15th April, Cairo: Top-seeded, Khalifa Khalid of Qatar and Wendy Chai f Malaysia captured the Men's and Women's Masters titles of the 7th Sinai International Open Bowling Championship.

Khalifa Khalid ended Malaysia's Zulmazran Zulkifli domination in the Stage 2 and 3 finals after he defeated Zulmazran, 228-219 in the final stepladder match.

Despite ending off the second stepladder match superbly when the third-seeded Zulmazran ousted second-seeded, Tarek Mazlom of Egypt, 241-236 and knocking out fourth-seeded, Fadel Al Mosawy of Kuwait, 195-191, the runner-up found Khalifa too good when the latter stormed home with 5 strikes-in-a-row while Zumazran had one early open frame and a couple of spares to content with.

Khalifa went on to capture the title by a small margin although Zulmazran made a last minute bid to narrow the gap. Tarek Mazlom settled for third while Fadel El Mosawy remianed in fourth position.

The champion had earlier ended the second block of the round-robin finals to make the stepladder finals as top-seed with a 16-game total plus bonus of 3629, 35 pins ahead of Tarek Mazlom. STage 1 and 2 leader, Zulmazran settled for third with 3540 followed by Fadel Al Mosawy in fourth with 3493.

ABF Tour ToC champion, Wendy Chai captured her second international title when she outclassed teammate and challenger, Zandra Aziela, 223-189 in the women's final stepladder match. CHai had made the stepladder finals as top-seed after she topped the 8-game round-robin finals earlier with 1739.

Zandra, who finished as third-seed on a total of 1659, defeated second-seeded and teammate, Zatil Iman, 215-185 in the second match and fourth-seeded, Aliaa Ismail of Egypt, 233-202 in the first match before running out of steam in the crucial match against the champion.

Zatil, who finished second in the round-robin finals earlier on a total of 1715, dropped to third while Aliaa retained fourth position.

"I was bowling with lots of confidence throughout the round-robin finals and in the stepladder. I lost in the Malaysian Open stepladder finals and I didn't want to repeat that mistake," said Chai after the finals. "I'm glad I had won and I hope I will continue my fine form into the World Ranking Masters Finals in Florida next week."

The champions' trophies were presented by the Egyptian Minister of Sports, Dr. Mamdouh El Beltagui and General Hanafi Ryad, Arab and Egyptian Bowling Federation President.

Photos courtesy of Tarek Helmy, Egyptian Bowling Federation.

14th April, Cairo: Top qualifier, Zulmazran Zulkifli of Malaysia continued his superb form to take over the lead at the end of Stage 2 Men's Finals of the 7th Sinai International Open Bowling Championship from Stage 1 leader and teammate, Mohamed Nadri.

Winner of the ABF Tour Malaysia leg last month, the 25 year-old who trailed overnight leader and teammate, Mohamed Nadri by 34 pins, took over the lead at the end of the 12-games finals with a total score of 2721. Zulmazran posted lines of 184, 218, 265, 222, 237 and 269 for a 1395 6-games block.

Kuwaiti, Mohamed Alregaba shot the highest 6-games series of 1463 to move up to second with a total of 2694 with Qatari, Khalifa Khalid in third spot with 2681. Stage 1 leader, Mohamed Nadri of Malaysia posted 1318 for a total of 2678 but dropped to fourth.

Fadel El Mosawy (KUW-2635), Ayad Alamiri (KUW-2613) and Ahmed Khattab (EGY-2589) made the top 7 from fifth to seventh positions respectively. Yaser El Sherbeny of Egypt made the cut for next stage's round-robin finals as the top local bowler.

In yesterday's Stage 1, ABF Tour ToC champion, Wendy Chai of Malaysia took a slender lead at the end of the 6-games women's finals from teammate, Zandra Aziela. Chai posted 1285, just 2 pins ahead of Zandra, who scored 1283. Malaysian women took the first five positions with Esther Cheah in third with 1254 followed by Zatil Iman on 1246 and Elaine Lam with 1163.

The women will be playing their 6-games Stage 2 later tonight and the top 7 plus the top local women will then make the cut for the next stage round-robin finals. The top 4 at the end of the round-robin finals will qualify for the stepladder finals to determine the champion.

Photos courtesy of MTBC.

12th April, Cairo: ABF Tour Malaysia leg champion, Zulmazran Zulkifli stepped up on his recent form to take the lead of the Men's Open Masters qualifying table in the 7th Sinai International Open Bowling Championship.

The 25 year-old Malaysian, who ended a long draught by capturing the ABF Tour Malaysia leg on home soil, took over the lead from local leader, Ahmed Khattab with 1918 and an average of 239.75. Khattab, who shot the tournament's first perfect game settled for second with 1892 while Bilal Abdo, also from Egypt dropped to third with 1846.

Saudi Arabia's Hisham Al Atass took fourth spot after posting 1834 followed by the second perfect game scorer, Amr Essam of Egypt in fifth spot with 1832. Mohamed Alregaba (KUW-1824), Saeed Al Hajri (QAT-1817), Karim Sherif (EGY-1816), Tarek Helmy (EGY-1808) and Maher Abd Elhossen (IRQ-1804) finished sixth to tenth respectively.

Hazem Zean, Saad Elshemy, Mahmoud Hassan and Salah Eltokhy joined

the 32 as the top 4 local Egyptians for the finals over two block of 6 games each.

Malaysia continued their domination in the women's division with ABF Tour ToC champion, Wendy Chai taking over the lead from Esther Cheah with a total score of 1849. Cheah, who took the lead after scoring the third perfect game on Monday, dropped to second with 1799 with southpaw, Elaine Lam occupying third position with 1689.

Another southpaw, Zatil Iman and Commonwealth Youth Games Doubles Gold medalist, Zandra Aziela took up fourth anf fifth places with 1689 and 1629. The top 16 women will qualify for the tomorrow's finals.

The 7th Sinai International Open is an ABF ranking tournament and is participated by bowlers from Bahrain, Belgium, France, Jordan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, UAE and host Egypt. The top 36 men and top 16 women will qualify for the Masters finals which will commence on the 13th and 14th April.

Photos courtesy of MTBC.

11th April, Cairo: Esther Cheah of Malaysia shot the third perfect game of the 7th Sinai International Open en-route to taking pole position of the Women's Open Masters qualifying table.

Cheah, the Commonwealth Youth Games Masters Gold medalist, started her squad 4 with a 235 followed by the third perfect game of the tournament in the second game. The 17 year-old then ended her fourth attempt with 203 and 257 for an outstanding 995 series. Cheah's ealier squad 3 score was 797 giving her an 8-game total of 1792 to take up pole position in the qualifying table.

ABF Tour TOC champion, Wendy Chai finished second with 1713 while Elaine Lam took third spot with 1649. Malaysia women totally dominated the top four when Commonwealth Youth Games Doubles Gold medalist, Zandra Aziela finished fourth with 1583.

The top Egyptian women, Aliaa Ismail was fifth with 1577 follwed by Malaysia's other bowlers, Charlotte Sak and Zatil Iman in sixth and seventh on 1273 and 1571 respectively.

While the Malaysian domaniated the women's division, the Egyptians signalled their intention to do well on local turf when Ahmed Khattab, Bilal Abdo and Amr Essam occupied the top 3 positions in the men's division with scores of 1892, 1846 and 1832.

ABF Tour Canon Malaysia leg champion, Zulmazran Zulkifli was the top Malaysian in fourth with 1820 ahead of two more locals, Karim Sherif and last year's 2nd-runner-up, Tarek Helmy with 1816 and 1808 respectively. 2003 Santa Claus Open champion, Mohamed Nadri was 20th and Mohamed Noer Said has yet to make finals in 42nd.

The 7th Sinai International Open is an ABF ranking tournament and is participated by bowlers from Bahrain, Belgium, France, Jordan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, UAE and host Egypt. The top 36 men and top 16 women will qualify for the Masters finals which will commence on the 13th and 14th April.

Photos courtesy of MTBC.