29th April, Cairo: Top seed, Shaker Al-Hassan of UAE took a convincing victory in the Men's finals of the 12th Sinai International Open while Mennat Soltan claimed an historical victory for Egypt in the Ladies division on Thursday evening.

Top seed, Shaker Al-Hassan defeated No. 2 seed and challenger, Adrian Ang of Malaysia, 234-204 in the single game title match to win the Men's title after a nine month break. The Emirati immediately took a commanding lead with five strikes-in-a-row as Ang struggled to response.

The Malaysian just could not string together enough strikes to mount any sort of challenge as Shaker eased off for a convincing victory to claim the title. Shaker's last title was back in June last year when he captured the Singapore Open.

"It seems like a long time since my last win and for sure I'm delighted," said the 41-year-old Shaker, who won the Team Gold medal

at the 2009 Asian Indoor Games in Vietnam. "The standard is very high so is the scores.

"I've to be extremely focus throughout the second block. Any mistakes could cost you several places. I'm glad I kept my focus and concentration," added the champion, who amassed a total of 3924 from eight wins in the 16-game round-robin finals earlier.

Ang had finished second with 3913 and reached the finals after easily beating No. 3 seed, Mohamed Kamel of Kuwait, 246-210 in the second stepladder match. Kamel ended Egypt's hope of a victory after the Kuwaiti beat Karim Sherif, 246-203 in the first match.

Meanwhile, Mennat Soltan became the first-ever women to capture the Ladies' title after she outclassed top seed, Zandra Aziela of Malaysia, 278-212 in the title match. Zandra simply had no answer as Mennat went on a strikefest for an overwhleming victory.

Mennat reached the finals after she edged No. 4 seed, Cassie Staundinger of Australia, 258-235 in a close and thrilling second match. The Aussie had ousted Malaysia's Shalin Zulkifli, 213-204 in the first match.

"This is my biggest win and the happiest day of my life," exclaimed the 20-year-old law student, Mennat Soltan, who only took up the sport three years ago. "I've to thank the local crowd here giving me their support."

Shaker won the top prize of US$12,000 as champion as Adrian Ang settled for US$6,500. Kamel and Karim took home US$3,200 and US$2,500 respectively. Mennat was richer by US$4,500 as Zandra settled for US$3,200 and Staundinger went home with US$2,200.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Cairo.

28th April, Cairo: A tense position round match in the Ladies' Top 8 finals saw Mennat Soltan of Egypt and Cassie Staundinger of Australia snatching two stepladder finals spot as Malaysia's Zandra Aziela and Shalin Zulkifli advanced as top seed and third seed.

A battle for top spot had developed during the Ladies Top 8 round-robin finals between two Malaysians, Zandra Aziela and Shalin Zulkifli throughout the seven matches and had to be decided in the position round match.

Zandra met her team-mate Shalin for top seed in the stepladder finals while Egypt's Mennat Soltan faced Wendy Chai in the second match. Australia's Cassie Staundinger and Zatil Iman of Malaysia faced each other in the third deciding match.

It was a must-win for Soltan, Wendy and Staundinger inorder to secure their places as the outcome of the Zandra-Shalin match was just a formality.

Zandra beat Shalin to secure top spot and the Egyptian came out on top to beat Wendy 257-228 thus securing second seed in the stepladder finals and relegating Shalin to third. Staundinger defeated Zatil, 245-228 to earn the final fourth spot.

It was hearbreak for Wendy as she ended the position round in fifth to miss the cut. Zandra won six matches and drew one for a total of 1883 while Soltan amassed 1839 from five wins. Shalin settled for third with 1835, also from five wins.

Staundinger needed the two wins from her last two matches to add to her earlier three for a total of 1818 to pip Wendy by 21 pins.

The Aussie will meet Shalin in the Ladies' first stepladder match and the winner will face Soltan in the second match. The winner will then meet top seed Zandra to decide the Ladies' champion.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Cairo.

28th April, Cairo: The scores of the Men's Top 16 Round-robin finals went through the roof of the International Bowling Centre in Cairo as Muhd Nur Aiman of Malayia shot the seventh perfect game en-route to leading the first block.

A poor start from Muhd Nur Aiman saw the Malaysia dead last as 16 men took to the lanes for their Round-robin matchplay finals in which local challenger, Karim Sherif of Egypt grabbed the early lead with a sizzling 278.

Despite losing his second match, the 27-year-old Karim was able to hold on to the lead ahead of Top 36 finals leader, Shaker Al-Hassan albeit only 8 pins adrift. Kuwait's Mohamed Kamel took a brief lead in the third match but could not sustain the hot pace.

Muhd Nur Aiman posted the tournament's seventh perfect game in the third match to haul himself up to ninth but still a long way from the leading pack as the Egyptian continued his relentless pace.

Although Aiman followed his perfect game with three massive games of 266, 279 and 260 in his next three matches, the Malaysian southpaw could only tie with Karim and stretching their lead from Shaker to 63 pins.

Karim lost the seventh match with 193 but Aiman was not able to take advantage of it losing his match too with 185 and allowed the leader to hang on to his pole position. Aiman did manage to snatch the lead with a stronger 246 as Karim shot only 217.

Aiman ended the first block of 8 games with 1986 from four wins while Karim settled for second spot with 1965 from five wins. Zulmazran Zulkifli of Malaysia came from nowhere to snatch third spot after firing a scintillating 278 final match for 1915 total.

India's Dilbir Singh continued to show great promise to take up fourth spot with 1902 with four wins and Kuwait's Mohamed Kamel completed the top 5 with 1901.

The men will continue with their second block tomorrow morning over seven matches and the final 16th and position round match to determine the top 4 proceeding to the stepladder finals.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Cairo.

27th April, Cairo: UAE's southpaw, Shaker Al-Hassan secured pole position at the end of the Men's Top 36 finals of the 12th Sinai International Open ahead of two more lefties as Malaysia's Zatil Iman swapped top spot with team-mate, Wendy Chai in the Ladies' division.

Shaker Al-Hassan, who topped the first block of six games bowled earlier today, shot another sizzling 1449 to add to his first block of 1457 for a 12-game aggregate total of 2906 to advance into the Top 16 Round-robin finals as top seed.

Paul Moor underlined the favourable conditions set for lefties as the Englishman took second spot with 2841 improving from ninth position in the first block. Muhd Nur Aiman of Malaysia completed the lefty domination after finishing third with 2821.

Malaysian Open champion, Adrian Ang, who was third in the earlier block, slipped down to fourth with 2778 while Qatar's Yousif Al-Jaber, who shot the tournament's sixth perfect game, completed the top 5 with 2764.

Three Egyptians, Karim Shaheen, Ayman Hashem and Karim Sherif did their nation proud after making the cut for the next stage in ninth, 12th and 15th respectively. Tarek Helmy squeezed in as the top local outside the top 15 to join his compatriots.

In the ladies' division, southpaw Zatil Iman of Malaysia swapped top spot with first block leader and team-mate, Wendy Chai after she amassed a 12-game total of 2785. Chai settled for second with 2772 as Australia's Cassie Staundinger took third spot with 2729.

Two more Malaysian ladies, Shalin Zulkifli and Zandra Aziela joined their team-mates for the next stage while Mennat Soltan was Egypt's best finisher in fifth. Hong Kong's Chan Shuk Han made the cut in seventh.

Amal Baker was Egypt's best finisher outside the top 7 to also advance while the fifth Malaysian, Siti Safiyah Amirah missed the cut by 10 pins ending in eighth position.

The top 16 men will bowl 15 round-robin matchplay finals and a position round match over two blocks on Wednesday and Thursday. The top 8 ladies will contest their single block tomorrow. The top 4 men and top 4 ladies will advance into the stepladder finals.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Cairo.

27th April, Cairo: Emirati southpaw, Shaker Al-Hassan and Malaysian Wendy Chai topped the Men's Top 36 and Ladies Top 16 first block finals of the 12th Sinai International Open at International Bowling Centre on Wednesday evening.

Shaker Al-Hassan got off to a moderate start in his opening game as Egyptian Karim Shaheen shot a sizzling 290 to lead the field of 36 men in the first block of the finals with another Egyptian Ayman Hashem and England's Paul Moor sharing second spot with 279.

But the 41-year-old UAE national bowler and Asian Indoor Games Team gold medalist fired 241, 219 and 275 to surge into the lead from Kuwait's Mohamed Kamel hot on his heels.

Two more splendid games of 235 and 256 put Shaker firmly in the lead at the end of the 6-games first block with 1457. Mohamed Kamel settled for second with 1440, 17 pins adrift while Malaysian Open champion, Adrian Ang stormed home to snatch third with 1433.

Pace-setter, Karim Shaheen slipped down to fourth with 1422 while Muhd Nur Aiman of Malaysia was the fifth bowler to hit the 1,400-mark with 1411. Egypt's maestro, Tarek Helmy claimed the 15th and final cut position for the next stage with 134 pins over.

Kuwait's Jassem Darwish shot the tournament's fifth perfect game and his career sixth in game 5 of the first block to take up a creditable sixth position on 1381. England's Dominic Barrett shot two perfect games, Alex Liew third 300 and Sin Li Jane fourth 300 during the qulifying rounds

Earlier in the morning, 2006 Sinai Open champion relished in her happy hunting ground to clinch top spot in the women's Top 16 first block finals with 1379. Egypt's Mennat Soltan impressed with a second place finish with 1363.

Early leader and 2009 Asia Ranked No. 1, Chan Shuk Han dropped to third with 1339 followed by Malaysia's Zatil Iman and India's Prathima Hedge completing the top 5 with 1332 and 1311 respectively.

The women will resume with their second block of 6 games at 5.00pm local time while the men will complete their second block later this evening. The top 15 men plus one local and the top 7 women plus one local will advance into the next stage.

Bowlers and officials were also treated to a huge and scrumptious cake when the Egytian Bowling Federation celebrated the 12th Sinai International Open anniversary after the first block ended.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Cairo.

26th April, Cairo: Malaysians competing at the 12th Sinai International Open are making an impact after Kuwait Open first runnerup, Zulmazran Zulkifli and Muhd Nur Aiman tied second spot in the Men's qualifying standings on Monday.

Muhd Nur Aiman, who took second spot yesterday with 2908 behind leader, Mohamed Kamel of Kuwait, had to share second spot when his team-mate and Kuwait Open first runnerup, Zulmazran Zulkifli shot a superb 991 in Squad 44 to haul himself up from 13th position.

Zulkifli totaled 2908 with three of his best attempts of 1006, 991 and 911. Early leader, Yousif Al-Jaber slipped one spot further down to fourth on 2905 while two perfect gamer and current EBT leader, Dominc Barrett of England in fifth with 2881.

Two-time and current Asia Ranking leader, Hussain Al-Suwaidi notched up an improved effort of 914 in the same squad to move up from 11th to tie 9th position with Egypt's Mahmoud Mazloum on 2833.

Kuwait's Khaled Al-Dubyyan and Tarek Helmy of Egypt settled for sixth and seventh with 2864 and 2857 respectively. The current cut in 32nd position was Basel Al-Anzi of Kuwait with 2734.

As expected, Malaysian women dominated the women's division with 2006 runnerup, Zandra Aziela and Zatil Iman taking over first and second position with 2829 and 2729. Overnight leader, Chan Shuk Han of Hong Kong slipped down to third with 2720.

2006 Sinai Open champion, Wendy Chai of Malaysia also made improvement to move up from 10th to fourth with 2648 while debutant and reigning Malaysian national champion, Sin Li Jane became the first women to score a perfect game and finishing fifth with 2639.

2007 Sinai Open and newly-crowned Kuwait Open champion, Vanessa Fung occupied the 14th position with 2570 ahead of her team-mate, Milki Ng in the drop zone in 15th on 2566. Cassie Staundinger of

Australia and Colombia's Sara Vargas finished 16th and 17th poisitions.

Two more squads remained for qualifying and the top 32 men plus four top locals and the top 14 plus top 2 locals will contest the Stage 1 finals tomorrow over two blocks of 6 games. The top 15 men plus one local and top 7 women plus one local will advance into the round-robin matchplay finals in the evening.

The second block will be played on April 29 with the top 4 men and top 4 women advancing into the stepladder grand finals.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Cairo.

25th April, Cairo: Three splendid squads took Kuwait's Mohamed Kamel into the top of the leaderboard of the 12th Sinai International Open ahead of Malaysia's Muhd Nur Aiman and Qatar's Yousif Al-Jaber as qualifying intensifies after the seventh day.

Two-time Asia Ranked No. 1 and ABF Tour Kuwait leg champion, Hussain Al-Suwaidi was the first to register a 4-game squad passed the 1,000-mark when the Emirati shot 1010 in Squad 32. His two other squads of 909 and 902 gave him a total of 2821 but was only good enough to tie seventh position.

Kuwait's Khaled Al-Dubyyan also posted a superb 1025 in Squad 37 after recording back-to-back 280s and with his earlier squads of 941 and 898 put him fourth in the table with 2864. But the limelight was stolen by England's Dominic Barrett when he became the first bowler to score two perfect games.

The Englishman had rolled the first 300 in Squad 34 for 966 and then

followed it up with another 300 in Squad 36 and with his third best attempt of 862 put him sixth in the table with 2835.

Mohamed Kamel, who shot 1010 in Squad 22, 901 in Squad 25 and 1005 in Squad 37, allowed the Kuwaiti to storm into the top of the leaderboard with 2916. Kamel led Malaysia's Muhd Nur Aiman in second with 2908 while overnight leader, Yousif Al-Jaber of Qatar slipped down to third with 2905.

Top Egyptian and early leader, Tarek Helmy settled for fifth spot behing Khaled Al-Dubyyan with 2864. Two other Egyptians, Karim Shaheen and Karim Sherif did well to finish seventh and nith as Kuwait's Jassem Darwish completed the top 10.

Meanwhile, 2009 women Asia Ranked No. 1, Chan Shuk Han took over the lead in the women's division with three fine efforts of 952, 925 and 843 for an aggregate total of 2720. Malaysia's Zandra Aziela and Zatil Iman finished secnd and third with 2716 and 2672 respectively.

Hong Kong's Sylvia Kong took fourth spot with 2625 ahead of the best Egyptian women, Mennat Soltan in fifth place with 2619. India's Prathima Hedge finished sixth with 2619 and Egypt's Amal Baker seventh.

The strong Malaysian contingent competing at the championship made some headways with reigning World Ranking Masters champion, Siti Safiyah Amirah, 2008 World Ranking Masters champion, Wendy Chai

and three-time World Bowler of the Year, Shalin Zulkilfi eighth to tenth.

Qualifying will end tomorrow, April 26 and the Masters finals will be held on April 27 and 28. The top 16 Asian men will also qualify for the inaugural ABF Tour Egypt leg which will be held on April 30.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Cairo.

23rd April, Cairo: Egyptian maestro, Tarek Helmy grabbed the early lead after five days of qualifying rounds of the 12th Sinai International Open which got underway at International Bowling Centre from Monday.

Tarek Helmy, who finished second in 2004 to the winner Ahmed Shaheen of Qatar, and fourth to winner Dino Castillo of USA, rolled a superb attempt in Squad 6 for 936 with 246, 227, 227 and 236. In Squad 10, the Egyptian shot another splendid 986.

Tarek grabbed the lead after he shot another sizzling 935 in Squad 24 for a total of 2857. Qatar's Yousif Al-Jaber finished second with 2840 from his three best 4-game series of 960, 952 and 928.

Another Egyptian, Karim Shaheen impressed with 2821 to take up third spot while 2008 second runnerup, Jassem Darwish of Kuwait finished fourth with 2811, just 10 pins off Karim. 2006 Sinai Open champion, Mahmoud Mazloum of Egypt finished sixth with 2785.

Defending champion, Yousef Falah of Bahrain managed 2750 in 11th position, just six pins ahead of 2008 first runnerup, Mansour Al-Awami of Qatar in 12th place. 2005 champion, Khaled Al-Dubyyan of Kuwait finished 14th position with 2728.

Meanwhile, Mennat Soltan and Amal Baker of Egypt occupied the top two spots of the women's qualifying standings after the duo totaled 2619 and 2597 with their three best attempts. India's Prathima Hedge finished third with 2520.

Bowlers from India, Hong Kong and Singapore arrived in Cairo but have yet to make headway in the qualifying standings as opposed to the early arrivals of Bahrainis, Kuwaitis and Qataris. Bowlers from Malaysia are also expected at the championship.

Qualfying will end on Monday, April 26 and the top 12 women plus four local and the top 32 men plus four local will contest the Stage 1 finals on Tuesday, April 27 over two blocks of 6 games.

The top 7 women plus one local and the top 15 men plus one local will advance to the Stage 2 round-robin matchplay finals which will be staged on Wednesday, April 28. The top 4 women and top 4 men will proceed to the stapladder finals on Thursday, April 29.

Photos by Terence Yaw.