Bahrain's Falah widens lead in second Block at 10th Kuwait International Open 2013

    03/15/13

    Kuwait

    Defending champion Palermaa leads day two qualifying with 258.40 average to shoot into third place overall

    2013KOYousifFalah2.jpg2013KOOskuPalermaa.jpgOvernight leader Yousif Falah (pictured left) of Bahrain added a 1256 series to the 1329 from day one to lead the 82-player field in the 10th Kuwait International Open 2013 after 10 of 15 qualifying games with 2585 total or an average of 258.50.

    The Bahraini widened his lead to 105 pins as reigning PBA Player of the Year, Sean Rash, United States, toppled 1192 on day two to remain in second place with 2480.

    Defending champion Osku Palermaa (right) of Finland, who won his third PBA title in the 9th Kuwait Open last year, fired games 244, 279, 278, 224 and 267 for the field-best 1292 series (258.40) on Thursday en route to jump from tenth to third place with 2470.

    2013KOManuelOtalora.jpg2013KOKhaledAlDubyyan.jpgWorld Games champion Manuel Otalora (left) made an even bigger leapfrog moving from 17th to fourth place with 1244 including a 299 game and 2384 total. 11-time PBA champion Mika Koivuniemi of Finland remained in fifth place with 2380 and was followed by Shaker Al-Hassan, UAE, with 2378.

    Former World Ranking Masters Khaled Al-Dubyyan (right) was the best Kuwaiti in 14th place with 2320. The top six players plus the top Kuwaiti after three blocks (15 games) will go straight to Round 5 (one round before the stepladder finals).

    2013KOMansourAlAwamiRickleKam.jpg15th place Mansour Al-Awami (l.) of Qatar rolled his second 300 game of the tournament. Mohammad Ibrahim of Kuwait and Rickle Kam (r.), Hong Kong, also achieved perfection on day two.

    Round One concludes with the third and last block on Friday, March 15.

    The 10th Kuwait International Open 2013 is the sixth event on the World Bowling Tour and runs from March 13-17, 2013 at 16-lane Cozmo Bowling Center in Salmiya, Kuwait. The offers total prize fund of $130,500 U.S. Dollar with 25 Grand going to the winner.

    All players bowl 15 games of qualifying in three blocks of fives games over three days. Tournament entry fee is 1,000 U.S. Dollar. Women receive five pins handicap each game.

    Total 38 players qualify for the finals including the top 6 plus the highest ranked Kuwaiti (go to Round 5), qualifiers 8 to 14 (go to Round 4), qualifiers 15 to 22 (go to Round 3), qualifiers 23 to 34 and the next four Kuwaitis (go to Round 2).

    The 16 players qualified for Round 2 bowl six games scratch with the top 8 advancing to Round 3. Those eight and qualifiers 15-22 bowl another six-game block scratch to cut to the top 9.

    Those nine and qualifiers 8-14 bowl six games scratch with the top 8 advancing to Round 4. The remaining 15 players bowl four games scratch plus an eight-game match play round with three players on a pair of lanes. The winner of each match gets 20 points and the runner-up gets 10 points.

    The top 5 after 12 games including bonus pins advance to a traditional stepladder final. The No. 1 seed must be defeated twice to win the title.

    Due to an agreement between the World Tenpin Bowling Association (WTBA) and the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA), the Kuwait International Open will award a PBA International title, if won by a PBA member.

    The top 16 Asian bowlers advance to the second leg of the 2013 Asian Bowling Federation Tour on Monday, March 18.

     


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    Qualifying Standings after Block 2 of 3


    (f) indicates female bowler (total including five pins handicap); (y) indicates youth bowlers.


    300 Games (6) - Mansour Al-Awami, Qatar; Tim Mack and Ronnie Russell, United States (Block 1). Mansour Al-Awami, Qatar; Mohammad Ibrahim, Kuwait; and Rickle Kam, Hong Kong (Block 2).

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