 37th-seed, Mohammad Khair Qayyum of Malaysia, 227-182 to kick-start his undefeated run toward the title. The Hong Kong kegler took home the top prize of RM8,000 as champion.

Nur Amirah Ng settled for RM4,000 as first runner-up. Phanupong Permpimol and Melvin Gilbert both earned RM1,500 each as joint-third. Qualifiers position 5 to 60 proceeded to the Top 60 elimination knockout rounds over one-game matches. Winners advanced to the Top 32 round along with the top 4 seeded qualifiers, then to the Top 16, Top 8 quarter-finals, Top 4 semi-finals and Top 2 finals.

A similar elimination knockout format will be held for the U21 Division tomorrow at 10.00am local time while the Classified Division Masters finals will commence 3.00pm over nine games.

The championship will conclude with the Open Division Masters Finals over 8 games on Saturday, September 12. The Top 4 will proceed to the 'Last Man Standing' Stepladder Shootout finals to determine this year's champion.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Kuching, Sarawak.