BAHRAIN national team bowler Sami Noor bagged the seniors title in the Zain Bahrain Summer Slam, which concluded late Saturday night at the Bapco Club bowling centre in Awali, reports Patrick Salomon.
Noor, who is nicknamed by his peers as ‘The Rocket’, defeated Yousef Falah in the title-deciding game of the step-ladder final round to claim his crown. He had earlier grabbed the number one seed after the semi-final stage, giving him a direct berth in the last step and a twice-to-beat advantage against whomever he would face.
Earlier in the day, Noor played an average of 216.00 over six games to top a field of 12 semi-finalists. Falah was second with a 207.83 average, and Ahmed Rahimi was third on a 206.50 mark. Taha Ebrahim was fourth on 203.00 and Ahmed Abduljabbar fifth on 196.17.
The top five all advanced to the step-ladder finals, which began with Ebrahim and Abduljabbar going head to head.
Ebrahim overcame his rival 224-177 to climb the ladder and meet third seed Rahimi, who in turn defeated Ebrahim 183-140. Rahimi’s hopes of advancing further were dashed, however, as he faced Falah in the next game. Falah, who is nicknamed ‘The Golden Boy’, started off with six strikes in a row, and he carried his momentum to the very end as he comfortably outplayed Rahimi 244-154, setting up the meeting with Noor for the title.
In the finale, Noor was determine to secure the victory, and did not gave Falah even the slightest of chances of mounting a serious challenge. Noor began the game with three consecutive strikes, followed by a number of spares. He finished it off with three more strikes while taking full advantage of Falah’s opening frame at the end to claim the crown.
The final games and ensuing closing ceremony were attended by Zain Bahrain business relationship manager Abdulrahman Al Shamlan, Zain Bahrain public relations specialist Ghazi Radhi, and honorary chairman of tournament organisers Awali Bowling Club (ABC) Majeed Shafea.
Noor was joined as one of the top bowlers being honoured by youth category champion Ali Hassan Fakhro.
Both winners received cash prizes for claiming their respective divisions, with Noor taking home BD500 and Fakhro claiming BD70. The rest of the top 18 seniors and top 12 juniors also received money.
On the occasion of the closing, ABC chairman Abdulla Raees expressed his sincere appreciation and gratitude to management of Zain Bahrain for supporting the club’s activities, and wished for such sponsorship to continue in years to come.
FINAL RANKINGS AND CASH PRIZES
SENIORS: 1 Noor BD500, 2 Falah BD300, 3 Rahimi BD200, 4 Taha BD120, 5 Abduljabbar BD100, 6 Qaseer BD60, 7-12 Faisal, Saberi, Nabeel, Talal, Sharif, Taqi BD50 each, 13-15 Al Gaoud, Mersal, Daraj BD40 each, 16-18 Al Mas, Al Shaikh and Qaed, BD25 each. HIGH QUALIFIERS: Saberi BD30, Noor BD20, Falah BD10.
YOUTH: 1 Fakhro BD70, 2 Al Abdulla BD65, 3 Dana BD50, 4 Abdulrahman BD40, 5 Janahi BD30, 6 and 7 Ali and Murbati BD20 each, 8-12 Al Awadhi, Faisal, Noora, Layla, Fouad BD15 each.