14th October, Dubai: Second-seed, Hareb Al Mansoori of UAE defeated top seed, Khalid Al Dubyyan of Kuwait twice in the final stepladder match at the 5th Dubai International Open Bowling Tournament 2014 to win his first major title.

Hareb had a nervous start when he failed to convert a single-pin spare but recovered with a double in his next two frames. When his opponent had a split in the fifth frame, the Emirati doubled again to open up a small gap.

The match leveled up when both had a split each. Hareb ended the match with 190 and the Kuwaiti could have wrapped up the tie when he needed to double in the tenth frame but ended with a spare to lose the first match with 183.

In the deciding match, Hareb started off with three strikes-in-a-row and when Khalid opened in the fourth, he was trailing the Emirati by 24 pins. Although Khalid recovered with a double in his next two frames, he stumbled with another split in the eighth frame.

Cheered on by a large crowd of local supporters, Hareb went on to take the match and win the title, 213-170. The champion had earlier sailed past team-mate and third seed, Shaker Al Hassan, 248-211 in an all-Emirati semi-final match.

Shaker took the first all-Emirati stepladder match defeating fourth-seed, Naif Oqab and fifth-seed, Mahmood Al Attar, 234-227-205 before going down to Hareb.

The champion pocketed the top prize of 60,000 AED (approx. US$16,325) while the Khalid settled for 30,000 AED and Shaker picked up 15,000 AED as second runner-up. Naif and Mahmood earned 10,000 and 8,000 AED for fourth and fifth positions respectively.

Mohamed Khalifa Al Qubaisi, President of Emirates Bowling Federation together with representative from the Dubai Sports Council, gave away the prizes to the Youth, Women and Open division winners.

In the earlier Round 3 finals, Khalid topped the round with 1730 ahead of Hareb in second with 1705. Shaker, who was sixth before the eighth and final game, ended with 256 to take up third with 1705.

Naif, who was leading before the last game, slipped to fourth with 1697 while Mahmood hung on to fifth with 1670 to make the cut for the stepladder finals.

Hussain Al Suwaidi missed the cut to tie with Mohamed Janahi in sixth position with 1657. Anthony Balabbo of Philippines took eighth position with 1650. Top qualifier, Kim Bolleby of Sweden and Samantha Hannan rounded out the top 10.

The top 16 Asians qualified for the ABF Tour UAE leg which will be held at the same bowling centre tomorrow. A total of 88 bowlers from 19 countries participated in the two weeks tournament held at Dubai International Bowling Center.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Dubai.

14th October, Dubai: Kuwaiti national bowler, Khalid Al Dubyyan won Round 2 Finals of the 5th Dubai International Open Bowling Tournament 2014 to lead Ibrahim Al Zaabi of UAE, Samantha Hannan of England and nine other finishers into the next round.

Newly-crowned Youth Masters champion, Christopher Sloan of Ireland set a cracking pace with 236 in the opening game to lead newcomer, Ibrahim Al Jadi of Kuwait by 3 pins with Yousif Falah of Bahrain in third, a further 11 pins away.

But a lowly 162 in the second game from the two-handed Sloan saw the Irish lad slipping down the field as Khalid shot into the lead followed by Hareb Al Mansoori of UAE in second and Yousif holding third.

The Kuwaiti remained in the lead after the third and fourth games when Khalid downed 214 and 258. Ibrahim Al Zaabi of UAE rolled a stunning 277 to leapfrog into second spot and by the fifth game, the Emirati took over the running.

Two additional splendid games from Ibrahim allowed him to hold top spot as Khalid kept pace with the Emirati. Khalid ended the round stronger with 221 to snatch the win with 1716, just one pin ahead of Ibrahim in second.

Newly-crowned Women Masters champion, Smanatha Hannan of England stormed home to clinch third spot with 1688 while early pace-setter, Sloan finished fourth with 1679. A second Kuwaiti, Salem Al Hajras rounded out the top 5 with 1643.

Desperado top qualifier, Mohamed Janahi of Bahrain made the cut for the next round with a big game of 255 for a total of 1537, piping compatriot, Yousif by 5 pins.

The top 12 finishers will be joined by the top 4 seeded qualifiers for another 8 games in Round 3 finals later today at 4.00 pm local Dubai time. The top 5 at the end of the round will advance to the stepladder finals.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Dubai.

13th October, Dubai: Asian Games Incheon 2014 Masters bronze medalist, Shaker Al Hassan of UAE secured a bye for Round 3 finals after finishing third in the Open qualifying standins of the 5th Dubai International Open Bowling Tournament on Monday.

Shaker registered 694, 710 and 730 for a 9-game tally of 2134 to finished third in the standings behind leader and 2012 champion, Kim Bolleby of Sweden in the lead with 2174 and compatriot, Naif Oqab in second with 2172.

Naif made two attempts today but failed to better his total while a third national bowler and 2014 Hong Kong Open champion, Hussain Al Suwaidi also made two attempts to improve his total to 2085 to stay ahead of defending champion, Mahmood Al Attar with 2066.

Hussain's improvement earned him the fourth slot reserved for the top Emirati not in the top 3. Second perfect gamer, Ghalib Al Busaidi of Oman also made two attempts today to try and reclaim a top bracket spot but settled for fourth on 2090.

Several players made in roads into the top 24 standings. They were ABF Tour Bahrain first runner-up, Anthony Balabbo of Philippines in 12th position with2037 and Salem Al Hajras of Kuwait taking up 14th position with 2023.

Newly-crowned Women champion, Samantha Hannan of England also made the cut in 17th position with 2001 so did Women division first runner-up, Uella Marcial of Philippines in 23rd position with 1966.

The cut current at 24th position as predicted to be around 1950, went up slightly to 1962 and is being held by Hassan Al Zaabi of UAE. Missing the cut is Mohd Sultan Al Matrooshi of UAE with 1949.

A one-game desperado squad will be held after the 11.30pm last squad to allow the top 4 finishers to join Round 2 finals. Qualifiers positioned 5 to 24 will contest the 8-games Round 2 finals tomorrow at 10.00 am local Dubai time.

The field will be cut to the top 12 after Round 2 and will be joined by the top 4 seeded qualifiers for another 8 games in Round 3 finals.

The top 5 finishers will then proceed to the stepladder finals shootout for the top prize of 60,000 AED. The top 16 Asians will also qualify for the ABF Tour UAE leg which will be held on October 15.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Dubai.

12th October, Dubai: Second-seed and dubutant, Christopher Sloan of Ireland captured the Youth title beating top seed, Mustafa Al Mouswai of Kuwait twice in the Youth Stepladder finals of the 5th Dubai International Open Bowling Tournament 2014.

Sloan had a nervy start with an open frame in the first match against Mustafa but he quickly recovered with three strikes-in-a-row to open up a huge gap over his opponent when the Kuwaiti had two open frames in the second and third.

The 20-year-old Irish took the first match 185-174 to force a second deciding match. Sloan again had an open frame in the first but kept his cool without further mistakes until the eighth frame which he failed to spare again while Mustafa could not string togehter any strikes.

The match was more or less decided when Mustafa missed a single-pin spare in the eighth. Sloan went on to take the match, 189-155 and his first-ever international title.

The champion, who had represented Ireland in two World Youth Championships, one in 2012 in Bangkok and his second in Hong Kong this year in which he qualified for the Masters only to finish 19th position.

Sloan advanced to the title match after he edged, Juan Rafael Vargas of Philippines, 174-173 in the second stepladder match. The Filipino also edged third-seed, Ali Almas of Bahrain, 174-173 in the first match to face Sloan.

The champion picked up the top prize of 20,000 AED for his victory while Mustafa settled for 10,000 AED. Vargas and Almas took home 6,000 and 5,000 AED for finishing third and fourth respectively.

Meanwhile top seed, Samanthan Hannan of England won the Women's title by defeating challenger, Uella Marcial of Philippines, 212-159 in the final deciding match. Marcial had taken the first match, 228-183 to force a deciding match. The first runner-up had earlier ousted Kholoud Akram of UAE, 245-178 to advance to the title match.

Kholoud advanced after she edged third-seed, Marivic Alfaro, 153-150 in the third match. Kholoud also defeated fifth-seed, Tracy Van Dyk of England and Liza Lugto of Philippines, 210-127-178 in the second match.

Lugto won the first match defeating seventh-seed Liza M Casto and eighth-seed Christine Ocampo, 167-152-145 in an all-Filipina first match.

Hannan earned 10,000 AED as champion with Marcial settling for 7,000 AED. Kholoud picked up 5,000 AED for finishing third while Alfaro, Van Dyk, Lugto, Castro and Ocampo went home with 3,500, 2,500, 2,000, 1,500 and 1,000 AED respectively.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Dubai.

12th October, Dubai: 2012 champion, Kim Bolleby of Sweden regained pole position of the Open division standings at the 5th Dubai International Open Bowling Tournament 2014 after another stunning qualifying round on Sunday.

Bolleby, who was knocked off top spot by UAE national bowler, Naif Oqab last night, chalked up an improved 3-games series of 733 to give him a new 9-game tally of 2174 to pip the Emirati by 2 pins.

The Swede's 733 series will most likely win him the 12th qualifying day high series award of 1,000 AED dirham. Bolleby had already picked up the ninth day award two days ago with 725. Naif settled for second with 2172.

Asian Games Incheon 2014 Masters bronze medalist, Shaker Al Hassan of UAE notched up 730 at the same squad as Bolleby to take his 9-game tally from 2063 to 2134 securing him third position and making it an all-lefty top 3 seeded qualifiers.

Ghalib Al Busaidi of Oman dropped out of the top bracket into fourth from his 2090 total while 2014 Hong Kong Open, Hussain Al Suwaidi of UAE has yet to make any progress and still occupying sixth position with 2066.

But if no Emirati can overtake Hussain, he will most likely take up the slot reserved for the top Emirati to join the top bracket in fourth position.

The current cut at 24th position is held by Mohamed Sultan Al Matrooshi of UAE with 1893. With one more day of qualifying left for tomorrow, the cut could go up as high as 1950 or more.

Meanwhile, Mustafa Al Mousawi of Kuwait topped the Youth Semi-finals with 1577 ahead of debutant, Christopher Sloan of Ireland in second with 1567. Ali Almas of Bahrain and Juan Rafael Vargas of Philippines completed the top 4 stepladder finalists in third and fourth with 1545 and 1522 respectively.

Wan Nadzmi Fikri of Malaysia missed the cut by 14 pins to finish fifth. The stepladder finals for the youth and the women division will be held at 7.00pm local Dubai time. Qualifying for Open division will continue for a final day tomorrow.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Dubai.

11th October, Dubai: National bowler, Naif Oqab of UAE took over the lead of the Open qualifying standings at the 5th Dubai International Open Bowling Tournament 2014 from overnight leader, Kim Bolleby of Sweden.

Naif, who finished in a disappointing 12th position last year, trailed the Swede by 8 pins before he improved his lowest 3-game series of 697 with a splendid 738 to move into top spot with a 9-game tally of 2172.

The Emirati left-hander did not qualify in 2012 and crashed out in 2011 during the Round 2 finals. But his best showing was finishing as first runner-up in 2010 and with a promising qualifying round displayed so far, put him a firm title contender.

Bolleby slipped down to second with his total of 2129 while second perfect gamer, Ghalib Al Busaidi of Oman remained in third position with 2067.

Fourth position is reserved for a top Emirati not in the top 3 positions and will earn a bye to automatically qualify for Round 3 finals.

Missing the cut for the top bracket is this year's Hong Kong Open champion, Hussain Al Suwaidi of UAE, just 1 pin off the Omani while 2014 Asian Games Incheon Masters bronze medalist, Shaker Al Hassan of UAE is a further 3 pins away in sixth position.

Defending champion, Mahmood Al Attar of UAE finished tenth with 2037 while the current cut at 24th position went to Zayed Tahhan of Jordan with 1837. With just one day left for qualifying, the cut could go up as far as 2000.

Qualifiers positioned 5 to 24 together with the top 4 qualifiers from the one-game desperado squad will contest the 8-games Round 2 finals on October 13. The top 12 finishers will be joined by the 4 seeded qualifiers from the top bracket for another 8 games in Round 3 finals on October 14.

The top 5 at the end of the Round 3 finals will proceed to the stepladder grand finals to determine this year's champion. A total prize fund of 240,000 AED dirham is up for graps with the champion taking home 60,000 AED dirham.

Players are also entitled to win 1,000 AED dirham daily high-series up to the last day of qualifying on October 13. Meanwhile, the top 10 qualifiers in the Youth division will contest the 8-games semi-finals tomorrow. The top 4 will advance to the stepladder finals.

The tournament's official supporter is Dubai Sports Council and main sponsors, Al Masaood and Commercial Bank of Dubai. Other partners included BiteRite, Momz Mart, Pears and Neocare while the Media partner is Al Bayan.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Dubai.

10th October, Dubai: Kim Bolleby of Sweden is eyeing to recapture the title he won in 2012 after a stunning performance in the qualifying rounds to lead the Open standings of the 5th Dubai International Bowling Tournament 2014.

The 23-year-old Bolleby, who advanced into the second round of the finals only to finish in a disappointing 13th last year, rolled three 3-games series of 688, 716 and 725 to lead the standings with a 9-game aggregate of 2129.

The Swede also pocket 1,000 UAE dirham daily high series award with 725. National bowler, Naif Oqab, also a left-hander, finished second to Bolleby with 2094 from 697, 717 and 680 series.

Second perfect game shooter and early leader, Ghalib Al Busaidi of Oman slipped down to third with 2067. The top 3 plus the top seeded Emirati qualifier will earn a bye for the Round 3 finals.

2014 Hong Kong Open champion, Hussain Al Suwaidi of UAE missed the top bracket by a single pin to finish fifth in the standings with 2066. With his lowest 3-game series of 650, he will surely be able to improve on that to challenge for a place in the top 3.

Asian Games Incheon Masters bronze medalist, Shaker Al Hassan, who has already picked up his biggest career win when he triumphed in the PBA-WBT Bahrain Open this year, is well placed in sixth position with 2063.

Defending champion, Mahmood Al Attar of UAE managed seventh position with 2037 while the current cut after 9 days of qualifying rounds is held by 2014 ABF Tour Thailand leg champion, SHaik Abdul Hameed of India with 1761.

Qualifiers positioned 5 to 24 together with 4 qualifiers from the one-game desperado squad will contest the 8-games Round 2 finals on October 14. The top 12 finishers together with the four seeded qualifiers will advance to Round 3 finals for another 8 games on October 14.

The top 5 finishers in Round 3 will proceed to the stepladder grand finals to determine this year's champion and for the top prize of 60,000 UAE dirhams. The top 16 Asians will also qualify for the ABF Tour UAE leg on October 15.

Two additional divisions, Youth and Women where the top 10 in the qualifying standings will contest the 8-games semi-finals on October 12. The top 4 will proceed to the stepladder finals. The top 8 women qualifiers will qualify directly to the stepladder finals shootout.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Dubai.