KUWAIT: Competition has heated up between teams of South East Asia to top the medals tally of the 25th Asian Bowling Tenpin Championship being held at the Kuwait Bowling Center in Salmiya, which saw Kuwait's doubles team of Saleh Habeeb and Jassim Al-Saqer perform very well, then China was able to get in the competition with Malaysia and South Korea which was very strong in the early days of the event, and will continue today with the competition of threes for men and women, which are dominated by teams from these countries.


The teams of five players for women will start today morning, while the same for men will start in the afternoon session.
It was China's day on Thursday to grab the gold medal in the men's double of the 25th Asian Bowling Tenpin Championship while Kuwait's team ended in fifth place.


The Chinese team of Du Jianchao and Wang Hongbo made the highest score of 2,901 surpassing the Indonesian team of Yeri Ramadona and Diwan Rezaldy who scored 2,845 point, that was good enough for silver, while the South Koreans Kim Junyung and Kang Heewon took the bronze with 2,842. Kuwait's players Jassim Al-Saqer and Saleh Habeeb took fifth place with 2,825 points.


Kuwaiti player Jasim Al-Saqer said that he along with his team mate Saleh Salem went into competition with ambitions to win one of the medals and were that close until the last throw of the last round failed to get the required score. Al-Saqer said the current championship is with a high technical level as the South East Asians countries, Malaysia and Indonesia showed great development besides the traditional powers. He said the championship is a great opportunity for Kuwaiti players to gain experience at the International level.


He said Kuwait players will work hard to make up for what they have missed during the upcoming competitions, and valued the support of the bowling club for all players of Kuwait's men and women's teams.
Meanwhile, Pakistan's team manager Raja Ahmad Mustaqeem lauded the high caliber organization of the championship. He said "I visited Kuwait in 2013 to participate in the Kuwait open championship, but this time everything is different, and was a pleasant surprise for me, starting with the organization, competition and finally, medals ceremonies".
He said "what I am seeing now surpasses world events in accuracy and organization".


Mustaqeem said his team seeks to represent its country as should be, because it is difficult to win a medal in any event because of strong competition and young players with little experience.

By Abdellatif Sharaa