Khaled Aldubyyan leads 9th Kingdom International Open after the first round

    12/04/15

    Saudi Arabia

    Kuwaiti averages over 230 to lead the 80-player field with 1389; score to make the cut in 28th place is currently 1153 (192.17 average)

    2015KIOKhaledAldubyyan.jpg2015KIOFrancoisLouw.jpg

    Khaled Aldubyyan (pictured left) of Kuwait averaged 231.50 for six games to take the first round lead in the 9th Kingdom International Open Thursday at Universal Bowling Center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

    The 80-player field from 80 countries was split into two squads. The former World Ranking Masters champion rebounded from a slow start in Squad B (193) with 247, 223, 268, 200 and 258 for 1389 total.

    Trailing Aldubyyan by 44 pins to sit in second place was Francois Louw (right) of South Africa, who finished his 1345 series with a high game of 257.

    2015KIOAbdulHakimAlSaud.jpgPrince AbdulHakim Al Saud (right) was the best bowler from the host country Saudi Arabia in third place with 1305. He led Squad A behind games of 214, 223, 194, 222, 248 and 204.

    The top three bowlers plus the next Saudi bowler at the end of the qualifying will earn a first-round bye. Talal Altowereb of Saudi Arabia held the 28th and last place to advance to the finals with 1153 or an average of 192.17.

    Qualifying continues on Friday, Dec. 4, with the second block of six games. Squad B starts at 1 p.m. Arabia Standard Time (AST) with the Squad A to follow at 6 p.m.

    2015KingdomOpenLogo_small.jpg The 9th Kingdom International Open Saudi Arabia, the 17th event of the 2015 World Bowling Tour, will be held December 3-7 at Universal Bowling Center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

    Players will compete for total prize fund of roughly 110,000 US Dollar with $25,000 going to the champion, $12,000 to the first runner-up, $7,000 to the third, $4,500 to the fourth and $4,000 to the fifth place finishers. Last-to-cash payout is $1,000 for 32nd place.

    Qualifying (12 games in six game blocks) runs from Dec. 3-5 (Day One: first block; Day Two: second block; Day Three: Optional re-entry - maximum one six-game block).

    Total 32 players will qualify for the finals on Sunday and Monday, Dec. 6 & 7 and will be seeded as follows:
    • Places 1-3: Top 3 qualifiers
    • Place 4: Highest Saudi bowler
    • Places 5-28: Next 24 qualifiers
    • Place 29-32: Four highest Saudi bowlers
    Bowlers ranked 1-4 will bypass the semi-final round. Players ranked 5-32 will bowl eight games scratch to cut to the top 11 plus the next bowler from Saudi Arabia, who will meet the top 4 qualifiers in the final round.

    After another eight-game block scratch, the top five players will advance to the stepladder finals. Players ranked 3-5 will clash in the opening match. The winner takes on the No. 2 seed and the winner of that match meets the No. 1 seed in the championship match. The top seeded player must be defeated twice to win the title.

    The top 16 Asian men will advance to the ninth and final leg of the 2015 Asian Bowling Federation (ABF) Tour which will be contested on Tuesday, Dec. 8 at Universal Bowling Center in Riyadh.

    WBTLogo_small.jpg The 2015 World Bowling Tour, which actually got underway in November 2014, consists of 19 tournaments in 12 countries, eight in the Middle East, seven in the U.S., and two each in Asia and Europe, including seven "majors" (double ranking points) and 12 regular tournaments.

    If a member of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) wins a World Bowling Tour event, it counts as a PBA title.

    Players earn ranking points based on how they finish in each event. The current points system is based on a continuous two-year cycle, so all points from the 2014 and 2015 are added to determine the points list.

    The top three men and top three women in the points list will compete in the season-ending WBT Finals in Indianapolis on Feb. 13, 2016. The qualifying standings for the World Bowling Tour Finals are different to the WBT Ranking as they include all WBT events since Nov. 1, 2013.

    World Bowling provides governance to international bowling and is made up of 134 bowling international federations. For more information on the World Bowling Tour, click here.

    Photos courtesy of Asian Bowling Federation (ABF)

     


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    9th Kingdom International Open - Standings after Qualifying Block 1/3


    Total 32 players will advance. The best Saudi bowler will be seeded fourth; the next four Saudis outside the top 28 will be seeded 29th thru 32nd; players ranked 1-4 will receive a first-round bye.

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