2nd December, Riyadh: American PBA rookie and topseed, Marshall Kent of Yakima, WA., won his first international PBA title defeating second-seed, Martin Larsen of Sweden, 257-206 in the title match of the PBA-WBT 8th Kingdom International Open.

Kent started off with a spare in the first frame as Larsen had an early split. The American doubled up in his next two frames while the Swede was unable to recover from his early mistake.

The topseed went on a strikefest reeling in five consecutive strikes and Larsen was trying hard to respond. Although Larsen finally found his rythmn with three strikes-in-a-row from frame 7, Kent had already built up a massive lead.

Kent ended the match with 257 to Larsen's 206 to win his first PBA title and pocket the top prize of US$10,000 while Larsen settled for US$7,000. The champion edged fourth-seed, Mike Fagan of Fort Worth, Texas, 243-237 in an all-American semi-final match to reach the final.

"After I had a couple of strikes early in the match and Larsen had the open frame, I felt a little bit more comfortable," said the 22-year-old two-time Collegiate Player of the Year 2011-12 and 2012-13.

"And when I managed a few more strikes and Larsen continued to struggle, I kept telling myself to focus on making sure I made good shots. This win will certainly give me more confidence going into next week's World Championships in Abu Dhabi."

Larsen sailed past third-seed and the only Asian in the top 4 shootout finals, Khaled Al Dubyyan of Kuwait, 224-174 in the other semi to face Kent in the final. Fagan earned US5,000 and Khaled took home US$4,000.

"I really made a bad shot in the opening frame and when I just couldn't respond, it gave Kent more room to pull away in the match," said the 35-year-old, who won the Saudi Open title back in 2012 before it became a World Tour.

"It's been a good week for me after especially finishing third in Qatar and also finishing third in the Day 3 shootout finals. I hope I can carry my form into the World Championships later this week."

In the earlier 9-game Masters finals contested over two oiling patterns, Kent came away with 2161 to advance as topseed for the shootout finals. Larsen finised second with 2108, 54 pins adrift.

Khaled took third spot with 2096 while Fagan stormed home to clinch the fourth and last spot of the shootout finals. Qatar Open champion, Dominic Barrett of England missed the cut by 15 pins to finish fifth with 2076.

2013 World Championships Team gold medalist, John Janawicz of USA, who was fourth going into the final game was overtaken by Osku Palermaa of Finland and early pace-setter, Tom Hess of Urbandale, Iowa for fifth and sixth positions respectively.

The top 16 Asian finalists qualified for the final stop of this year's ABF Tour Saudi which will be staged at the same bowling center tomorrow.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Riyadh.

2nd December, Riyadh: Craig Nidiffer of Trenton, Mich., took his second victory by defeating Dominic Barrett of England, 278-269 in the high-scoring postponed Day 1 Shootout finals of the PBA-WBT 8th Kingdom International Open.

Striking machine, Nidiffer got off with five strikes-in-a-row in the final match against Barrett, but the Brit responded with five of his own. The American spared his next frame while Barrett continued his striking streak.

Nidiffer fought back with a double in the seventh and eighth frames so did Barrett. Nidiffer struck again in the crucial ninth frame and then ended by striking out for a 278 game.

Barrett spared only his ninth frame but could still take victory by doubling up in the tenth frame. The newly-crown Qatar Open champion down the tenth but left two pins in his bonus frame to go down with 269.

The winner had an easy victory in the first semi-final match against Bader Al Shaikh of Saudi Arabia, 234-198 while Barrett was lucky to advance with a victory over Rakan Al Ameeri of Kuwait in a low-scoring 169-166 win in the other semi.

Nidiffer, who won the Day 3 shootout finals late last night, picked up his second Daily shootout prize of US$5,000 leaving Barrett US$3,500 for second spot. Bader earned US$2,500 and Rakan US$2,000.

Meanwhile, the first three games of the Masters finals were contested over the medium oil pattern earlier. Marshall Kent of Yakima, WA., led the series with 760 followed by pace-setter, Tom Hess of Urbandale, Iowa in second with 751

Day 3 Shoootout finals second runner-up, Martin Larsen of Sweden finished third with 718 and Qatar Open first runner-up, Stuart Williams completed the top 4 with 716.

The players will bowl the next 3 games over the long oil pattern before ending with the final 3 games over dual oil patterns. The top 4 will make the cut for the Masters Shootout finals.

Photos by Terence Yaw at Riyadh.

1st December, Riyadh: Top qualifier and third-seed, Craig Nidiffer of Trenton, Mich. picked up US$5,000 after defeating Mike Fagan of Fort Worth, Texas 239-228 to win the Day 3 Shootout Finals of the PBA-WBT 8th Kingdom International Open.

Nidiffer got off to a similar start in his earlier semi-finals in the match against fourth-seed, Fagan with seven strikes in a row as his opponent managed only a double in the fourth and fifth frames.

After a 9-pin spare in the eighth frame, Nidiffer rolled a 3-4-6-7-10 which suprisingly he failed to take any pins in his second throw to give Fagan a slim chance to snatch the win. Fagan struck thrice from frame 7 and needed to strike out.

Nidiffer struck in the tenth and then spared his bonus frame for 239. Fagan left a solid 10 in the tenth frame before striking in his bonus frame for Nidiffer to take victory.

The winner similarly had nine strikes-in-a-row in the semi-final match against second-seed, Martin Larsen of Sweden to advance to the final, 279-222 while Fagan beat topseed, Tommy Jones of Simpsonville, S.C., 215-186 in the all-American semi-final.

Nidiffer picked up US$5,000 for his win and he has another chance to do that when he contest the postponed Day 1 Shootout finals after the 9-games Masters finals tomorrow. Fagan settled for US$3,500.

Larsen earned US$2,500 as the higher game loser in the semi-finals and Jones US$2,000 for finishing fourth.

Meanwhile, in the earlier ast squad of the qualifying rounds, Mansour Al Awamy of Qatar topped the squad with 1333 ahead of Day 2 Shootout finals winner, Chris Barnes of Double Oak, TX. in second with 1280.

Nidiffer topped the overall Masters qualifying table with 4242 ahead of Larsen in second with 4123 and Brad Angelo of Lockport, N.Y. in third with 4121. Fagan and Dominic Barrett of England rounded out the top 5 with 4121 and 4103 respectively.

The cut at 30th position went to 2014 ABF Tour Thailand champion, Shaik Abdu Hameed of India with 3772 or 172 over. Salem Al Hajras of Kuwait missed the cut with 3728.

The six Saudi earning automatic qualification were Adel Al Barqi, Abdulrahman Al Kheliawi, Salman Al Shehri, Yasser Abu Alreesh, Abdulla Al Dolijan and Majed Aslani.

The 36 finalists will contest 9 games Masters finals, the first 3 games on the medium oil pattern (39ft), the next 3 games on the long oil pattern (45ft) and the third 3 games on dual oil patterns.

The top 4 finishers will advance to the TV Shootout finals for the top prize of US$10,000 and a PBA international title if the champion is a PBA member. Players will also earn World Bowling Tour ranking points.

Photos by Terence Yaw at Riyadh.

1st December, Riyadh: 2012 Kingdom International Open champion, Martin Larsen of Sweden topped the Squad B in the third qualifying block of the PBA-WBT 8th Kingdom International Open for second position in the Day 3 overall standings.

Larsen and 2013 World Championships Team gold medalist, John Janawicz of USA shared the early lead with a sizzling 279 in their opening game to lead last year's Kingdom Open first runner-up, Michael Mak of Hong Kong by 11 pins.

Although Larsen shot only 205 in the second game, the Swede was able to hold the lead as Khaled Al Dubyyan of Kuwait narrowed the gap to just 2 pins in second while Janawicz slipped down to tie with Dominic Barrett of England in third.

A superb 257 in the third game from Khaled took the Kuwaiti into the lead which he held for another game despite posting only 214 ahead of two-handed Osku Palermaa of Finland, who showed up briefly in second.

Larsen bounced back to regain the lead after the fifth game but needed 260 or more to topple Squad A leader, Tommy Jones of Simpsonville, S.C. for the top spot. The leader managed 229 in the final game for a total of 1426, 31 pins behind.

Khaled ended poorly with 177 to finish second to Larsen and sharing fifth spot with Sean Rash of USA in fifth with 1365. Janawicz finished third in this squad and seventh from two squads with 1364.

Day 1 topseed, Craig Nidiffer of Trenton, Mich. remained in Day 3 third overall with 1416 while Mike Fagan of Fort Worth, Texas held fourth spot with 1396 making the top shootout finals.

Nidiffer continued to lead the Masters qualifying standings with 4242 from 18 games with Larsen taking over second with 4123. Day 2 shootout finals third runner-up, Brad Angelo of Lockport, N.Y. completed the top 3 with 4121.

The current cut at 30th position in the Masters qualifying standings went to Yaqoub Al Shatti of Kuwait with 3736 (or 136 over). All the Americans and Europeans competing were all in the top 30.

Tim Mack of USA, who rolled the tournament's first 300 for 1340 in this squad, was the lowest non-Asian in 27th position with 3786. The standings will be determined once Squad C has ended.

Photos by Terence Yaw at Riyadh.

1st December, Riyadh: Defending champion and PBA pro, Tommy Jones of Simpsonville, S.C. made good during his third block of the PBA-WBT 8th Kingdom International Open qualifying round by topping the first squad.

Jones, who won last year's title by beating topseed, Michael Mak of Hong Kong twice, got off the block with 222 as compatriots, Sean Rash of Montgomery, Ill. and Tom Daugherty of Tampa, Fl. shared the lead with 234 ahead of Craig Nidiffer of Trenton, Mich. by 1 pin.

Nidiffer, who had made the Day 1 Top 4 shootout finals which has been postponed to December 2, followed it up with a superb 258 in the second game to move to the front of the pack while Jones closed in in third.

Nidiffer led for another game before handing it to Jones after the fourth game to trail by 7 pins. Jones, who had finished sixth on the first day with 1306, 6th in the second day with 1308 on a re-entry in Squad C, ended the block with 259 and 235 to take the squad with 1457.

Based on the previous two days benchmark for making the top 4 shootout finals, Jones' scoreline will surely secure his spot. Nidiffer also ended strongly to finish second with 1416 while squad leader on Day 2, Mike Fagan of Fort Worth, Texas took third with 1396.

Rash claimed fourth spot with 1365 which will not likely to secure him a place in the top 4 shootout finals especially with many strong palyers in the next two squads for the day.

At the end of the third squad for the day, the top 30 based on their three best 3-games series over each day will qualify for the Masters Finals together with six Saudi bowlers outside the top 30.

They will contest the 9 games finals with the first 3 games over the medium oil pattern (39ft), the next 3 in the long oil pattern (45ft) and the remaining 3 games over dual oil pattern.

The top 4 at the end of the finals will advance to the Masters Shootout Finals in a 1 vs 4, 2 vs 3 semi-final match. The winner will meet in the final for the title while the higher game loser will be second runner-up and lower game loser third runner-up.

Photos by Terence Yaw at Riyadh.

30th November, Riyadh: Fourth-seed and newly-crowned AMF World Cup champion, Chris Barnes of Double Oak, TX., defeated Bader Al Shaikh of Saudi Arabia, 223-181 in the final match to win Day 2 Shootout Finals and US$5,000.

Both struck early but Barnes had a split in the second to trail his opponent by 13 pins in the final match. But the American bounced back with a double in the third and fourth while Bader failed to string together any strikes.

A single pin miss by the Saudi proved costly and despite recovering with a double in the sixth and seventh frames, Barnes had opened up a big gap with four consecutive strikes. A split from Bader in the eighth frame which was not converted decided the tie in favour of Barnes.

Barnes had earlier sailed past top seed, Matt Chamberlain of England, 267-236 in the semi-finals to advance to the finals while Bader also had an easy victory over second-seed, Brad Angelo of Lockport, N.Y., 269-188 in the other semi.

Bader settled for US$3,500 for being second as Barnes pocketed the daily prize of US$5,000. Chamberlain finished third as the higher game loser to earn US$2,5000 and Angelo US$2,000.

In the earlier Squad C, the Brit overhauled Squad B leader Angelo with 1432 to earn topseed for the Top 4 shootout. Bader trailed Chamberlain to finish third overall with 1413 while Barnes struck out in his final game to snatch the last spot with 1406.

Newly-crowned PBA-WBT Qatar Bowling Open champion, Dominic Barrett missed the cut to finish fifth overall with 1392. Squad A leader, Mike Fagan of Fort Worth, Texas was sixth with 1388. Prizes were awarded up to 24th position in each day's qualifying block.

Meanwhile, after two blocks of 6 games, Squad A leader of the first day, Craig Nidiffer of Trenton, Mich. leads with 2826 total ahead of Bader in second with 2811. Third spot went to Barrett with 2791.

Angelo and Barnes rounded the top 5 with 2773 and 2757 respectively. The cut at 30th position is held by Mohammed Janahi of Bahrain with 2507, or 107 over.

Estimated cut could be less given the fact that the third day of qualifying will be played over the 39ft (Seoul) oil pattern on odd-numbered lanes and 45ft (Mexico City) oil pattern on even-numbered lanes throughout the 6 games.

Again the top 4 finishers from the combined three squads will make the cut for the Day 3 Shootout finals and a chance to pick up the top prize of US$5,000. The combined three best 6-games series from each day will determine the top 30 qualifiers plus six Saudis for the Masters Finals on December 2.

Photos by Terence Yaw at Riyadh.

30th November, Riyadh: 2012-13 PBA Viper Championships winner, Brad Angelo of Lockport, N.Y. took over the lead of Day 2 qualifying rounds of the PBA-WBT 8th Kingdom International Open after topping the second squad.

2011 Saudi Open second runner-up, Khaled Al Dubyyan of Kuwait had a great start knocking down 279 to lead Angelo by 10 pins with Martin Larsen of Sweden, Stuart Williams of England and Bazel Al Anzi of Kuwait al sharing third position on 243.

Angelo followed it up with 259 in the second game to immediately move into the lead ahead of Paul Moor of England claiming second position, 58 pins behind the American as Khaled slipped down the field.

The 2002-03 PBA Rookie of the Year continued to lead the field when he posted 226 and 244 in his next two games before wrapping up with 216 and 212 for a total of 1426 to win the squad.

Last week's 14th Qatar Bowling Open second runner-up and 2012 Saudi Open champion, Larsen ended strongly to claim second position with 1382 while Shaik Abdul Hameed of India took third spot despite a lowly 179 in his last game.

Team USA member for the World Bowling Championships in Abu Dhabi next week, Marshall Kent and the two-handed Osku Palermaa of Finland completed the top 5 finishers of this squad.

Angelo leads Day 2 qualifying standings ahead of Squad A winner, Mike Fagan of USA in second with 1388. Larsen claimed third spot while Tom Daugherty of USA, who was second to Fagan, occupied fourth position with 1372.

If no qualifiers in Squad C can better the current top 4, they will qualify for the Day 2 shootout finals for a chance to win the top prize of US$5,000. The last squad of Day 2 will bowl at 6.00pm and it could again postpone the Day 2 shootout finals to November 2 due to time constraints.

Photos by Terence Yaw at Riyadh.

30th November, Riyadh: 2007 Saudi Open champion, Mike Fagan of Fort Worth, Texas set Day 2 qualifying rounds with a benchmark of 1388 by topping Squad A of the PBA-WBT 8th Kingdom International Open on Sunday.

Two-time PBA World Tour winner, Sean Rash again got off the mark like yesterday with a superb game of 258 on the Mexico City long oil pattern to lead fellow-pro, Bill O'Neill by 10 pins.

But O'Neill blitzed the lanes with 268 to take over the running and opening up a gap of 25 pins over Rash, despite knocking down a good game of 233 in the second game. O'Neill held the lead for another game before a third PBA pro, Mike Fagen home in to trail by 15 pins.

Fagan, who won the first Kingdom International Open here in Riyadh way back in 2007, kept a consistent pace to end the second block with 237 and 224 for a second day benchmark of 1388.

A fourth American PBA pro, Tom Daugherty did well to snatch second spot with 1372 while O'Neill slipped down to third with 1359. Overnight overall leader and seeded first for the Day 1 shootout finals which is postponed to November 2, finished fourth with 1357.

Squad A leader on the opening day, Chris Barnes of USA rounded out the top 5 with 1327. Two squads B and C remained and will be played at 2.00 and 6.00pm respectively hopefully on time to stage the Day 2 Top 4 shootout finals tonight.

Photos by Terence Yaw at Riyadh.

29th November, Riyadh: Craig Nidiffer of Trenton, Mich., won the final squad to go top of Day 1 qualifying standings at the PBA-WBT 8th Kingdom International Open en-route to making the Daily shootout finals.

Nidiffer, who had two days ago made the top bracket to earn a bye into Step 2 finals of the PBA-WBT 14th Qatar Bowling Open, ended his campaign in a disappointing 19th position. Competing for the first time in Saudi Arabia, the 29-year-old contested the opening squad only to knock down 1293.

Dissatisfied with the scoreline, Nidiffer re-entered the final squad of the first day and had a blistering start with 290 to lead 14th Qatar Open first runner-up, Stuart Williams of England in second.

Despite rolling a superb 248 in the second game, the American lost the lead to 2006 Doha Asian Games two gold medalist, Bader Al Shaikh when the Saudi followed his opening game of 268 with another huge game of 276.

Bader posted another good game of 248 to hang on to the lead but Nidiffer responded with 245 of his own to trail the leader by 9 pins.

Nidiffer then shot another big game of 279 to regain the lead as Bader suffered a lowly 183 to go behind the American by 87 pins. The new leader went on to end the block with 1469 to win the squad and go top of Day 1 qualifying standings.

Bader settled for second in the squad with 1398 to edge Yousef Al-Jaber of Qatar for the fourth spot of the daily shootout finals. Squad B leader, Rakan Al Ameeri of Kuwait slipped one place into second with 1411.

Newly-crowned PBA-WBT 14th Qatar Bowling Open champion, Dominic Barrett of England claimed third spot with 1399.

Because of the massive delay from today's competition, which ended at almost 12.00 midnight, the organisers have decided, with the agreement of the top 4 qualifiers, to postpone the shootout finals to the last day of the tournament.

There were 93 competitors with 27 bowlers in the first squad, 47 bowlers in the second squad and 54 bowlers in the third squad. A total of 35 re-entries were made. Two more qualifying blocks remained and the final standings for the Masters Finals will then be decided.

The top 30 plus 6 Saudi qualifiers outside the top 30, will contest the 9-games Masters over three oiling patterns - 3 games on the medium oil pattern (Seoul) and 3 games on the long oil pattern (Mexico City) and the final 3 games on dual lane conditions.

The top 4 finishers will advance to the Masters Shootout finals; topseed versus the fourth-seed and the second-seed versus the third-seed over one match in the semi-finals. The winners will face each other over one match in the finals to decide the champion.

Photos by Terence Yaw at Riyadh.

29th November, Riyadh: 2013 ABF Tour ranking leader, Rakan Al Ameeri of Kuwait topped the second squad to take over the overall lead of Day 1 qualifying rounds of the PBA-WBT 8th Kingdom International Open on Saturday evening.

Ex-Bahraini national bowler, Mohammed Sultan got off the block brilliantly with 259 to lead newly-crowned PBA-WBT 14th Qatar Bowling Open champion, Dominic Barrett of England in second just 3 pins away.

But the Bahraini's lead did not last long with Barrett immediately taking over the running after the second game as Mansour Al Awamy of Qatar moved up to second 4 pins adrift and American PBA pro, Brad Angelo third a further 3 pins away.

The three-time Qatar Open champion held the lead with a superb 258 as Mansour almost match his pace with 246 to stay in second.

Meanwhile, Rakan Al Ameeri had gradually moved up the field with two big games 278 and 243 in the second and third games. The Kuwaiti followed it up with another big game of 248 to take over the lead from Barrett after the fourth game.

Barrett bounced back to regain the lead after the fifth but Rakan ended with 225 and 234 in his last two games to win the squad with 1411. Barrett settled for second with 1399 while a second Qatari, Yousef Al Jaber took third spot with 1396.

2013 World Bowling Championships Team gold medalist, John Janawicz of USA did well to take up fourth position with 1388. All the top 4 finishers beat Squad A leader, Chris Barnes of USA for a possible Day 1 Shootout finals spots with one final squad of the day left.

The cut at 24th position finishing in the money for Day 1 went to Wicky Yeung of Hong Kong with 1236. Fifty-four players in Squad C with several re-entries will bowl their first block of 6 games later this evening.

If none from Squad C can beat the top 4 from the two combined squads, Rakan will face Janawicz in the semi-finals while Barrett will square off with Yousef in the other semi later in the daily shootout finals.

Photos by Terence Yaw at Riyadh.

29th November, Riyadh: Newly-crowned AMF World Cup champion, Chris Barnes of USA topped the opening squad on the first day of qualifying rounds of the PBA-WBT 8th Kingdom International Open underway at Universal Bowling Centre.

Rash, winner of two PBA World Bowling Tour titles, set a cracking pace with 259 in his opening game to lead local Saudi, Moeed Al Qahtani in second by 32 pins.

The 32-year-old 2011-12 PBA Player of the Year blizted the lanes with another sizzling 279 as Mika Koivuniemi of Finland took over second spot, 66 pins adrift followed by 2012 World Bowling Championships Team USA member, Marshall Kent in third.

Rash continued to lead the field at the halfway mark despite a 192 in the third game as the Finn closed the gap to just 35 pins in second place with Kent still hold third spot.

The leader struggled to pull away after another average game of 203 while Koivuniemi reduced the margin to just 15 pins after the fourth game. Koivuniemi took over the running with a superb 222 as Rash slipped down to second.

Newly-crowned AMF World Cup champion, Chris Barnes of USA fired a splendid 259 in the fifth to haul himself into third spot and ended strongest with 249 to snatch top spot with 1351. Rash finished second with 1345 while Koivuniemi sipped to third with 1334.

PBA pro, Mike Fagan of USA, who had a chance to beat Koivuniemi had he struck out in the tenth frame but missed the chance to finish fourth with 1330. His compatriot, Kent rounded out the top 5 with 1329.

Qualifying rounds are divided into three blocks over the next three days. Each day consisting of three squads. Each player must bowl at least one squad in a day but is allowed a maximum of one re-entry on each day.

Day 1 will be bowled on the Seoul (medium) oil pattern, Day 2 on Mexico City (long) oil pattern and Day 3 on dual patterns. The top 4 finishers from the combined scores of the three squads on each day advance to the daily shootout finals, topseed vs fourth-seed and second-seed vs third seed in the semi-finals.

The winners will meet in the final match for a chance to pick up US$5,000 with the second placed, US$3,500. The higher game loser in the semi-finals will earn US$2,500 and the fourth-placed, US$2,000. Up to 24th position will earn US$300.

There will be a top 4 daily shooiout finals in the remaining two days of qualifying rounds. The best 6-games series from each day (18-games total) will count towards qualifying for the Masters Finals on December 2.

The top 30 qualifiers plus six Saudis outside the top 30 will contest 9 games finals with 3 games each on medium oil pattern, 3 games on long oil pattern and the last 3 games on dual oil patterns.

The top 4 finishers will advance to the shootout finals, topseed vs fourth-seed, second-seed vs third-seed in the one-match semi-finals. The winners will meet in the title match over one match to determine the champion.

The top purse of US$10,000 is up for grabs with the first-runner-up settling for US$7,000. The higher-seed loser in the semi will pick up US$5,000 and the fourth-placed US$4,000. Up to 36th position will earn US$600.

Photos by Terence Yaw at Riyadh.