11th October, Dubai: National bowler, Naif Oqab of UAE took over the lead of the Open qualifying standings at the 5th Dubai International Open Bowling Tournament 2014 from overnight leader, Kim Bolleby of Sweden.
Naif, who finished in a disappointing 12th position last year, trailed the Swede by 8 pins before he improved his lowest 3-game series of 697 with a splendid 738 to move into top spot with a 9-game tally of 2172.
The Emirati left-hander did not qualify in 2012 and crashed out in 2011 during the Round 2 finals. But his best showing was finishing as first runner-up in 2010 and with a promising qualifying round displayed so far, put him a firm title contender.
Bolleby slipped down to second with his total of 2129 while second perfect gamer, Ghalib Al Busaidi of Oman remained in third position with 2067.
Fourth position is reserved for a top Emirati not in the top 3 positions and will earn a bye to automatically qualify for Round 3 finals.
Naif Oqab of UAE
Missing the cut for the top bracket is this year’s Hong Kong Open champion, Hussain Al Suwaidi of UAE, just 1 pin off the Omani while 2014 Asian Games Incheon Masters bronze medalist, Shaker Al Hassan of UAE is a further 3 pins away in sixth position.
Defending champion, Mahmood Al Attar of UAE finished tenth with 2037 while the current cut at 24th position went to Zayed Tahhan of Jordan with 1837. With just one day left for qualifying, the cut could go up as far as 2000.
Qualifiers positioned 5 to 24 together with the top 4 qualifiers from the one-game desperado squad will contest the 8-games Round 2 finals on October 13. The top 12 finishers will be joined by the 4 seeded qualifiers from the top bracket for another 8 games in Round 3 finals on October 14.
The top 5 at the end of the Round 3 finals will proceed to the stepladder grand finals to determine this year’s champion. A total prize fund of 240,000 AED dirham is up for graps with the champion taking home 60,000 AED dirham.
Ghalib Al Busaidi of Oman
Players are also entitled to win 1,000 AED dirham daily high-series up to the last day of qualifying tomorrow. Meanwhile, the top 10 qualifiers in the Youth division will contest the 8-games semi-finals tomorrow. The top 4 will advance to the stepladder finals.
The tournament’s official supporter is Dubai Sports Council and main sponsors, Al Masaood and Commercial Bank of Dubai. Other partners included BiteRite, Momz Mart, Pears and Neocare while the Media partner is Al Bayan.