Dubai: There was no change in the leadership in either divisions, but the competition started getting a bit intense at the inaugural Dubai International Bowling Tournament at the end of the twelfth day at the Dubai Bowling Centre, on Monday.
The UAE's Naif Oqab continues in pursuit of overnight leader Wu Siu Hong of Hong Kong while Oqab's national teammate Hussain Al Suwaidi is in third with an average of 237.0 in the Open division. Mahmoud Al Attar continued in fourth and Filipino Biboy Rivera was in fifth.
There was some movement, though lower down, in the Graded division with Qatari Mohammad Ahmad Al Shaabi making a surge towards the top with series rolls of 604, 654 and 624 for an average of 209.1, the same as the UAE Hashim Al Hashemi who is in third. The Qatari bowler recorded the highest series of 654, while Yousuf Falah took the honours in the Open division with a series of 708.
On top
At the top of the standings is Faisal Khamis followed by Filipina Uella Marcial with 218.7 and 210.6 respectively.
The Kuwaiti duo of Abdullah Ahmad and Mohammad Habib made their presence felt on the penultimate day of qualifying with averages of 208.8 and 208.1 respectively to occupy fifth and sixth places.
The top-16 in the Graded division will be decided so that they can compete for the final to be held from 3pm today.
Open division
In the Open division, the top eight will advance to Round 3 while players from 9-24 will contest in Round 2 for classification on February 25.
The final will be played over eight games, first to choose the best four who will then contest on a step-ladder format to decide the winner, from 2pm on February 26.
