28th September, Dubai: Round 2 leader and top seed, Mahmoud Al Attar of UAE won his first major international title after defeating challenger, Khaled Al Dubyyan of Kuwait, 252-215 in the title match of the 4th Dubai International Bowling Tournament on Saturday.

No. 3 seed, Khaled started the final stronger with three strikes-in-a-row but was quickly matched by Mahmoud when he rolled three strikes-in-a-row from frame 2. A bad shot in the fifth resulted in a split putting the Emirati 16 pins behind the Kuwaiti.

But Mahmoud bounced back brilliantly with a double to move ahead slightly. As Khaled was unable to respond, Mahmoud rolled another double in the eighth and nine frames putting the match beyond his challenger. Mahmoud sealed the match and the title by striking out for 252 while Khaled ended with 215.

"I knew Khaled would be a tough opponent coming into the title match especially having reach the final by winning the first two matches," said the 22-year-old Mahmoud. "But I was confident that I can challenge for the title.

"I made a bad mistake in the fifth frame but luckily I was able to compose myself and rolled more strikes to get back into the match. The cheering from the local supporters and my team-mates helped a lot. This is my first international open title and I will cherish it for a long time."

Khaled earned a crack at the title after beating No. 2 seed, Hussain Al Suwaidi of UAE, 199-165 in the semi-finals. The Kuwaiti had flew past compatriot and No. 3 seed, Rakan Al Amiri and No. 5 seed, Sithiphol Kunaksorn of Thailand, 234-214-177 in the first stepladder match.

The champion picked UAE dirham 60,000 (approx. US$16,350) for the win and Khaled earned UAE dirham 30,000. Hussain pocketed UAE dirham 15,000 for third while Rakan and Sithiphol settled for AED 7,000 and AED 6,000 respectively.

In the earlier Round 3 finals, Mahmoud led from start to finish with 1893 over 8 games followed by Hussain in second with 1845. Hussain also rolled the tournament's sixth 300 in the seventh game.

Khaled finished third with 1823, 9 pins ahead of Rakan in fourth with 1814. Sithiphol clinched the fifth and final stepladder spot with 1777. Youth division champion, Samantha Hannan of England missed the cut by 5 pins finishing sixth.

Filipino, Benshir Layoso, who was sixth before the last game slipped to seventh with 1762 while Yousef Al Jaber of Qatar, who was fourth before the final game, managed only 186 to end up in eighth.

85 bowlers from 15 countries took part in the fourth edition of the Dubai International Bowling Tournament held at Dubai International Bowling Center. The tournament is supported by the Dubai Sports Council.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Dubai.

27th September, Dubai: 2012 Asian Championships Doubles gold medalist, Mahmoud Al Attar put in a strong performance by topping the Open division Round 2 finals of the 4th Dubai International Open Bowling Tournament on Friday.

Fifth perfect gamer and first runner-up of the Youth division finals, Magnus Johnsson of Sweden got of the block with a cracking 288 in his opening game to lead over Mahmoud Al Attar of UAE in second, 30 pins adrift.

The Swede held the lead with another superb 236 in the second game but his lead was reduced by Mahmoud to just 7 pins. Despite a 235 in the youngster's third game, Mahmoud took over the running with 236 following his first two games of 258 and 259.

Mahmoud continued his hot pace with 236 and 243 as his compatriot, Hareb Al Mansoori trailed in second for the next two games before Johnsson regained second spot, albeit 62 pins behind.

The Emirati went on to end the finals with 1957, averaging an impressive 244.63, 97 pins ahead of his nearest rival. Mohammed Al Saud of Saudi Arabia stormed home to snatch second spot with 1860.

Khaled Al Dubyyan took third spot with 1855 followed by Johnsson and Bahrain's Yousif Falah completing the top 5 with 1828 and 1822 respectively.

Newly-crowned Youth division champion and the only female in the field, Samantha Hannan of England made the top 12 cut in 12th position with 1689 thanks to an 8-pin handicap she received for each game. Hassan Al Zaabi of UAE missed the cut by 13 pins to finish in 13th position.

The top 12 will be joined by the four seeded qualifiers, three Emiratis Hussain Al Suwaidi of UAE, Naif Oqab and Yousef Al Zaabi and Yannaphon Larpa[harat of Thailand for Round 3 finals aver another 8 games tomorrow.

The top 5 finishers at the end of the round will make the cut for the stepladder shootout finals.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Dubai.

26th September, Dubai: Asian Indoor & Martial Arts Games bronze medalist, Hussain Al Suwaidi is vying his first international title on home soil after taking over the lead of the Open division qualifying table at the 4th Dubai International Open Bowling Tournament on Thursday.

Hussain, who had trailed overnight leader and fellow-countrymen Naif Oqab for several days, notched up an improved 3-games series of 749 at the 3.30pm for a 9-game tally of 2247 squad to move into pole position.

The Emirati, who won the Doubles gold medal at the 2012 Asian Championships in Hong Kong, followed it up with a victory in the opening leg of the ABF Tour Bahrain at the beginning of this year.

Apart from the Team bronze medal in Anyang, South Korea at the 4th AIMAG, Hussain came home empty handed at the World Championships 2013 in Las Vegas last month. Hussain has put himself in a strong position to take his first home title in the finals on Saturday.

Naif slipped down to second with 2224 after having led since qualifying rounds started two weeks ago. Defending champion, staked his claim on retaining the title after a stella performance to move into third spot with 2202, securing a bye into Round 3 finals.

Yannaphon Larpapharat of Thailand, who rolled the tournament's third 300 and the first to surpass the 800-mark, dropped out of the top 3 bracket and finished fourth with 2194. Mohammed Al Saud of Saudi Arabia, who rolled the fourth 300 last night, also fell one spot down to fifth on 2194.

Meanwhile, Youth Masters first runner-up and 2012 World Youth Doubles bronze medalist, Magnus Johnsson of Sweden became the fifth bowler to roll a perfect game. But his effort went in vain as he managed only 661 and is in 26th position and last qualifying spot on a total of 2074.

Qualifying will end late this evening and a one-game desperado squad will be held to add four qualifiers who score the highest game.

Qualifiers position 5 to 26 plus the four from desperado squad will contest the Round 2 finals over 8 games tomorrow at 3.00pm. The top 12 finishers will be joined by the top 3 and top Emirati qualifiers for Round 3 finals again over 8 games. The top 5 will advance to the stepladder shootout finals.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Dubai.

25th September, Dubai: Samantha Hannan of England outshone the boys to capture the Youth Masters title of the 4th Dubai International Open Bowling Tournament with victory over Magnus Johnsson of Sweden in the stepladder finals.

But Samantha, who resides in Dubai as a student, had to work doubly hard for her victory after she lost the first match, 183-213 and forcing a second deciding match. She got off the mark with a superb four strikes-in-a-row to open up a gap of 37 pins and the Swede had a split in the second frame.

Although the English youth had a split herself in the fifth frame, the match was beyond the reach of Johnsson as he could not repeat the striking form he found in the first match, going down to Samantha, 191-212.

Johnsson had earlier flew past winner of the first match, Mohammed Al Janabi of Iraq, 232-185 in the semi-finals to face top seed, Samantha in the finals.

Mohammed took the first match by defeating No. 3 seed, Amhed Algoud of Bahrain and Khamis Al Shamsi of UAE, 219-202-189 to advance to the semi. The youth champion won AED 8,000 (approx. US$2,100) and a trophy. Johnsson took home AED 5,000 while Mohammed earned AED 3,500. Ahmed and Khamis picked up AED 2,500 and AED 2,000 respectively.

In the earlier 8 games finals, Samantha earned top seed with 1711, 50 pins ahead of Johnsson, who finished second with 1661 followed by Ahmed in third with 1635. Khamis and Mohammed made the cut for the stepladder finals in fourth and fifth.

Two Emirati youths, Saeed Al Ameri and Matar Al Mehari narrowly missed the cut after ending up in sixth and seveth positions with 1552 and 1551, three and four pins off fourth-placed Mohammed.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Dubai.

25th September, Dubai: National bowlers, Naif Oqab and Hussain Al Suwaidi dominated the qualifying rounds of the 4th Dubai International Open Bowling Tournament underway at Dubai International Bowling Centre with a one-two finish.

Naif registered 713, 806 and 705 3-games series, including a perfect game en-route to securing pole position with 2224. The Emirati southpaw, who won the Team bronze medal at the 4th Asian Indoor & Martial Arts Games in South Korea, finished second to Osku Palermaa of Finland in the 1st Dubai Open back in 2010.

Naif's team-mate, Hussain Al Suawaidi took second spot 19 pins behind with 2195 but won three high series award thus far.

Husaain, who won the opening leg of this year's ABF Tour Bahrain, also won the Doubles gold medal with Mahmoud Al Attar at Hong Kong Asian Championships last year.

Mohammed Al Saud of Saudi Arabia, who was third this morning, slipped down to fifth with 2168 after a third Emirati, Yousif Al Zaabi snatched his place with 2170. The top 3 qualifiers including a top Emirati outside the top 3 positions earn a bye to advance into Round 3 finals.

Sayed Al Hashemi and this year's Thailand Open champion, Shaker Al Hassan rounded out the top 5 with 2136 and 2125 respectively. Defending chapion, Kim Bolleby of Sweden, who still has to qualify, finished ninth with 2121.

Two Thai national bowlers, Yannaphon Larpapharat and Sithiphol Kunaksorn also secured their place in the Round 2 finals in 14th and 15th positions with 2094 and 2080. Yannaphon also recorded the tournament's third perfect game.

The first perfect gamer was Ayad Al Amiri of Kuwait, who sits in 16th position. Qualifiers positioned 5 to 26 together with four qualifiers from the desperado squad will contest the Round 2 finals on September 27.

The top 12 at the end of the Round 2 will be joined by the four seeded qualifiers for another 8 games in Round 3 and the top 5 will advance to the stepladder shootout finals. The champion will walk away with the top prize of AED 60,000 (approx. US$16,300).

The top 16 Asian after the final results will also qualify for the eighth leg of this year's ABF Tour UAE which will be held on September 29. The tournament is supported by Dubai Sports Council and several major sponsors and organized by Emirates Bowling Federation.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Dubai.