15th October, Dubai: 2011 Asian Championships gold medalist, Yousif Falah of Bahrain won his second tour title after he defeated third-seed, Shaker Al Hassan of UAE, 246-168 in the title match of the ABF Tour UAE 2014.
Yousif got off to a better start as Shaker had two early open frames in the second and third. The lanky Bahraini then fired four strikes-in-a-row to open up a huge gap despite Shaker recovered with a double in the fourth and fifth frames.
Another failure to convert a simple spare in the eighth frame by the Emirati more or less decided the tie. Yousif went on to strike out from frame nine to take the match, 246-168 for his second tour title.
Yousif, whose only tour title came back in 2012 when he triumphed at the ABF Tour Egypt leg in Cairo, edged newly-crowned 5th Dubai International Open champion, Hareb Al Mansoori of UAE in a low-scoring first semi-final match, 152-135 to advance to the final.
UAE leg champion, Yousif Falah
Yousif eliminated another Emirati and 5th Dubai Open fourth runner-up, Mahmood Al Attar, 186-152 in Round 2 after earning a bye in the opening round when his opponent failed to show up.
Shaker beat Mohamed Janahi of Bahrain, 218-185 in Round 1 then tour debutant, Paolo Joquico of Philippines, 199-142 in Round 2 to reach the semi-finals. Despite finishing first runner-up, Shaker topped the tour rankings with a massive 219 points from one win, one final, two Round 2 appearances and a Round 1 tie.
Mahmood trailed his compatriot in second with 166 points from one victory in Kuwait, one semi-final in Thailand and one Round 2 tie here. Mohamed Janahi is third with 155.5 points.
This year's ABF Tour consists of nine legs - five in the Middle East without women division and four in East Asia with women division. Two more stops remain after UAE which will be in Indonesia and Saudi Arabia. Bowlers earn points in each of the leg contested and the top 16 men and top 16 women in the rankings will qualify for the ABF Tour Tournament of Champions.
For further information and details, please contact ABF Tour Committee at Tel: +852 2893 6039, Fax: +852 2893 6290; Email: hktbc@netvigator.com.
Photos by Terence Yaw in Dubai, UAE.
| Back |