Australia's Adam Jeffery held off a determined challenge from Craigengower Cricket Club stalwart Willie Lai to successfully defend his Manulife Funds Direct International Bowls Classic singles title yesterday. The 26-year-old from Canberra saved his best till last, coming from 9-3 down against Lai to win convincingly 25-15 in an entertaining final at the Kowloon Bowling Green Club. Lai, who had surprised many on Saturday by defeating 1997 runner-up David Le Marquand, showed that his first-day heroics were no flash-in-the-pan by recording a superb 25-23 win over South African Neil Burkett in yesterday's semi-finals. Jeffery, however, proved to be a bridge too far for the former Hong Kong representative. 'He was just too good for me in the end,' Lai said after his defeat. 'I started well but he just came back at me. But I'm happy with the way I have played . . . normally I don't get past the first or second round.' Jeffery sealed his win in the 23rd end, when he took all four points to reach the magic 25-point barrier. Lai was remaining upbeat after the loss, however. 'I think this weekend has shown that the standards of Hong Kong players are improving all the time. It was good to see so many of our players getting into the quarter-finals - hopefully we can play well in the pairs.' Jeffery was full of praise for Lai after wrapping up a win which makes him only the third player to retain the Classic title since the tournament was first held in 1983. 'When he went into the 9-3 lead I thought to myself I've got a tough game on my hands. He was putting me under a bit of pressure and playing really well,' a relieved Jeffery said. 'I started changing my length with the jack a bit and that seemed to help . . . it broke up his rhythm.' Jeffery also found the KBGC's greens to his liking: 'They take a bit of getting used to but they are pretty true. They're very different to last year [at the CCC].' Lai had reached the final after his epic win over Burkett in the semi-finals and an earlier 25-15 victory against CCC teammate Tony Chok. Hong Kong's Noel Kennedy bowed out in the quarter-finals, losing 25-19 against Scot Graham Robertson.