Sole Singaporean advances into next stage

1st March, Doha: Newcomer, Benjamin Hong of Singapore advanced into the next stage of the H.H. Emir’s Cup 2012 after finishing sixth in the Step 1 Finals while national bowler, Remy Ong failed to make the cut.

Benjamnin Hong, bowling for the first time in this region, had an average start with 206, 183, 205, 191 and 190 in his first five games as his compatriot, Remy Ong struggled slightly with 219, 173, 215, 184 and 190 to lie mid-field of 30 finalists.

But Hong got himself going nicely with 247 and 243 to haul himself up into the top 10 while Ong continued to find difficulty in adapting to the extremely challenging lane conditions.

Hong ended the Step 1 finals with 210 for a total of 1675 placing him in sixth position. Stuart Williams of England snatched pole position in the final game with 246 for a total of 1818.

Pace-setter and 2009 champion, Patrick Healey Jnr of USA settled for second position with 1802 while Australia’s Andrew Frawley took third spot with 1769.

Kuwait’s Jassem Darwish and Qatar’s Yousef Al-Jaber completed the top 5 with 1752 and 1682 respectively. Ong ended a dismal 24th position with 1473.Finland’s Joonas Jahi and Bahrain’s Yousif Falah tied seventh position with 1666 followed by defending champion Dominic Barrett of England in ninth position with 1660.

Newly-crowned Dubai Open, Kim Bolleby of Sweden occupied the tenth and final spot with 1614. Qatar’s Mohammed Jamal missed the cut by 8 pins to finish 11th while the top youth was Abdulrahman Jaidah of Qatar taking up 12th position.

The top 10 will advance into Step 2 finals for another 8 games from scratch, joined by the top 6 seeded qualifiers. The top 4 at the end of the finals will qualify for the Step 3 knockout finals.

The No. 1 seed will meet the No. 4 seed and the No. 2 seed to face the No. 3 seed over two games total pinfalls.

The winners of Step 3 finals will meet in the Step 4 title match again over two games total pinfalls to determine the champion, who will win the top prize of US$27,000. Second will receive US$13,500 while third and fourth placings will earn US$4,000 each.Photos by Terence Yaw in Doha.