Australian pair Jason Belmonte from Orange and Toni Woodcock from Perth are in Kuwait City for this prestigious tournament that Belmonte won last year.
Gulf bowlers feature strongly in the top placings of the 3rd Kuwait International Open Bowling tournament, with Qatari Bandar Al Shafi sharing pole position with Kuwaiti teenager Khaled Al Dubyan after scoring a combined Long and Short Oil total of 3047. Qualifying bowling began mid-April and the top 37 qualifiers (top 27 plus 6 bowlers from the host country and four players from the “desperado” squad) will line up tomorrow morning at Kuwait’s Cosmo Bowling Centre for the start of the matchplay rounds.
Defending champion, Jason Belmonte is currently in 4th position on 2987 and according to tournament rules, this gives the young Aussie automatic qualification for tomorrow’s top 16 open round 3. Belmonte’s nemesis from the recent Istanbul Open, Paul Moor from England is one of the many top-flight international bowlers attracted to Kuwait with the encouragement of the Chairman of the Kuwaiti Federation, and Asian Zone President, Sheik Talal Mohammad Al Sabah.
Popular US bowler Tim Mack is making a come-back after a debilitating shoulder injury last year, and the presence of a swag of top-ranking bowlers from Europe and Asia guarantees a formidable challenge for Belmonte to retain his title.
In the first of the final round matches, bowlers seeded 6-37 after qualifying will bowl 5 games each on Long and Short Oil, with the top 3 players automatically qualifying for open round 3. Bowlers 4-19 will carry forward total pinfall and bowl an additional 3 games on Short and 3 Games Long Oil condition in round 2. The winning 8 players, based on total pinfall from the 16 games of round 1 and 2 will then qualify for round 3 which will be played in best of 5-game matches.
After the field is cut to 8, another series of 5-game matches will determine the 4 players then eligible to bowl the televised 1-game stepladder Final.
Australia’s Toni Woodcock is amongst more than 20 female bowlers in Kuwait to pitch their skills against this highly credentialled international line-up. The 21 year-old Chemist from the Perth suburb of Willeton has a home-grown cheer squad, with her parents currently stationed in Kuwait. Toni’s father, Graham, has been working at weather stations for the past 2 years and it’s been a happy reunion for the family.
While Toni has enjoyed sight-seeing with her parents over the past week, she is now focussing on the stiff competition she faces against some of the world’s top names in women’s bowling.
“At my home centre, Fairlanes City, I average around the 200-mark so I'm pleased to say I'm just a little bit in front of that figure here right now, but the standard of bowling in this tournament is very high and I've got a lot of work to do to lift my game catch up with the leaders," said Toni this evening.
Last year’s 4th place-getter, Putty Armein from Indonesia is currently in the Women’s division lead on 2688, just ahead of Shalin Zulkifli from Malaysia and Denmark’s Britt Bronsted. The top 4 Stepladder final in both the Men’s and Women’s division is scheduled for Sunday, 7 May.
“Story courtesy of Lynne Clay”
From all of us at Totalbowlin.com we wish you both the best of luck. I will try and up date the scores as they go.
Gulf bowlers feature strongly in the top placings of the 3rd Kuwait International Open Bowling tournament, with Qatari Bandar Al Shafi sharing pole position with Kuwaiti teenager Khaled Al Dubyan after scoring a combined Long and Short Oil total of 3047. Qualifying bowling began mid-April and the top 37 qualifiers (top 27 plus 6 bowlers from the host country and four players from the “desperado” squad) will line up tomorrow morning at Kuwait’s Cosmo Bowling Centre for the start of the matchplay rounds.
Defending champion, Jason Belmonte is currently in 4th position on 2987 and according to tournament rules, this gives the young Aussie automatic qualification for tomorrow’s top 16 open round 3. Belmonte’s nemesis from the recent Istanbul Open, Paul Moor from England is one of the many top-flight international bowlers attracted to Kuwait with the encouragement of the Chairman of the Kuwaiti Federation, and Asian Zone President, Sheik Talal Mohammad Al Sabah.
Popular US bowler Tim Mack is making a come-back after a debilitating shoulder injury last year, and the presence of a swag of top-ranking bowlers from Europe and Asia guarantees a formidable challenge for Belmonte to retain his title.
In the first of the final round matches, bowlers seeded 6-37 after qualifying will bowl 5 games each on Long and Short Oil, with the top 3 players automatically qualifying for open round 3. Bowlers 4-19 will carry forward total pinfall and bowl an additional 3 games on Short and 3 Games Long Oil condition in round 2. The winning 8 players, based on total pinfall from the 16 games of round 1 and 2 will then qualify for round 3 which will be played in best of 5-game matches.
After the field is cut to 8, another series of 5-game matches will determine the 4 players then eligible to bowl the televised 1-game stepladder Final.
Australia’s Toni Woodcock is amongst more than 20 female bowlers in Kuwait to pitch their skills against this highly credentialled international line-up. The 21 year-old Chemist from the Perth suburb of Willeton has a home-grown cheer squad, with her parents currently stationed in Kuwait. Toni’s father, Graham, has been working at weather stations for the past 2 years and it’s been a happy reunion for the family.
While Toni has enjoyed sight-seeing with her parents over the past week, she is now focussing on the stiff competition she faces against some of the world’s top names in women’s bowling.
“At my home centre, Fairlanes City, I average around the 200-mark so I'm pleased to say I'm just a little bit in front of that figure here right now, but the standard of bowling in this tournament is very high and I've got a lot of work to do to lift my game catch up with the leaders," said Toni this evening.
Last year’s 4th place-getter, Putty Armein from Indonesia is currently in the Women’s division lead on 2688, just ahead of Shalin Zulkifli from Malaysia and Denmark’s Britt Bronsted. The top 4 Stepladder final in both the Men’s and Women’s division is scheduled for Sunday, 7 May.
“Story courtesy of Lynne Clay”
From all of us at Totalbowlin.com we wish you both the best of luck. I will try and up date the scores as they go.
