Dubai: Newcomer Faisal Khamis of Abu Dhabi defeated No 4 seed and fellow countryman Sultan MK Al Qubaisi in the second deciding stepladder match to clinch the Graded division title at the 1st Dubai International Bowling Tournament late on Wednesday.
The top seed Khamis lost the first match to challenger Al Qubaisi 192-266, forcing a sudden-death decider. But the 24-year-old police officer bounced back to beat Al Qubaisi 212-180 to clinch his first title since taking up the sport three years ago.
Leading from start
The newly crowned champion had led from start to finish in the earlier eight-games finals with a total of 1608, 18 pins ahead of Ali Ahmad of UAE who was on 1590.
Michael Bruenjes of Germany finished third with 1573 while Al Qubaisi occupied the final stepladder spot with 1565.
Al Qubaisi ousted No. 3 seed Bruenjes 202-191 in the first match to set a meeting against No 2 seed Ahmad. He edged past the second seed Ali 174-166 to earn the right to challenge for the title against Khamis.
Despite beating the top seed in the first match, Al Qubaisi's fine run came to an end when he lost to Khamis in the deciding match. The Abu Dhabi lad went on to win Dh25,000 with the title while Al Qubaisi settled for Dh13,000. The third and fourth placed finishers took home Dh7,500 and Dh6,000 respectively.
Samantha Hannan from Great Britain missed the stepladder but finished as the best woman competing against the men in fifth position with 1552, while the UAE's Hashim Al Hashimi, who trailed Khamis in the early stages dropped to sixth.
After the end of qualifying for the Open division the finals will be held today.
The tournament's main sponsor is Grand Capital LLC and is jointly organized by Grand Capital and Dubai International Bowling Centre.
