Al Ali maintains impressive form

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Yousif Al Ali posted the high series for the second time in three days as qualifying continued in the His Highness Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa First Bowling Championship, being played at Funland Centre.

Al Ali took down 677 pins to claim the daily prize on the sixth day of the tournament’s current stage. It was his second-best trial of the competition thus far, and it added to his two other top scores of 684 and 645 pins.

His latest effort brought his total to 2,006 pinfalls for a 222.89 average as he cemented his position in first place on the seniors division standings. Al Ali continued to lead ahead of Dante Tisdom from the U.S., who boasts 1,895 pins total with a 210.56 average.

Mohammed Al Shawoosh was third on marks of 1,829 and 203.22, while Arif Murseel (1,773, 197.00), Mohammed Darraj (1,599, 177.67) and Sami Salloom (1,459, 162.11) were fourth through sixth, respectively. Mohammed Al Murbati (1,443, 160.33) and Abdullatif Rashid (968, 107.56) completed the seniors’ best eight.

Meanwhile, Mohammed Al Ansari rose to fourth place on the men’s division standings after playing two impressive series of 671 and 623 pins. He improved his total to 1,946 for a 216.22 average, earning him his new position after previously being ranked in 21st.

Al Ansari now only trails the top three, who remained unchanged with Emerson Gotencio (2,039, 226.56) from the Philippines, Ahmed Fareed (2,026, 225.11) and Yousef Falah (1,955, 217.22) ranked first to third. Ali Al Mass was fifth with a 1,914 total and 212.67 average, followed by Zeyad Al Kheliwi (1,903, 211.44) from Saudi Arabia in sixth.

Tisdom and Essa Taqi (1,893, 210.33) rounded off the men’s leaders. In the women’s division, Mariam Modara and Marjan Modara both made their way into the top five. Mariam played a 445 series to add to her previous 509 trials to bring her total to 954 for a 106.00 average, which was good enough to climb to fourth on their group standings.

Marjan competed for the first time on day six, and her two series of 448 and 410 earned her an 858 total for a 95.33 average to go directly to fifth. The same women occupied the top three on the table, with Nadia Al Awadhi (1,102, 122.44) in first, Reem Sultan (1,003, 111.44) second and Nahla Al Adaas (993, 110.33) from Saudi third.

Qualifying continues today. Bowlers in this stage must play at least three trials to be eligible to advance to the next round, with each participant’s top three series being counted. At the end of this stage, the top 24 men march through to their next stage, while the top eight from the women’s and seniors divisions will qualify.

The tournament is scheduled to be held until February 26, and it features prize money worth more than BD19,000, to be allocated to the top finishers in the men’s, women’s and seniors categories.