10th February, Cairo: Alexis Sy of Philippines and Choi Tae-Seung of Korea shared the glory at the conclusion of the 16th Asian Youth Tenpin Bowling Championship with victories in the Girl's and Boy's Masters stepladder title matches on Friday.

Top seed, Alexis Sy easily defeated challenger and third-seed, Son Hye-Rin of Korea in a two-game total pinfalls title match, 493-389 to win the Girl's Masters gold medal.

The Filipina trashed Son, 247-168 in the first game to build up a massive 79 pins margin and went on to take the second game, 246-221 to break Korea's domination at the championship.

In the earlier all-Korean first match, Son edged second seed Kang Su-Jin, 258-254 in the short oil pattern chosen by the higher seed, Kang but found the long oil pattern chosen by top seed Alexis too difficult to repeat her earlier form.

Son had won the Singles gold medal on the opening day with Hwang Yeon-Jin and Lim So-Hyun winning the Doubles gold before easily taking the Team gold. Kang also won the All Events making it four-in-a-row fr Korea.

But the Filipina denied the Korean girls a clean sweep of the medals with the well-earned victory in the Masters. Korea won the overall girls champion with 4 gold, 3 silver and 2 bronze medals.

Meanwhile, triple gold medalist and top seed, Choi Tae-Seung won his fourth gold medal and denying Philippines a possible Masters double victory after he defeated Kenneth Chua, 468-420 in the Boy's Masters title stepladder match.

Choi won the first game, 267-235 and went on to take the second game, 201-185 to win the fifth gold for Korea.

The Filipino third seed had earlier ousted second seed and All Events gold medalist, Hwang Dong-Ju, 220-207 over the short oil pattern chosen by the Korean. But in the title match against Choi, Chua found the long oil pattern less favourable.

Korean boys swept all the five gold medals with Choi winning the opening Singles event and then partnered Hwang to win the Doubles gold. The 4-player Team gold went to the Koreans while Hwang won the All Events gold medal.

Korea also took the overall boys champion with 5 gold, 1 silver and 4 bronze medals and emerged as the overall champion with 9 gold, 4 silver and 6 bronze medals making it by far their best-ever championship.

A total of 32 boys from eight countries and 18 girls from five countries participated in the week-long championship hosted for the first time by Egyptian Bowling Federation.

Players, officials and guests were treated to a river Nile cruise where the victory banquet was hosted by Egyptian Bowling Federation. The next Asian Youth will be hosted by Hong Kong in 2013.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Cairo.

10th February, Cairo: Triple gold medalists, Choi Tae-Seung and Hwang Dong-Ju ruled the Boy's second block Masters finals of the 16th Asian Youth Tenpin Bowling Championship with a one-two finish to advance to the stepladder finals.

Overnight first block leader, Ryu Ji-Hoon could not hold on to the lead despite winning his opening match as Filipino, Kenneth Chua won his match with a stronger 249 to set the early pace.

Chua then fired a scintilating 268 as he won the tenth match to open up a 34 pin lead over Ryu. The Filipino led for the next three matches as Ryu slipped out of contention with All Events gold medalist, Hwang Dong-Ju taking over second position.

But Hwang and another Singles gold medalist, Choi Tae-Seung won their 13th match with big scores to share the lead while Chua lost his with 209 to fall behind the duo by 30 pins.

Both the Korean boys were engaged in a ding-dong battle for the lead over the next two matches as the Filipino fell further away to fourth by the 15th match, 24 pins behind a third Korean, Cha In-Ho in third.

Whilst the top two finishers were pretty much firmed up, the position round match between Cha and Chua was the crucial match everyone wwas watching.

Just as it appeared that Cha would seal the match and advance to the stepladder finals as third seed when Chua had two open frames, the Korean had an unlucky split in his final frame while Chua struck out to take the match 225-191.

Choi ended with a victory over Hwang for a total of 3811 on a second block score of 1931 and winning seven matches. Hwang took second spot with 3706 on a score of 1820 with six wins.

Chua earned the final stepladder spot with 3686 on a score of 1813 and just four wins. Cha missed the cut with 3666, 20 pins adrift. Chua will face Hwang in the first match and the winner will meet top seed, Choi for a two-games total pinfalls to decide the champion.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Cairo.

10th February, Cairo: Alexis Sy of Philippines defied all odds to advance into the stepladder finals of the 16th Asian Youth Tenpin Bowling Championship as top seed after the Girl's second block Masters finals.

Alexis, who finished second in yesterday's first block to break the Korean stronghold, won the first four matches in the second block to take over the lead and overturned a 117 pins deficit to lead block 1 leader, Kang Su-Jin of Korea by 24 pins.

The Filipina bowled consistenly to win her next three matches and opened up a safe margin of 96 pins going into the 16th and position round match.

Ironically, Alexis had beaten Kang, 225-216 in the 15th match and despite losing her only match in this block 203-249, the Filipina remained in the lead albeit only 40 pins ahead.

Alexis advanced into the stepladder finals with a total of 3694 on a higher second block scoreline of 1837 as opposed to 1737 in the first block.

Kang settled for second with 3654 on a much lower second block of 1690 and six wins. Son Hye-Rin, who was fourth in the first block, took third spot with 3562 from seven wins. Kang will have to face her team-mate in the first stepladder match.

A third Korean, Hwang Yeon-Ju beat team-mate Lim So-Hyun in the position round to move up from fifth to fourth with 3494 while Filipina, Krizziah Tabora, who was fourth lost to Son in the position round match to slip to fifth.

The Girl's stepladder matches will be staged together with the boy's division after they complete their second block. The second and third seed will bowl one match to earn the right to face the top seed.

The title match will be bowled over two games total pinfalls to decide the champion to win the last gold medal of the competition and loser takes home the silver.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Cairo.

9th February, Cairo: Team gold medalist, Ryu Ji-Hoon of Korea snatched the lead in the final match in the Boy's Masters first block finals of the 16th Youth Tenpin Bowling Championship from Zoe Dias Ma of Macau in second and Kenneth Chua of Philippines in third.

Leo Tse Chung Yin of Hong Kong and Satoshi Hamanaka of Japan set off a blistering pace to win their opening match with a sizzling 268 and to share the lead, 31 pins ahead of All Events silver and Team gold medalist, Ryu Ji-Hoon of Korea in second.

Doubles silver medalist, Kenneth Chua led briefly after winning the second match but quickly was overtaken by another Korean Cha In-Ho after the third and fourth matches.

But the Filipino bounched back by winning his next two matches to lead Macau's Zoe Dias Ma moving into second spot after the fifth match and Cha regaining second spot after the sixth match.

A strong win by Zoe Dias Ma in the seventh game saw the Macau youngster surged into the lead, 7 pins ahead of Chua, who lost his match with a lowly 185 and slipping into second.

But it was Ryu Ji-Hoon, who finished the strongest by winning his eighth match with 238 to leapfrog both Zoe and Chua, ended the block with 1863 from five wins. Zoe hung on to second with 1835, also from five wins.

Chua took third spot with 1833 from six wins, a further 3 pins away while All Events gold medalist, Hwang Dong-Jun, who had a slow start, stormed home to snatch fourth spot with 1826 from six wins.

Hiroki Takada was Japan's best finisher out of the three finalists to complete the top 5 with 1825, 1 pin off Hwang while early pace setter, Cha In-Ho slipped to sixth, another 2 pins away.

With less than 40 pins separating the top 6, challenging for the top 3 stepladder spots will intensify when the boys resume their second block over the long oil pattern tomorrow.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Cairo.

9th February, Cairo: Filipina Alexis Sy denied another Korean domination after she finished second in the Girl's Masters first block finals of the 16th Asian Youth Tenpin Bowling Championship behind leader, Kang Su-Jin and Lim So-Hyun in third.

Triple gold medalist, Kang Su-Jin set a blistering pace with 237 to beat Hwang Yeon-Ju in the opening match to take the lead while her team-mate, Son Hye-Rin defeated Lim So-Hyun with 214 for second.

A sizzling second match win with 279 from Kang allowed her to opened up a 64 pin lead over Filipina, Alexis Sy, who moved up to second. Two more wins with 238 and 222 in the third and fourth matches allowed her to retain the lead.

Kang lost the fifth match while Alexis won her fifth match with 248 to move within just one pin in second but the Korean recovered to win two and draw one of the remaining three matches to end the block with 1904.

Alexis lost her three matches but remained in second with 1787 from a total of five wins as Lim So-Hyun snatched third spot with 1770 on five wins and a draw. Son Hye-Rin finished fouth with 1761 on six wins.

Filipina, Krizziah Tabora, who was third before the final and eighth match, lost the match with 174 to slip down to fifth position with 1744.

The girls will resume with the second block of 7 matches and a position-round match over the long oil pattern to decide the top 3 who will advance to the stepladder finals. The boys will contest their first block later today.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Cairo.

8th February, Cairo: Korean boys and girls totally dominated the 4-player Team event of the 16th Asian Youth Tenpin Bowling Championship by winning both the gold medals at the end of the second block at the International Bowling Center.

Korea's Hwang Dong-Jun, Choi Tae-Seung, Ryu Ji-Hoon and Cha In-Ho continued to display their supremacy with consistenyl lines of 851, 886 and 851 in the second block of the 3 games over short oil to win the gold with 5200 total.

The Korean quartet stretched their first block lead of 55 pins to 111 at the start of the second block, increasing it to 179 by the fifth game and ending with a comfortable 168 pins.

Japan's Hiroki Takada, Satoshi Hamanaka, Koki Oyamada and Shusaku Asato, rallied on but just could not keep pace with the Koreans to settle for the silver medal with 4901.

Kuwait's Abdulrahman Suwayed, Mostafa Almousawi, Ali Alqallaf and Abdullah Ahmad shot the highest game of 992 to snatch the bronze medal with 4863.

Hong Kong, who was second after the fifth game, squandered their chance of a medal with a poor 693 in their final game to finish fourth with 4757 while Macau rounded up the top 5 with 4596.

Korean boys swept all the three medals in the All Events with Hwang Dong-Jun winning the gold medal with 4106, Ryu Ji-Hoon the silver with 4103 and Choi Tae-Seung the bronze with 4060.

Meanwhile in the girl's division, it was a stroll in the park for Kang Su-Jin, Son Hye-Rin, Lim So-Hyun and Hwang Yeon-Ju as they cruised to an empahtic victory in the 4-player Team event with 5203.

The Korean foursome, who had 196 pins margin from the first block pulled away with 254 pins cushion after the fourth game and ended with 299 pins ahead of their nearest rival.

Philippines' Alexis Sy, Patricia Tajo, Jannie Kuwahara and Krizziah Tabora amassed a total of 4904 to settle for the silver medal while Japan's Kana Shimoide, Mitsuki Okamoto, Shinobu Saito and Yuka Ohishima took the bronze medal with 4741.

Macau earned one point for finishing fourth with 4193. The Korean girls also dominated the All Events with a top 3 finishing. Kang Su-Jin won Korea's eighth gold medal on a total of 4034 with Hwang Yeon-Ju taking the silver with 3898 and Lim So-Hyun the bronze with 3891.

Korea is a running away in the medal tally with 8 gold, 3 silver and 4 bronze medals before the Masters finals. Philippines is second with 3 silver and Japan is third with 1 silver and 2 bronze medals.

The top 16 boys and top 16 girls in the All Events qualified for the Round-Robin Matchplay Masters finals over two blocks of 8 games each on short and long oil on February 9 and 10. The top 3 boys and top 3 girls would proceed to the stepladder finals.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Cairo.

7th February, Cairo: Korea dominated the 4-player Team event of the 16th Asian Youth Tenpin Bowling Championship by leading both the Girl's and Boy's first block of 3 games over the long oil pattern on Tuesday.

Korea's Kang Su-Jin, Son Hye-Rin, Lim So-Hyun and Hwang Yeon-Ju led from start to finish to end the first block with a comfortable margin of 196 pins on a total of 2679 after getting off the mark with a cracking 975 and following it up with 865 and 849.

Japan's Yuka Ohishima, Kana Shimoide, Mitsuki Okamoto and Shinobu Saito, who trailed Korea in the first two games, were pipped by Philippines' Alexis Sy, Patricia Tajo, Jannie Kuwahara and Krizziah Tabora in the final game for second.

The Filipina quartet posted 773, 812 and 898 for a total of 2483, 53 pins ahead of the Japanese foursome, who rolled 819, 793 and 818 for a total of 2430. Macau finished fourth with 2066.

Singles gold medalist, Kang Su-Jin continued to lead the Girl's All Events standings with 3414, 155 pins ahead of team-mate, Hwang Yeon-Ju in second and Krizziah Tabora third with 3259 and 3253.

Meanwhile, the Korean boy's team of Hwang DOng-Jun, Choi Tae-Seung, Ryu Ji-Hoon and Cha In-Ho had a poor start with 806 and was in sixth position but they bounced back with 912 and 894 to lead the first block with 2612.

Japan's Hiroki Takada, Satoshi Hamanaka, Koki Oyamada and Shusaku Sato, who were second throughout the first block, totaled 2557 for second position, 55 pins behind the Koreans.

Hong Kong's Tony Wong, Stanley Lau, Ricky Sham and Leo Tse led the opening game with a superb 899 but posted only 764 and 830 to finish third with 2493, 64 pins further away while Macau took fourth spot with 2436.

Philippine boys had a poor run finishing seventh with 2246 despite starting off in third. Qatar and Kuwait took fifth and sixth positions with 2321 and 2318 respectively.

Korea dominated the Boy's All Events standings by taking up the top three positions. Doubles gold medalist, Hwang Dong-Jun topped the table with 3459 followed by Ryu Ji-Hoon in second with 3427 and Choi Tae-Seung third with 3411.

The players will resume with their second block of three games over the short oil pattern to decide the champions. The top 16 boys and top 16 girls based on the All Events standings will qualify for the Masters finals.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Cairo.

6th February, Cairo: Korea's second pair of Choi Tae-Seung and Hwang Dong-Jun cruised to an easy victory in the Boy's Doubles event of the 16th Asian Youth Tenpin Bowling Championship for their fourth gold medal with the first Korean pair taking the bronze.

Philippines' first pair of Kenneth Chua and Enzo Hernandez got off the mark with a sizzling 505 to lead Qatar's Hassan Ibrahim and Abdulrahman Jaidah by 13 pins in the opening game folowed by Kuwait in third.

A strong 505 from Ali Alqallaf and Singles silver medalist, Abdullah Ahmad put them in the lead and 70 pins ahead of Korea's second pair of Hwang Dong-Jun and Singles gold medalist, Choi Tae-Seung in second.

Hwang and Choi took over the lead and opened up a gap of 99 pins after the third game as the Kuwaitis only managed 379 to slip into second while the first pair of Cha In-Ho and Ryu Ji-Hoon moved up to third and Philippines dropping down to fourth.

The Korean pair held the lead despite knocking down only 366 afer the fourth game as their team-mates took over second spot with Japan's first pair moving up to third.

Hwang and Choi stretched their lead to 116 pins after recovering with 471 and the Filipinos bounched back with 505 to moved back into second spot, just four pins ahead of Cha and Ryu.

The leader ended with a strong 541 to take a comfortable victory giving Korea their fourth gold medal with 2841 while Chua and Hernandez hung on to second spot to win the silver with 2644.

Cha and Ryu settled for the bronze medal with 2638, just 6 pins adrift while Japan missed the podium in fourth position with 2600.

After two events, Hwang Dong-Jun, Choi Tae-Seung and Ryu Ji-Hoon occupied the top three spots in the All Events standings with 2794, 2790 and 2747 respectively. Kenneth Chua and Abdullah Amhad is fourth and fifth.

Competition will shift to the Team events with the first block of 3 games over long oil pattern tomorrow for both the boys and girls. The second block of 3 games will resume on Wednesday, February 8 over the short oil pattern.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Cairo.

6th February, Cairo: Korean girls continued their domination by finishing one-two in the Girl's Doubles event of the 16th Asian Youth Tenpin Bowling Championship to win their third gold and added a silver medal.

Apart from Japan's Kana Shimoide and Shinobu Saito challenging for the early lead, the Korean girls were totally in command with Hwang Yeon-Ju and Lim So-Hyun leading the field with 473 in their opening game.

Hwang and Lim kept their lead after the second game but were quickly taken over by the first Korean pair of Son Hye-Rin and Kang Su-Jin at the halfway mark, 40 pins ahead with Patricia Tajo and Alexis Sy of Philippine third.

Son and Kang rolled 470 and 418 in the fourth and fifth game while their team-mates matched them with 473 and 444 to trail by 29 pins as the Filipinas remained third.

Hwang and Lim ended stronger with 473 to snatch the third gold medal for Korea with 2696. Hwang posting 1316 and Lim 1380. Son and Kang took the silver medal with 2691, just 5 pins adrift.

Tajo and Sy made a last ditch in the final game with 494 but settled for the bronze medal with 2608. Sy also posted the highest 6-game series of 1422. Singles silver medalist, Jannie Kuwahara partnered Krizziah Tabora to take fourth spot with 2488.

After two events, Singles gold medalist, Kang Su-Jin leads the All Events standings with 2766 followed by Lim So-Hyun in second with 2579 while Alexis Sy is third with 2568.

The boys will contest their Doubles event following lane maintenance. The bowlers will resume with the Team of Four first block of three games over long oil pattern tomorrow. The second block will be contested on February 8 over the short oil pattern.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Cairo.

5th February, Cairo: Korea continued their early domination when Choi Tae-Seung and Hwang Dong-Jun captured the Boy's Singles gold and bronze medals of the 16th Asian Youth Tenpin Bowling Championship at the International Bowling Center on Sunday.

Asian Schools masters gold medalist, Abdullah Ahmad of Kuwait took the early lead rolling a scintilating 248 in his opening game to lead Korea's Choi Tae-Seung and Collins Jose of Philippines tieing in second with 244.

Choi's team-mate and pacing partner shot 259 following his 235 opening game to take over the running and opened up a gap of 33 pins over a third Korean Cho In-Ho while Abdullah slipped to third.

Hwang kept the lead up to the halfway mark after another superb 244 but Abdullah cut the gap down to 16 pins after rolling a sizzling 270 in the third game while Choi slipped behind the Kuwaiti despite a strong 266.

Another strong 257 move the 21-year-old Choi back into the lead after the fourth game albeit only 1 pin ahead of Hwang as Abdulla suffered a lowly 174 to drop to third.

Abdullah bounced back with 279 in the fifth game to lead Hwang by 4 pins and Choi a further 4 pins away in third leaving the sixth and final game to decide the outcome.

Hwang had two open frames in the final game as there was little separating Abdullah and Choi in the early stage of the game. An unlucky split in the ninth frame from Abdullah put him in the back foot and although the Kuwaiti struck out to end with 200.

But Choi struck home from frame eight onwards to seal the victory with 225 and to win Korea's second gold medal with 1392.

Abdullah settled for the silver medal with 1375, just 17 pins adrift while Hwang managed only 180 to clinch the bronze medal with 1351. A third Korean, Ryu Ji-Hoon finished fourth with 1348.

Competition will shift to the Doubles event with the girls taking to the lanes at 12.00 noon local time tomorrow and the boys at 5.00 pm over long oil pattern.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Cairo.

4th February, Cairo: Kang Su-Jin claimed the first gold medal of the 16th Asian Youth Tenpin Bowling Championship for Korea after fending off a late challenge from Jannie Kuwahara of the Philippines to win the Girl's Singles event.

Korea's Hwang Yeon-Ju and Philippines' Alexis Sy got off to a superb start in the opening game of the Girl's Singles by sharing the lead with 246 followed by Japan's Yuka Ohishima in second, 5 pins adrift.

A sizzling 278 in the second game put Hwang's team-mate, Kang Su-Jin into the lead as Alexis slipped into second 22 pins away and Krizziah Tabora moving up to third after the second game.

But a third Filipina, Jannie Kuwahara took over the running at the halfway mark after rolling three consistent games of 210, 229 and 258 with Alexis in second followed by Kang slipping down to third on a poor 168 in the third.

The 21-year-old Kang bounced back brilliantly with 255 to regain the lead while Kuwahara settled for second despite posting a strong 215 in the fourth game.

The Korean kept her lead with 226 in the fifth as the Filipina managed only 184 to slip to third behind another Japanese, Kitsuki Okamoto and Alexis suffered two poor games to drop out of contention.

Kang ended with 210 to win the first gold medal of the championship with 1353, 35 pins ahead of Kuwahara, who recovered with a superb 221 to snatch the silver medal with 1318. Okamoto settled for the bronze medal with 1280.

Yuka Ohishima of Japan and Krizziah Tabora tied fourth position with 1254 while early pace-setter, Hwang Yeon-Ju ended in sixth position.

Competition will resume with the Boy's Singles event at 3.00pm local time tomorrow and will shift to the Doubles on Monday, February 6.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Cairo.

2nd February, Cairo: A simple ceremony was held at the International Bowling Center at Nasr City to mark the opening of the 16th Asian Youth Tenpin Bowling Championships graced by Sheikh Talal M. Al-Sabah, President of Asian Bowling Federation.

The opening ceremony was attended by distinguished guests, federation presidents, representatives of the ministry of defence and the Egyptian national sports council, team officials and Egyptian Bowling Federation council members.

Teams from Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Kuwait, Macau, Philippines, Qatar and host nation Egypt paraded in front of the guests signalling the opening ceremony proceedings which was followed by speeches from Mr Ahmed Nasr, President of Egyptian Bowling Federation.

"It is a great honor for Egyptian Bowling Federation to have such elite youth bowlers from sister Arab countries and other friendly Asian countries to share the great Egyptian people the first celebration of the 25th January revolution," said Mr Ahmed Nasr.

"It is my pleasure to take this opportunity to present on your behlaf the kindest congratulations to the Egyptian people. It is a great honor fo Egyptian Bowling Federation to host thie prestigious 16th Asian Youth Tenpin Bowling Championship for the first time in Egypt.

"On behalf of Egyptian Bowling Federation, I wish to express my sincere thanks to field marshal, Houssien Tantawy, President of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces for his persistent support to our federation.

"We cannot express our deep appreciation to his excellency, Sheikh Talal M. Al-Sabah, President of Asian Bowling Federation for the complete support and his determination for our federation to host this championship despite the current political conditions."

"When Asian Bowling Federation awarded the hosting of this championship to Egypt, we had never anticipated that the country would go through so much political turmoil over the past months but we are indeed glad to see peace returing to the country," said Sheikh Talal in his address.

"We must commend the strong determination of Egyptian Bowling Federation for being able to host this championship despite the hardship that the country has endured.

"We wish that the players and officials will enjoy this championship in the true spirit of competition."

Follwing the speeches, Egyptian youths Ahmed Abdel Hamid and Hoda Khaled took the players' oath while Mr Ahmed took the official oath. A special mixed double event of players from different countries was held to commemorate the opening of championship.

The pairing of Jose Collins of the Philippines and Son Hye-Rin of Korea won the event with a total pinfall of 444 to edge the pair of Tony Wong of Hong Kong and Chan Weng Sam of Macau by 11 pins. Sheikh Talal presented the special prize to the winner.

Mr Ahmed Nasr also presented a token of appreciation to Sheikh Talal for being the guest of honor for the opening ceremony. Official practise will be held tomorrow over two squads before competition begins proper on February 4 with the Girl's Singles.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Cairo.

1st February, Cairo: A total of eight nations will be vying for glory at the 16th Asian Youth Tenpin Bowling Championship from February 4 to 10 at the International Bowling Centre at Nasr City after the players were confirmed at the team managers meeting held today.

32 boys from eight countries and 18 girls from five countries have been entered for the week long championship which will kick off on February 4. This is by far the lowest turnout of the Asian Youth Championship series since 1981.

The previous championship held in Kuwait in 2010 had boys teams from 16 countries and girls teams from 8 countries. The low turnout was largely due to the last minute pulling out of Singapore and other countries like Australia, China, India, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and UAE not taking part.

Dr Danny Santos, tournament manager chaired the team managers' meeting at Fairmont Heliopolis Hotel where players' names were confirmed, rules and regulations elaborated and schedule finalised.

Mr Mike Purdy, technical delegate from Kegel Inc., outlined the lane patterns that will be used for the championship while Mr Gamal Abdel Hamid was introduced as the local tournament co-ordinator.

The Jury of Appeal appointed by Sheikh Talal M. Al-Sabah, President of Asian Bowling Federation are Mr Farouk Haridi (Egypt), Mr Fong Wun Man (Macau) and Mr Alex Lim (Philippines) replacing Mr Kyohei Akagi.

Mr Akagi assisted Dr Santos in the lane draw which subsequently followed. Players will contest the Singles (Short Oil), Doubles (Long Oil), Team of 4 (Long/Short) and the Round-Robin Masters Finals (Short/Long) over 7 days.

The players and officials will be treated to a day's tour of the Pyramid, courtesy of the host followed by the official opening ceremonies in the evening graced by Sheikh Talal. The official practice will be held on Friday, February 3 over two squads.

Competition will kick off on February 4 with the Singles for the girls and February 5 with the Singles for the boys. The Doubles for the girls and boys will be held on February 6. The Team of 4 over two blocks of 3 games will be staged on February 7 and 8.

The top 16 boys and top 16 girls based on the All Events standings (18 games) will qualify for the Round-Robin Matchplay finals over two blocks on February 9 and 10. The top 3 boys and top 3 girls will proceed to the stepladder finals. The championship will close with the victory banquet on a cruise over the River Nile.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Cairo.