2nd July, Doha: Qatar national bowler, Yousef Al-Jabir won the opening squad of the H.H. Emir Cup 2022 underway at Qatar Bowling Center for an early lead in the overall standings.

Al-Jabir, who was the first runner-up in the 2004 Emir Cup, had failed to progress beyond Step 2 finals in the last outing in 2019, posted 1330, an average of 221.67 to top the first series on opening day, July 1.

The 42-year-old overnight leader then scorched the lanes again on the second day for his second 6-games series with another stunning 1349 to remain the overall leader with 2679. His compatriot, Ahmed Al-Ruwaili trailed Al-Jabir in both the series to finished second with 2625.

Firas Adel Mamour of Syria sprang a surprise with 2548 to take up third spot while Qataris, Ahmed Al-Deyab and Mohammed H. Al-Merekhi completed the top five with 2460 and 2432 respectively. Mansour Al-Hajri occupied sixth position with 2323.

Qualifiers positioned 43 and 44 are reserved for the best Qatari youth bowlers outside the top 42 for Step 1 finals. The field will be cut to 20 at the end of the 6 games finals and will be joined by the top 6 qualifiers from the general standings for Step 2 finals.

The 8-games finals will see the field cut to 16 for the Step 3 head-to-head knockout finals where bowlers ranked No. 1 will meet bowlers ranked No. 16, bowlers ranked No. 2 will meet bowlers ranked No. 15 and so on.

The finalists will bowl two games and the bowler with the highest 2-games total will advance to Step 4 quarter-finals, again to be played over 2-games total pinfalls with bowler No. 1 meeting bowler No. 8, bowler No.2 meeting bowler No. 7 and so on.

The winners of the Step 4 quarter-finals matches will advance to Step 5 semi-finals matches in the same format as the previous quarter-finals rounds. The winners of the semi-finals matches will face off in the final for the championship title and the top prize of USD20,000 over 2-games total pinfalls.