Two more players have staked their claim for a place in the Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions as the race heats up in the final weeks of the season.

Israel’s Shahar Peer earned her fourth career title when she defeated Alberta Brianti of Italy 6-3 6-4 to win the Guangzhou International, adding to the three titles she won in 2006 in Pattaya City, Prague and Istanbul. She had also finished as runner-up to Venus Williams at Memphis in 2007, while Brianti was playing her first Sony Ericsson WTA Tour final.

"I'm very happy to win this title. I haven't been in the finals for almost two and a half years so winning this title is really important to me," Peer said. "At the beginning she played really, really well. She was very aggressive and dominating the points. I was a bit nervous - I wasn't hitting the ball very well. But I found my rhythm. It wasn't perfect, but it was good enough to win today."

And on the other side of the world, in Quebec City, Hungarian fifth seed Melinda Czink claimed her first career title in a battle between two left-handers. She overcame fourth seed Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic in a tough three sets, edging through 4-6 6-3 7-5 to win the Bell Challenge. Czink had played one other final, at Canberra in 2005, when she finished as runner-up to an emerging Ana Ivanovic.

"It feels great," said Czink, who with her victory achieved a career-high ranking of 37 to become the new Hungarian number one. "I haven't really processed it yet but I will. I went match by match this week. This was the toughest match this week. I had to take some risks on her serve today - sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. We really pushed each other, and I'm happy I could come out the winner."

Only five more tournaments remain this year to determine who will compete for the $600,000 prize money that will be up for grabs at the Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions to be held at the Bali International Convention Centre, The Westin Resort, Nusa Dua. The tournament takes place from 4th to 8th November, and will feature top Tour players and next generation champions competing in an innovative 12 woman round robin singles format.

In addition, an incredible $1 million bonus will be paid to any player that can win three of the 30 International Series events, and the Tournament of Champions. So far, two players are hot on the trail for the biggest payday of their life, with two titles each - Victoria Azarenka who took the titles in Brisbane and Memphis, and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez who won in Bogota and Bastad.

The top 10 Sony Ericsson WTA Tour players who have won at least one International Series tournament during the year and who are not participating in singles at the year-end Sony Ericsson Championships will qualify for the event, along with two wild cards. The 12-woman event will feature four groups of three players in a round robin format, then a single-elimination semi-finals and final.