BOWLING – Riffa powered to a clean sweep of lowly Al Ettifaq to wrap up the first round of the 2026 Bahrain Bowling League atop the standings.
The defending champions blanked their opponents 8-0 in their week seven match-up, played at Funland Centre’s lanes.
Riffa won all three games and came away with the maximum points after also taking a 2,378-1,883 triumph on totals.
They got off to a strong start by securing game one 834-637 and then maintained their strong form in a 749-605 triumph in game two.
Riffa then closed out the contest with a 795-641 outcome in game three.
Ahmed Al Khaja paced the victors with a 708 series, while JM Villanueva added 578 and Mohammed Ali Janahi scored 577.
Ahmed Al Goud completed their line-up with a 515 total.
Al Khaja also posted Riffa’s high game of the night, twice scoring 258 in their win.
Sameer Ahmed led Ettifaq with a 530 series.
With the result, Riffa improved to 52 points in solo first place, while Ettifaq stayed at the very bottom of the table with six points.
Meanwhile, Bahrain Club kept within striking distance of the league leaders with their own 8-0 (2,373-2,094) victory against Al Hala.
Bahrain Club convincingly won the first two games 807-679 and 786-673 but then needed to dig deep to overcome Hala’s spirited fight in the third, which was decided 780-742.
Aqeel Al Awadhi was Bahrain Club’s top man with a 649 series, while teammate Abdulla Abdulkarim posted a 590 score.
Khaled Sameer chipped in with 588, while Ahmed Fareed had a 546 outing.
Mohammed Bahar led Hala with a 581 total while Abdulrahman Bahar scored 530.
Bahrain Club rose to 46 points in second place on the standings while Hala remained sixth on 20.
Um Al Hassam were also 8-0 (2,376-2,082) winners, outplaying Sanad in their clash.
Um Al Hassam swept their rivals 771-639, 865-767, and 740-676 in the three games, where they were led by Ahmed Al Ansari’s sensational 715 series – the high score for the week.
He was consistent throughout the match and also registered the week’s high game.
Teammate Talal Al Abdulla had a strong showing with a 620 total, while Zeyad Al Awadhi scored 523 and Mohammed Al Ansari 518.
For Sanad, Sayed Moosa had a 543 total and Mustafa Hasan scored 542.
Um Al Hassam completed the top three on the standings at the end of the league’s first round with 42 points, while Sanad ranked fourth on 26.
In the last contest of the seventh week of play, Busaiteen edged Isa Town 6-2 (2,169-2,047).
Busaiteen won the first and third games 683-617 and 790-711 and took the extra two points with the superior total.
Isa Town claimed the second game of their match 719-696.
Abdulrahman Al Ali led Busaiteen with a 602 total while Yousif Al Ali scored 540, Mohammed Al Shawoosh 532, and Yaser Al Khan 495.
Shaker Darraj paced Isa Town’s resistance with a 565 series while Ahmed Hasan chipped in with 536 pins.
Busaiteen improved to 24 points on the standings whereas Isa Town remained second-from-bottom with eight markers.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
&uuid=(email))