13th December, Doha: 2024 Asian Championships Doubles gold medalist, Tun Hakim of Malaysia shot the third perfect game of the H.H. Amir Cup Bowling Championships 2024 en-route to winning the Step 1 Finals at Qatar International Bowling Centre on Friday evening.
Hakim got off the block with a superb 279 in his opening game to lead team-mate, Ahmad Muaz by 13 pins followed by Robin Noberg of Sweden in third with 257. Timmy Tan of Malaysia and Christopher Sloan of Ireland sharing fourth spot, just one pin adrift.
Noberg surged into the lead following a 255 as Hakim shot 217 to slip behind the Swede. Luukas Vaanenen of Finland took over third spot after adding 246 to his 248 opener with Tan improving to third. Another strong 253 in the third game allowed Noberg to continue to lead the pack.
Tan shot 246 to move up to third while Hakim bounced back with 235 to stay in third. Qatari youth, Ahmad Adel Al Darwish and Sloan tied fourth spots. Jassim Al-Muraikhi of Qatar shot a sizzling 267 to take up sixth. But Hakim stole the limelight after rolling the tournament's third 300 in the fourth game to regain the lead.
Tun Hakim shooting the tournament's third perfect game en-route to winning Step 1 Finals
Al Darwish added 276 following his 266 in the third propel him into second, 33 pins behind the Malaysia. Noberg slipped down to third with Al-Muraikhi continuing to make up grounds.
Hakim pulled away with another superb game of 265 in the fifth game with Noberg moving bakp up to third and Al Darwish slipping down to third. Al Darwish took over the running after Hakim suffered a poor 160 in the sixth game.
Hakim bounced back with 259 in the seventh game to reclaim the lead as Al Darwish managed only 197 to slip behind into second. Noberg continued to stay close to the leading duo. The leader ended with 188 to win Step 1 finals with 1903.
Al Darwish finished a good second with 1877 while Noberg took third spot with 1860. Al-Muraikhi and Tan rounded out the top 5 with 1838 and 1829 respectively. 2024 PWBA Player of the Year, Sin Li Jane, who had a disastrous start, recovered strongly in the second half to complete the top 10 with 1759.
Noel Haglund Torgersen of Sweden survive the cut to take up 14th position with 1732 while Qatari youth, Abdulrahman Hadi Al Doseri, who was comfortably in the top 14, ended with a poor 114 to miss the cut by 31 pins finishing 15th.
Top 3 in Step 1 Finals, Ahmad Adel Al Darwish, Tun Hakim and Robin Noberg
The top 14 advanced into Step 2 Finals, joined by the six seeded qualifiers from the general standings for another 8 games tomorrow commencing at 3.00 pm local time. The top 5 with the highest score will proceed to the Step 3 Finals.
Players positioned 3 to 5 will meet in the Step 3 Finals over one game. The winner of Step 3 Finals will meet the No. 2 seed over another game in Step 4 Finals. Winner of this match will face the top seed over one match to determine this year's champion and taking home the top prize of US$25,000. The first and second runners-up will earn US$16,000 and US$12,000 respectively. The third and fourth runners-up will pocket US$8,000 and US$6,000.
Photos by Terence Yaw in Doha, Qatar.
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