Sports | Tuesday 14 July, 2015 2:35 pm |

The Zayed Sports City Ramadan Bowling Tournament presented by NDC wrote a new chapter in its 15-year legacy with Emirati Hassan Al Suwaidi earning the latest spot on the coveted Ramadan bowling trophy. With 166 participants - the largest ever in the tournament’s history - the nail-biting Open division final tested the talent of the city’s top bowlers and proved the growing strength of the sport among Emiratis.

Al Suwaidi kept his focus against a tough line-up, displaying the finest touch under pressure to claim the champion’s title with a score of 3395. Fellow national team bowler Mahmood Al Attar finished runner-up with a score of 3245, whilst Naif Oqab took third with 3224 points.

Supported by a strong cash pot of AED 149,000 made possible by sponsors NDC, the tournament is considered to be the most prestigious in the region, attracting bowlers from the UAE national team and avid expat bowlers.

Mubarak Al Harthi, Zayed Sports City, Director of Government Relations and Sales commented: “We are very proud to support the country’s bowling legacy and to see such high participation in this year’s tournament. The competition was very strong and the winners worked hard to earn their titles. Congratulations to them on their well-deserved victories, to the staff and volunteers who administered the tournament, and to the National Drilling Company for their generous support.”

Growing in popularity and fuelled with the excitement since it was announced that Abu Dhabi would host the World Bowling Championships in both 2014 and 2015, Emiratis have latched on the sport even harder. Out of the total 166 entrants, 72% were UAE nationals. Among them are women vying to represent their country in the Women’s World Championship at Zayed Sports City from 5 – 14 December.

British student Samantha Hannan led the scores amongst all the women players, and also took the top honours in the Youth division, earning her a large slice of the competition’s prize pool. Samantha’s winning streak looks set to continue, as she now turns her attention to the World Bowling Championship, where she is set to bowl as a pacer with the British national team. 

The Graded Division of the tournament for amateur bowlers with averages of 185 or below saw Filipino talent Shean Aguas take the honours after bowling a stunning 222.0 average throughout the final.

Rounding off the tournament, the Disabled division, which had a record number of entries with a total of 42 participants, saw Tariq Shahab from Dubai Disabled Club A-team bowl the winning score to take the Men’s Singles event title. The Ladies Singles event was dominated by Dubai Disabled Club with Sakena Aziz taking first place with a score of 341.