JEDDAH, 23 April 2008 — Shaker Al-Hassan of the UAE was the lone man left standing at the end of the grueling battle for the major prizes and emerged champion in the 2nd Kingdom International Open Bowling Tournament which ended on Monday night at Universal Bowling Center in Riyadh.
Al-Hassan came from the winners bracket of the double elimination format over two games total pinfalls in the finals, beating compatriot Naif Oqab 224-228 to climax his undefeated run to the title.
Oqab earned a shot at Al-Hassan, who had a twice to beat privilege, by beating four-time Word Cup champion and Filipino bowling icon Rafael “Paeng” Nepomuceno in two games 473 (256-217) to 423 (208-215)
Al-Hassan received the top prize of $30,000, Oqab the second-place prize of $18,000 and Nepomuceno the third-place prize of $12,000.
Prince Sultan ibn Fahd, president of the General Presidency of Youth Welfare, and Sheikh Talal Al-Mohammed Al-Sabah, president of the Asian Bowling Federation, handed out prizes to the winners during the prize distribution ceremony. Talal Toweireib was the best-placed Saudi in the 17-day tournament, a feat that earned him $3,600 in addition to the $6,000 he pocketed for placing fifth.
Saudi Bowling Federation President Ibrahim Juraifani praised this year’s championship and said, “Bowling is now becoming popular among Saudi youth and we have seen that from the large numbers of attendees who came to support their national team.
“The championship is one of the important events held in Saudi Arabia to promote bowling and this is a good sign we are moving forward and hopefully each year it will become better.”
Meanwhile, the Saudi national team will fly today to Kuwait to participate in the Kuwait International Open Bowling Championship that also counts as qualifying tournament for the Asian Bowling Championship.
Final standings and prize money are as follows:
1. Shaker Al-Hassan (UAE) $30,000 2. Naif Oqab (UAE) $18,000 3. Rafael Nepomuceno (Philippines) $12,000 4. Mahmoud Mazloum (Egypt) $10,000 5. Talal Toweireib (Saudi Arabia) $6,000 6. Bandar Al-Shafi (Qatar) $6,000 7. Josh Blanchard (USA) $5,000 8. Patrick Healey (USA) $5,000 9. Tim Mack (USA) $4,000 10. Bader Al-Sheikh (Saudi Arabia) $4,000 11. Ronnei Russell (USA) $4,000 12. Khalid Al-Dousari (Qatar) $4000 13. Shaikh Abdulhameed (India) $3,000 14. Faisal Sugati (Saudi Arabia) $3,000 15. Mohammed Al-Saud (Saudi Arabia) $3,000 16. Lucas Legnani (Argentina) $3,000 17. Fahad Al-Amadi (Qatar) $2,000 18. Humberto Vazques (Mexico) $2,000 19. Hassan Al-Sheikh (Saudi Arabia) $2,000 20. Phoemphun Yaksem (Thailand) $2,000 21. Yousif Al-Jaber (Qatar) $2,000 22. Andres Gomez (Colombia) $2,000 23. Yasser Abureesh (Saudi Arabia) $2,000 24. Ziad Anwar (Egypt) $2,000 25. Yousef Akbar (Saudi Arabia) $1,200 26. Mansour Al-Awami (Qatar) $1,200 27. Prince Abdulhakim ibn Musaed (Saudi Arabia) $1,200 28. Jasim Darweish (Kuwait) $1,200 29. Abdullah Haroon (Qatar) $1,200 30. Andrew Frawley (Australia) $1,200 31. Mubarak Al-Muraikhi (Qatar) $1,200, 32. Majid Aslani (Saudi Arabia) $1,200. Bowlers from the 33rd to 48th positions each received $800.
