31st March, Kuwait: The 7th Kuwait International Open Bowling Championship ended with one of the closest-ever stepladder finals in which top seed, Osku Palermaa of Finland won the Men's title in a ninth and tenth frame tie breaker.

Top seed, Osku Palermaa went into the title match against challenger and No. 3 seed, Zulmazran Zulkifli of Malaysia failing to get any double strikes right to the fifth frame as his opponent down a double in the third and fourth frame for a slim lead.

Zulmazran got another double in the sixth and seventh frames and looked in total control but Palermaa got into his usual strides to response with a double in the sixth and seventh frames as well.

Whilst the Malaysian failed to capitalise in his next two frames with just spares, the Finn knocked down another double strikes in frames eighth and ninth leaving the match going down to the final frame.

Zulmazran downed a double and nine pins to end the match with 225 and another strike in the tenth frame by Palermaa would seal the victory but he struck 7 pins to spare then struck in the bonus frame to tie the match forcing a ninth and tenth frame tie breaker.

Zulmazran had a spare in the ninth frame and Palermaa struck home for 60 pins which gave the Finn the title without going into the deciding match. Zulmazran ended with 48 pins to settle for second spot.

"It has been a great week and I finally been able to capture this title after finishing second twice," said the 32-year-old three-time European Tour champion, Palermaa. "I felt good today and because I had a good gap from the first block, I was just enjoying my game.

Palermaa, who shot the tournament's third perfect game to lead in the first block of 8 games on Tuesday, was equally impressive today winning another 6 matches in the second block of the last 16 round-robin matchplay finals earlier.

The Finn won with 235, 245, 288, 225, 233 and 207 while losing the other two matches with respectable scores of 211 and 227 to romp home in pole position with a comfortable margin of 256 pins.

Palermaa amassed a 16-game total of 4040 ahead of Norway's Tore Torgersen, who shot the second perfect game in the 15th match. Torgersen lost to Zulmazran, 212-218 in the third stepladder match.

Zulmazran, who finished third in the second block, edged fellow compatriot and the only female in the finals, Shalin Zulkifli 192-187 in the second match. Shalin had earlier outsed No. 4 seed, Yousif Falah of Bahrain, 205-190 to set up her match with her team-mate.

Chester King of the Phlippines, who was fourth before the position round match, lost to Zulmaran, 148-238 to miss the stepladder finals in sixth position.

Palermaa won the top prize of US$25,000 and a trophy with Zulmazran settling for US$12,000. The Norwegian took home US$8,000 for dropping to third while Shalin won US$6,000 and Yousif US$5,000.

Shalin, who was the top seed for the women's stepladder finals, had a chance to pick up another US$2,750 but had to settle for US$1,900 after losing the title match to challenger and No. 3 seed, Vanessa Fung of Hong Kong, 224-234 in another closely fought finals.

Vanessa, who won US$2,750 as the women's champion, had earlier ousted No. 2 seed and newly-crowned ABF Tour TOC women's champion, Sharon Limansantoso of Indonesia, 218-194 in the second match.

Vanessa also edged Bahrain's Nadia Aqeel, 226-224 in the first stepladder match before going all the way to the title. Limansantoso and Nadia took home US$1,500 and US$1,000 respectively for finishing third and fourth.

The top 16 Asian men qualified for the ABF Tour Kuwait leg which will be contested at the same venue, Cozmo Bowl on Thursday, April 1. The Kuwait leg will be telecast LIVE over Kuwait TV commencing 11.30am.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Kuwait.

30th March, Kuwait: Osku Palermaa of Finland got off to a flying start by shooting the tournament's second perfect game in his opening match of the Top 16 Round-Robin Matchplay finals at the 7th Kuwait International Open Bowling Championship en-route to topping the first block.

Osku Palermaa, who had advanced into the last 16 finals in third, could not have asked for a better start in his effort to win his first-ever Kuwait Open title especially after being first runner-up twice.

The Dubai International Open champion knocked down 12 consecutive strikes in his opening match of the round-robin matchplay finals to become the second bowler to score a perfect game. Dominic Barrett of England had earlier shot the first 300 in the Top 32 finals played this morning.

The Finn won his second match with 221 and lost the third with 201 but fought back with five stright wins with 223, 211, 224, 267 and 258 to end the first block of 8 games with a total of 2049 from seven wins and a bonus of 140 pins.

Palermaa led all the way in the block with Top 32 finals leader, Martin Larsen of Sweden, Sayed Ibrahim of UAE and Shalin Zulkifli of Malaysia fighting for the minor places. By the sixth game, it was Norway's Tore Torgerson who made better progress.

Torgerson finished strongest to take up second spot with 2010 from six wins while England's Paul Moor also ended strongly to finish third with 1856 also win six wins.

"I had to have one of my balls polished so that it wouldn't hook too much especially with the strong backend," said the 29-year-old two-handed Osku Palermaa, who thrilled the local crowd with his unique style of bowling.

"It was a fantastic start with the 300 and after that, I just made sure I don't make so many stupid shots like I did earlier in the Top 32 finals. I didn't have the luck when I finished second twice. Maybe it'll be better this time."

The only female in the finals, Shalin Zulkifli took fourth spot with 1853 thanks to a massive fifth game and the 5-pin handicap she received for each game. Local hopeful, Khaled Al-Dubyyan completed the top 5 with 1810.

Defending champion and Top 32 finals leader, Martin Larsen had a good start but fizzled off to finish ninth while top qualifier and compatriot, Robert Anderson also found the going tougher than he expected managing only seventh.

The finalists will resume with their second block of seven matches and then a position round match to determine the top 5 who will advance to the stepladder grand finals.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Kuwait.

30th March, Kuwait: Kuwaiti youngster, Aseel Roomi out-classed top seed, Mohammed Khalid Ali, 221-143 in the Youth title match of the 7th Kuwait International Open Bowling Champion to take his maiden victory.

Aseel Roomi, 14 had finished 72 position in the overall standings but second in the youth category, beat Saleh Khalid, 199-178 in the first stepladder match to proceed to meet top seed Mohammed Khali Ali in the title match.

Aseel was on a roll knocking down a score of 221 to out-class his opponent for a well-deserved win. Mohammed Khalid simplay had no respond going down to Aseel with a low score of 143.

The young champion, who had only taken up the sport two years ago and trains with head coach, Andrew Frawley, received his top prize of US$1,000 presented by ABF and Kuwait Bowling Sporting Club president, Sheikh Talal M. Al-Sabah.

A total 13 youths took part and were competing together with the seniors and the top 3 finishers advanced to the stepladder finals.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Kuwait.

30th March, Kuwait: Bowlers are relishing on the easy lane conditions at the 7th Kuwait International Open Bowling Championship as Martin Larsen of Sweden led three other Europeans sail through to the next stage at the end of Top 32 Finals.

Overnight top qualifier, Robert Anderson of Sweden and his second-placed compatriot did not have the best of starts managing only 201 and 202 but remained first and second thanks to the pins brought forward from the qualifying rounds.

Soon the lead changed hands as defending champion, Martinn Larsen took over the running after firing 211, 245 and 257 in the next three games to lead Anderson by 93 pins at the mid point of the 8-games block.

England's Dominic Barrett shot the tournament's first 300 in the fifth game, his career 16th, allowing him to move up into third spot. Larsen sailed through to end the finals in the lead with 1753 to add to his previous score 4020 for 5773 total.

Anderson settled for second with 5726, 47 pins adrift while Barrett finished third with 5699. Three-time European Tour champion, Osku Palermaa took fourth spot with 5663 ahead of the only female, Shalin Zulkifli competing the top 5.

Sayed Ibrahim took the last and 15th position with 5509 and an average of 211.88 to make the cut ahead of his compatriot, Hussain Al-Suwaidi missing the cut in 16th position with 5506. A roll-off was held to determine the top local when Jassem Darwish and Basel Al-Anzi tied with 5461.

In the one-game roll-off to break the tie, it was the youngster, Jassem Darwish who got the better of Basel to take the match, 213-182 to join the 15 others in the Top 16 finals. Meanwhile, another roll-off was also conducted to determine the fourth women who would advance into the women's stepladder finals.

Nadia Aqeel of Bahrain, who tied with Hong Kong's Chan Shuk Han on

3703 in the 18-games qualifying rounds, defeated Chan 215-180 to take up the fourth stepladder spot. Shalin Zulkifli will be top seed by virtue of her advancing into the next stage.

Sharon Limansantoso of Indonesia, who took part in the Top 32 finals and finished 23rd will be seeded second while Vanessa Fung, who finished 31st will be seeded third for the finals.

The Top 16 will contest the first block of the round-robin matchplay finals later today and the second block tomorrow. Top 5 will proceed to the stepladder grand finals to determine who will take home the top prize of US$25,000 and this year's title.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Kuwait.

29th March, Kuwait: PBA pro, Shalin Zulkifli of Malaysia proved that she is capable of competing among the top men at the 7th Kuwait International Open Bowling Championship by topping the third block of Squad A en-route to taking third overall.

Shalin Zulkifli, who had trailed second block leader of Squad A, Tomokatsu Yamashita of Japan, fired an impressive 1353 in her third and final block of the qualifying rounds to top Squad A with an 18-game agreggate of 3972.

Hussain Al-Suwaidi of UAE took up second spot with 3839 despite a lowly third block 1229 while Squad A first day leader, Surasak Manuwong of Thailand finished third with 3810. Malaysia's Zulmazran Zulkifli did well to take up fourth with 3802.

"It is crucial that I make the Top 32 finals well in the top 5 as the pins will be carried forward," said Shalin Zulkifli, who celebrated her 32nd birthday yesterday.

Another Thai, Yannaphon Larpapharat and Filipino, Chester King took fifth and sixth positions with 3784 and 3782 ahead of overnight leader, Tomokatsu Yamashita in seventh position. Somjed Kusonpithak, second Filipino Biboy Rivera and Sharon Limansantoso rounded up the top 10.

Shalin, however denied Europeans occupying the top 3 spots when her effort put her third overall, behind the leading duo of Robert Anderson and Martin Larsen of Sweden in first and second with 4051 and 4020 respectively.

In the final Squad D of the day, only the top three finishers managed to make the top 28 cut. Overnight Squad B leader, Yousif Falah of Bahrain took first spot with 3838. Yousif, who lost the lead to UAE's Naif Oqab briefly, regained his lead to end the block with 51 pins ahead of the only Singaporean, Justin Lim.

Lim amassed a total of 3787 to take up second behind Yousif while Naif slipped down to third with 3779. Yousif ended up in tenth position overall as Lim took up 15th position and Naif 19th.

Kuwait's Basel Al-Anzi squeezed into the next stage in 28th position with 3723 averaging 206.83 behind the only Indonesian and third women, Sharon Limansantoso in 27th. The third women was Hong Kong's Vanessa Fung in 23rd position.

The top four locals were Rakan Al-Amiri (3675), Mohammed Kamal (3671), Yaqoub Al-Shatti (3649) and Fadhel Al-Mousawi (3612). Missing the cut by just 6 pins was first block overall leader, Mathias Arup of Sweden in 29th position with 3717.

Chan Shuk Han of Hong Kong and Nadia Aqeel of Bahrain will have a one game roll-off to determine the fourth women to contest in the stepladder finals. The three youths, Mohammed Khalid Saleh, Aseel Roomi and Saleh Khalid made the Youth Stepladder finals.

The top 28 plus 4 locals will contest their Top 32 Finals tomorrow over 8 games with pins carried forward. The top 15 plus one local will advance into the Top 16 round-robin matchplay finals with the first 8 games from scratch later on the same day.

The second block will be staged on Wednesday, March 31 where the top 5 will proceed to the stepladder finals to determine this year's champion. The top 16 Asian will also qualify for the ABF Tour Kuwait leg on April 1.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Kuwait.

29th March, Kuwait: Europeans continued to dominate the qualifying rounds of the 7th Kuwait International Open as Swedes, Robert Anderson, Martin Larsen and Finland's Osku Palermaa finished in the top 3 after Squad D on Monday.

Robert Anderson, who was the overall leader after two blocks have been completed, again got off to a suerb start in the third and finals block with 237 but it was his countrymen, Martin Larsen who shot a sizzling 269 had Anderson's lead reduced to one pin.

Anderson answered back with his own 265 to stretch his lead back to 49 pins as Larsen only downed 217 in the second game. The leader kept a decent margin at the halfway point of the block as Finland's Osku Palermaa held on to his third spot.

The Swede reached lane 15 and 16 and had the same problem in his first two blocks unable to post decent scores and ended up with a lowly 187 as Larsen fought back with 225 to again reduce the gap to just one pin.

A good recovery by Anderson in the fifth game with 258 brought his gap back up to 33 pins while Larsen shot 226 giving both of them an identical 1172 in this block after five games and looked set to surpass the 1,400-mark going into the last game.

But both eased off the pace with Anderson posting 203 to end the squad with 1375 and an 18-game total of 4051 to take pole position. Larsen shot 205 for 1377 and 4020 total to settled for a good second.

The two-handed Finn took third spot with 3954 while England's Darren Cundy recovered from a poor second block to finish fourth with 3876. Norway's Tore Torgerson finished fifth with 3872 to complete the European domination in this squad.

Kuwait's Khaled Al-Dubyyan put up an impressive performance but was overshadowed by the Europeans. The Kuwaiti finished a creditable sixth with 3870. Another Kuwaiti, Jassem Darwish brought home a superb 1346 to haul himself up from 23d to seventh position with 3860.

In the earlier Squad C, UAE's Sayed Ibrahim topped the squad with a total of 3817, albeit on a lower 6-gae series of 1208. Hong Kong's Vanessa Fung made the best improvement with 1281 to take up second with 3747.

Michael Tsang finished third in the same squad with 3742 ahead of first block leader, Basel Al-Anzi of Kuwait in fourth with 3723. Nadia Aqeel of Bahrain and Chan Shuk Han of Hong Kong tied fifth spot with 3703.

Two remaining squads will be completed by today which will determine the top 28 plus four top locals to advance into the Top 32 Finals tomorrow. The top 3 youths will separately advance to their stepladder finals to be held in tomorrow evening.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Kuwait.

28th March, Kuwait: Swedes, Robert Anderson and Martin Larsen ended the second block of qualifyng in the final squad of the 7th Kuwait International Open Bowling Championship in first and second positions on Sunday evening.

Squad C resumed with their second block of 6 games at 5.00pm earlier today which produced the highest 6-games posted so far after two days of Round 1. Sayed Ibrahim of UAE, who finished fifth last night and 31st position overall, shot a sizzling 1378 to top the squad with 2609.

The Asian Indoor Games Team gold medalist kicked off the first game with 268 to move into the lead. Apart from a lowly 181 in the second, Sayed bounced back with 256, 202, 236 and 235 to end the block ahead of two women, Milki Ng of Hong Kong and Nadia Aqeel of Bahrain.

Milki totaled 2548, 2 pins ahead of Nadia with 2546. Two more

national bowlers from Hong Kong, Michael Tsang and reigning Asia Ranked No. 1 Chan Shuk Han rounded up the top 5 with 2504 and 2468.

Sayed's superb effort haul himself up to fourth overall before the final Squad D. Japan's Tomokatsu Yamashita topped the standings with 2645 followed by Malaysia's Shalin Zulkifli second with 2619 and Hussain Al-Suwaidi of UAE third with 2610.

The highest scorers from yesterday's first block came from the stongest Squad D so it was anticipated that it would happen again when they took to the lanes at 9.00pm.

Overnight second-placed, Martin Larsen of Sweden got a great start with a strong 246 to take over the running in the squad as leader, Mathias Arup downed 193. Larsen held on to the lead until the fifth game after his compatriot, Robert Anderson fired a scintilating 266.

Anderson needed only 217 in his final game to topple Tomokatsu for the overall lead and he duly oblidged with 248 to end the squad with 1371, just 7 pins short of the highest 6-game series of 1378 posted by Sayed earlier.

But the Swede's 12-game total of 2676 gave Anderson pole, 31 pins ahead of the Japanese. Larsen, who finished second with 2643, took third spot overall behind Tomokatsu. Three-time EBT champion, Osku Palermaa settled for fourth 2629.

"Lanes 15 and 16 are certainly not my favourite lanes as I shot 185 yesterday and 183 today," said Robert Anderson. "I bowled alot better today for sure but I'm still trying to find out how to tackle the tough lanes.

"It's nice to finish as the new leader and it would make it easier now to make the first cut. It's also nice to have Martin (Larsen) behind me."

The bowlers will complete their Round 1 qualifying with the third block of 6 games tomorrow. Four squads will be bowled and the top 28 plus 4 top locals will make the cut for the Top32 finals on Tuesday with pins carried forward.

The top 15 plus one top local will then advance into the TOp 16 Round-robin matchplay finals over two blocks of 8 games each starting from scratch again with 30 pins for a win and 10 pins for a draw.

The top 3 youths will then proceed to the Youths Stepladder finals and the top 4 women will contest in their stepladder finals to determine the women champion. The top 5 from the open division will proceed to the stepladder grand finals on March 31.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Kuwait.

28th March, Kuwait: Tomokatsu Yamashita of Japan moved up to pole position after two squads of the 7th Kuwaiti International Open second block were completed with Shalin Zulkifli of Malaysia and Hussain Al-Suwaidi of UAE hot on his heels.

KSquad B took to the lanes at 9.00am this morning which saw overnight leader, Yousif Falah of Bahrain taking the squad with a lower second 6-game block of 1276 to add to his first block of 1327 for an aggregate total of 2603.

Naif Oqab of UAE, who went into the lead at the start of the second block, was again pipped to the lead in his final game. Naif amassed a total of 2571, 32 pins adrift the leader while Singapore's Justin Lim also retained third spot with 2450.

The scores were much higher when Squad A contested their second block. Overnight leader, Surasak Manuwong of Thailand got off to a good start but was caught up by Japan's Tomokatsu Yamashita after two games.

Tomokatsu fired 210 and 213 to grab the lead with Malaysia's Shalin Zulkifli taking retaining second spot as Surasak dropped off his pace. The Japanese continued his hot pace with 247, 230, 246 and despite easing off with 180, Tomokatsu ended the block with 1326, five pin higher than his first.

A total of 2645 gave Tomokatsu pole with Shalin trailing in second with 2619 while Hussain Al-Suwaidi of UAE stromed home to snatch third position with 2610.

"The lanes were much easier today and I bowled on the same line," said the 27-year-old education advisor from Nagasaki, Japan. "Of course I made some adjustments as the lanes got drier and overall I'm extremely happy with my performance.

Tomokatsu also lead the combined squads with Shalin and Hussain in second and third. Squad A leader, Yousif Falah took fourth spot while Surasak rounded up the top 5. Squad C will bowl their second block at 5.00pm and the strongest Squad D will take to the lanes at 9.00pm.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Kuwait.

27th March, Kuwait: Basel Al-Anzi of Kuwait took the last squad on Day 1 of the 7th Kuwait International Open Bowling Championship first block of qualifying rounds but failed to beat the benchmark set by Swede Mathias Arup in the previous squad.

Basel Al-Anzi of Kuwait had a good start in his opening game with 230 but found himself trailing pace-setter, Sayed Ibrahim of UAE by 12 pins. The Kuwaiti quickly took over the running after a superb 259 in the second game.

Ex-Kuwaiti national, Fahdel Al-Mousawi shot the highest game of the squad with 278 to move up to third as Sayed slipped down to second and continued to trail Basel at the halfway mark, 40 pins adrift.

Whilst Basel slackened his pace in the second half, the Kuwaiti ended the squad in the lead with 1288. Hong Kong's Milki Ng and Eric Tseng finished strongly to snatch second and third spots with 1266 and 1238 respectively.

Sayed dropped off the pace to finish fifth with 1231, 4 pins behind Fahdel in fourth on 1235. A second female bowler, Nadia Aqeel of Bahrain did well to take up sixth position with 1225 ahead of two more females, Vanessa Fung and Chan Shuk Han, both from Hong Kong.

Basel's total only landed him in 11th position after all the last squad's scores were combined with the other three. Sweden's Mathias Arup remained in pole with 1381 followed by his compatriot, Martin Larsen in second with 1352.

Squad A leader, Surasak Manuwong of Thailand took third spot with 1344 ahead of the best female performer, Shalin Zulkfli of Malaysia in fourth spot with 1341. Squad B leader, Yousif Falah of Bahrain rounded the top 5.

The bowlers will bowl their second block tomorrow and the third block on March 29. The top 28 plus the top 4 local Kuwaitis will make the cut for the Top 32 finals on March 30 when the field will be cut to top 15 plus one local for the Top 16 finals on March 31.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Kuwait.

27th March, Kuwait: Europeans dominated the third squad of the 7th Kuwait International Open Bowling Championship at Cozmo Bowling Centre with Swede Mathias Arup leading fellow-compatriot, Martin Larsen and England's Darren Cundy for the top 3 positions.

Three-time European Tour champion and Dubai International Open winner, Osku Palermaa got off the mark in Squad D with a sizzling 275 to lead 2009 Qatar Open second runnerup, Mansour Al-Awami of Qatar.

Despite following it up with 204 in the second game, Palermaa handed the lead to Mathias Arup after the Swede posted two massive games of 235 and 245 to move into the lead, just 1 pin ahead of the two-handed Finn followed closely by Martin Larsen in third.

Another superb game of 260 in the third allowed the Swede to pull away from the field to open up a gap of 39 pins mid-way through the 6-game block. Larsen also fired a good game of 254 to stay close with Arup.

Although Arup slowed down his pace with 211, 237 and 193 in the second half, it was enough to top the squad with 1381 which also allowed him to take the overall lead after three squads. Larsen hung on to second spot with 1352.

"I started from the right but as the lanes got dry quite fast, I had to move more to the left," said the 32-year-old Mathias Arup from Malmo in Sweden.

The Swedish duo overtook Squad A leader, Surasak Manuwong of Thailand for the top two positions, pushing down the Thai into third. England's Darren Cundy, who was second at one stage, slipped to third in the squad with 1309.

Kuwait's top contender, Khaled Al-Dubyyan put up a creditable performance to finish fourth with 1308, just 1 pin behind the Englishman. Robert Anderson fo Sweden and Tore Torgerson of Norway finished sixth and seventh positions.

Malaysia's Shalin Zulkifli also dropped down two places into fourth overall with 1341 while Squad B leader, Yousif Falah of Bahrain completed the top 5 with 1327. The remaining squad of the day will be staged at 9.00pm.

The bowlers will bowl their second block tomorrow and the third block on March 29. The top 28 plus the top 4 local Kuwaitis will make the cut for the Top 32 finals on March 30.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Kuwait.

27th March, Kuwait: Yousef Falah of Bahrain almost shot the tournament's first perfect game en-route to topping the second squad of the 7th Kuwait International Open Bowling Championship and third overall after two squads.

Local youth, Yousef Jamal Tabtabaiy set a blistering pace in his opening game with 239 to lead the lanky Bahraini, Yousef Falah in second, 9 pins adrift. But Yousef failed to maintain his fast pace as UAE's southpaw, Naif Oqab took over the running after the second game.

A poor 176 in Naif's third game gave Singaporean debutant, Jason Yeong-Nathan the lead, 18 pin ahead as Yousif Falah stayed close to the leading duo. The Emirati recoverd with 222 and 250 in his next two games and look set to top the squad.

But it was Yousif Falah, who stole the limelight when he went on a strikefest, reeling off 10 consecutive strikes and was aiming to shoot

the tournament's first perfect 300. But luck was not on his side as he dropped only 9 pins and ended with 288.

His last high game earned the 25-year-old student the lead in the squad with 1327. Naif settled for second after managing 1304 while another Singaporean, Justin Lim clinched third spot with 1278.

Yousif's effort put him third overall after two squads were combined behind, Surasak Manuwong of Thailand and Shalin Zulkifli of Malaysia from the earlier Squad A. Japan's Tomokatsu Yamashita slipped to fourth while Naif Oqab finished in the top 5.

Two more remaining squads will be played with Squad D at 5.00pm and the last Squad C at 9.00pm. Squad D comprised many of the top European bowlers such as three-time European Tour champion, Osku Palermaa of Finland.

Also in the same squad are current EBT leader, Dominic Barrett, Darren Cundy and Paul Moor of England, Martin Larsen and Robert Anderson of Sweden, Mads Sandbakken and Tore Torgerson of Norway.

The bowlers will resume their bowling with the second block of 6 games starting with Squad B, then A, C and D. The third block will be contested on Monday, 29 March.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Kuwait.

27th March, Kuwait: Thailand's Surasak Manuwong led the opening squad of the 7th Kuwait International Open Bowling Championship underway at Cozmo Bowling Centre on Saturday morning with a slender margin of just 3 pins.

ABF Tour Tournament of Champions semi-finalist, Somjed Kusonpithak set the opening pace with a superb 227, five pins ahead of fellow-compatriot, Surasak Manuwong as the Thais again showed good promise.

A sizzling 240 from Surasak propelled the 32-year-old Thai into the front of the pack as ABF Tour TOC runnerup, Hussain Al-Suwaidi fired a high game of 264 to take up second spot, 2 pins behind Surasak.

Surasak continued his hot pace by knocking down another scintilating 263 which allowed him to stretch his lead to 78 pins at the halfway mark. Filipino Biboy Rivera moved up to trail the leader in second after three consistent games.

The Thai ended the squad with 216, 202 and 201 and held on to the lead by just 3 pins on a total of 1344 as Malaysia's PBA pro, Shalin Zulkifli stormed home with 284, the highest game of the squad, to take up a good second with 1341.

Tomokatsu Yamashita of Japan, bowling for the first time in Kuwait, impressed with a third place finish with 1319 while Brunswick Euro Challenge second runnerup, Zulmazran Zulkifli of Malaysia settled for fourth with 1287.

Hussain recovered from two poor games in the third and fourth to take up fifth spot with 1286 while the second best female and newly-crowned ABF Tour TOC Women champion, Sharon Limansantoso of Indonesia took sixth position.

Three more squads will be contested today with Squad B at 1.00pm, Squad D at 5.00pm and the last Squad C at 9.00pm. The bowlers will bowl three blocks of 6 games each where women participant will receive 5 pin handicap per game throughout.

The top 28 plus top 4 local Kuwaitis at the end of 18-games will advance to the Top 32 finals for another 8 games. The top 15 plus 1 Kuwaiti will make the cut for the Top 16 finals round-robin finals over two blocks.

The top 5 will advance to the stepladder finals to determine the champion. The top 4 women will also advance to the women's stepladder finals while the top 3 youths will also play in their stepladder finals.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Kuwait.