14th March, Kuwait: Top seed, Brad Angelo of Lockport, NY., bagged the 12th Kuwait International Open title after an easy victory over second-seed and challenger, Tommy Jones of Simpsonville, SC., 257-191 in the all-American final.

Angelo started off with a spare in his first frame after almost missing the head pin while his fellow-PBA member, Jones got to a double strike in the first two frames. The top seed responded with a double to draw level after the third frame.

As Jones failed to match up with the pace and stumbled to a split in the sixth frame, Angelo rolled five more strikes to put the match beyond Jones. Angelo went on to take a comfortable victory in one match.

"I lined up well on the earlier Round 5 finals when everyone had struggled quite a bit," said the 45-year-old Angelo, who has 2 PBA titles to his credit and was the 2002-03 PBA Rookie of the Year.

"The lanes was by no means easy and I had to make a lot of adjustments to get the carry. I have to thank Storm for giving me this opportunity to come to this part of the world to compete."

Angelo picked up the top prize of US$25,000 for his victory. Jones, who sailed past third-seed, DJ Archer of Friendswood, TX., 234-173 in the third stepladder finals match, settled for US$12,000.

Archer, who took home US$8,000 for finishing third, had earlier edged fourth-seed, Michael Mak of Hong Kong, 226-223 in the second match.

Mak ousted fifth-seed, Mika Koivuniemi of Finland, 223-201 in the first match and retained fourth position to win US$6,000 while the Finn earned US$5,000.

The champion advanced as top seed after topping the Modified Matchplay finals with 2848 pinfalls plus 120 bonus pins for winning six out of the eight matches contested.

Jones finished second with 2680 plus 110 bonus pins for winning three and finishing second in five other matches. Archer finished third with 2667 on four wins ans two seconds. Mak was fourth with 2649 on three wins, three seconds and a draw. Koivuniemi fifth with 2637 on two wins and two seconds.

Robert Andersson of Sweden, who was fifth before the position round match, missed the stepladder finals cut in sixth with 2621. Top qualifier, John Szczerbinski of N. Tonawanda, NY., finished seventh with 2584.

The champion also topped the 4-games Round 5 finals with 898 total ahead of Archer in second with 879 and Koivuniemi third with 874. Szczerbinski and Ildemaro Ruiz of Venezuela rounded out the top 5.

Sheikh Talal Al-Sabah, President of Asian Bowling Federation and Kuwait Bowling Federation presented the trophy and cheque to the champion. The top 16 Asian men in the finals qualified for the ABF Tour Kuwait 2015 which will be held tomorrow at the same bowling center.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Kuwait.

13th March, Kuwait: 2014 Asian Championships Masters silver medalist, Mostafa Al Mousawi of Kuwait captured his third youth title of the 12th Kuwait International Open by defeating challenger, Abdulsalam Alsaqer, 199-182 in the final stepladder match.

The 16-year-old got off the mark with five consecutive strikes to lead his compatriot by a comfortable margin of 40 pins as his opponent failed to string together any strikes. Although Mostafa failed to spare his seventh frame, so did Abdulsalam, missing a single pin.

And when Abdulsalam had a split in the eighth frame, the match was done and dusted. Mostafa cruised to an easy victory, 199-182 to claim his third youth title. His two previous victory was in 2013 and 2011.

Abdulsalam advanced to the title match after he sailed past winner of the first match, Ali Jamal, 188-131. Ali easily won the first match against Abdulla Al Dubbayan, 225-166 before losing in the semi-final.

Mostafa received the trophy and a cash prize of US$1,000 from Sheikh Talal Al-Sabah, President of Asian Bowling Federation together with the President of Europe Bowling Federation and the President of Russian Bowling Federation.

Abdulsalam settled for US$750 as first runner-up while Ali and Abdulla picked up US$500 and US$300 for finishing third and fourth positions respectively.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Kuwait.

13th March, Kuwait: 2012 PBA Player of the Year, Tommy Jones of Simpsonville, S.C., took Round 4 finals of the 12th Kuwait International Open to ahead of Robert Andersson of Sweden in second and Ildemaro Ruiz of Venezuela third.

Jones, 36 got off the round at a cracking pace rolling 263 and 250 to lead Mika Koivuniemi of Finland in second. The American traded the lead with the Finn in the next two games before ending stronger to take the round.

Robert Andersson of Sweden also ended strongly to finish second with 1340, 22 pins behind Jones. Ildemaro Ruiz Jr. of Venezuela finished third with 1332, a further 8 pins away.

Koivuniemi ended on a poor 170 to slip down to fourth with 1330. Dominic Barrett (ENG-5th), Jason Sterner (USA-6th), Michael Mak (HKG-7th) and Marshall Kent (USA-8th) joined the top 3 for Round 5 finals on March 15.

The top 8 finishers plus the top 7 seeded qualifiers from the overall standings (15 finalists) will bowl 4 games in Round 5 before the Modified Matchplay finals over 7 games.

Three players will be drawn on each pair of lanes for each of the 7 matches. Winner of the match will receive 20 pins bonus and second highest scorer will receive 10 pins. The top 5 at the end of the matchplay will proceed to the stepladder shootout finals.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Kuwait.

13th March, Kuwait: Round 2 third-placed, Stuart Williams of England won Round 3 finals of the 12th Kuwait International Open ahead of Yousef Al-Jaber of Qatar and Mika Koivuniemi of Finland in second and third.

Williams, the 2012 Viper Open champion and 2007 World Ranking Masters winner amassed a 6-game total of 1372, 53 pins ahead of Yousef on a 1329 total. Koivuniemi finished third with 1301, 28 pins further away.

Jaime Gonzalez of Colombia and American PBA pro, Tom Hess of Urbandale, Iowa rounded out the top 5 with 1295 and 1286 respectively.

Jason Sterner of Covington, GA., continued to impress by taking up sixth position with 1278 as the remaining Kuwaiti, Aseel Al Roomi survived the cut in seventh position with 1276.

A second Qatari, Mansour Al Hajri totled 1271 to make the cut in eighth position while Round 2 winner, Danielle McEwan shot a big game in the sixth to leapfrog into ninth position and advanced with 1269.

13th Kingdom of Bahrain Open champion, Jesper Svensson of Sweden missed the cut by 13 pins with 1256 in tenth so did American PBA pro, Tom Daugherty of Tampa, Fla., in 11th.

The top 9 finishers will join the seven qualifiers positioned 8 to 14 in the overall standings for another 6 games in Round 4. The top 8 will advance to Round 5 on March 15.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Kuwait.

13th March, Kuwait: Team USA, Danielle McEwan surprised a field of 16 to win Round 2 finals of the 12th Kuwaiti International Open ahead of defending champion, Thomas Larsen of Denmark in second and Stuart Williams of England third.

McEwan, who needed a big game in her last game of the third block qualifying round last night, posted a 6-game total of 1455 with 5 pins handicap per game to lead seven other finishers into the next round.

Larsen finished second with 1368, 87 pins adrift while Williams took third spot with 1306, a further 32 pins away. Best Kuwaiti was lleft-hander, Salem Al Hajras in fourth with 1290 followed by Hareb Al Mansoori of UAE completing the top 5 with 1288.

13th Kingdom of Bahrain Open champion and last qualifier, Jesper Svensson of Sweden finish sixth with 1252. Second Kuwaiti, Aseel Al Roomi and Andrew Frawley of Australia advanced to the next round in seventh and eighth positions respectively.

ABF Tour Bahrain champion, Yaqoub Al Shatti of Kuwait missed the cut by 31 pins after a poor 175 in the last game. Hussain Al Suwaidi of UAE, who finished 12th, will be the cut in 16th position for the ABF Tour Kuwait leg on March 15.

The top 8 finishers will join the eight qualifiers positioned 15 to 22 in the overall standings for another 6 games in Round 3. The top 9 will advance to Round 4.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Kuwait.

12th March, Kuwait: American PBA pro, John Szczerbinski of N. Tonawanda, NY. topped the qualifying standings of the 12th Kuwait International Open after leading the final Squad B at the end of the third block late Thursday.

Sitting fourth in both Squad B and overall standings based on average and with the final squad to go, the 27-year-old ended the round with 1120 for 15-game total of 3348. A second American pro, Brad Angelo of Lockport, NY., completed his final block in second with 3320.

DJ Archer of Friendswood, TX slipped to third with 3313 giving the Americans a 1-2-3 finish in the final standings. Squad C leader, Mohammed Janahi of Bahrain was the top Asian taking up fourth in the overall standings with 3289.

Overnight leader and 2014 Asia Ranked No. 1, Shaker Al Hassan almost lost his spot in the top bracket but fortunately for him, he held his nerve to clinch sixth position with 3232 behind Squad A leader, Ryan Lalisang of Indonesia in fifth with 3269.

Ebrahim Al Jadi earned the seventh position reserved for the top Kuwaiti despite only totaling 3049. 2014 PBA Rookie of the Year and 2014 Saudi Open champion, Marshall Kent was the biggest jumper.

Kent, who was in 39th position before the final squad, posted the highest block of 1215 to leapfrog into eighth position and head the second bracket with 3227. Squad D leader, Robert Andersson of Sweden finished ninth with 3218 while Dominic Barrett of England rounded out the top 10.

Kim Bolleby of Thailand was the second bracket cut in 14th position with 3165. Yousef Al-Jaber of Qatar headed the third bracket with 3155. Tom Hess of Urbandale, Iowa, who topped Squad C also made a big move up to 16th position on 3138.

Jason Sterner of Covington, GA., who topped Squad C after the second block, ended up as the third bracket cut in 22nd position with 3092 after a poor third block. Andrew Frawley of Australia headed the fourth bracket with 3088.

Sole women qualifier, Danielle McEwan of USA needed a big game of 275 in the 15th game to jump into 28th position on 3059. 13th Bahrain Open champion, Jesper Svensson of Sweden is the cut in 34th position with 3035.

Several bowlers had a chance of making the cut but blew it away in the final block. Craig Nidiffer of Trenton, Mich., was in the fourth bracket after the first three games of the block but a poor 163 dropped him out.

Despite a 237 in his final game, Nidiffer missed the cut by 5 pins. Mahmoud Mazloum of Egypt also dropped out on a poor final game of 178 to end behind H.H. Emir Cup champion, Tannya Roumimper of Indonesia, who also failed to make the cut, missing by 6 pins.

Aseel Al Roomi, Mohannad Ebrahim, last week's ABF Tour Bahrain leg champion, Yaqoub Al Shatti and Salem Al Hajras were awarded the four spots, positions 35 to 38 as the top 4 Kuwaiti finishers outside the cut.

Round 2, 3 and 4 finals will be contested March 14 at 10.00am, 1.30pm and 5.00pm while Round 5 and the Modified Matchplay finals will be staged on March 15 at 10.00am and 12.30pm. Stepladder finals will follow at 5.00pm.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Kuwait.

11th March, Kuwait: 2014 Asia Ranked No. 1 and 2014 Bahrain Open champion, Shaker Al Hassan of UAE took over the lead of the overall standings after 10 games of qualifying rounds at the 12th Kuwait International Open have been completed.

The 42-year-old Shaker shot the tournament's first perfect game in his opening game of the second block to end the round with 1175 and a 10-game total of 2247. Overnight leader, Dominic Barrett of England was unable to maintain his form and managed only 2226 despite topping the last squad of the day.

First block leader, DJ Archer of Friendswood, TX slipped to second overall with 2238 while Brad Angelo of Lockport, NY., occupied third spot with 2231. John Szczerbinski of N. Tonawanda, NY., who shot the second perfect game, took third spot with 2231.

Barrett ended up in fourth position while Squad A leader, Ryan Lalisang of Indonesia moved into the top bracket in sixth position with 2198 after scoring the highest 5-games series of the day with 1210.

Bahrain Open third runner-up, Ildemaro Ruiz of Venezuela headed the second bracket in eighth position with 2184 followed by Squad C leader, Jason Sterner of Covington, GA. in ninth with 2177.

The cut for the second bracket in 14th position is held by Hashim Al Hashimi of UAE with 2108. Jaime Gonzalez of Colombia headed the third bracket in 15th position with 2097 while the cut for the third bracket went to Robert Andersson of Sweden with 2066 in 22nd position.

Two-time Kuwait Open champion (2010 and 2012), Osku Palermaa of Finland headed the fourth bracket in 23rd position with 2058 and H.H. Emir Cup champion, Tannya Roumimper of Indonesia was the best women finisher in 26th with 2041.

The cut at 34th position is occupied by Ebrahim Al Jadi of Kuwait with 2013 (average 201.3). 2014 PBA Rookie of the Year, Marshall Kent of Yakima, VA and Andrew Frawley of Australia tied 39th position with 2012 and out of the cut.

Bowlers will complete their third and final block of 5 games tomorrow. Round 2, 3 and 4 finals will be contested on March 14 followed by the Youth stepladder finals for the top 4 youth finishers from the qualifying standings.

Round 5 finals over four games will be staged on March 15 morning followed by the Modified Matchplay (7 games) finals with pins carried forward from Round 5. The top 5 at the end of the matchplay finals will advance to the stepladder finals shootout.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Kuwait.

10th March, Kuwait: American PBA pro and Squad B leader, DJ Archer of Friendswood, TX topped the qualifying standings of the first block preliminaries at 12th Kuwait International Open underway at Cozmo Bowl on Tuesday evening.

Archer posted the highest 5-games series of 1217 to take top spot, 29 pins ahead of three-time World Bowling Writers' World Bowler of the Year and Squad D leader, Dominic Barrett of England in second on 1188.

2006 Asian Games gold medalist, Bader Al Shaikh of Saudi Arabia, who finished second to Barrett, took third spot with 1175 followed by John Szczerbinski of N. Tonawanda, N.Y. fourth with 1129.

A third PBA pro, Brad Angelo of Lockport, NY., shot 1112 for fifth spot while Squad A leader and 2014 Asian Games Team bronze medalist, Michael Mak was the cut for the first bracket in sixth with 1109.

Sixth position is reserved for the top Kuwaiti qualifier outside the top 6 who would earn three byes to automatically advance to Round 5 finals.

13th Kingdom of Bahrain Open third runner-up, Ildemaro Ruiz Jr. of Venezuela headed the second bracket with 1105, just 7 pins ahead of Squad C leader, Mohammed Janahi of Bahrain in ninth.

PBA Rookie of the Year and 2014 Kingdom of Saudi Open champion, Marshall Kent of Yakima, WA., rounded out the top 10 with 1087. Qualifiers positioned 8 to 14 will earn two byes for Round 4 finals.

Yousef Al-Jaber of Qatar headed the third bracket with 1064 followed by H.H. EMir Cup champion, Tannya Roumimper of Indonesia in 16th position with 1059. The cut at 22nd position of the third bracket went to Ebrahim Al Jadi of Kuwait with 1027. Qualifiers positioned 15 to 22 will earn one bye for Round 3 finals.

H.H. Emir Cup third runner-up, Naif Oqab headed the last and fourth bracket with 1025 while the cut at 34th position went to Wicky Yeung of Hong Kong with 992. Qualifiers positioned 23 to 34 will make the Round 2 finals together with the top 4 Kuwaiti finishers.

Qualifiers ranked 23 to 38 (16 bowlers) at the end of 15 games will bowl 6 games in Round 2 and the top 8 will advance to Round 3 finals. Qualifiers ranked 15 to 22 plus the top 8 finishers from Round 2 (16 bowlers) will bowl another 6 games from scratch.

Qualifiers ranked 8 to 14 plus the top 9 finishers from Round 3 (16 bowlers) will bowl 6 games in Round 4 finals. The top 8 finishers plus qualifiers ranked 1 to 7 will bowl 4 games and with pins carried forward to the Modified Matchplay Round.

Bowlers will bowl 7 games and one game position round with bonus amongst 3 players on each pair of lanes. Winner of each match on a pair will receive 20 bouns pins while the second place will receive 10 bonus pins.

The top 5 finishers after the matchplay will advance to the stepladder finals with the top seed having the advantage of beat-twice format.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Kuwait.