2nd June, Manama: Alex Liew of Malaysia claimed his second international title this year when he emerged as champion of the 4th Kingdom of Bahrain International Open defeating team-mate, Zulmazran Zulkifli, 218-204 in the stepladder finals.

Liew, 29, who won the ABF Tour Qatar leg in February this year, continued his relentless pace to end the 8-game round-robin matchplay finals to top the field with 5793 and qualified for the stepladder finals as top seed.

ABF Tour Malaysia leg champion, Zulmazran Zulkifli assured Malaysia the title after the 22-year-old knocked out third-seed, Mohammed Janahi of Bahrain, 258-206 in the first stepladder match. Zulmazran finished second in the earlier finals with a total of 5668.

Malaysia almost took all the three stepladder spots when Azidi Ameran came close after finishing fourth with 5530, just 4 pins adrift from Mohammed Janahi on 5534. ABF Tour Indonesia leg 2004 champion, Shaker Al Hassan of UAE ended up in fifth with 5500.

ABF Tour Hong Kong leg 2004 champion, Mubarak Al Muraikhi of Qatar (5450), Basel Al Anzi of Kuwait (5445) and Hulaiman Al Hamli of UAE (5192) finished sixth to eighth respectively. Alex Liew came home smiling with the top prize of US$20,000 and Zulmazran Zulkifli US$10,000 for second while Mohammed Janahi won US$6,000.

Photos courtesy of Bahrain Bowling Federation.

1st June, Manama: Malaysians continued to impress when Alex Liew led his team-mates, Zulmazran Zulkifli and Azidi Ameran into the finals of the 4th Kingdom of Bahrain International Open at Funland Center Wednesday evening.

Liew, winner of the ABF Tour Qatar leg and who trailed team-mate, Azidi in the 8-game Round 1 earlier, took over the lead at the end of another 8 games semifinals with a total score of 3892. The 29-year-old proshop supervisor posted 269, 227, 268, 193, 248, 248, 249 and 280 to build up a comfortable lead of 163 pins over top local, Mohammed Janahi in second with 3729.

ABF Tour Indonesia leg champion and UAE's top kegler, Shaker Al-Hassan finished third with 3714 ahead of Malaysia's Zulmazran Zulkifli in fourth position with 3689. Round 1 leader, Azidi Ameran could not keep up Liew's relentless pace and settled for fifth spot going into the finals with 3669.

Kuwaiti Basel Al Anzi, ABF Tour Hong Kong leg champion, Mubarak Al-

Muraikhi of Qatar and Hulaiman Al Hamli of UAE made the cut for Thursday's round-robin matchplay finals from sixth to eighth positions with 3656, 3653 and 3595 respectively.

Current Asian ranked No. 2, Ahmed Shaheen also failed to make the cut while Malaysia's other finalist, Adrian Ang finished in 13th position with 3496. The finalist will contest the round-robin matchplay at the end of which the top 3 will battle it out for top honors in the stepladder grand finals.

Photos courtesy of Bahrain Bowling Federation.

30th May, Manama: Five Malaysian bowlers made an impression in the 4th Kingdom of Bahrain International Open as they take to the lanes at Funland Center in their qualifying rounds to finish in the top 32.

ABF Tour Malaysia leg champion, Zulmazran Zulkifli were able to adapt to the lanes to post a 3-game series of 721 in his first attempt ending off with a perfect game. The 22-year-old then went on to score another superb 760 and 781 for a total of 2262 to take up joint-third in the table.

Qatar's top bowler, Ahmed Shaheen continued to top the table with 2350 ahead of Mohammed Jahromi of Bahrain in second on 2285. Yousif Falah shared third spot with Zulmazran. Azidi Ameran also did well to finish fifth with three impressive 3-game series of 773, 750 and 738 for a total of 2261, just one pins adrift from team-mate, Zulmazran.

Just as Azidi missed the perfect game with a 299 during his 750-series, 15-year-old Adrian Ang also came near to scoring one when he hit 296 in his 827-series during a third qualifying round. Ang also made the finals in seventh with 2248.

The Malaysians ended the day on a high when Alex Liew scored the second perfect game when he posted 247, 300 and 235 in his third attempt for 782. The ABF Tour Qatar leg champion had 660 and 766 in his two other squads to give him a total of 2208 for 14th position.

Southpaw, Ben Heng, who missed the Thailand Open ealy this month, total 2153 to finish 29th in the table but has one more day to improve to assure himself of a place in the finals. Other Malaysian, Aaron Kong and Jonathan Lim have yet to record a third attempt score to be place in the table.

The top 32 will qualify for Round 1 Masters finals and the top 16 at the end of Round 1 will make the cut for the semifinals. The top 8 at the end of the semifinals will proceed to the 8-game round-robin matchplay finals to determine the top 3 for the Stepladder grand finals on Thursday.

Photos courtesy of Bahrain Bowling Federation.

28th May, Manama: Current Asian ranked No. 2, Ahmed Shaheen of Qatar took over pole position in the qualifying table of the 4th Kingdom of Bahrain International Open underway at Funland Center Saturday evening.

Shaheen, who finished second to Shalin Zulkifli in the H.H. Emir Cup in February this year, improved from his second spot overnight with two superb 789 and 728 series added to his best 823 for a total of 2350 for the lead.

Top local contender, Mohammed Jahromi also improved from 12th to take up second spot, 65 pins adrift on 2285 followed by another Bahrain kegler, Yousif Falah in third with 2262. 2004 World Ranking Masters champion, Mohammed Al Qubaisi claimed fourth position with 2249.

Hulaiman Al Hamli (UAE-2243), Ahmed Al Noami (BAH-2231), Mubarak Ali (QAT-2227), Bandar Al-Shafi (QAT-2211), Sayed Ibrahim (UAE-2209) and Raed Ahmed Omar (BAH-2206) completed the top 10 from fifth to 10th respectively.

Qualifying continues through to 31st May and the top 32 will qualify for Round 1 Masters finals. The top 16 at the end of Round 1 will proceed to the semifinals with the top 8 through to the round-robin matchplay finals. The top 3 will make the cut for the Stepladder grand finals on Thursday.

Photos courtesy of MTBC.