13th October, Dubai: Asian Games Incheon 2014 Masters bronze medalist, Shaker Al Hassan of UAE secured a bye for Round 3 finals after finishing third in the Open qualifying standins of the 5th Dubai International Open Bowling Tournament on Monday.
Shaker registered 694, 710 and 730 for a 9-game tally of 2134 to finished third in the standings behind leader and 2012 champion, Kim Bolleby of Sweden in the lead with 2174 and compatriot, Naif Oqab in second with 2172.
Naif made two attempts today but failed to better his total while a third national bowler and 2014 Hong Kong Open champion, Hussain Al Suwaidi also made two attempts to improve his total to 2085.
Hussain had tied with defending champion, Mahmood Al Attar on 2066 and would have to break the tie with a one-game roll-off to detemine who would earn the fourth slot reserved for the top Emirati, Hussain’s improvement secured him that crucial bye.
Second perfect gamer, Ghalib Al Busaidi of Oman also made two attempts today to try and reclaim a top bracket spot but settled for fourth on 2090.
Several players made in roads into the top 24 standings. They were ABF Tour Bahrain first runner-up, Anthony Balabbo of Philippines in 12th position with2037 and Salem Al Hajras of Kuwait taking up 14th position with 2023.
Newly-crowned Women champion, Samantha Hannan of England also made the cut in 17th position with 2001 so did Women division first runner-up, Uella Marcial of Philippines in 23rd position with 1966.
The cut current at 24th position as predicted to be around 1950, went up slightly to 1962 and is being held by Hassan Al Zaabi of UAE. Missing the cut is Mohd Sultan Al Matrooshi of UAE with 1949.
A one-game desperado squad will be held after the 11.30pm last squad to allow the top 4 finishers to join Round 2 finals.
Qualifiers positioned 5 to 24 will contest the 8-games Round 2 finals tomorrow at 10.00 am local Dubai time. The field will be cut to the top 12 after Round 2 and will be joined by the top 4 seeded qualifiers for another 8 games in Round 3 finals.
The top 5 finishers will then proceed to the stepladder finals shootout for the top prize of 60,000 AED. The top 16 Asians will also qualify for the ABF Tour UAE leg which will be held on October 15.