2nd March, Doha: World Bowling Tour finals women champion and last year's second runner-up, Danielle McEwan of USA cruised to an easy victory over Yousif Falah of Bahrain, 540-416 to win the PBA-WBT H.H. EMir Cup 2016 on Wednesday evening.

McEwan took a 44-pin lead over Yousif in the first game, 266-224 and added another big game victory over the Bahraini, 274-192 to bag the US$20,000 top prize and a trophy. The American had an early double before reeling off six consecutive strikes as Yousif was playing catch-up.

The champion put in another sizzling run knocking down eight strikes-in-a-row while her opponent struggled to repeat the form he displayed earlier in the semi-final.

"I didn't expect to beat Daphne (Tan) so easily especially she has been bowling so well all week," said the 24-year-old McEwan, who won her first-ever World Bowling Tour title in the WBT finals last month. "So fought back well but fortunately, I had a 45-pin gap from the first game.

"I thought it'll be a tough match against Yousif after he had easily beaten Marshall (Kent) in the semi. But when he struggled in the first game, it gave me a bit more confidence. I just made sure I kept my focus and make good shots.

McEwan earned her spot in the final after she defeated Tan, 435-422 in the Step 4 semi-final while Yousif, who settled for US$12,000 as first runner-up, dispatched topseed, Marshall Kent, 498-361 in the other Step 4 semi.

Tan finished second runner-up and Kent third-runner-up, both picking up US$6,000 each. Kent topped the Step 3 final with 2017, 48 pins ahead of Tan in second with 1969. McEwan and Yousif finished third and fourth to make the Step 4 final with 1948 and 1874 respectively.

Robert Andersson of Sweden missed the cut by 23 pins to end up in fifth psotion with 1851. Overnight Step 2 final winner, Martin Larsen of Sweden failed to shine and ended in 12th position.

96 bowlers competed in three squads of two 8-games block. The bowlers will move over to Bahrain for the PBA-WBT 14th Kingdom of Bahrain Open at Fun Land Bowling Center from March 4 to 9. The tournament is also the second ABF Tour ranking stop.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Doha.

1st March, Doha: Step 1 second-placed, Martin Larsen of Sweden topped the Step 2 final of the PBA-WBT H.H. Emir Cup 2016 to advance to Step 3 final ahead of Shayna Ng of Singapore in position and compatriot, Robert Andersson in third.

Andersson, who was third in the earlier Step 1 final, got off the block with a splendid 266 in his opening game to lead fellow-countrymen, Larsen by 8 pins and Step 1 winner, Osku Plaermaa in third, a further two pins away.

Palermaa knocked down a sizzling 287 to take over the running after the second game but his lead only lasted one game as 2015 World Bowling Open women's champion, Joey Yeo of Singapore, surged into the lead after a strong 257 following her 279 in the second game.

Yeo kept the lead at the halfway mark with another fine 242 but slipped down quickly after a poor 159 in the fifth game. Andersson and Yousif Falah of Bahrain traded the lead before Larsen fired a big game of 278 in the seventh game to become the new leader.

The Swede eased off with a fine 248 to win Step 2 final with 1988. Ng finished second with 1946 while Andersson settled for third with 1930. Plaermaa ended strongly with 268 to claim fourth position with 1919.

Yousif took fifth spot with 1886 while Marshall Kent of USA, who rolled the tournament's eighth 300, finished sixth with 1841. Jazreel Tan, who also rolled 300 in the sixth game and the tournament's ninth perfect game, was seventh with 1808.

Micahel Mak of Hong Kong made the cut in eighth position with 1805 while Yeo missed the cut by 9 pins to end up in ninth. Cameron Weier of USA, who was seventh going into the final game slipped off into 11th.

The top 8 finishers will be joined by qualifiers positioned 1 to 4 from the general qualifying standings for a final 8-game Step 3 final tomorrow. The top 4 at the end of final will proceed to the Step 4 and 5 TV shootout final.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Doha.

1st March, Doha: 2015 Bowling World Open champion, Osku Palermaa of Finland won Step 1 final of the PBA-WBT H.H. Emir Cup 2016 in the eighth and final game ahead of two Swedes, Martin Larsen and Robert Andersson in second and third.

Yousef Aljaber had a cracking start and almost shot the tournament's seventh perfect game but was content to lead the pack with 299. Palermaa trailed in second after he shot a superb 279 as Andersson took third spot with 269.

The Qatari led for another game before stumbling to a 180 in the third game to hand the lead to Palermaa. 2015 Bwoling World Open women's champion, Joey Yeo of Singapore moved up to second, just one pin adrift.

Mika Koivuniemi of Finland shot 299 in the fourth to lead briefly before Martin Larsen fired three consecutive big games of 278, 279 and 289 to take over the running, 26 pins ahead of Palermaa in second as Koivuniemi slipped to third.

Mika Koivuniemi of Finland shot 299 in the fourth to lead briefly before Martin Larsen fired three consecutive big games of 278, 279 and 289 to take over the running, 26 pins ahead of Palermaa in second as Koivuniemi slipped to third.

The Swede held the lead for another two games before ending strongly with 257 for a total of 2005. But Palermaa finished stronger with 267 to clinch the win with 2013. Larsen's compatriot, Robert Andersson stormed home with 280 to snatch third spot with 1966.

Koivuniemi finished fourth with 1955 while Bernice Lim, who rolled the tournament's seventh 300 in game 6, completed the top 5 with 1948.

Michael Mak of Hong Kong (1930), Jassim Almuraikhi of Qatar (1904), Shayna Ng of Singapore (1902), Joey Yeo (1901), AJ Johnson of USA (1867), Cameron Weier of USA (1863) and Yousif Falah of Bahrain (1862) advanced to the next step in sixth to 12th positions.

Early leader, Yousef missed the cut by 35 pins in 13th position. Stuart Williams of England and Anthony Simonsen of USA also failed to progress into the next step.

The top 12 will be joined by qualifiers positioned 5 to 8 from the general standings for another 8 games scratch in Step 2 final. The top 8 will advance to Step 3 final joined by the top 4 qualifiers from the general standings for a last 8-game Step 3 final tomorrow. The top 4 will procedd to the TV Shootout Step 4 and Step 5 final.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Doha.

29th February, Doha: Squad C first block leader, Thomas Larsen of Denmark together with American duo, Tommy Jones and Danielle McEwan made the top bracket of the PBA-WBT H.H. Emir Cup 2016 qualifying standings in the second block.

Larsen, who shared Day 4 high-series award with Marshall Kent of USA, led from start to finish in the second block of the final squad for an 8-game series of 1987 to take up second in the overall standings with two-block total of 3929.

The Dane also picked up the Day 5 high-series award of US$200 to earn two byes into the Wednesday Step 3 final. Squad A leader and winner of two high-sereis awards, Daphne Tan of Singapore remained unbeaten in pole position with 4009.

Tommy Jones, who traded second spot with Ghanim Aboujassoum of Qatar throughout the block, settled for second with 3820 to join Larsen in the top bracket in third overall.

Danielle McEwan, who failed to make the cut from Squad B, posted 1881 in the first block and 1909 in the second block plus handicap to finish third in this squad with 3790 and clinched the fourth spot overall.

Debutant, AJ Johnson of USA took fourth spot with 3750 while Ghanim, who had a chance to overtake his compatriot, Hazeem Almurakhi for the eighth position reserved for top Qatari, missed it after ending 164 to end up fifth in the squad and in tenth position overall with 3731.

Squad B leader, Mostafa Almousawi slipped to fifth with 3773, so did Jazreel Tan of Singapore and Marshall Kent of USA to complete the second bracket in sixth and seventh positions.

Eight players made the cut from Squad C. Heading the pack for Step 1 final was debutant, AJ Johnson of USA with 3750. Osku Plaermaa of Finland, Stuart Williams of England, Jassim Almuraikhi of Qatar, Rickle Kam of Hong Kong, Anthony Simonsen of USA, two Singaporeans Shayna Ng and Joey Yeo all made the cut.

The cut at 25th position went to Martin Larsen of Sweden with 3613 (averaging 225.81). Yousef Aljaber, Mohammed Almerekhi and Mansour Alawami were the three Qataris qualifying automatically. Cherie Tan of Singapore missed the cut by 10 pins.

Eric Tseng of Hong Kong (278), Mohammed Alsaud of Saudi Arabia (269), Mohammed Almarzooqi of UAE (268) and Jassem Alsaqer of Kuwait (267) were the top 4 qualifiers from the desperado squad.

Twenty-four qualifiers, positioned 9 to 25 plus top 3 Qatari positioned 26 to 28 plus the four from desperado squad will bowl 8 games in Step 1 final from scratch. The top 12 finishers will advance to Step 2 final joined by qualifiers positioned 5 to 8.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Doha.

28th February, Doha: Two-time PBA-WBT winner, Thomas Larsen of Denmark led the final squad of the PBA-WBT H.H. Emir Cup 2016 after the first block of 8 games with 1942 to share the Day 4 High-Series award with Marshall Kent of USA.

Osku Palermaa of Finland shot the tournament's fifth 300 in his opening game to lead Jassim Almuraikhi of Qatar and Larsen tieing second spot with 269. The two-handed Finn continued to lead the pack with 247 and 239 in his next two games as Danielle McEwan of USA moved into second spot.

A poor 169 saw Plaermaa losing the lead to Yousef Aljaber of Qatar after the Qatari rolled four consistent games of 258, 235, 243 and 238 while Bernice Lim of Singapore took over second spot, just a single pin adrift.

Larsen then stormed into the lead after rolling the tournament's sixth 300 in the fifth game as Palermaa recovered with 276 to move within 6 pins of the Dane.

The leader added 258 and 227 in his next two games to extend his lead to 40 pins over Tommy Jones of USA. Larsen just needed 221 or more to beat 1942 posted by Marshall Kent in the earlier second block of Squad B but managed only 220 to tie with Kent and share the high-series award of US$200.

But more importantly, Larsen greatly improved his attempt in Squad B and now has a chance of breaking into the top 2 brackets with the second block to bowl tomorrow.

Jones ended strongly with 252 to take up second in the squad with 1934 while 2015 ABF Tour Qatar leg champion, Ghanim Aboujassoum of Qatar finished third with 1893. Lim and Stuart Williams of England completed the top 5 with 1891 and 1890 respectively.

Bowlers up to 23rd position in this squad have 220 and above average, more than the cut at 25th position (average 219.55) in the overall standings of Squad A and B. The players in Squad C will complete their second block of another 8 games tomorrow.

A one-game desperado squad will be staged immediately following the end of Squad C. The top 4 finishers in the desperado squad will qualify for Step 1 finals.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Doha.

28th February, Doha: 2015 Asian Championship Masters silver medalist, Mostafa Almouswai of Kuwait topped Squad B after the second block to make the overall qualifying standings top bracket of the PBA-WBT H.H. Emir Cup 2016.

Day 3 high-series winner and overnight leader, Michael Mak of Hong Kong continued where he left off to lead the pack with 226, 225 and 243 but saw his margin reduced from 34 pins to just a single pin. Mostafa Almouswai of Kuwait, who almost rolled the tournament's third perfect game with 299, trailed in second.

With 255 in the fourth game, Mostafa took over the lead briefly but lost it back to Mak after the fifth game. 2015 Qatar Open champion, Cameron Weier of USA moved up to second while the Kuwaiti slipped down to third.

Weier traded the lead with compatriot, Marshall Kent in the sixth and seventh games but Mostafa rolled 279 in the sixth and ended with another 279 in the eighth game to clinch top spot with 1919 and a 16-game total of 3773.

Kent, who posted the highest 8-games series of 1942, finish second with 3756 and Weier settled for third with 3723. Mak finished fourth with 3693 while Robert Andersson of Sweden completed the top 5 with 3638.

Martin Larsen of Sweden rolled the tournament's third 300 in game five to finish sixth while 2015 PBA-WBT Saudi Open champion, Francois Louw of South Africa downed the fourth 300 in his final game to take up seventh position.

Mostafa's effort put him second in the top bracket, behind leader, Daphne Tan of Singapore still in the lea with 4009. Jazreel Tan of Singapore slipped to third with 3764 while Kent joined the trio for two byes in fourth.

Hazeem Almuraikhi of Qatar, Bernice Lim of Singapore and Weier occupied fifth to seventh position with 3742, 3729 and 3723 respectively. The eighth position reserved for top Qatari went to Ghanim Aboujassoum with 3503.

Mak headed the third bracket in ninth position with 3693 followed by Mika Koivuniemi of Finland rounding out the top 10 with 3692. The current cut at 25th position is held by Stuart Williams of England with 3513 (averaging 219.56 or 313 over).

Yousef Aljaber, Jassim Almuraikhi and Mohammed Almerekhi occupied positions 26 to 28 reserved for Qatari qualifiers. Four positions, 29 to 32 are for the four qualifiers from the one-game desperado squad.

A maximum of 36 bowlers will contest the final Squad C first block this evening and second block tomorrow. The combined scores from all three squads will determine the final qualifying standings.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Doha.

27th February, Doha: Two-time PBA-WBT runner-up, Michael Mak of Hong Kong topped the second squad of the PBA-WBT H.H. Emir Cup 2016 at the end of the first block of 8 games at Qatar Bowling Center on Saturday to pick up the Day 2 High-Series Award.

Robert Andersson of Sweden got off to a cracking start with 289 in his opening game, matched by two-time World Bowling Tour winner, Thomas Larsen of Denmark in second with 278 and Michael Mak third with 267.

The Swede's lead was short-lived as Mak rolled another sizzling 278 to leapfrog into the lead. 2015 Asian Championship Masters gold medalist, Ryan Lalisang of Indonesia added a 268 in his second game to move into second spot, 30 pins adrift.

2015 Asian Championship Masters silver medalist, Mostafa Almousawi of Kuwait almost rolled the tournament's third perfect game with 298 to take up third position in a hot-paced squad. Mak held the lead after the third, albeit only a single pin ahead of Lalisang.

The top Hong Kong national bowler extended the lead to 46 pins past the halfway mark with Andersson recovering to take up second as the Indonesian slipped away.

>Mak ended the block with 1888 in the lead to seal the Day 2 high-series award of US$200. Mostafa finished second with 1854, 34 pins away. 2015 PBA-WBT Qatar Open champion, Cameron Weier of USA stormed home to clinch third spot with 1816.

2014 PBA-WBT Saudi Open champion, Marshall Kent of USA, who was second before the final game, slipped down to finish fourth with 1814 while Lalisang rounded out the top 5 with 1800.

The bowlers will resume with their second block of 8 games tomorrow morning which will give an indication of cut at 25th position to make the finals. The third and final Squad C will bowl their first block of 8 games in the afternoon.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Doha.

26th February, Doha: 2015 SEA Games Singles gold medalist, Daphne Tan of Singapore had a perfect start after shooting her first career 300 to lead the opening squad of the PBA-WBT H.H. Emir Cup 2016 underway at Qatar Bowling Center.

Daphne got off the first block with 300 followed by four massive games of 246, 258, 267 and 277 to opened up a huge gap to her team-mates, and 2015 SEA Games Masters gold medalist, Jazreel Tan and another team-mate, Bernice Lim in third.

The leader eased to a 181 in the sixth game before rounding off a scintillating first block with 206 and 255 for an 8-game total of 2054 plus 64 pins handicap. Jazreel settled for second with 1883, 171 off the pace while Bernice took third spot with 1876 to give Singapore a one-two-three finish.

Two-time PBA Bowler of the Year and 2012 Qatar Open champion, Mika Koivuniemi of Finland and Khaled Aldubyyan of Kuwait rounded out the top 5 with 1870 and 1842 respectively.

The overnight leader continued her relentless pace with 260 in the opening game of the

second block but stumbled to a 180 in the second game yet was able to keep a big gap to her team-mate, Jazreel Tan.

Daphne bounced back with 268 in the third and kept a good pace towards the half-way mark. By the seventh game, Daphne had extended her lead over Jazreel to 227 pins. The leader, who picked up Day 1 high-series award of US$200 and added another daily high-series award, ended the second block with 1955 for a two-block total of 4009 plus 128 pins handicap.

Jazreel settled for second with 3764 trailing by 245 pins. Qatari youngster, Hazeem Almurakhi, who posted a second highest series with 1915, did well to finish third with 3742, a further 22 pins away. Bernice slipped down to fourth with 3729 while Koivuniemi completed the top 5 with 3692.

Two more squads, B and C will be contested for the next three days. Qualifiers positioned 1 to 4 will earn two byes for Step 3 finals while qualifiers positioned 5 to 7 plus the top Qatari will earn a bye for Step 2 finals. Qualifiers positioned 9 to 25 plus the next three Qataris and four from desperado squad will bowl in the 8-games Step 1 finals.

The top 12 finishers will be joined by the four qualifiers positioned 5 to 8 for another 8 games in Step 2 finals. The top 8 finishers will be joined by the four qualifiers positioned 1 to 4 for another 8 games Step 3 finals.

The top 4 finishers will advance to Step 4 (semi) finals where the top seed will meet the fourth-seed and the second-seed will meet the third-seed for a two-games total pinfall match. The winners will proceed to Step 5 finals, again over two-games total pinfall match to determine the champion.

The top prize for the champion is US$20,000 with the first runner-up taking home US$12,000. Losers of the semi-finals will earn US$6,000 each. The top 16 Asian finishers will be awarded ABF Tour ranking points.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Doha.