BOWLING – ELITE bowlers from across the region and around the world are set to descend on the kingdom for the 2025 edition of the Bahrain Bowling Federation’s (BBF) National Day Tournament, which gets underway today at Funland Centre.
The competition offers an attractive total prize fund of $20,000, and it is being held as part of the BBF’s celebrations of the kingdom’s National Day. It is one of the most prominent events on the annual BBF calendar, and it is scheduled to continue until January 3.
The tournament begins with the first day of qualifying from 10am today. This stage continues until New Year’s Day.
Players must play at least three trials – each comprising three games – for their score to be recognised for the ensuing knockouts. Women’s bowlers and youth participants born in 2007 and after will receive a seven-pin handicap per game, according to the tournament’s rules.
Following qualification, the eliminations will take place across three rounds to set up the semi-finals and eventually the final. These stages will take place on January 2 and 3.
The top three bowlers from qualifying will advance directly to the third elimination phase along with the best Bahraini. Participants ranked fifth through seventh will go straight to round two along with the best junior Bahraini born in 2004 and after.
Bowlers ranked ninth through 18th from the qualification will make it through to round one, which will feature a 20-player field that will compete over six games. The others in this stage include the two highest-ranked women’s bowlers from qualifying, the two highest-ranked youth, two highest-ranked senior bowlers born in 1975 and earlier, the two highest-ranked players from an Early Bird phase, and two other highest-ranked competitors from the desperado qualifying stage.
At the end of round one, the eight top-placed competitors based on total pinfalls will join the four bowlers already waiting in round two to form a 12-player line-up that will compete over another six games.
Then, the top four based on total pinfalls will make it through to round three to join the four who already advanced directly from qualification. These eight bowlers will be divided into two groups, where they will face one another in a round-robin.
The top two from each group will punch their tickets to the semi-finals, where the first seeds will take on the second seeds in a pair of single-game head-to-head matches. The winners will move on to battle each other for the title in the final, while the losers will clash for third place – both also over one game each.
Ahead of today’s start of play, BBF secretary general Issa Taqi affirmed that the BBF’s National Day Tournament is an important event on the annual bowling calendar. He noted that all organisational and technical preparations are complete and that the BBF gives great importance to holding the competition at a high level.
He highlighted that the championship is expected to witness a large turnout, given its competitive and enthusiastic atmosphere, embodying the convergence of sports with national events.
Saudi Arabia’s Abdulrahman Al Khalawi won last year’s edition while compatriot Abdulmajed Al Aslani was the runner-up. Kuwait’s Abdulsalam Al Saqr completed the podium finishers in third place.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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