JOHN Alcala put up a strong finishing kick to capture the men's overall crown in decisive fashion but Singapore's Ling Er Choo proved a lot tougher and stronger, bucking the heat and dominating the women's side in the inaugural Ironman 70.3 Puerto Princesa on Sunday in Palawan.

Alcala came out of the opening swim leg at the Baywalk Park at joint sixth but chased early leaders Fer Casares, Dutch Eric van den Linden and Satar Salem with a third-best time in bike before pouring it out in the closing run part to rule the 1.9km swim-90km bike-21k run in 4:32:20 at the Ramon Mitra Jr. Sports Complex.