Singaporean grabs lead
7th April, Manama: Singapore's Remy Ong topped the second block of qualifying rounds at the 8th Kingdom of Bahrain International Open to assure himself a spot in the Stage 2 semifinals. Local keglers, Mahdi Assad and Sami Noor had dominated the first block of qualifying the past two days by occupying first and second position. Mahdi registered 1958 and 1867 in his two 8-game squads for a total of 3825 for top spot.
Sami downed 1973 and 1830 for an aggregate 16-game total 3803 for second position. Hong Kong's Cyrus Cheung, who posted the first perfect game of the tournament, posted 1941 and 1802 for a total of 3743 to take up third spot.
In the second block, World and Asian champion, Remy Ong outshone his opponents by posting 1891 in the first 8-game squad and set the lanes at Fun Land Bowling Center on fire as he reeled in 1954 to top the second block with 3845.
Ong had managed 3612 from two squads of 1686 and 1926 and was sixth overnight. Bahrain's Mohammad Sultan and Yousif Falah, who missed the second perfect game, settled for second and third with 3699 and 3691 respectively.
Hong Kong's Vanessa Fung did well to become the best female performer in the block. Fung downed 1882 and 1784 to finish fourth with 3666 while Ahmed Al-Noami of Bahrain rounded up the top 5 with a total of 3664.
Remy Ong thus lead the overall standings with 3845 ahead of two Bahrainis, Mahdi Assad and Sami Noor in second and third with 3825 and 3803. Cyrus Cheung completed the top 4 with 3743.
The third and final block of qualifying will be contested on Wednesday and Thursday. A total of 38 bowlers - top 2 from each of the three blocks will be seeded 1 to 6 and earn a bye into Stage 2 finals.
The top 26 plus next four Bahrainis, one best female and the defending champion will bowl 8 games in Stage 1 finals on April 10. The top 12 will be joined by the six seeded from the preliminary blocks to bowl another 8 games on April 11 to determine the top 5 advancing into the stepladder finals.
Detailed scores: Open Qualifying Standings | Open Block 2 Squad B.Photos by Terence for SBF.