1st April, Kuwait: Topseeds, Martin Larsen and Nina Flack gave Sweden a double victory when the duo captured the Men's and Women's titles of the 6th Kuwait International Open which ended Wednesday evening at Cozmo Bowl.

The victory from the lanky Swede, Martin Larsen capped off a superb week of bowling as the topseed defeated challenger, Osku Palermaa of Finland over one match, 222-196 in the Men's title match.

Larsen, who is one of the two European candidate for the PBA Bowling Series in the United States this August, ended the second block of the Top 16 round-robin matchplay finals atop with a total of 3979.

The champion won only four of the eighth matches played today as opposed to all eight matches won yesterday in the first block. Larsen almost shot the tournament's second perfect game when he shot 299 in the position round match against Hussain Al-Suwaidi of UAE.

"It's just simply fantastic to finally win here," said the delighted Larsen. "I had many seconds and thirds but this win is especially sweet. I had beaten Osku (Palermaa) in a match yesterday and many other matches elsewhere so I was pretty confident that I can beat him again."

Fourth-seed, Osku Palermaa's fine run was ended when he encountered two open frames in the title match against Larsen although he was able to draw level in the seventh frame after knocking down a turkey thereafter. But another split in the final frame costed the Finn the match and the title.

"I had good matches against my opponents earlier but I made two silly mistakes in this important match against Martin so it cost me the title," said Palermaa. "But I'm not really disappointed as I've done well here."

"The matches against Khaled (Al-Dubyyan), Ryan (Lalisang) and

Hussain (Al-Suwaidi) was very close and I bowled well which got me into the final. I was fourth before the matches so I guess it's OK to finish second."

Palermaa beat local crowd favourite and fifth-seed, Khaled, 259-230 in the first stepladder match before narrowly defeating third-seed, Lalisang 219-211 in the second match and easily dispatching second-seed, Hussain 258-200 in the third match to reach the final.

Larsen picked up the top prize of US$25,000 for the victory with Palermaa taking home US$12,000 while Hussain won US$8,000. Lalisang settled for US$6,000 with Khaled remaining in fifth and winning US$5,000.

Meanwhile, Nina Flack edged Hong Kong's Vanessa Fung in a closely fought women's title match, 259-256 to emerge champion and win US$2,750. Vanessa, who was seeded third, narrowly ousted team-mate, Chan Shuk Han, 194-191 in the first match.

Vanessa went on to edge second-seed, Veronica Lantto of Sweden, 207-204 to reach the title match and in an attepmt to regain the title which she won in 2007. The runnerup settled for US$1,900 while Lantto and Chan took home US$1,500 and US$1,000 respectively.

Thailand's Somjed Kusonpithak shot the tournament's only perfect game but there was no special prize awarded. Eighty-seven participants from 18 countries took part in the 5 day tournament.

The top 16 Asian men qualified for the Asian Bowling Federation Tour Kuwait leg which will be contested at the same venue, Cozmo Bowl on Thursday, April 2. The Kuwait leg will be telecast LIVE over Kuwait TV commencing 11.30am.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Kuwait.

31st March, Kuwait: World Championship Doubles gold medalist, Martin Larsen of Sweden, powered his way to the top of the field at the end of the first block of the Top 16 Round-robin matchplay finals of the 6th Kuwait International Open Tuesday evening.

Larsen, who finishing fourth in the earlier Round 2 Top 32 finals, got off the block with only 195 but won the match against his opponent to earn 30 pins bonus at the start of the Round 3 Top 16 round-robin matchplay finals.

Another win with a strong 267 in his second match moved the Swede up into second to trail pace-setter, Hussain Al-Suwaidi of UAE by 58 pins. Despite winning his next two matches with lines of 227 and 216, Larsen still found himself behind Hussain by 46 pins.

A scintilating 268 in the fifth match followed by 224 in matches five and six allowed Larsen to take over the running with Indonesia's Ryan Lalisang moving up to second and Hussain dropping down to third.

Larsen won his seventh and eighth matches to end the first block in the lead with 1828 pinfalls and winning all the matches contested for a total of 2068. Hussain bounced back to claim second spot with 2002 winning only four matches.

"All I'm concerned was making sure I bowl well and if it helps me to win the match, then it's good," said the European candidate for the PBA World Bowling Series, Larsen. "At this stage, it's all about making good shots and little mistakes."

Lalisang, who led after the seventh game, lost his last match with a poor 179 to settle for third spot with 1999. The Indonesian won six out of the eighth matches played. Top 32 finals leader, Osku Palermaa of Finland finished fourth with 1901.

Robert Anderson of Sweden rounded up the top 5 in fifth spot with five wins and a total of 1897. Fadhel Al-Mousawi was Kuwait's best performer taking up sixth position with 1896 followed by the recovering Tim Mack of USA in seventh on 1895.

The finalists will resume their second block tomorrow morning for seven matches plus a position-round match to determine the top 5 who would advance into the stepladder finals.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Kuwait.

31st March, Kuwait: Overnight pole-sitter, Osku Palermaa of Finland put in a convincing performance in the Round 2 Top 32 Finals of the 6th Kuwait International Open to lead a field of 16 into the next round on Tuesday morning.

With an 18-game score of 4172 being carried into the Top 32 finals, the Finn led all the way in the 8-games Round 2 without putting a foot wrong at Cozmo Bowling Center ending the round with a scoreline of 1918.

His convincing performance gave the two-handed European candidate for the PBA World Bowling Series a total of 6090. 2007 Kuwait Open champion, Ryan Lalisang of Jaya Ancol Bowl, Indonesia trailed the Finn by a whopping 266 pins in second on 5824.

Kuwait's Khaled Al-Dubyyan stormed home with a superb 278 in his last game to snatch third spot with 5797 ahead of another European candidate for the PBA World Bowling Series in fourth spot with 5792.

Former Team USA member, Tim Mack did well to take up fifth after totaling 5758 followed by qualifying day 2 leader, Basil Al-Anzi of Kuwait in sixth with 5740. Hussain Al-Suwaidi of UAE, Paul Stott of Ireland, Surasak Manuwong of Thailand and Yaqoub Al-Shati rounded up the top 10.

Sweden's Robert Anderson, Hong Kong's Wu Siu Hong, Thailand's Somjed Kusonpithak, Sweden's Nina Flack, Norway's Mads Sandbakken and Kuwait's Fadhel Al-Mousawi all made the top 16 cut.

The top 16 will contest the first block of the 8-game round-robin matchplay first block finals later today. Thirty pins will be awarded for a win and 10 for a draw. They will resume with the second block of 7 games plus another position round to determine the top 5 advancing to the stepladder finals on April 1.

The first stepladder match will be between the fourth and fifth seed over one game. The winner will move up the ladder to face the third seed and so on. The topseed will have a one game advantage if he loses the first game in the title match.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Kuwait.

30th March, Kuwait: 2007 AMF World Cup champion, Osku Palermaa of Finland ended the three blocks of qualifying of the 6th Kuwait International Open by topping the final Squad B and taking pole to move into the next round.

With Sweden's Martin Larsen taking over the overall lead with 4064 after two squads had completed their three blocks of qualifying earlier, Kuwait's Khaled Al-Dubyyan and Finland's Osku Palermaa needed 1310 or more to topple the Swede in their third and final block.

Both Khaled and Palermaa had a poor opening game of 162 and 180 respectively making their task to overhaul the leader a little bit more difficult. Palermaa had a better recovery reeling off 234 and 237 to take the lead in the final squad with Khaled trailing by 54 pins after three games.

The Finn was on a roll as he picked up his pace to register 246, 278 and 237 and ending the block with 1412 for an aggregate 18-game total of 4172 which gave him the top spot, 145 pins ahead of Khaled.

Palermaa's superb run also toppled Larsen by 108 pins to advance into the Top 32 round in pole position. Larsen's 4064 was good enough for second spot while Squad A leader, Ryan Lalisang settled for third with 4063.

"The conditions today are much easier and I had more strikes," said the two-time European Ranked No. 1, Palermaa. "It's nice to be moving into the next round with a good scores as they are carried forward."

"I was making better shots and the crowd here are just simply great when they cheer every bowler who put together many strikes," added the two-handed leader.

Overnight leader, Basil Al-Anzi of Kuwait took fourth spot with his team-mates, Khaled in fourth and Yaqoub Al-Shati fifth. Yaqoub posted the highest 6-game series of the tournament so far with 1479 in the same squad.

"I just drilled a new bowling ball and it really worked well," said Yaqoub. "I struggled in the two earlier blocks and my final block helped me to make the cut. I hope it will work again tomorrow."

World Championship doubles gold medalist, Robert Anderson of Sweden, who shot the highest game of the tournament with 290, finished seventh followed by Tim Mack of USA eighth, Ireland's Paul Stott ninth and Shaker Al-Hassan of UAE rounding up the top 10.

European Women Ranked No. 1 and 2008 Qatar Open champion, Nina Flack of Sweden and her fellow-compatriot, Veronica Lantto were the only two women through to the next round.

The four local Kuwaiti outside the top 28 who made the cut were Fahad Al-Rughaib, Rakan Al-Amiri, Meshari Al-Fadhli and Ali Khalid (youth qualifier).

Thailand's Pasut Punsanthaveekul, who was sitting comfortably inside the top 28, missed the cut by just 2 pins. The final spot went to Kuwait's Jassem Darwish on a total of 3767 and an average of 209.28.

The top 32 will contest the round 2 finals over 8 games with their 18-game pinfalls from the qualifying rounds carried forward. The top 15 plus the best Kuwaiti outside the 15, will advance to the 16-game round-robin matchplay finals over two blocks on March 31 and April 1.

The top 5 finishers at the end of the round-robin will proceed to the stepladder finals to determine this year's champion, who will take home US$25,000 as top prize.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Kuwait.

30th March, Kuwait: Jaya Ancol Bowl's Ryan Lalisang of Indonesia was on a roll in Squad A of the third and final block qualifying rounds at the 6th Kuwait International Open as he cruised to the lead but miss the overall pole by just 1 pin.

Ryan Lalisang, who was relishing on his favourite lanes at Cozmo winning the 2007 Kuwait Open crown and three ABF Tour Kuwait leg titles, had a 44 pin lead over first block leader, Hussain Al-Suwaidi before the start of today's third and final block.

The Indonesia was on a hot streak as he reeled off 246, 215, 252 and 236 in his first four games. And like yesterday when he lost a bit of focus, Lalisang put in extra concentration yet encountered a set back in the fifth game.

Lalisang had four open frames but was fortunate to string a double and a turkey to end with 178. Needing only 216 to overhaul leader, Martin Larsen of Sweden, Lalisang brought home a turkey midway his final game.

But an unlucky 8-split in the ninth frame costed him the pole and he eventually finished the game with 215 and ending up in second to the Swede by just 1 pin. His 1342 effort gave Lalisang a total of 4063.

"There is no special award for finishing number one so I'm happy with my game today," said the 28-year-old Lalisang. What is important in making sure I continue to bowl well especially in the next round."

Hussain settled for second with 3898 and dropped to sixth overall while Fadel Al-Mouswai took third spot with 3806. 2008 GCC Gold medalist, Jassem Darwish of Kuwait, posted the highest 6-game series so far with 1402 for fourth in this squad with team-mate, Rakan Al-Amiri rounding up the top 5 with 3697.

Jassem's superb effort move him up to 16th in the overall standings a a chance to make the top 28 cut. Martin Larsen led the standings with 4064 with Lalisang second with 4063. Overnight leader, Basil finished third with 4052.

Another Swede, Robert Anderson and Shaker Al-Hassan of UAE completed the top 5 with 3957 and 3925 respectively. Kuwait's Khaled Al-Dubyyan and Finn Osku Palermaa appeared to be the only two in the final squad to stand a chance of overhauling Larsen and Lalisang for the top 2 spots.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Kuwait.

30th March, Kuwait: Squad C first block leader, Martin Larsen of Sweden regained the lead after ending the third block of qualifying rounds at the 6th Kuwait International Open in pole taking over from second block leader, Basil Al-Anzi of Kuwait.

The overnight leader got off to a poor start in the final block with 172 in the opening game but held the lead from Sweden's Martin Larsen. A superb 245 in the second game from the Swede shot Larsen to the front leaving Basil to trail by 16 pins.

Larsen continued to post consistent lines of 237, 228, 228 and 191 thus ending the block with 1331 and for an 18-game total of 4064. Basil stepped up his pace in the second half to register 230, 232 and 234 for a score of 1260 and a total of 4052 to settle for second.

Robert Anderson of Sweden finished third with 3957 followed by UAE's Shaker Al-Hassan and Hong Kong's top performer, Eric Tseng completing the top 5 with 3925 and 3862 respectively.

"I'm very pleased with my performance here and I'm happy with my position," said Larsen, who was the first runnerup in the 2008 AMF World Cup in Mexico. "I bowled great in the first block but not so good in the second but today it's good."

Eric was the second highest 6-game series scorer in this squad with 1293. The Hong Kong youngster managed 22nd in the first block then did much better in the second block to move up to 17th. His total of 3925 will put him well into the top 28.

Two remaining squads, A and B will complete their third and final block today. The top 28 plus 4 local Kuwaiti finishers outside the 28 will advance into the next round. One of the four locals will be reserved for a youth under 18.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Kuwait.

29th March, Kuwait: 2007 Kuwait Open champion, Ryan Lalisang of Jaya Ancol, Indonesia ended the final squad of the second block of qualifying at the 6th Kuwait International Open in pole position on Sunday night.

Ryan Lalisang, who finished second in the first block yesterday and sixth overall, took over the running after registering 226, 256 and 246 in the first half of the 6-game second block to lead overnight Squad A leader, Hussain Al-Suawaidi of UAE in second by 23 pins.

While Hussain stumbled in his fourth game with 180, the Indonesian was able to stretch his lead to 58 pins. Although Lalisang also managed only 187 in his fifth game, he bounched back with 227 in his final game to end the block in the lead posting 1357 for a 12-game total of 2721.

Hussain settled for second with 2677 while Kuwait's Rakan Al-Amiri shot 1233 to give himself a total of 2484 for third in the squad.

Ex-national, Fadel Al-Mousawi of Kuwait and Qatar's Fahad Al-Emadi rounded up the top 5.

"I lost a bit of focus in the fifth game but luckily I had more than 50 pins advantage over Hussain," said the ABF Tour Kuwait triple champion, Lalisang. "I must make sure I don't lose my focus again tomorrow.

Lalisang's effort in the second block allowed the Indonesia to move one spot up to fifth overall. Basil Al-Anzi and Khaled Al-Dubyyan retained a strong 1-2 finish for Kuwait after all the three squads' scores were combined with 2792 and 2776 respectively.

Finland's Osku Palermaa and Sweden's Martin Larsen also retained their third and fourth position with Lalisang completing the top 5 finishers. Two Filipinos, Biboy Rivera and Paulo Valdez are 27th and 28th inside the top 28 cut off.

The bowlers will complete their third block of qualifying rounds whereby the top 28 plus the best 4 Kuwaiti finishers outside the 28, will advance to the next round for 8 games on Tuesday. The top 15 plus one best Kuwaiti will then proceed to the 16-game round-robin finals on Wednesday, April 1.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Kuwait.

29th March, Kuwait: Basil Al-Anzi became the new overall leader of the 6th Kuwait International Open qualifying rounds after Squad C of the second block ended on Sunday afternoon with Khaled Al-Dubyyan giving Kuwait a 1-2 finish.

Basil Al-Anzi, who led Squad C in the first block and finished second overall to his team-mate, Khaled Al-Dubyyan, resumed his second block with consistent lines of 236, 231 and 234 for a 53 pin lead over Sweden's Martin Larsen.

The Kuwaiti stretched his lead to 112 pins after another superb game of 248 and despite a lowly 186 in the fifth, Basil recovered to end the 6-game block with 244 and in pole on a score of 1379. His consistent effort gave him a two-block total of 2792 and the overall lead.

Larsen, who trailed Basil in the first block, again had to settle for second with 1319 and 2733 total while his fellow compatriot, Robert Anderson finished third with 1383 on a total of 2713.

"I had a good night's rest even though we finished late last night and my timing was good," said the 28-year-old 2008 GCC Championship Masters gold medalist. "I knew if I could bowl for 150 over today, I stand a good chance to overhaul Khaled.

UAE's Shaker Al-Hassan posted the highest 6-game series so far with 1449 with lines of 222, 262, 269, 203, 225 and 258 for a total of 2649. His team-mate, Sayed Ibrahim rounded up the top 5 in Squad C with 1329 and a total of 2602.

"I struggled in the first block yesterday but before the second block, I scrubbed my ball and it worked much better," said the double winner of 2008 Saudi Open and ABF Tour Saudi leg, Shaker.

With two squads' scores combined, Basil has overtaken Khaled Al-Dubyyan with 2792, 16 pins ahead. Khaled's total of 2776 is another 16 pins ahead of Finn, Osku Palermaa on 2760. Larsen occupied fourth with 2733 with Anderson completing the top 5 on 2713.

Squad A will be contested later this evening ending today's second block qualifying rounds. The third block will be staged on Monday when the field will be cut to top 28 plus 4 local Kuwaiti best finisher outside the top 28 advancing into the next stage.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Kuwait.

29th March, Kuwait: Overnight leader, Khaled Al-Dubyyan of Kuwait maintained his lead in the second block of qualifying round of the 6th Kuwait International Open which resumed on Sunday morning at Cozmo Bowling Center.

Khaled again opened account with a sizzling 267 in the second block to stretch his lead over Osku Palermaa of Finland from 28 pins to 83. But when the Kuwaiti moved into the halfway mark, a lowly 181 in the third game allowed the Finn to take over the running.

Palermaa did not take the opportunity to pull away which allowed Khaled to regain the lead at the fourth game to end the 6-game block with a scoreline of 1334 and a 12-game total of 2776. The Finn settled for second with 2760 despite posting the highest 6-game series of the squad.

"Everything is working well especially the start but when I got to the corner lanes, I had difficulty finding the lines," said Squad B leader,

Khaled Al-Dubyyan. "Osku is still very close and I must maintain my focus in the final squad."

World Championship gold medalist and former Team USA member, Tim Mack did well to finish third behind the duo after posting 1337 for a 12-game aggregate of 2654. Sweden's Nina Flack and Thailand's Pasut Punsanthaveekul rounded up the top 5.

"I'm happy with my performance so far," said the double-handed Finn, Osku Palermaa. "It's improtant to build up as much pins as you can in the qualifying round because the pins will be carried forward to the next round.

Squad A will follow after lane maintenance with Squad C in the evening which will end the second block. Squad C will resume with their third block on Monday morning followed by Squad A and finally Squad B in the evening.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Kuwait.

28th March, Kuwait: Sweden's Martin Larsen relished his favourite Cozmo lanes to end the day's Squad C first block qualifying round of the 6th Kuwait International Open in pole but settled for second behind Squad B and overall leader, Khaled Al-Dubyyan of Kuwait.

World Championship silver medalists, Robert Anderson and Martin Larsen of Sweden, had a dream start in Squad C when the duo set the pace with 269 and 257 respectively to lead the remaining 32 bowlers in their first block qualifying round.

Larsen surged ahead with 213 and 259 in his next two games to lead his fellow compatriot at the halfway mark with just 10 pins cushion despite Anderson posting respectable 181 and 266. H.H. EMir Cup runnerup, Mubarak Al-Muraikhi trailed in third a further 15 pins away.

Mubarak continued to close down the leading pair and was able to lead briefly after the fourth game but was quickly overtaken by Larsen after he knocked down a superb 275 in the fifth.

The Swede eased off his final game with 199 and was fortunate enough to hang on to the lead after Kuwait's Basil Al-Anzi made a last bid with a scintilating 280 in the sixth game. Larsen ended with 1414, just 1 pin ahead of the Kuwaiti.

"The ball I used worked just fine on this lane condition," said the leader, Martin Larsen. "I always seem to do well here and the score has just ease off the stress in a tough competition like this."

Abdulla Haroon stormed home to finish third with 1356 ahead of Mubarak in fourth with 1339 while Fahad Al-Rughaib of Kuwait rounded up the top 5 with 1336.

"I didn't have a very good start and my ball wasn't giving me the carry I needed," said Basil Al-Anzi, who won two gold and two silver medals at the 2008 GCC Championship in Kuwait. "Luckily I changed my ball and I was able to post good games after that.

Basil's team-mate, Khaled Al-Dubyyan held on for the overall lead with 1442 when the three squads' scores were combined. Larsen finished second with Basil third. Osku Palermaa of Finland and Squad A leader, Hussain Al-Suwaidi of UAE completed the top 5.

The top 28 cut off was occupied by Swede, Veronica Lantto with just 44 pins over on an average of 207.33. The bowlers will resume their qualifying rounds with the second block of 6 games on Sunday.

The third block will be contest on Monday to decide the top 28 finishers plus four top local Kuwaitis advancing into Round 2 of top 32 to bowl another 8 games with pins carried forward. The top 15 plus one top local will proceed to the Round 3 round-robin finals on Tuesday.

Thirty pins bonus will be given for a win and 15 each for a tie. The top 5 will advance to the stepladder finals where the fourth and fifth seed will be matched in the first shootout. The title match against the topseed will be 1 plus 1 should the topseed lose the first game.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Kuwait.

28th March, Kuwait: World Ranking Masters champion, Khaled Al-Dubyyan of Kuwait took over the overall lead of the first block of qualifying round at the 6th KUwait International Open after he topped Squad B.

Debutant, Paul Stott of Ireland set a blistering pace with 268 in the opening game of Squad B which resumed on Saturday afternoon only to lead Kuwait's Khaled Al-Dubyyan, who shot 266 and World Championship bronze medalist, Mads Sandbakken of Norway in third.

2007 AMF World Cup champion and two-handed, Osku Palermaa's two consistent high games of 245 and 233 gave the Finn the lead after the second game with Khaled following closely in second and just 11 pins adrift.

A scintilating 279 from Khaled shot him to the front for a three-game total of 745 and ahead of Palermaa and Sandbakken trailing in second and third.

Khaled rounded off the squad with ease after he registered 254, 210 and 233 ending the block with the highest series so far on 1442 and topping the squad. His effort also overtook Squad A leader, Hussain Al-Suwaidi of UAE.

Palermaa settled for second with a total of 1391, who also overtook Hussain. 2008 Qatar Open and European Women Ranked No. 1, Nina Flack of Sweden, with a 5 pin handicap, finished third to Khaled on a total of 1357. First game leader, Paul Stott and Tim Mack of USA rounded up the top 5 with totals of 1355 and 1317.

With two squads completed, Khaled topped the overall standing, 51 pins ahead of Palermaa in second and Hussain Al-Suwaidi relegated to third. Ryan Lalisang and Paul Stott finished in the top 5.

Squad C will end the first block of 6 games contested on Day 1. Squad B will take to the lanes tomorrow morning followed by Squad C and Squad A ending the second block.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Kuwait.

28th March, Kuwait: 2008 Asian Ranked No. 1, Hussain Al-Suwaidi of UAE snatched pole position in the final game of Squad A first block qualifying round at the 6th Kuwait International Open underway on Saturday morning.

Hussain, who finished sixth in the Malaysian Open last week, started the first squad with a cracking pace by shooting 239 and staying Qatar's Fahad Al-Emadi just 6 pins adrift.

A strong 240 from Fahad saw the Qatari taking over the running with 2007 Kuwait Open champion, Ryan Lalisang of Jaya Ancol Bowl, Indonesia in hot pursuit and trailing by 2 pins and Hussain dropping to third.

But the Emirati bounced back to regain the lead at the halfway mark, 4 pins ahead of Fahad and a further 5 pins to Lalisang. The Indonesian fired back-to-back games of 241 and 254 to surge to the front and stretching his lead to a much larger margin of 28 pins from Hussain.

It came down to the final game to decide who had topped the squad and a superb 247 from Hussain saw him snatch pole position with a total of 1379. Lalisang settled for second with 1364 while Fahad Al-Emadi finished third with 1278.

"We were so close throughout the six games and I thought it would be nice to finish in the top 3," said the 29-year-old 2008 Singapore Open champion, Hussain. "I'm happy with my performance and I hope to do the same in the next two blocks."

Kuwait's best finisher in this squad was youngster, Rakan Al-Amiri who took fourth position with a total of 1261 with ex-national, Fadel Al-Mousawi rounding up the top 5 with 1246. Competitors bowl three blocks of 6 games each totaling 18 over three days.

The top 28 plus the best 4 Kuwaiti finishers outside the top 28 will advance into the Top 32 Round when they will bowl another 8 games with their 18-games pinfalls carried forward. The top 15 plus the best

Kuwaiti finisher will proceed to the 15 plus 1 game position round in the Top 16 Round-robin matchplay from scratch on April 1.

Thirty pins bonus will be given for a win and 15 each for a tie. The top 5 will advance to the stepladder finals when the fourth and fifth seed will be matched first shootout. The title match against the topseed will be 1 plus 1 should the topseed lose the first game.

Two more squads will be contested today for the first block. The next two blocks will be staged on 29 and 30 March.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Kuwait.