Abu Dhabi: The 16th Armed Forces Officers Club (AFOC) Ramadan Festival has provided a golden opportunity for the UAE’s national bowling team to prepare for the Asian Bowling Championship, which takes place in Hong Kong from September 2-9.
All the UAE players — Shaker Ali, Naif Ogab, Mahmoud Al Attar, Syed Ebrahim, Hareb Al Mansouri, and Hussain Al Suwaidi — are taking part in the bowling event at the AFOC Festival, in addition to former FIQ World Cup winner Mohammad Khalifa Al Qubaisi, the chairman of the UAE Bowling Federation, and Patrick Hailey, the former coach of the UAE and Kuwait teams.
Al Qubaisi proved he is still an outstanding bowler by leading the preliminary round with a total of 1,210 in a series of six games, followed by Al Attar with 1,209, and Ali with 1,206. Those three players have almost secured their places in the semi-finals of the competition, which ends on Tuesday.
“I prefer to wait and see what the other competitors will do because they already know our score and will be doing their best to break it in order to reach the semi-final round.” Al Attar said. “But I am happy and proud to have taken second place behind Mohammad [Al Qubaisi] because he is one of the best in the world and to be one single point behind him is a big achievement for me.”
Football competition
In the football competition, Abu Dhabi Club for Special Needs (ADCSN) beat Ammroc 2-0 to lead Group B, while Air Force and Adma drew 1-1, and SGME beat Esnad 5-3 yesterday.
The Land Force lead Group A with six points, while Khalidiya, SGME, and International Group share the leadership of Group C with three points each. National Drilling Company and General Directorate of Central Operations share the leadership of Group E with six points.
Meanwhile, Al Fuad Sports Club dominated the first day of the Mubadala Ramadan Football Challenge, scoring the biggest victory as they trounced Shammr 5-0.
In other matches, Stars lost to ASCCS 4-1, Abu Dhabi drew 0-0 with Al Saigal, Lambos beat Italia 4-0, Zayed’s Sons beat Al Sa’ada 1-0, Thunder overcame German Home 2-1, Al Muroor beat Safe 3-1, and Al Fuhood defeated Eagles FC with the same result.
