8th March, Sitra, Bahrain: PBA pro, MIka Koivuniemi of Finland clinched his debut victory after having to beat challenger, Ildemaro Ruiz of Venezuela twice to win the 11th Kingdom of Bahrain International Bowling Championship at Ozne Entertainment Center.

Koivuniemi, who advanced into the stepladder finals as top seed, had taken a 27-pin lead after seven frames in the first match but made a small mistake with an open frame in the eight.

Ruiz struck out to take the match, 207-201 forcing a sudden-death deciding second match. The Finn led after a double in the second and third frames while the Venezuelean open in the first frame.

Koivuniemi doubled again in the fifth and sixth frames for a 22-pin lead by the seventh frame. The match was decided when Ruiz had a split in the eighth releiving pressure off the top seed, who went on to strike out to take the title, 248-201.

"I had a chance to finish off in the first match except for the small mistake in the ninth frame," said the 45-year-old with 11 PBA titles.

"But I didn't want that to bother me and I stuck to my task. I'm glad to win here in my debut and my second title in the Middle East," added Koivuniemi, who pocketed the top prize of BD 7,500 (approx. US$20,000).

Ruiz, also a debutant, settled for second to earn BD 3,500. The second seed had eliminated double round winner and third seed, Yousef Al-Jaber of Qatar 267-237 in the first match.

Yousef, who had led for five games in the earlier Round 5 finals only to lose the top seed position to Koivuniemi in the final game, took home BD 2,000.

The champion ended the Round 5 finals with 1440, 42 pins ahead of Ruiz with 1398 and Yousef with 1376. Defending champion, Osku Palermaa of Finland missed the stepladder finals in fourth with 1349.

Bahrain's hopeful, Fazwaz Abdulla rounded out the top 5 with 1348 while Khaled Al-Dubyyan of Kuwait took sixth position with 1335. Palermaa, Fawaz and Khaled pocketed BD 1,700, BD 1,400 and BD 1,100 respectively.

Ninety-four players bowled two blocks of qualifying rounds over five squads and the top 30 qualifiers contested five different rounds of finals over six games yesterday and today to determine the top 3 advancing to the stepladder finals.

The top 16 Asians qualified for the first leg of the 2013 Asian Bowling Tour which will be staged tomorrow at the same venue, Ozone Entertainment Centre at 10.00am local time.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Bahrain.

8th March, Sitra, Bahrain: Defending champion, Osku Palermaa of Finland staked his claim on retaining the title after a convincing performance to pole position in Round 4 finals of the 11th Kingdom of Bahrain International Bowling Championship.

Mansour Al-Awamy of Qatar got off the mark with a sizzling 266 to lead Palermaa by 19 pins with Round 2 and Round 3 winner and compatriot, Yousef Al-Jaber a close third.

The Qatari extended his lead to 29 pins over the Finn after the second game by rolling 244 while Bahrain's top contender, Yousif Falah moving up to third and Yousef slipping down to fourth.

But Yousef recovered by rolling the tournament's third perfect game to move up to second, 7 pins behind Palermaa taking over the lead with a scintilating 279. Yousif slipped to third and Mansour fourth.

Back-to-bak 279s from Ildemaro Ruiz Jr put Venezuelean into contention as the two-handed Finn continue to lead the pack. Mansour registered another high game with 266 in the fourth to regain second spot.

Palermaa had a near perfect game only to miss the head pin for a 297 game in the fifth as Ruiz followed up with 257 to trail the Finn before the final game.

The leader eased off with 191 to end the round with 1480 while Ruiz downed 252 to take second spot with 1457. Yousef ended with 237 to finish third with 1434 while his team-mate, Mansour settled for fourth with 1426.

The remaining two spots were keenly contested amongst Kuwait's Khaled Al-Dubyyan, UAE's Hussain Al-Suwaidi and Yousif Falah.

Khaled ended with 208 for 1373. Hussain rolled 228 to tie with Khaled while Yousif, who need to double up in the tenth frame to beat the duo but failed to do so ending with 230.

Khaled and Hussain clinched their places in the next round as the Bahraini missed the cut by 12 pins with 1361.

Strong contenders, Manueal Otalora of Colombia and Martin Larsen of Sweden were eliminated after finishing ninth and tenth as the two Hong Kong finalists, Eric Tseng and Michael Tsang failed to progress.

The top 6 will be joined by the top 6 seeded qualifiers for the 6 games final Round 5 later at 2.00pm local time. The top 3 at the end of Round 5 will advance to the stepladder finals.

The third seed will meet the second seed over one match with the winner facing the top seed over a beat-twice format to win the top prize of Bahrain dinar 7,500 (approx. US$20,000).

Photos by Terence Yaw in Bahrain.

7th March, Sitra, Bahrain: Round 2 winner, Yousef Al-Jaber of Qatari took his second win after another convincing performance and topping Round 3 finals of the 11th Kingdom of Bahrain International Bowling Championship at Ozone Entertainment Center.

Yousef got out of the block with a stunning 259 to lead debutant, Ildemaro Ruiz Jr of Venezuela by 7 pins. The Qatari followed it up with a series of big games of 247, 259, 249 and 278 before easing off with 180 to end with 1472.

Khaled Al-Dubyyan of Kuwait finished second with an equally impressive 6-game total of 1459 to take second spot with 1459.

Ruiz, who slipped down and out of the top 6 after two lowly games of 181 in the third and 187 in the fifth game needed 299 in his last game to haul himself into third with 1400.

Hong Kong's Eric Tseng, who survived earlier round, survived again with 1363 to finish fourth ahead of Hussain Al-Suwaidi of UAE in fifth with 1360.

Bahraini 13-year-old youngster, Ahmed Amin Al Awahdi almost missed the cut with a final game of 185 but was fortunate to make the cut in sixth position with 1353.

Finn Tony Ranta was edged out into seventh with 1337 after Ruiz's 299 and despite rolling 232 in his final game.

The top 6 finishers advanced into Round 4 finals joined by qualifiers position 7 to 12 for another 6 games tomorrow morning at 10.00am. The top 6 finishers will advance to Round 5 with the top 6 seeded qualifiers for their final 6 games.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Bahrain.

7th March, Sitra, Bahrain: Yousef Al-Jaber of Qatar shone in Round 2 finals of the 11th Kingdom of Bahrain International Bowling Championship and topping the round ahead of Hussain Al Suwaidi of UAE in second and Eric Tseng of Hong Kong third.

Noora Sultan, who earned a wildcard entry into the finals as top Bahraini female, surprised the field with a superb 233 plus 7 pin handicap to take the early lead, 2 pins ahead of Eric Tseng in second.

But her lead lasted only one game as Tseng surged into the front with 234 following his 238 opening game and Qatar's Yousef Al-Jaber took up second spot, 12 pins behind.

Tseng held the lead up to the halfway mark with another good game of 225 but saw Ahmed Amin Al Awahdi closing the gap to just 4 pins after the Bahraini youth fired 266 in the third game.

Yousef posted the highest game of this finals with 268 to take over the running and opening up a gap of 40 pins as Tseng slipped to second.

The Qatari rolled 225 and ended with another massive game of 280 to romp home a comfortable winner with 1449. Hussain stormed home to csnatch second spot with 1316 while Tseng settled for third with 1302.

Bahraini youth, Ahmed tied fourth spot with Shaker Al Hassan of UAE with 1270 with the sixth and final spot going to Ahmed A Jabbar of Bahrain on 1244.

Hong KOng's Rickle Kam missed the cut by 3 pins after totaling 1241 and last year's first runner-up, Perttu Jussila of Finland also miss the cut in eighth with 1236.

The top 6 advanced into Round 3 finals for another 6 games later today joined by qualifiers in positions 12 to 18. The top 6 finishers will make the cut for tomorrow's Round 4 finals.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Bahrain.

6th March, Sitra, Bahrain: Khaled Al-Dubyyan of Kuwait secured a spot in the third bracket of the overall qualifying standings of the 11th Kingdom of Bahrain International Bowling Championship after topping the final Squad E.

Khaled got off the block with a superb 254 to lead fellow-compatriot, Basel Al-Anzi by 9 pins. Khaled stretched his lead to 96 pins after firing another sizzling 267 but a low 169 in the third set him back slightly.

Fortunately, Khaled bounced back brilliantly with 237, 248, 243 and 226 and suddenly not only was the Kuwaiti looking to just make the cut, but was aiming to finish in the second bracket by needing 256 or more.

A split in the fifth frame in his last game took its toll and had to content with 195 to end with 1839 and topped Squad E. Adding his first block of 1694, his 16-game total of 3533 put him 12th overall.

Another Kuwaiti, Yaqoub Al-Shatti was perhaps unlucky to miss the cut by just 17 pins especially after a fine run. He needed 233 or more in his last game but managed 216 for 3403 to finish 31st overall.

HRH Mohammed Al-Saud of Saudi Arabia, who was third in this squad, made a late rally but felled short of 27 pins from the cut.

The qualifiers in the top two brackets remained unchanged with Mika Koivuniemi of Finland in pole. Fawaz Abdulla was promoted to sixth position as the top Bahraini qualifier.

Manuel Otalora of Colombia headed the second bracket (positions 7 to 12), Tony Ranta of Finland headed the third bracket (positions 13 to 18) while Hussain Al-Suwaidi of UAE headed the qualifiers from positions 19 to 27.

Rickle Kam of Hong Kong was the cut at 27th position with 3420 (average 213.75). Although Ahmed Amin Al Awahdi and Taha Ebrahim earned the top 2 positions reserved for Bahrainis, their totals of 3419 and 3417 merited their rightful places.

Noora Sultan, with a handicap of 7 pins, claimed 30th position as the top female Bahraini qualifier. Twelve bowlers, positions 19 to 30 will bowl in Round 2 finals over six games tomorrow morning.

The top 6 finishers will be joined by qualifiers from positions 13 to 18 in the overall standings for another six games in Round 3 finals. Again the field will be cut to the top 6 and joined by qualifiers from positions 7 to 12 for Round 4 finals on March 8.

Again the top 6 finishers will be joined by qualifiers from positions 1 to 6 for six games Round 5 finals. The top 3 finishers in Round 5 will advance to the stepladder finals.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Bahrain.

6th March, Sitra, Bahrain: Overnight leader, Manuel Otalora of Colombia failed to secure a top 6 finish in the qualifying standings of the 11th Kingdom of Bahrain International Bowling Championship despite topping Squad D in the second block.

Otalora, who had a 103-pin gap before the start of the second block, managed only an 8-game series of 1709, 220 pins less than he posted in the first block. His 16-game total of 3658 put him seventh, 15 pins adrift.

2012 Kingdom of Saudi Open champion, Martin Larsen of Sweden notched up 1845 in this block to haul himself up from sixth in the squad to second with 3630, 28 pins behind the Colombian.

Larsen clinched ninth position in the overall standings from four squads. Defending champion, Osku Palermaa of Finland also improved from ninth in the first block to third with 1833 series and total of 3595 placing him 11th overall.

2012 Asia Ranked No. 1 and Bahrain's top contender, Yousif Falah finished fourth to secure 12th position in the second bracket with 3591 while Hong Kong's Wicky Yeung rounded out the top 5 with 3552 but missed the second bracket for 15th overall.

Before the final Squad E, it appeared that the top 5 positions look firmly safe with Mika Koivuniemi of Finland, Dominic Barrett of England, Ryan Lalisang of Indonesia, Paul Moor of England and Mahmood Al-Attar of UAE occupying first to fifth.

Fawaz Abdulla will claim sixth position as the top Bahraini qualifier with 3615 and join the top 5 for Round 5 finals.

Otalora headed qualifiers in the second bracket (positions 7 to 12) while Hong Kong's Michael Tsang headed the third bracket (positions 13 to 18) ahead of Squad C leader, Tony Ranta of Finland in 14th position.

UAE's Hussain Al-Suwaidi headed the fourth bracket qualifiers in 19th position without any bye. Hong KOng's Rickle Kam is the current cut at 27th position with 3420 averaging 213.75.

Youngster, Ahmed Amin Al Awahdi and Taha Ebrahim could be the top two Bahrainis to take up 28th and 29th wildcard positions while Noora Sultan will claim 30th position reserved for top Bahraini women qualifier.

Perhaps up to four players from the last Squad E realistically have any chance of making the cut and dislodging qualifiers in 24th to 27th positions.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Bahrain.

6th March, Sitra, Bahrain: Newly-crowned H.H. Emir's Cup champion, Tony Ranta and his compatriot, Perttu Jussila finished one-two in Squad C of the 11th Kingdom of Bahrain International Bowling Championship at the end of their second block.

Ranta led from start to finish with lines of 194, 225, 212, 287, 213, 230, 253 and 213 for a second 8-game block of 1827 for a 16-game total of 3576. Although the Finn made the second bracket in tenth overall, the leader missed the top bracket by a massive 97 pins.

Last year's first runner-up, Perttu Jussila of Finland finished 69 pins behind Ranta to claim second spot and made the third bracket cut in 13th position with 3507, missing the second bracket by 25 pins.

UAE's Ali Al-Saffer, who shot 288 in his 16th and final game, finished a distant third in the squad but managed 3381 for 23rd position overall.

Mika Koivuniemi of Finland, Dominic Barrett of England, Ryan Lalisang of Indonesia, Paul Moor of England and Mahmood Al-Attar of UAE held the top 5 positions. Mansour Al-Awamy of Qatar headed positions 7 to 12 second bracket qualifiers.

Jussila headed positions 13 to 18 third bracket qualifiers whiel Eric Tseng of Hong Kong topped positions 19 to 27 qualifiers. The cut went to Gerardo Cervantes of the Philippines with 3215.

A dozen or so qualifiers from Squad D will qualify but their final overall positions will depend if they can maintain their averages.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Bahrain.

5th March, Sitra, Bahrain: Basel Al-Anzi of Kuwait topped the final Squad E of the 11th Kingdom of Bahrain International Bowling Championship but finished seventh overall in the three squads which has completed the first 8 games.

Basel, who trailed compatriot and early pace-setter, Ayad Al-Amiri by 24 pins after the second game, faded off with a poor 146 in the third as a third Kuwaiti, Fahad Ali took over the running.

Fahad too lost the lead when Mohammed Al-Saud of Saudi Arabia surged ahead to lead Bahrain's Ali Al Qaseer by 13 pins at the halfway mark.

But Basel rebounded with 231, 237, 206 and a stunning final game of 279 to grab top spot for this squad with 1773. His team-mate, Khaled Al-Dubyyan stormed home to snatch second spot with 1694.

2012 GCC Championships Masters gold medalist, Hareb Al Mansoori took third spot with 1680 followed by two Bahrainis Ali Al Qaseer and Mohammed Janahi rounding out the top 5.

Based on first block of 8 games completed by Squads C, D and E, the top 6 places remained with the top 6 finishers in Squad D. Manuel Otalora of Colombia lead with 1949 followed by Ildemaro Ruiz Jr of Venezuela in second with 1846.

2012 Asian Championship Masters silver medalist, Yousif Falah of Bahrain was third with 1823. Basel only managed seventh with his 1773 behind Hong Kong's duo of Wicky Yeung and Wu Siu Hong, Martin Larsen of Sweden and Andrew Frawley of Australia.

The three squads will resume with their second block of 8 games by which the combined 16-games total would then determine the qualifiers of the four groups, position 1 to 6, positions 7 to 12, positions 13 to 18 and positions 19 to 30.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Bahrain.

5th March, Sitra, Bahrain: Debutant, Manuel Otalora of Colombia put in a classy display in Squad D of the 11th Kingdom of Bahrain International Bowling Championship to win the block and move within the top bracket on average.

2012 ABF Tour Saudi leg champion, Shaker Al-Hassan of UAE got off the mark with a stunning 279 to lead both Manuel Otalora of Colombia and Mahdi Assad of Bahrain in second and third.

Otalora rolled 247 in the second after his first game of 248 to immediately take over the running and reversing the gap of 31 pins to 23 pins over Shaker as Hong Kong's Wu Siu Hong up to third.

From then onwards, the Colombian, was on fire when he blitzed the lanes at Ozone Entertainment Center with 257, 229, 254, 249, 279 and easing off with 186 to end the his first block with 1949.

Another debutant, Ildemaro Ruiz Jr of Venezuela impressed with 1846 to take up second spot after a poor start. 2012 Asia Ranked No. 1 and Bahrain's top contender, Yousif Falah dispayed consistency throughout the block to finish third with 1823.

Hong Kong's Wicky Yeung over-powered his team-mate, Wu Siu Hong for fourth position with 1808 as Wu, who tussling with Sweden's Martin Larsen for second, slipped down to fifth with 1807.

Larsen, who won the 2012 Kingdom of Saudi Open, settled for sixth position with 1785. Andrew Frawley of Australia, defending champion, Osku Palermaa of Finland, Eric Tseng of Hong Kong and Jassem Darwish of Kuwait rounded out the top 10.

Based on average, two perfect gamer, Mika Koivuniemi of Finland continued to lead the pack in the overall standings with an average of 244.69. Otalora was second with 243.63 and Dominic Barrett of England third with 237.88.

The two remaining spots in the top bracket went to Ryan Lalisang of Indonesia (237.69) and Paul Moor of England (232.63).

Ildemaro Ruiz Jr is seventh (230.75), Yousif Falah eighth (227.88) and Wicky Yeung ninth (226.00) all have a chance to make the top bracket if they can improve in the second block.

The final Squad E will be staged later today (7.00pm local time) and the various group qualifiers based on average can be indicated.Photos Terence Yaw in Bahrain.

5th March, Sitra, Bahrain: Newly-crowned H.H. Emir's Cup champion, Tony Ranta of Finland continued his fine form to snatch top spot in Squad C of the 11th Kingdom of Bahrain International Bowling Championship on Tuesday afternoon.

Last year's first runner-up, Perttu Jussila of Finland set the early pace with a sizzling 252 to lead Kuwaiti Khaled Al-Dubyyan in second, 27 pins ahead. The lanky Finn followed it up with 202 and 222 to reamin in the lead with Khaled on on his heels.

Khaled quickened his pace to grab the lead at the halfway mark with Jussila slipping down to second while a second Kuwaiti, Basel Al-Anzi closed in on the leading duo.

Khaled continued to take the next two games before fizzling off in his last two games as Jussila and Basel tried to take advantage of Khaled's slip up.

But the H.H. Emir's Cup champion, Tony Ranta stormed home in his last two games with 267 and 222 to snatch pole with 1749.

Basel settled for second with 1712, 37 pins adrift while Jussila claimed third position with 1705 and becoming the third qualifier to surpass the 1700-mark. Khaled slipped down to fourth with 1696.

UAE's Ali Al-Saffar completed the top 5 with 1658 followed by H.H. Emir's Cup third runner-up, Jassem Darwish of Kuwait in sixth position with 1645. Seven bowlers in this squad made their second attempt after competing in the first squad.

Two remaining squads D and E will take to the lanes at 2.30pm local time for their first block of 8 games. The players in today's three squads will resume with their second block tomorrow.

Photos Terence Yaw in Bahrain.

4th March, Sitra, Bahrain: Overnight leader, Mika Koivuniemi of Finland shot his second perfect game of the 11th Kingdom of Bahrain International Bowling Championship during the second block to retain his lead in the overall standings.

Koivuniemi, who had a slender lead of 8 pins over Indonesia's Ryan Lalisang in the first block after scoring the tournament's first 300, saw his lead narrowed to just 3 pins at the start of the second block.

England's Dominic Barrett overtook the Finn after rolling 224 and 249 in the ninth and tenth games to open up a gap of 45 pins. The Brit held the lead for the next two games before Lalisang surged into the front at the halfway mark.

But Koivuniemi bounced back with 257 and 246 before firing his second 300 of the tournament to build up a big margin of 93 pins over the Indonesian.

The leader eased off with 245 to end the second block firmly in pole position on a 1947 series and a 16-game total of 3915.

Barrett snatched second spot with 3086, three pins ahead of Lalisang in third with 3803. England's Paul Moor took fourth spot with 3722 while Bahrain's Fawaz Abdulla rounded out the top 5 with 3615.

With the two squads combined, the top 4 positions remained with the top 4 finishers of Squad B. Fifth spot went to Squad A leader, Mahmood Al-Attar of UAE with 3673.

The sixth position reserved for the top Bahraini could go to Fawaz if no other Bahraini from the next three squads can better his score.

Qatar's Mansour Al-Awamy headed the second bracket in seventh position with 3638 followed by Fawaz in eighth. Hong Kong national bowlers, Michael Tsang and Wu Siu Hong completed the top 10.

A third Hong Kong national bowler, Wicky Yeung headed the third bracket with 3479 while Taha Ebrahim of Bahrain headed the fourth bracket with 3417. The current cut at 27th position went to Ahmed Fareed of Bahrain with 3179.

Three squads C, D and E will be staged on next two days over two blocks of 8 games. The final qualifying standings can only be determined then.

Photos Terence Yaw in Bahrain.

4th March, Sitra, Bahrain: 2012 Asian Championships Doubles gold medalist, Mahmood Al-Attar of UAE totaled 3673 after the second block of 8 games at the 11th Kingdom of Bahrain International Bowling Championship to take over Squad A lead.

Overnight squad leader, Mansour Al-Awamy of Qatar started off with 211 in his opening game of the second block to remain in the lead but saw his margin of 40 pins reduced to a mere 3 pin ahead of Mahmood Al-Attar of UAE hot on his heels.

Despite a good 226 in the tenth game, Mahmood rolled 244 to take over the running and opening up a gap of 15 pins to Mansour.

The Emirati kept a good pace with 214, 238, 268 before hitting a lowly 183 in game 14. But Mahmood recovered with 221 and ending strongly with 258 for a second block series of 1874.

Mahmood's 16-game tally of 3673 put him in front and 35 pins ahead of Mansour, who settled for second spot with 3638.

Bahrain's Ahmed A. Jabbar shot the second highest 8-games series in this squad with 1860 to move up to third with 3500. Qatari Yousef Al-Jaber and Bahraini youth, Ahmed Amin Al-Awadhi completed the top 5 with 1735 and 1658.

The leader's final position in the overall standings will depend on Squad B completing their second block of 8 games at the end of today. But Mahmood's average woud put him in the second bracket.

Photos Terence Yaw in Bahrain.

3rd March, Sitra, Bahrain: 2012 Qatar Open champion, Mika Koivuniemi of Finland shot the first 300 of the 11th Kingdom of Bahrain International Bowling Championship en-route to claiming pole position after two squads.

Hong Kong national bowlers set the early pace with Michael Tsang firing 249 to lead team-mate, Eric Tseng by 22 pins in second on 227. H.H. Emir's Cup first runner-up, Paul Moor of England immediately took over the running after the second, 20 pins ahead of Indonesia's Ryan Lalisang.

The Indonesian followed up his second game of 268 with another stunning 269 to move into the lead and led a second Brit, Dominic Barrett by 30 pins.

Lalisang kept his momentum with 228 and 259 to continue to lead Barrett albeit only 10 pins ahead after the fifth game.

Barrett shot into the lead after a better sixth game of 257 as Lalisang managed only 209 to slip down to third with Bahrain's Fawaz Abdulla taking over second spot.

But the squad belonged to PBA pro, Mika Koivuniemi of Finland after he rolled the tournament's first perfect game to win Bahrain dina 400 and the lead after the sixth game.

The lanky Finn ended the first block of 8 games with two 258s for a total of 1968 to claim pole position. Lalisang made a last minute bid with a stunning 279 but had to settle for second with 1960, 8 pins adrift.

Barrett took third spot with 1954 while Fawaz, Moor and Hong Kong's Wu Siu Hong rounded out the top 6 with 1886, 1871 and 1861 respectively. The six finishers in the top bracket would earn three byes into Round 5 finals.

Michael Tsang headed the second bracket with 1848 from positions 7 to 12 and would earn two byes into Round 4 finals. Rickle Kam of Hong Kong headed the third bracket with 1776 from positions 13 to 19 to earn one bye into Round 3 finals.

Ahmed A. Jabbar headed the fourth braket with 1640 from positions 19 to 27 and will have to contest the Round 2 finals. The cut at 27th position was held by Hong Kong's Joshua Chow with 1527 averaging 190.88.

Squad A will resume with their second block of 8 games tomorrow afternoon while Squad B will complete their second block in the evening. Three more squads will remain and will be staged on March 5 and 6.

Photos Terence Yaw in Bahrain.

3rd March, Sitra, Bahrain: Qatari national kegler, Mansour Al-Awamy almost shot the tournament's first perfect game with 299 en-route to topping the opening squad of the 11th Kingdom of Bahrain International Bowling Championship at Ozone Entertainment Center.

2012 Asian Championship Doubles gold medalist, Mahmood Al-Attar of UAE set a blistering pace with a 266 opener to lead Qatar's Yousef Al-Jaber by 28 pins and Bahraini youth, Ahmed Amin Al-Awadhi third with 216.

The Emirati continued a relentless pace with 237, 222 and 219 to open up a gap of 77 pins from Yousef in second and Bahrain's Ahmed A. Jabbar third.

Mahmood remained in the lead despite a lowly 182 in the fifth game as Yousef put in the pressure to narrow the gap to 49 pins.

A second Qatari, Mansour Al-Awamy picked up pace to fire 239 followed by an almost perfect game but rolled 299 to surge into the lead with a margin of 72 over pace-setter, Mahmood in second.

Mansour closed out the first block of 8 games with 267 and 206 for a total of 1839 as Mahmood closed the gap to 40 pins with 1799 for second spot.

Bahraini youth, Ahmed finished a creditable third with 1761 thanks to a 7-pin handicap. Mansour's team-mate, Yousef took fourth spot with 1723 while Ahmed A. Jabbar rounded out the top 5 with 1640.

The second squad will take to the lanes for their first block of 8 games later today. The top 30 players will qualify for the finals made up of top 27, top Bahraini in position 6 and top 2 other Bahrainis positions 28 and 29 plus one female Bahraini.

Positions 19 to 30 will contest Round 2 finals over six games. The top 6 will be joined by qualifiers positions 13 to 18 for another 6 games in Round 3. The top 6 will be joined by qualifiers positions 7 to 12 for a third 6 games Round 4 finals.

And finally the top 6 from Round 4 will be joined by positions 1 to 6 for thefinal 6 games Round 5 finals in which the top 3 will advance to the stepladder finals.

A total of 5 squads comprising of 24 players have been registered and will bowl their two blocks of qualifying rounds over the next fourth days. The finals will be staged from March 7.

Photos Terence Yaw in Bahrain.