New South Welshman Matt Riley showed why he is one of the strongest forces and will be for years to come by taking out the 2008 Australian Open at AMF Sunshine on the weekend.

Riley, 30, won his first title of the season and his second major since his maiden Australian Open win in 2000, by defeating Queenslander and defending champion George Frilingos, 406-375.

Riley in his second year of married life said "I would like to dedicate this win to my Dad, who passed away some 12 months ago only two days after my wedding. It's always a good feeling to beat one of the best players in the country", he added.

The No. 2 seed Riley advanced to the title match with a 460-382 commanding victory over No. 3 seed Brenton Davy of South Australia. Davy never looked quite settled in his match struggling to string any strikes in his first game, and was on the back foot going into game two 93 pins in the rears. Riley took advantage with four consecutive strikes and then again in frames six through nine. Closing all frames along the way, to really lock Davy out!

AMF Sunshine the home of the Australian Open, played host to74 bowlers from all parts of Australia. 74 Bowlers with friends and family spending the Easter holiday long weekend in the Victorian Capital, in 2-eight game block appearances, trying to qualify for stage two of the event.

Frilingos started strong in his title defense, and was never challenged from game one of qualifying until the title match was contested over the two games against Riley.

The right side played tough all weekend yet Riley seemed to have the best look on the fresh. Going to the TV pair freshly oiled for the finals, Riley was brimming with confidence.

SA Cup champion Andrew McArthur of the Northern Territory shot a perfect score 300 on lanes 13 and 14 in Game 14 of qualifying to narrowly miss the second stage by a mere 18 pins. Victorian Frank Bell with a gallant 202 last game, unfortunately wasn't enough to make the first cut narrowly missing by 1 pin.

Stage two had 26 men in a six game sprint racing for a top 10 finals spot. Jarrod Lean of New South Wales set an early pace with a 290 game straight out of the blocks, but it was the lefty from Queensland Frilingos who shot the house down with scores of 237, 255, 237, 225, 224, 258 and a six game total of 1436. Australian Masters champion Mac Stewart throwing a 7 count on his last ball narrowly missing the top 10 match play by 1 pin.

The top 10 players swapped positions throughout the 9 games of head to head match play, trying to force their way into the televised finals positions. The top two seeds secured their positions early, but the last position was open to a handful of bowlers.

Davy with the one game to go shutting out local favorite David Porto, 211-189, to finish in third spot. Michael Little rounded out the top 5 with a last game of 278.

Next stop is the 2008 Arafura Classic in Darwin, May 16-18, 2008.