6th April, Dubai: Andrew Frawley of Australia outshone Samantha Hannan of England with a 254-221 victory in the championship match to win the DIBC Open Bowling Tournament 2013 at Dubai International Bowling Centre on Saturday.

The 47-year-old Aussie and winner of numerous international titles spanning over 30 years in the sport, defeated No. 2 seed and challenger, Samanthan to win his first title this year.

Frawley's last title was winning the opening leg of the 2012 ABF Tour in Bahrain. His last open title came in 2010 when he bagged the Thailand Open but his biggest win so far was taking the ABF Tour Tournament of Champions crown in 2008 in Indonesia.

The top seed and champion picked up AED25,000 (approx. US$6,800) for his win while Samantha, who beat No. 4 seed, Naif Oqab of UAE 231-204 in the second match, settled for AED12,000.

Naif, who ousted No. 3 seed, Hashim Guinomla of Philippines, 235-217 in the first match, earned AED8,000 while Hashim took home AED5,000./p>

In the earlier Round 3 finals, Frawley topped the 6-games finals with 1443, 104 pins ahead of Samantha in second with 1339. Hashim and Naif made the stepladder finals in third and fourth with 1328 and 1324 respectively.

Two Bahrainis, Yousif Falah and Mohammed Janahi missed the cut in fifth and sixth positions with 1318 and 1297. Top qualifier, Tim Mack of USA ended in a disappointing 12th position.

Frawley rolled a perfect game in the sixth and final game en-route to topping the Round 2 finals contested earlier. Yousif finished second with 1404 and Mohammed Janahi third with 1372.

Sayed Ibrahim Al Hashemi of UAE and his compatriot, Naif Oqab squeezed into the next round in ninth and tenth positions 1287 and 1274 while Athony Balabbo missed the cut by 14 pins in 11th.

Meanwhile, No. 3 seed Ahmed Algoud of Bahrain needed two matches to win the Youth U21 crown. He trashed top seed, Khamis Shamsi of UAE, 277-181 in the first match before rounding off another easy win over his opponent, 257-167 in the deciding match.

Ahmed also beat No. 2 seed, Samantha Hannan of England, 227-200 to advance to the title match. The Bahraini youth also beat, No. 4 seed, Jaybee Vargas of Philippines, 204-175 in the opening match.

Leonardo Lerma defeated No. 4 seed and challenger, Larry Dolor, 197-174 to win the Grade A title on April 4. DOlor beat Che Marquez 203-159 in the first match and Paolo Jocquino, 233-191 in the second match before Lerma ended his charge.

Photos courtesy of DIBC.

3rd April, Dubai: Pole-sitter, Shaker Al Hassan of UAE stretched his lead in the Open division qualifying table of the DIBC Opening Bowling Tournament 2013 from 12 to 20 pins with two days left for qualifying.

Shaker, who took over the lead from compatriot, Fuad Almas yesterday with 2256, improved yet again, his lowest 3-game series of 698 to 706 taking his 9-game aggregate to 2264 and firming up his pole position.

Fuad retained second spot with 2244 joining the Shaker to earn a bye into Round 3 finals. Early leader, Adel Lootah remained third with 2243 while Tim Mack of USA and Ibrahim Buhair of UAE completed the top 5 with 2242 and 2223.

2012 ABF Tour Kuwait champion, Hareb Al Mansoori of UAE was the biggest mover up from 28th to 11th position with 2126 and securing a Round 2 semi-finals spot. Shaikh Abdul Hameed also moved up from 38th to 22nd with 2044.

Current cut at 24th position went to Mohammed Al Marzouqi of UAE with 2033 as UAE's Sultan MK AL Qubaisi missed the cut in 25th position with 2029.

Meanwhile, Ahmed Algoud took over the lead in the Youth U21 division after the Bahraini youth bettered his lowest 3-game series of 593 with 723 for a 9-game tally of 2060. Ahmed has also qualified for the Open division in 14th.

Suhail Al Tamimi slipped to second with 1960. Samantha Hannan of England settled for third position with 1958. Ali Reza held the cut position in tenth with 1828.

There were no changes in the Grade A division qualifying table with Paolo Joquico of Philippines leading with 1980. Humeid Falah of UAE and Louie Sindayen of Philippines finished second and third with 1967 and 1909.

Grade B finals will be contested tomorrow as qualifying for the Youth U21 division will end tomorrow as well. Qualifying for the Open division will end on April 5.

Photos courtesy of DIBC.

2nd April, Dubai: 2011 Dubai International Open champion, Shaker Al Hassan of UAE took over pole position in the Open division qualifying standings of the DIBC Open Bowling Tournament 2013 on Wednesday.

Shaker, who registered the highest 3-game series with 844 two days ago, improved his lowest 3-game series with 702 to take over top spot with a 9-game tally of 2256. The left-hander saw a return to form after bagging the 2012 ABF Tour Saudi leg.

His form carried the Emirati into last month's Kuwait Open in which he agonisingly missed the stepladder finals by 22 pins after finishing seventh in the Round 5 finals. Shaker dislodged compatriot, Fuad Almas into second after having led yesterday with 2244.

Early leader, Adel Lootah of UAE, who slipped down to third with 2243, will look to move back up into the top 2 with three days left of qualifying so will Tim Mack of USA, who is placed fourth with 2242.

Ibrahim Buhair of UAE rounded up the top 5 with 2223. The cut at 24th position went to Hashim Al Hashimi of UAE with 2022 averaging 224.67.

Meanwhile, No. 3 seed, Ben Ryan Layoso of Philippines upset top seed, Erwin Pek of Singapore 234-155 in the deciding match to win the Grade B title. The Filipino forced the Singaporean to a second match after taking the first, 201-164.

The champion sailed past No. 2 seed, Mohammed Faizan of Pakistan, 172-123 in the second match to face Pek in the final. Layoso edged fourth-seed and compatriot, Rodel Calderon, 187-170 in the first step=ladder match.

Pek topped the 6-games semi-finals with 1103 to take pole for the step-ladder finals, 40 pins ahead of Mohammed Faizan in second with 1063. Layoso took third spot with 1037 while Calderon made the step-ladder in fourth with 1027.

Layoso picked up AED5,000 (approx. US$1,360) and a trophy as champion with Pek settling for AED3,000 and Mohammed Faizan AED2,000.

Photos courtesy of DIBC.

1st April, Dubai: Fuad Almas rolled a high series of 802 to move up from sixth to third position in the Open division qualifying standings of the DIBC Open Bowling Tournament 2013 at Dubai International Bowling Center.

Fuad, who was in 32nd position after the 15th day of qualifying rounds, became the first bowler to crack the 800-mark with 802 to improved to sixth position with 2208. The Emirati went on to kncok down 690 taking his 9-game tally to 2232 for third overall.

2012 ABF Tour Saudi leg champion, Shaker Al Hassan of UAE became the second bowler to crack the 800-mark series with 844 to haul himself up from 18th to sixth overall with 2218.

Asian Championships gold medalist and 2012 Asia Ranked No. 1, Yousif Falah of Bahrain slipped down from fourth to fifth on 2220 behind UAE's Ibrahim Buhair in fourth.

Adel Lootah of UAE remained firmly in the lead with 2243, just 1 pin ahead of multiple title winner, Tim Mack of USA in second with 2242. Faisal Obaid of UAE remained in 24th position, the cut for Round 2 finals with 1995.

Meanwhile, Paolo Joquico of Philippines took over pole position of the Grade A division with 1980 relegating Humeid Falah of UAE and Ben Descargar of Philippines second and third with 1967 and 1874.

Erwin Pek of Singapore and Samantha Hannan of England also remained in the lead of the Grade B and Youth U21 divisions qualifying table as the last day of qualifying for Grade B division ended.

The Grade B semi-finals will be contested April 2 while the Grade A division will be staged on April 4. The Youth U21 semi-finals will be held on April 5 and the Open division on April 6.

Photos courtesy of DIBC.

31st March, Dubai: Tim Mack of United States inched closer to the top of the qualifying leaderboard of the DIBC Open Bowling Tournament 2013 to within 1 pin of leader, Adel Lootah of UAE on Sunday.

Mack, who was second on Saturday with 2237, improved his lowest 3-game series of 704 to 709 thus taking his 9-game aggregate to 2242, just 1 pin behind Adel Lootah, who held on to the lead with 2243.

The American's last podium finish was third in the 2012 Sinai International Open in Cairo and on returning from the US after surgery to his nagging injury, showed his old form by rolling a perfect game in the Kuwait Open early this month.

Although Mack made Round 3 finals of the Kuwait Open, the American missed the Round 4 cut by a mere 3 pins in tenth position.

He is certainly a strong contender for the title especially having earned a bye into Round 3 finals joining Adel as the top 2 qualifiers.

The Bahraini coach has plenty to cheer as he also has his bowlers doing well. 2012 Asia Ranked No. 1, Yousif Falah occupied fourth position with 2220, Mohammed Janahi in ninth with 2113 and Ahmed Algoud tenth with 2111.

Several qualifiers improved notably, ABF Tour Saudi leg champion, Shaker Al Hassan of UAE, up from 18th to fifth, Fuad Almas up from 32nd to sixth. The cut at 24th stood at 1995 and is occupied by Faisal Obaid of UAE.

Meanwhile, Samantha Hannan of England continued to lead the Youth U21 qualifying table with 1938. The England-born Samantha, who studies in Dubai and is coached by Hussain Al Suwaidi, has also qualified for the Open division in eighth.

Ahmed Algoud, who also qualified for the Open division, occupied second behind Samantha with 1930 while another Bahraini youth, Ali Almas finished third with 1905.

There were no changes to the leader of the Grade A and Grade B divisions with Humeid Falah of UAE topping Grade A with 1967. Singaporean Erwin Pek led the Grade B table with 1778.

Grade B finals will be contested April 2, Grade A on April 4, Youth U21 on April 5 and the Open division on April 6.

Photos courtesy of DIBC.

30th March, Kuwait: Adel Lootah of United Arab Emirates topped Round 1 qualifying table of the inaugural DIBC Open Bowling Tournament 2013 as American, Tim Mack stormed into second spot at Dubai International Bowling Center.

Adel registered 755, 741 and 747 for a total of 2243 to lead the qualifying standings. Tim Mack, who had recently had an operation back in the United States, found his old spark reeling in 758, 775 and 739 for a 9-game tally of 2237 to storm into second spot.

The top 2 qualifiers earned a bye into Round 3 finals. Ibrahim Buhair missed the top 2 cut by 14 pins after finishing third in the leaderboard with 2223 while 2012 Asia Ranked No. 1, Yousif Falah of Bahrain took fourth spot with 2220 with the highest 3-game series of 792.

England's Samantha Hannan, who received an 8-pin handicap, showed her mettle with 2173 to finish fifth ahead of her coach and ABF Tour Bahrain 2013 champion, Hussain Al Suwaidi in sixth position with 2161.

Bahrain's Mohammed Janahi took up sventh position with a good effort of 2113 ahead of his compatriot, Ahmed Algoud in eighth with 2111. UAE's Sayed Ibrahim Al Hashemi and Roland Detaro of Philippines completed the top 10 with 2099 and 2079 respectively.

Qualifiers positioned 3 to 24 will contest Round 2 finals on April 6 for 6 games and the top 10 together with the top 2 seeded qualifiers from Round 1 will bowl another 6 games in Round 3 finals. The top 4 will advance to the stepladder finals for the title.

Meanwhile, Humeid Falah topped Grade A qualifying round with 1967 ahead of two Filipinos, Paolo Joquico and Ben Descargar in second and third with 1908 and 1871. Erwin Pek of Singapore led Grade B table with 1778.

Samantha Hannan of England topped the Youth table with 1938 ahead of two Bahrainis, Ahmed Algoud in second and Ali Almas in third with 1930 and 1905. Qualifying for Grade B will end April 1, Grade A April 3, Youth April 4 and Open division April 5.

The champion of the Open division will walk away with AED25,000 (approx. US$6,800) with the first runner-up AED12,000 and second runner-up AED8,000. Grade A and B will earn AED5,000 while Youth will win AED5,000.

Photos courtesy of DIBC.