6th March, Doha: England's Dominic Barrett denied two-time defending champion, Mubarak Al-Muraikhi of Qatar his third win, after a convincing victory over his challenger, 527-470 in the title match to claim the H.H. Emir Cup 2011 crown.

Dominic Barrett made it look so easy while almost everyone was struggling the whole week in extremely difficult conditions in both the qualifying rounds and the finals.

The third-seed ran away with the first game beating fourth-seed, Mubarak Al Muraikhi, 287-259 and a 28-pin lead over the defending champion. In the second game, the left-handed Qatari took a slender lead after the fourth frame as Barrett failed to repeat his strikes.

But towards the end, Barrett struck out from frame 7 to romp home another comfortable win over Mubarak, 240-211 and a two-game total pinfall of 527-470.

Despite having the home crowd behind him, Mubarak simple had no answer to put in any real challenge and had to settle for first runnerup and taking home QR 40,000 (aprox. US$10,900).

"The game plan I had was scrubbing the surface of ball so that it could roll more and help break down the lanes quicker and it worked," said the 25-year-old Barrett from Essex, England.

"The first game of 287 helped to ease off the pressure a little bit but because Mubarak also bowled well, I had to make sure all my shots were perfect. I made sacrifice to skip the European Tour and come here, so it's worth it."

Barrett, who tasted his first Asian victory, won the top prize of QR 75,000 (approx. US$20,600) and a trophy. The champion had moved closer to the title after he ousted No. 8 seed, Mohammed Al-Rageebah of Kuwait, 441-388 in the first Step 4 Final match.

Mubarak earned a third crack at the title after he beat o. 7 seed and another Kuwaiti, Jassem Darwish, 397-388 in the second Step 4 Final match. Jassem and Al-Rageebah finished third and fourth to win QR 13,000 each.

"Dominic was simply fantastic. I just lost to a better bowler," said Mubarak. "It would have been nice to retain the title and win it for the third time. But you cannot have it all your way sometimes."

In the earlier Step 3 Final, top seed, Wu Siu Hong was eliminated by Mohammed Al-Rageebah, 394-438 while Qatar's other finalist and No. 8 seed, Khaled Al-Doseri lost to Barrett, 386-421.

Mubarak cruised into the next step by defeating No. 5 seed Sayed Ibrahim Al Hashemi of UAE, 474-380 and No. 7 seed, Jassem Darwish fought back from a 148-172 poor first game to beat No. 2 seed, Naif Oqab 258-195 to advance with a 406-367 victory.

Wu ended up in fifth position, Naif sixth, Sayed Ibrahim seventh and Khaled eighth. All took home QR 6,000 each.

Mr Salman Abdul Ghani, Honorary Life President of Qatar Bowling Federation together with Mr Abdul Salam Abbas, President of Qatar Bowling Federation gave away the prizes to the champion and runnerup.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Doha.

6th March, Doha: UAE bowlers dominated the Step 1 Final of the H.H. Emir Cup 2011 after Hareb Al Mansoori and Hassan Al Zaabi finished one-two with Qatar's Khaled Al Doseri taking third spot at Qatar Bowling Center on Sunday morning.

Bahraini finalists, Mohammed Janahi and Mohammed Sultan were tussling for the early lead at the start of the Step 1 Final on Sunday morning but soon found themselves trailing Hareb Al Mansoori at the halfway mark.

The 34-year-old Hareb from Abu Dhabi rolled consistent lines of 227, 222 and 228 for a superb 677 series to lead Mohammed Sultan by 16 pins as Mohammed Janahi slipped down to third.

Hareb continued his fast pace to reel home 214, 221 and 226 to end the final with 1338, 69 pins ahead of fellow-compatriot, Hassan Al Zaabi, who stormed home in the second half to give UAE a one-two finish with 1269.

Qatar's Khaled Al Doseri did well to take up third spot with 1255 followed by another Qatari and desperado squad qualifier, Zakareya Al Zoqari fourth with 1245. Early leader, Mohammed Sultan finished fifth with 1226.

Kuwait's Mohammed Al Rageebah and two more Qatari, Yousef Al Jaber and Jassem Al Deyab rounded up the top 8, who made the cut for Step 2 Final.

Narrowly missing the cut by just 6 pins was Mohammed Jamal of Qatar with 1196 while UAE's Hussain Al Suwaidi also failed to progress finishing tenth with 1191.

The top 8 will be joined by the top 8 seeded qualifiers from the overall standings for another 6 games in the Step 2 Final at 1.00pm. The top 8 will then advance into the Step 3 knockout Final over two-games total pinfalls

The winners will meet in the Step 4 Final again over a two-game matchplay semi final before determining the two who would face each other in the title match.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Doha.

5th March, Doha: 2010 EBT winner, Dominic Barrett of England topped Squad 17 with a stunning 740 series to snatch top spot in the overall qualifying standings of the H.H. Emir Cup 2011 on Saturday.

Barrett, who had slipped down to the edge of the top 8 standings after Squad 16 leader, Yousef Falah of Bahrain had moved into third in the overall standings earlier, got off to a cracking start with a superb 266 opener.

The 25-year-old Englishman then fired two additional big games of 235 and 239 to end the squad in the lead with 740, which will most likely win him the daily high series award beating Yousef's 729 by 11 pins.

Barrett's 740 series gave him a 6-game tally of 1471 allowing him to snatch top spot in the overall qualifying standings and pushing down overnight leader, Patrick Healey Jnr. of the United States into second.

Mohammed Sultan of Bahrain, who finished second to Barrett with 716, secured his place in the top 10 improving from 21st position before the squad. Mubarak Al Muraikhi of Qatar took third spot with 689 but did not improve his overall standings.

Wu Siu Hong of Hong Kong and Yousef Falah of Bahrain, both slipped down to third and fourth on 1424 and 1420 respectively.

Sayed Ibrahim Al Hashemi of UAE felled to the edge of the top 8 with 1402 while Fawaz Abdulla of Bahrain is out of the top 8 on a total of 1377.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Doha.

5th March, Doha: Asian Championship two bronze medalist, Yousef Falah turned on his magical touch to fire a high-series award winning 729 effort to top Squad 16 of the H.H. Emir Cup 2011 and third overall.

Yousef Falah, who had struggled in is early attempts finally found his line to knock down 691 in the last squad of Day 5 to move within the top 8 but was ninth with a 6-game total of 1365.

With a modest 208 opening game in Squad 16, the 26-year-old from Awali rolled 244 in his second game and then brought home a splendid 277 for a high series of 729. Yousef's superb effort took his tally to 1420 for third position in the overall standings.

Jassem Darwish, who had ended his attempt earlier than Yousef in the same squad with 726 tought he could pick up another daily high-series award but only to be pipped by the Bahraini by 3 pins.

Jassem however improved his 6-game total to 1410 which moved the Kuwaiti youngster from eight to fourth in the overall standings.

Patrick Healey Jnr. of the United States, who shot the tournament's only perfect game so far, remained in the lead with 1447 followed by Hong Kong's Wu Siu Hong in second with 1424.

Sayed Ibrahim Al Hashemi of UAE, Mubarak Al Muraikhi of Qatar, Naif Oqab of UAE and Dominic Barrett of England occupied the remaining four positions in the top 8.

Meanwhile, in the earlier Squad 15, Hashim Hashimi of UAE topped Squad 15 with 650 but failed to make any improvement and is first on the reserve list. Fuuad Al Mas of UAE improved with 648 to make the cut in 20th.

Asian Games two silver medalist, Mohammed Al Rageebah of Kuwait also improved with 628 in Squad 15 to take up 22nd position.

Two remaining qualifying squads will be contested later today and will end with the one-game Desperado squad for the top four highest scorer to join the Step 1 Finals on Sunday.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Doha.

4th March, Doha: Perfect gamer, Patrick Healey Jnr. of United States won Day 5 high series award with 742 in Squad 14 to take over pole position in the overall qualifying standings of the H.H. Emir Cup 2011 on Friday evening.

The 2009 champion had in Squad 12 shot the tournament's first perfect 300 in the second game but squandered a chance to take the high series award after ending with 705. But his effort did moved him up into 15th position with 1318.

The American rested for one squad before taking to the lanes again in the final squad of Day 5 qualifying rounds. A poor start did not deter Healey as he bounced back with 289 in the second game.

Healey rounded off with another stunning 267 to give him a series of 742 to win the Day 5 high series award of Qatar riyal 500 en-route to taking over pole position in the overall standings with 1447.

England's Dominic Barrett finished second to Healey with 713 which also took the Englishman from 13th to 6th overall with 1379. Bahrain's Fawaz Abdulla, who finished third in the squad, improved from 23rd position to seventh with 1377.

Overnight leader, Wu Siu Hong of Hong Kong settled for second with 1424 while UAE's Sayed Ibrahim Al Hashemi, Qatar's Mubarak Al Kuraikhi and UAE's Naif Oqab all slipped down one position.

On the edge of the Top 8 cut was Day 3 high series award winner, Jassem Darwish of Kuwait with 1365. Yousef Falah of Bahrain, who was fourth in this squad, missed the top 8 to take up ninth position despite tieing with the Kuwaiti.

Tomorrow will be the final day of qualifying consisting of four squads. For those who missed the cut, they will have a chance to qualify in the one-game desperado squad at the end of Squad 18.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Doha.

4th March, Doha: 2009 champion, Patrick Healey Jnr. of the United States shot the tournament's first perfect game en-route to topping Squad 12 of the H.H. Emir Cup 2011 on Friday.

Qatar's Khaled Al Emady opened account with a cracking 279 but could not sustain the pace managing only 185 in his second to slip behind Patrick Healey Jnr. of the United States after he rolled the tournament's first 300.

Healey Jnr., who won the title in 2009 defeating last year's champion, Mubarak Muraikhi of Qatar in the title match, however did not capitalise when he managed only 185 in his third and final game for a series of 705.

He could have won an additional QR 500 had he scored 200 or more after having amassed 523 after two games to pip Squad 11 leader, Mohammad Janahi of Bahrain, who posted 720. Yousef Falah of Bahrain finished second with 674.

But the American's 705 moved him up from 36th position before this squad to 15th position with a 6-game tally of 1318 and crucially making the cut for the moment. Another good attempt would easily put him amongst the top 8.

Mohammad Janahi shot 229, 237 and 254 for a series of 720 to top the early Squad 11. He improved from 13th position to take up eighth with 1349 pushing Mohammed Al-Nuaimi of UAE into ninth.

There were no changes to the top 7 of the overall qualifying standings with Hong Kong's Wu Siu Hong, UAE's Sayed Ibrahim Al Hashemi and defending champion, Mubarak Al Muraikhi occupying the top 3 spots.

Two more squads remain today while on the final day of qualifying tomorrow, four squads will be staged. The finals will be held starting at 10.00am on Sunday, March 6.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Doha.

3rd March, Doha: Another Emirati, Naif Oqab topped Squad 10 of the H.H. Emir Cup 2011 with 738 to win the high series award of the fourth day of qualifying rounds on Thursday evening.

Naif Oqab, who lost to Mubarak Al Muraikhi of Qatar in last year's title match, was 11th in the qualifying standings before he took to the lanes at Qatar Bowling Center for the final squad of day 4.

The Emirati lefty scorched the lanes with a sizzling 247 opening game and continued his blistering pace with 233. He rounded up a superb effort with 258 for a total of 738 beating the high series of 727 posted by compatriot, Hareb Al Mansoori in the earlier Squad 9.

Naif's 738 moved him up to fourth in the overall standings with a 6-game tally of 1391 pushing another compatriot, Hussain Al Suwaidi into fifth on 1361.

Early leader and defending champion, Mubarak Al Muraikhi, who finished second to Naif in the same squad, retained third spot with 1400 from an improved 682 series.

Wu Siu Hong remained firmly in top spot with 1424 followed by Sayed Ibrahim Al Hashemi in second with 1402. Hareb Al Mansoori took sixth spot with 1355 ahead of Day 3 high series winner, Jassem Darwish of Kuwait seventh.

Squad 8 leader, Salem Al Marzouqi was the second best Qatari qualifier sitting on the edge of the top 8, who would advance automatically into Step 2 finals on Saturday.

Eight more squads remains in the next two days of qualifying and the finals will be staged in a single day on Sunday, March 6.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Doha.

3rd March, Doha: Emiratis dominated Squad 9 of the H.H. Emir Cup 2011 with Hareb Al Mansoori leading the charge with 727 followed by Sayed Ibrahim Al Hashemi and Hussain Al Suwaidi in second and third.

Hareb Al Mansoori started a cracking pace with a 258 opening game to share the lead with Qatar's Abdulrahman Al Jaidah followed by Hussain Al Suwaidi in second three pins adrift and Bahrain's Fawaz Abdulla third.

The Emirati rolled another sizzling 257 to give himself a two-game total of 515 while Sayed also rolled a high game of 265 but continued to trail in second as a third Emirati, Hassan Al Zaabi closed into the leading pair.

Hareb ended the squad with 212 to take his tally to 727 as Sayed fired 233 to settle for second with 717. Hussain stormed home with a strong 238 to take up third with 691 and Hassan fourth with 686.

The four Emiratis finished ahead of Fawaz in fifth with 678 followed by Yousef Al Jaber of Qatar rounding up the top 5.

Sayed's first attempt of 690 in the earlier Squad 8 and his 717 in this squad gave him a 6-game aggregate of 1402 and moved him into second in the overall standings, 22 pins behind leader, Wu Siu Hong of Hong Kong.

Mubarak Al Muraikhi slipped down to third with 1392 while Hussain improved to fourth with 1392. Squad 9 leader, Hareb finished fifth with 2355 while Squad 8 leader, Salem Al Marzouqi of Qatar took sixth spot with 1331.

England's Dominic Barrett continued to slid down to seventh on his 1327 followed by Yousef Al Jaber on the edge of the top 8 with 1324. With such a high score seen in this squad, it would be unlikely that the final squad of the day can better this.

Eight more squads remains in the next two days of qualifying and the finals will be staged in a single day on Sunday, March 6.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Doha.

3rd March, Doha: Qatar national bowler, Salem Al Marzouqi impressed on Day 4 by taking Squad 8 of the H.H. Emir Cup 2011 with 698 while Mohammad Al Nuaimi of UAE topped the earlier Squad 7 with 664.

Salem Al Marzouqi, who was 12th in the overall qualifying standings with 1231, started off the squad with 214 but then picked up his pace with a sizzling 246.

While the Qatari was on course for a good score in his final game, Sayed Ibrahim Al Hashemi of UAE was in a much better position to finish the squad with the highest series. But an unlucky split in the ninth frame spoiled his chances and Salem took advantage by striking home to edge the Emirati by 9 pins with 698.

Sayed settled for 690 to finish second to Salem while Masood Saberi of Bahrain also struck home to finish third with 687. Asian Games two silver medalist, Mohammed Al Rageebah of Kuwait did well to take up fourth with 663.

Salem's improved series moved him up to third in the overall standings with 1331 behind leader, Wu Siu Hong of Hong Kong in pole with 1424 and team-mate, Mubarak Al Muraikhi in second with 1392.

England's Dominic Barrett slipped down one place to fourth on 1327. Masood moved into fifth spot with 1321 followed by Day 3 high series award winner, Jassem Darwish of Kuwait sixth with 1321.

Naif Oqab of UAE and Yousef Al Jaber of Qatar are on the edge of the top 8 cut having taken up seventh and eight positions with 1305 and 1296 respectively.

In the earlier Squad 7, Mohammad Al Nuaimi of UAE finished in front with 664 with lines of 203, 214 and 247. Jassem Al Deyab of Qatar was second with 659 and Yaqoub Al Shatti third with 649.

Yaqoub's improved series moved him up to eighth only to drop down to tenth after Squad 8. Two more squad remains today before knowing who would win the Day 4 high series award.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Doha.

2nd March, Doha: Kuwaiti youth, Jassem Darwish topped Squad 6 to win the Day 3 high series award and moved up to fourth in the overall qualifying standings of the H.H. Emir Cup 2011 on Wednesday.

Jassem, who was sixth in the standings with 1248, notched up 216, 196 and 269 for a series of 681 to bring his 6-game tally from two of his best attempts to 1321. His daily high series award also moved him up to fourth overall.

Hussain Al Suwaidi registerd the second highest 3-game series with 670 to finish second to Jassem. Hussain's 670 also moved him up from 15th position to seventh in the standings on 1290.

Dominic Barrett of England finished third to the Kuwaiti with 661 in the squad but remained in third position overall with 1327. Wu Siu Hong of Hong Kong, who picked up the Day 2 high series award with 707 yesterday, maintain top spot with 1424.

Day 1 high series award winner and defending champion, Mubarak Al Muraikhi of Qatar retained second spot with 1392. UAE's Naif Oqab, Qatar's Yousef Al Jaber, Hussain and Squad 5 leader, Khaled Al Doseri rounded up the top 8 who would advance to Step 2 finals automatically.

The top 24 qualifiers from positions 9-24, 2 from Squad 1, one each from Squads 3 and 4, plus 4 from the Desperado squad will contest Step 1 Finals on March 6.

The top 8 will be joined by the 8 seeded players from the overall qualifying standings for the Step 2 Finals at the end of which the top 8 will advance to the 2-game matchplay knockout Step 3 Finals.

Winners of the Step 4 Finals will then face each other in the Step 5 Finals (title match) to declare the champion, who would take home Qatar riyal 75,000 (approx. US$20,000). The losers in the semi-finals will be joint third.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Doha.

1st March, Doha: Day 1 leader, Wu Siu Hong of Hong Kong regained the lead he lost to Qatar's Mubarak Al Muraikhi after Squad 3 by topping Squad 4 of the H.H. Emir Cup 2011 and winning the Day 2 High Series Award.

Day 1 High Series Award winner, Mubarak Al Muraikhi had rolled 204, 212 and 258 for a 3-game qualifying series of 674 bringing his 6-game tally to 1392. His improved series moved the Qatari to the top of the leaderboard and overtook overnight leader, Wu Siu Hong.

Khaled Al Quod of Kuwait finished second to Mubarak with 621 while UAE's Hussain Al Suwaidi took third spot with 620.

In the following Squad 4, Dominic Barrett started his first attempt with a stunning 252 to lead Wu by 10 pins. Wu stepped up his pace with 238 in the second game for a 2-game total of 480 which meant the Hong Kong national bowler only needed 194 or more to beat Mubarak.

Wu shot a superb 227 to end the squad with 707 to add to his other best effor of 717 for a 6-game total of 1424 and regained top spot in the overall standings. The leader also won the second day high series award with his improved series.

Barrett totaled 666 to finish second to Wu while Qatar's Mohammed Jamal took third spot in the squad with 647. Mubarak slipped back to second with 1392 as another Qatari, Yousef Al Jaber claimed third spot with 1254.

Kuwait's Jassem Darwish did well to take up fourth overall with 1248 while Filipino Oliver Fabros rounded up the top 5 with a 1238 effort.

Squad 5 and 6 will take place tommorow while from March 3 onwards for the next days, four squads will be contested until March 5. The top 24 qualifiers from positions 9-24, 2 from Squad 1, one each from Squads 3 and 4, plus 4 from the Desperado squad will contest Step 1 Finals on March 6.

The top 8 will be joined by the 8 seeded players from the overall qualifying standings for the Step 2 Finals at the end of which the top 8 will advance to the 2-game matchplay knockout Step 3 Finals.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Doha.

28th February, Doha: ABF Tour UAE runner-up, Wu Siu Hong of Hong Kong topped the qualifying standings of the H.H. Emir Cup 2011 underway at Qatar Bowling Centre on Monday.

Wu, who lost to Mohammed Kamel Al Zaidan of Kuwait in the semi-final match of the recently concluded inaugural leg of the ABF Tour season opener, started off slowly with just 173 in his first game of Squad 1.

The Hong Kong national bowler then picked up pace with 204 but set the lanes ablazed with a stunning 279 for a 3-game effort of 656 to finish second to Squad 1 leader and defending champion, Mubarak Al Muraikhi of Qatar, who rolled 718.

Wu got off to a better start in his subsequent second attempt to fire 246, 237 and 234 for a score of 717 taking his 6-game tally to 1373 topping Squad 2 and taking the overall lead on the first day.

Mubarak only managed 595 in his second squad to take his tally to 1313 and finished second to Wu. Oliver Fabros of the Philippines finished third with 1238 followed by Salem Al Marzouqi of Qatar fourth with 1231.

Yousef Al Jaber of Qatar, who was third in the opening squad with 637, completed the top 5 after scoring 586 in his second attempt with a total of 1223.

The H.H. Emir Cup 2011 is the second biggest bowling event of the year in Qatar. Mubarak Al Muraikhi took the title for the second time last year when he beat UAE's Naif Oqab in the title match.

Qualifying consists of 18 squads beginning today and ending on Saturday, February 5. 24 qualifiers from positions 9-24, 2 from Squad 1, one each from Squads 3 and 4, plus 4 from the Desperado squad will contest Step 1 Finals.

The top 8 will be joined by the 8 seeded players from the overall qualifying standings for the Step 2 Finals at the end of which the top 8 will advance to the 2-game matchplay knockout Step 3 Finals.

The top seed will meet the eighth-seed, the second seed vs the seventh-seed, the third seed vs the sixth seed and the fourth seed vs the fifth seed. Winners of these matches will advance to the Step 4 Finals (semi-finals).

Winners of the Step 4 Finals will then face each other in the Step 5 Finals (title match) to declare the champion, who would take home Qatar riyal 75,000 (approx. US$20,000). The losers in the semi-finals will be joint third.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Doha.