27th February, Dubai: Asian Championship Masters gold medalist, Khaled Al Dubyyan won the season opening leg of the ABF Tour UAE 2011 after edging Mohammed Kamel Al Zaidan, 190-189 in the all-Kuwaiti finals on Sunday.

Both the finalists, Mohammed Kamel and Khaled Al Dubyyan of Kuwait, had nothing separating them in the first four frames of the title match but when Khaled failed to spare the single pin 10, Kamel went in front, by just four pins.

Despite doubling up in the sixth and seventh frames, Khaled still trailed his fellow compatriot by 4 pins. Both marked their eighth and ninth frames to take the match to the last frame.

Khaled ended the match first with a spare in the tenth and strike in his bonus frame to give the Kuwaiti a score of 190. Although Kamel spared his last frame, he had only knocked down 6 pins which meant he had to strike in his bonus frame to force a ninth and tenth frame roll-off to break a possible tie.

But Kamel only managed 9 pins handing the match and the title to Khaled with a 189-190 score line. Kamel had earned a crack at the title after he edged another Kuwaiti, Basel Al Anzi, 203-193 in the second semi finals.

Khaled booked his place in the finals by ousting Hong Kong's Wu Siu Hong, 238-209 in the first semi. Newly-crowned Dubai Open champion, Shaker Al Hassan was eliminated by team-mate, Hussain Al Suwaidi in the opening round but subsequently lost to Mohammed Kamel in Round 2.

Three Bahraini finalists were all eliminated in the first round while four Emiratis who made the second round were knocked out by the Kuwaitis and Wu Siu Hong.

The next stop will be the Kuwait leg on March 23 following the 8th Kuwait International Open from March 18 to 22. This year's ABF Tour consists of eighth legs - four in the Middle East without women division and four in West Asia with women division.

Bowlers will earn ranking points from each of the legs they contest and the top 16 men and top 16 women at the end of the final leg, will qualify for the Tournament of Champions.

For further information and details, please contact ABF Tour Committee at Tel: +852 2893 6039, Fax: +852 2893 6290; Email: info@abftour.com.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Riyadh.