29th April, Cairo: Top seeds, Yousif Falah of Bahrain and Angkana Netrvieth of Thailand needed only one game to defeat their challengers to emerge as Men's and Ladies' Masters champions of the 14th Sinai International Open.

Both the title contenders were unable to repeat the striking power they displayed during the earlier Men's Stage 2 finals during the championship match. Challenger, Basel Al Anzi of Kuwait had a split in his opening frame while top seed Yousif Falah of Bahrain could not find a double.

Basel recovered with a double in the third and fourth frames to draw level but a double splits in the fifth and sixth frames saw the advantage going to Yousif. Both struck twice in frames seven and eighth but failed to strike in the foundation frame.

The Bahraini ended the match with 191 forcing Basel needing to strike out to force a second game decider but the Kuwaiti managed only a single strike in the tenth frame to end with 181.

"For a moment, I thought we would need to go to the second game but unfortunately, Basel didn't strike in his 11th frame," said the lanky Yousif, who won the Sinai Open title in 2009. "It's been a long time and in fact, my last open title was here in Egypt."

"We discussed and made a ball change after the third game in the earlier finals and the change paid off," said coach, Tim Mack. "Yousif deserves it. He bowled exceptionally well today and yesterday."

Basel had edged second seed, Badin Lerdpiriyasakulkit of Thailand and third-seed, Mohamed Sultan of Bahrain, 232-228-228 to take on top seed, Yousif. Badin finished third after winning a one-ball roll-off to break the tie.

Yousif won US$12,000 as champion while Basel took home US$6,000 as first runnerup. Badin earned US$4,500 for finishing third and Mohamed Sultan earned US$3,000 for finishing fourth.

The champion topped the Men's Stage 2 finals with 2501 pin-falls followed by Badin in second with 2388. Mohamed Sultan and Basel made the stepladder in third and fourth with 2350 and 2346 respectively.

Hussain Al Suwaidi of UAE finished fifth with 2321, just 25 pins off fourth ahead of Jassim Darwish of Kuwait fifth with 2317. Mahmoud Mazloum was Egypt's best finisher in sixth on a same score as Jassim.

Meanwhile, another top seed, Angkana Netrviseth of Thailand edged challenger, Hanadi Al Muzail of Kuwait, 224-220 to clinch her first-ever open title. The Thai had topped the 8-game finals contested yesterday.

"I'm so happy to be given the opportunity to come here for the first time to compete in this championship and come away with the win," said the 22-year-old 2011 SEA Games Trios gold medalist, who won US$4,500.

Second seed Hanadi, who settled for US$2,500 as first runner-up, had earlier ousted third seed, Samantha Hannan of England and fourth seed and defending champion, Mennat Soltan, 231-225-192 to have a crack at the title.

64 men and 14 ladies from 13 countries participated in the week long 14th Sinai International Open at the International Bowling Center in Nasr City. The top 16 Asian men qualified for the fourth leg of this year's ABF Tour Egypt to be held tomorrow.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Cairo.

28th April, Cairo: The Men's Stage 1 finals of the 14th Sinai International Open belong to Thailand again after Badin Lerpiriyasakulkit snatched pole position in the tenth and final game to lead sixteen plus two Egytians into the next stage.

Ammar Yamin got off to a cracking start after the Jordanian rolled back-to-back 277s to take over the lead from Iraq's Maher Abd Alhussien, who had led the first game after rolling the tournament's third 300 in the opening game.

Ammar kept a steady pace to remain in the lead with 202, 279, 248 and 202 for the next four games to draw clear of Sweden's Kim Bolleby in second with 86 pins margin. But the Jordanian dropped his pace with 191, 215 and 179 in his next three games allowing Fadhel Al Mousawi of Kuwait to move into the lead.

The Kuwaiti had posted four big games of 255, 278, 289 and 255 following his 192, 232 and 224 in his first three games.

Despite registering only 185, 226 and 257 to close out the stage with 2393, the lead was snatched by Thailand's Badin Lerdpiriyasakulkit with a final game of 290.

The Thai topped the stage with 2414 averaging an impressive 241.4, 21 pins ahead of Fadhel. Barain's Yousif Falah also stormed home with 268, 259 and 234 to take up third with 2358 followed by a second Thai, Peerawich Rungchareon fourth with 2356.

The best left-hander in the field was Kim Bolleby, who finished fifth with 2348 while early pace-setter, Ammar slipped down to sixth with 2337. Mahdi Asaad of Bahrain took the last and 16th position to make the cut with 2167.

Defending champion and another lefty, Shaker Al Hassan of UAE missed the cut in 17th position with 2133 while the two slots reserved for Egyptians went to desperado qualifier, Hassan Youssef, who finished 19th and Mohamed Al Serafy, who finished 25th position.

The top 16 plus two Egytians would be joined by the top 3 local seeded qualifiers and the top 3 overseas seeded qualifiers for another 10 games in Stage 2 finals tomorrow. The top 4 will advance to the stepladder finals shootout to determine the champion.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Cairo.

28th April, Cairo: 2011 SEA Games Trios gold medalist and top qualifier, Angkana Netrviseth of Thailand cruised into the Ladies' Masters stepladder finals of the 14th Sinai International Open after topping the 8-game finals.

The 22-year-old Thai national bowler competing for the first time in Egypt, set a cracking pace with 235 in her opening game to lead Egypt's Aliaa Ismail and England's Samantha Hannan sharing second spot with 208.

Angkana rolled 223, 237 and a big game of 279 in her next three games to opened up a massive gap of 156 pins over Samantha at the halfway mark as Kuwait's Hanadi Al Muzail moved into third spot.

The Thai continued her relentless pace reeling in 238, 216, 193 and closed out the finals with 248 for a total of 1869 to comfortably advance into tomorrow's stepladder finals with a margin of 225 pins.

Hanadi continued to make improvements to snatch second spot with 1680 as Samantha managed only 168 in the eighth game to slip down to third with 1644.

2010 champion, Mennat Soltan, who struggled in the early stages, finished strongly with 245 in her final game to clinch the final stepladder spot in fourth position with 1598 while Egypt's Hala Khafagy missed the cut in fifth with 1554.

Second, third and fourth seeds will bowl in the first stepladder match and the winner will challenge the top seed in a beat-twice format to determine the champion.

The Men's Stage 1 10-game Masters finals will be contested later today and the top 16 together with the top 2 Egyptian finishers will join the six seeded qualifiers for tomorrow's Stage 2 over another 10 games.

The top 4 finishers in Stage 2 finals will advance to the stepladder finals with the second, third and fourth seeds to bowl in the first match with the winnere advancing to challenge the top seed in a beat-twice format to determine the champion.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Cairo.

27th April, Cairo: Perfect gamer, Yannaphon Larpapharat of Thailand retained his lead in the Men's Open qualifying standings of the 14th Sinai International Open after improving his score while England's Samantha Hannan moved up to second in the Ladies' division.

Yannaphon, who rolled the tournament's first 300 to take the lead in the Men's Open qualifying standings, improved his lowest 3-game attempt of 646 to 737 to remain firmly in the pole position despite suffering a sore toe after a bowling fell onto his leg two days ago.

The 2011 Macau Open and Indonesia Open champion will be hoping to put in a better performance after a dismal showing at the Thailand Open just two weeks ago on home ground.

His team-mate, Badin Lerdpiriyasakulkit and UAE's Sayed Al Hashemi remained in second and third with 2143 and 2126. Basel Al Anzi of Kuwait finished fourth with 2117, missing the top 3 by 9 pins.

The top 3 positions in the local pool also remained unchanged with Egyptian youngster, Ahmed Abdel Hamid heading the table with 2158 followed by Hossam Sobhy and Arab Games Singles gold medalist, Tarek Helmy in second and third.

This year's Dubai Open and H.H. Emir Cup champion, Kim Bolleby of Sweden improved his standings to head the mixed pool with 2006 while the cut at 16th position is held by ABF Tour Kuwait champion, Hareb Al Mansoori of UAE with 1922.

Meanwhile, Aliaa Ismail took over the lead of the Ladies' local pool after she improved her 9-game total to 1818. Hala Sharawy slipped to second and Neven Wassel third with 1815 and 1760 respectively.

2011 SEA Games Trios gold medalist, Angkana Netrviseth of Thailand remained in the lead of the overseas and Ladies' overall standings with 2017. England's Samantha Hannan, who resides in UAE, took second spot with an improved 1811.

33 qualifiers in the Men's Open division and 16 qualifiers in the Ladies division will bowl 10 and 8 games respectively in Stage 1 finals. The top 16 Men togehter with the top 2 Egyptians will be joined by the six seeded for Stage 2 finals.

The top 4 finishers in the Ladies' finals will advance to the stepladder finals. Qualifying will end late tonight and there will be a one-game squad held to allow top 3 highest scorer to join the Stage 1 finals tomorrow.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Cairo.

26th April, Cairo: Thailand's Yannaphon Larpapharat shot the tournament's second 300 en-route to leading the Men's Open Masters qualifying leaderboard of the 14th Sinai International Open while team-mate Angkana Netrviseth topped the Ladies' division.

The 29-year-old 2011 Macau Open and Indonesia Open champion improved with an impressive 769 in Squad 35 to move up into second spot behind team-mate, Badin Lerdpiriyasakulkit with a 9-game tally of 2085.

Yannaphon took to the lanes in Squad 40 for a 218 opening game following with 226 in the second before firing 12 consecutive strikes to register the tournament's first 300 for a sizzling 744. His fine effort propelled him into the lead with a new 9-game total of 2159.

But a freak accident may hamper his chances of a good showing after a bowling ball fell onto his foot causing a swell in his right toe. He has two days to rest before the finals on April 29 and hopefully will recover in time.

Badin also improved his total from 2138 to 2143 to give Thailand a one-two finish while UAE's Sayed Al Hashemi took third spot with 2073. Yousif Falah of Bahrain shot the tournament's first 300 during Squad 37 on Monday.

In the local front, Egytian youngster and World Youth Championship bound, Ahmed Abdel Hamid topped the local pool with 2158, just one pin off the Thai. Hossam Sobly and Arab Games Singles gold medalist, Tarek Helmy finished second and third with 2141 and 2133 respectively.

The top 3 in the local pool and top 3 in the overseas pool will earn a Stage 1 finals bye and automatically advance into April 29 Stage 2 finals. The rest of the 30 qualifiers plus 3 from the desparado squad will contest the Stage 1 finaks on April 28.

The current cut in 16th position in the mixed pool is held by defending champion and 2011 Asia ranked No. 1, Shaker Al Hassan of UAE with 1851, 5 pins behind ABF Tour Kuwait champion, Hareb Al Mansoori of UAE in 15th position with 1856.

Thailand, who has sent a team of four men and a women to compete at the championship for the first time, has plenty to celebrate when Angkana Netrviseth also topped the Ladies' division with 2017.

Without the usual strong presence of Malaysian women team, who have participated in this championship for the past three occasions, Angkana will surely be a strong title contender. England's Samantha Hannan improved to second in a distant 1811.

Kuwait's Hanadi Al Muzail finished third with 1646. Defending champion, Mennat Soltan of Egypt managed only second in the mixed pool with 1669 while Hala Sharawy, Neven Wassel and Aliaa Ismail occupied the top 3 positions in the local pool.

The top 3 from the local pool, top 3 from the overseas pool and top 10 from the mixed pool in the Ladies division will contest the 8-game finals on April 28. The top 4 will advance into the stepladder finals shootout.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Cairo.

26th April, Cairo: Egyptian national youth, Amr Nour stormed home in the second half of the 8-game Youth Masters finals of the 14th Sinai International Open to clinch his maiden victory at the International Bowling Center on Thursday morning.

Thai pair of Phumin Klanbida and Peerawich Rungcharoen set a cracking pace in their opening game with 242 and 240 to take a one-two lead ov the Youth Masters finals. Phumin only managed to hold the lead after another game when lefty, Eslam Ead of Egypt took over the running with lines of 207, 235, 208 and 224.

Apart from Ahmed Abdel Hamid leading after the fifth game, a third youth Amr Nour fired 213, 228, 235 and 226 in the second half to clinch his maiden title with 1709. A strong game of 269, 224 and 221 in the Phumin's final three games helped the Thai to take second spot with 1676.

Early front-runner, Eslam settled for third position with 1642 while Bahrain's Ahmed Al Goud and Ahmed Abdel Hamid rounded up the top 5 with 1642 and 1601.

Ramy Khaled of Egypt, Peerawich Rungcharoen and Sweden's Kim Bolleby finished in the money from sixth to eighth positions respectively.

The 15-year-old Amr, who has been bowling for one and a half years, won US$2,000 for his fine effort with Phumin taking home US$1,000 and Eslam and Ahmed Al Goud US$500 each. Ahmed Abdel Hamid and Ramy earned US$300 each and Peerawich and Kim US$200 each.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Cairo.

25th April, Cairo: World Youth bound, Ahmed Abdel Hamid of Egypt took pole position of the Men's Open Masters local qualifying pool of the 14th Sinai International Open underway at the International Bowling Center.

Ahmed, who was third in the local pool with 2116, improved his lowest 3-game series of 663 with 705 for a new 9-game aggregate of 2158 to dislodge overnight leader and compatriot, Hossam Sobhy in to second spot on 2141.

Arab Games Singles gold medalist, Tarek Helmy who was the early leader, slipped down from second to third with 2133. All top 3 local qualifiers have earned automatic entry into Stage 2 finals.

Last year's Macau Open and Indonesia Open champion, Yannaphon Larpapharat led team-mate, Badin Lerdpiriyaskulkit for a one-two finish in the overseas pool with 2159 and 2143 respectively followed by UAE's Sayed Al Hashemi in third with 2073.

The top 3 overseas qualifiers will also automatically advance into Stage 2 finals. Jordan's Ammar Yamin, back from a two-year suspension, finished fourth and missing the top 3 cut by 4 pins with 2069.

Three-time Asia Ranked No. 1 and 2009 ABF Tour TOC winner, Hussain Al Suwaidi of UAE headed the mixed pool with 1993. The current cut after 41 squads played is held by Saad Hassan of Egypt with a score of 1731.

Positions 4 to 10 from the local, positions 4 to 10 from the overseas pool, positions 1 to 16 from the local & overseas pool (mixed pool) together with 3 qualifiers from the one-game desperado squad will contest the 10-game Stage 1 finals on April 28.

The top 16 finishers plus top 2 Egyptians from Stage 1 finals will be joined by the 6 seeded qualifiers for another 10 games in Stage 2 finals on April 29. The top 4 will advance to the stepladder finals shootout to determine the champion.

Ladies' division with a 9-game tally of 2017. England's Samantha Hannan and Kuwait's Hanadi Al Muzail made up the top 3 overseas qualifiers.

Neven Wassel led the local pool with 1760 ahead of Aliaa Ismail in second with 1759 and Halan Sharawy third with 1734. Th top 10 from the mixed pool together with the top 3 local and top 3 overseas ladies will contest the 8-game finals on April 28. The top 4 will advance to the stepladder finals.

Amr Nour topped the Youth division local pool with 1965 followed by Ahmed Abdel Hamid in second with 1956. Youssef Shawky and Eslam Ead completed the four local qualifiers with 1922 and 1916 respectively.

Thai youngster, Phumin Klandiba headed the overseas pool with 2097 followed by Ahmed Al Goud of Bahrain in second with 2001. 2011 Dubai Open and H.H. Emir Cup champion, Kim Bolleby of Sweden and another Thai, Peerawich Rungchareon completed the top 4 overseas qualifiers.

Qualifying will continue till April 27 for the Men's Open and Ladies division while the youth division will end late tonight. The Youth finals will be contested tomorrow, April 26.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Cairo.