2nd March, Doha: Fourth-seed, Tony Ranta of Finland won his first major title after defeating second-seed, Paul Moor of England 477-457 in the championship match of the H.H. Emir's Cup 2013 on Saturday evening.

The victory was by no means smooth sailing as the youngster was put under pressure by the more experience Brit during the finals. In the first of two games finals, there was little between the two right up to the eighth frame.

But Ranta managed to strike out in the tenth frame to take the first game and a 14-pin margin over Moor, 236-222.

Both the contenders strated the secomd game cautiously but it was Moor who had an opened frame in the third after encountering a split. Despite doubling up in the second and third frame, the Finn too had an opened frame in the fourth.

As Moor recovered by doubling up in the fourth and fifth frames, Ranta bounced back with a double in the sixth and seventh frames.

The 34-year-old Brit did put up a fight right to the end by striking out for 235 while the Finn responded by rolling another four consecutive strikes to romp home with 241 and seal a well-deserved victory.

"Although it was just 14 pins lead after the first game, I knew I had the momentum to carry me through," said the 21-year-old Ranta from Pari, FInland and had recently won the Central Open in the Netherlands.

"I'm glad with this victory which made up for the disappointment here last year when I finished second to Mika (Koivuniemi) in the Qatar Open."

The champion breezed past top seed, Manuel Otalora of Colombia, 451-393 to set up the final with Moor. The first runnerup defeated second seed, Jassem Darwish of Kuwait, 443-416 to earn a crack at the title.

Ranta won the top prize of US$25,000 while Moor took home US412,000. Both Otalora and Jassem earned US$4,000 each for finishing third and fourth positions respectively. Mr Abdul Salam Abbas, President of Qatar Bowling Federation gave away the prizes to the winners.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Doha.

2nd March, Doha: Debutant, Manuel Otalora of Colombia led from start to finish in the Step 2 finals of the H.H. Emir's Cup 2013 to advance into the Step 3 finals as top seed with 1852 averaging an impressive 231.5.

Otalora, who won the Singles gold medal at the 2009 World Games in Koashiung, opened account with a superb 256 to lead 14-time PBA Tour champion, Mika Koivuniemi of Finland in second.

The 31-year-old from Bogota, Colombia followed it up with 237, 235, 216 before hitting a snag in game five when he only managed 182. But he recovered well to end the finals with 222, 227 and 227 for a 1852 total.

As Koivuniemi slipped down the field, overnight Step 1 leader, Jassem Darwish of Kuwait picked up his pace to end in second with 1789, 63 pins adrift the leader. England's Paul Moor took third spot with 1746 after having shared second with Jassem in game 6.

The fourth and final Step 3 spot was neely contested between two Finns, Koivuniemi and Ranta and came down to the final frame. Koivuniemi need to strike out to earn the spot beating compatriot by one pin but failed.

Ranta struck in his frame tenth to end the block with 1682 making the cut, just 7 pins ahead of the unlucky Koivuniemi.

Otalora will face Ranta in the Step 3 finals match while Jassem will face Moor in the other match over two-game total pinfalls. The winner will meet in the title match for the top prize of US$25,000. The first runner-up will earn US$12,000.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Doha.

1st March, Doha: Kuwaiti national bowler, Jassem Darwish shone in Step 1 finals of the H.H. Emir's Cup 2013 after snatching top spot with 1806 ahead of HRH Mohammed Al-Saud of Saudi Arabia second and team-mate Mohammed Al-Ragebah third.

Kuwaiti veteran, Yaqoub Al-Shatti set a cracking pace in his opening game of 258 to lead Filipino debutant, Benshir Layoso and Finn Tony Ranta sharing second spot , 12 pins behind.

But Yaqoub's lead was short-lived as his compatriot, Jassem Darwish took over the running after a scintillating 267 in the second game followed by yet another Kuwaiti, Rakan Al-Ameeri in second just 2 pins away.

Jassem and Rakan traded the lead past the halfway mark when Saudi Arabia's Mohammed Al-Saud surged into the lead having bowled consistently in his first five games with Rakan in second and Jassem slipping down to third.

Mohammed and Rakan battled for the lead in the next two games when the 22-year-old Jassem bounced back with a strong eighth and final game of 252 to snatch pole position with 1806.

Mohammed Al-Saud, who only made the finals after topping the desperado squad late last night, settled for second with 1776 while 2010 Asian Games two silver medalist, Mohammed Al-Ragebah of Kuwait claimed third spot with 1772.

Ranta finished fourth with 1756 ahead of pace-setter, Rakan in fifth position with 1754. Early leader, Yaqoub took sixth spot with 1749 with Qatar's best finisher, Yousef Al-Jaber in seventh with 1748.

Hussain Al-Suwaidi of UAE, who was second before the final game, dropped down to eighth the fifth Kuwaiti to make the top 10, Basel Al-Anzi finished ninth with 1744. Qatar's Zakareya Al-Zaqori clinched the tenth and final spot with 1735.

Defending champion, Kim Bolleby of Sweden managed only 25th position while several strong contenders, Perttu Jussila of Finland and Jaime Gonzalez of Colombia failed to make the cut.

The top 10 will be joined by the six seeded qualifiers for another 8-games Step 2 finals tomorrow. The top 4 will advance to the Step 3 finals with the top seed meeting the fourth seed and second seed meeting the third seed over two games total pinfalls matchplay.

The winners will face each other in the Step 4 title match again over two games total while the losers will be placed third and fourth according to their rank.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Doha.

28th February, Doha: Europeans once again rule supreme at the end of the 16-games qualifying round of the H.H. Emir's Cup as Dominic Barrett of England took pole position with Day 4 high series award going to second-placed Mika Koivuniemi of Finland.

Barrett, who won Day 3 high series award with 1972 in his first block of 8 games, could not find his usual strides as he let Finland's Mika Koivuniemi caught up with him after the first three games of the second block.

The lanky Finn took over the running after rolling 269, 258, 210 and 269 to lead the Englishman by 32 pins at the halfway mark while Barrett struggled with 217, 245, 231 and 170.

Whilst Koivuniemi continued to fair well with 222, 223, 236 and 227, Barrett finally picked up pace with 266, 256 and 289 in his three final games to end the block with 1858 for a 16-game total of 3830 to take pole position.

Koivuniemi won the Day 4 high series with 1914 to settle for second overall with 3775. Day 1 and 2 high series winner, Andrew Frawley of Australia took third spot with 3717 while England's Paul Moor, who was third in Squad B, finished fourth with 3596.

2012 Asia Ranked No. 1, Yousif Falah of Bahrain took fifth spot with 3565 and the sixth and final spot in the top 6 earning a bye was debutant, Manuel Otalora of Colombia with 3554.

Jassem Darwish of Kuwait missed the top 6 after slipping down to seventh with 3517 ahead of Finland's Perttu Jussila in eighth position with 3493. Another Kuwaiti, Rakan Al-Ameeri took ninth position with 3385.

Qatar's best performer was Mansour Al-Awamy completing the top 10 with 3469. Three more Kuwaitis, Mohammed Al-Ragebah, Khaled Al-Dubyyan and Basel Al-Anzi all finished 11th to 13th positions respectively.

The cut at 28th position was held by debutant, Benshir Layoso of the Philippines with 3243 averaging 202.69. Jassem Al-Deyab and Abdulrahman Jaidah claimed the top 2 Qatari youths spots.

Zakareya Al-Zaqari and Khaled Al-Doseri clinched the top 2 Qatari bowlers to join the Step 1 finals with 3164 and 3145 respectively. Four desperado qualifiers were Mohammed Al-Saud (KSA-227), Ahmed Saleh Al-Baker (QAT-216), Fahad Al-Rageeb (KUW-213) and Mahdi Assaed (BRN-209).

Positions 7 to 28 plus the top 2 Qatari youths, top 2 Qatari qualifiers and top 4 from desperado squad will contest the Step 1 finals over 8 games at 4.00pm local time tomorrow. The top 10 plus the top 6 seeded qualifiers will contest Step 2 finals on March 2.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Doha.

27th February, Doha: 2012 EBT winner, Dominic Barrett of England led an European charge in the second squad of the qualifying rounds to win the 8-games block of the H.H. Emir's Cup 2013 ahead of PBA pro, Mika Koivuniemi of Finland in second.

Bahrain's Mohamad Al-Shawoosh surprised the field of 48 players after taking the early lead with a stunning 268, 5 pins ahead of Kuwait's Fahad Al-Rageeb in second with England's Paul Moor and Finland's Mika Koivuniemi in close company.

Moor pulled away to a 15-pin lead after the second game followed closely by another Kuwaiti, Rakan Al-Ameeri in second. 2010 two silver medalist, Mohammed Al-Ragebah of Kuwait was third.

Rakan surged into the lead after another good game in the third closed in quickly by 2011 Emir's Cup and 2011 Qatar Open champion, Dominic Barrett of England, 19 pins adrift.

But the day belong to the Englishman as he set a blistering pace firing three massive games of 279, 286 and 268 to open up a hugh gape of 114 pins over Koivuniemi by the sixth game.

Barrett rounded off with 213 and 255 to end the first block of 8 games with 1972 averaging 246.5. Koivuniemi settled for second with 1861 while debutant, Manuel Otalora of Colombia finished a creditable third with 1840.

"I was a little lost in the first game but I quickly changed into another ball and it worked well," said the 26-year-old Barrett from Essex, England. "It was a very thight angle to bowl and it got more difficult towards the end of the block.

Barrett's compatriot, Paul Moor ended the block in fourth with 1781 while Mansour Al-Awamy did Qatar proud by taking fifth spot with 1774, thanks to a big game of 279 in the final game.

The players will resume with their second block of 8 games and the combined scores of the two squads will determie the qualifiers. The top 6 would earn a bye into Step 2 finals while the rest have to battle it out in Step 1 finals.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Doha.

26th February, Doha: Overnight first block leader, Andrew Frawley of Australia retained the lead of the H.H. Emir's Cup qualifying standings after another 8 games in the second block on Tuesday evening.

The 48-year-old Aussie, who led from start to finish in today's second block with another splendid 1804 en-route to winning another US$200 high series award to take his 16-game tally to 3717.

Kuwait's Jassem Darwish, who trailed Frawley in the first block, remained in second with 3517 after knocking down 1700 in the second block for a 3517 total, 200 pins adrift. Finland's Perttu Jussila rolled 1736 to take his total to 3493 to move up to third.

A second Kuwaiti, Khaled Al-Dubyyan posted the second highest 8-game series of 1754 to give himself a total of 3418 and moved up to fourth while his compatriot, Tony Ranta rounded up the top 5 with 3401.

UAE's Sayed Al-Hashemi occupied sixth position with 3337 as his team-mate, Shaker Al-Hassan, who was third overnight, slipped down to seventh position with 3334.

The best Qatari was Mansoor Al-Awamy, who clinched eight position with 3279 while defending champion, Kim Bolleby of Sweden and debutant, Benshir Layoso of the Philippines completed the top 10.

A total of 60 bowlers have been registered for the second squad, which will bowl two blocks of 8 games each the next two days.

Qualifiers positioned 1 to 6 will earn a bye to Step 2 finals while qualifiers from positions 7 to 28 plus 2 top Qatari youths, top 2 Qatari and top 4 from the one-game desperado squad will make the cut for the Step 1 finals.

The top 10 finishers in Step 1 finals together with qualifiers from positions 1 to 6 will contest another 8 games in Step 2 finals starting from scratch. The top 4 will then proceed to the Step 3 finals.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Doha.

25th February, Doha: Andrew Frawley of Australia won the opening squad of the H.H. Emir's Cup 2013 first block of 8 games underway at Qatar International Bowling Center, ahead of Jassem Darwish of Kuwait in second and Shaker Al-Hassan of UAE third.

Last year's Qatar Open first runner-up, Tony Ranta of Finland set a cracking pace in the opening game of Squad A with a stunning 267 to lead UAE's Hussain Al-Suwaidi by 11 pins as 47 players took to the lanes for the qualifying rounds.

Ranta kept a good pace with 241 in his second game to stretch the lead to 33 pins as Kuwait's Jassem Darwish moved into second spot after two consistent games of 230 and 245 while Hussain slipped down with a poor 178.

Jassem put pressure on the Finn after rolling 233 to reduce the gap to 13 pins as Ranta continued to lead the field with 213.

By the hafway mark, the Kuwaiti had taken over the running after another splendid 242 and opening up a gap of 38 pins as Ranta managed only 191 while Australia's Andrew Frawley gradually moved into third spot.

The 48-year-old Aussie blazed the lanes with 257 to take over the lead from Jassem and then followed it up with another scorching 265 to pull away with a 24 pin lead.

Frawley, who won the ABF Tour Bahrain leg last year, ended the first block of 8 games with 241 and 257 for a total of 1913 to win the block. Jassem settled for second spot with 1817, 96 pins adrift.

2012 ABF Tour Saudi leg champion, Shaker took third spot with 1800 ahead of two Finns, Perttu Jussila in fourth with 1757 and early leader, Ranta rounding out the top 5 with 1721.

Defending champion, Kim Bolleby of Sweden put up a good account of himself by finishing eighth with 1659 behind UAE's Sayed Al-Hashemi and Kuwait's Khaled Al-Dubyyan in sixth and seventh positions respectively.

The players in Squad A will complete their second block of eighth games tomorrow while the remaining players will take to the lanes for their first block of eight games in Squad B on Wednesday, February 27 and second block on February 28.

Qualifiers positioned 7 to 28 from the combined two squads after 16 games together with the top 2 Qatari youths, top 2 Qataris and 4 players from the desperado squad will make the cut for the 8 games Step 1 finals on March 1.

The top 10 finishers in Step 1 finals together with qualifiers from positions 1 to 6 will contest another 8 games in Step 2 finals starting from scratch. The top 4 will then proceed to the Step 3 finals.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Doha.