Yousif Falah of Bahrain earns high qualifier honors at Kuwait International Open

    03/16/13

    Kuwait

    Bahraini paces field of 82 players after each block in Round One; leads 38 into the finals rounds; four women survive the first cut

    2013KOYousifFalah3.jpg2013KOOskuPalermaa2.jpgYousif Falah (pictured left) of Bahrain led the qualifying portion of the 10th Kuwait International Open 2013 after each of the three five-game blocks en route to lead a group of 38 players into the finals rounds Saturday and Sunday at Cozmo Bowling Center in Salmiya, Kuwait.

    Falah, who held a 105-pin lead heading into the final block on Friday, averaged 240.60 and toppled 1203 pins to finish Round One with 3788 total and an average of 252.53 for fifteen games.

    Defending champion Osku Palermaa (right) of Finland, who won his third career PBA title in the 9th edition last year, leaped one spot into second place behind a 1227 series and 3697 overall. Reigning PBA Player of the Year, Sean Rash, United States, who is looking for his sixth PBA title, slipped to third place with 3628.

    2013KOJolinePerssonPlanefors.jpg2013KOTannyaRoumimper2.jpgTannya Roumimper (left) of Indonesia, who fell from fourth to ninth place in the second block, regained fourth place thanks to a 1205 scratch series and 1230 including handicap. Roumimper was the best of eleven women in the 82-player field from 19 countries and one of four, who survived the first cut.

    Those four, Roumimper as well as 11th place Shayna Ng, Singapore, 25th Joline Planefors (right) and 26th Sandra Andersson of Sweden, will battle it out for the total $7,300 Ladies Extra Prize Fund.

    Fifth place Martin Larsen (below left) of Sweden fired games of 268, 235 , 244, 289 and 236 for the highest third block of 1272, an average of 254.40, to jump from 14th to fifth place with 3582. Rounding out the top six was Manuel Otalora of Colombia with 3568.

    2013KOMartinLarsen2.jpg2013KOKhaledAlDubyyan2.jpgBy qualifying in the top six, Falah, Palermaa, Rash, Roumimper, Larsen and Otalora earned three byes for the final rounds. Former World Ranking Masters Khaled Al-Dubyyan (right), who was the best Kuwaiti in all three blocks, was seeded seventh and will join the top 6 in Round Five.

    PBA super stars Mika Koivuniemi of Finland and Chris Barnes, United States, had 3562 and 3519 to lead the second group (places 8-14), which will receive two byes.

    Mansour Al-Awami of Qatar, who rolled two of the six 300 games in the tournament so far finished in 15th place to lead the third group (places 15-22) into Round Three.

    2013KOMohammedJanahi.jpg2013KOHelenJohnsson.jpgQualifiers 23 to 34 plus the next four Kuwaitis advanced to the second round. Mohammed Janahi (left) of Kuwait beat out Women's World Champion Helen Johnsson (right) of Sweden for the 34th and last spot to advance by three pins, 3304 to 3301.

    Saturday features Round 2, 3 and 4 plus the youth stepladder finals starting at 10 a.m., 1.30, 5 and 8.30 p.m. Standard Arabia Time.

    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 3


    Total 38 players qualify for the 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). (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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