Qatari duo grabs men's doubles lead

MANILA, Philippines - Newly arrived Khalid Al-Dossari and Abdulla Haroom of Qatar immediately made their presence felt, combining for 849 pinfalls to seize the men’s Class O doubles lead in the 39th Philippine International Open Tenpin Bowling Championships last Thursday.

Al-Dossari rolled lines of 188 and 248 for 436 card while Haroom 257 and 156 for 413 as they dislodged the erstwhile front-running Filipino tandems to second with similar 814 outputs each at the Paeng’s Midtown Bowl inside the Robinson’s Place in Ermita, Manila.

National pool bowlers Frederick Ong (368) and Benshir Layoso (416) were tied with BALP-BTBA’S Nikko Go (398) and Jay Carabeo (416) in the event organized by the Philippine Bowling Congress and sponsored by UPHS Dalta and Jonelta Systems, Pagcor Sports, DOT, PSC, PCSO, Amway and Colgate Palmolive.

The duo of youthful Krizziah Tabora, the 2008 ladies’ masters champion, (430) and World Games bronze medalist Liza del Rosario (369) kept the lead in the distaff side with a combined tally of 699.

But the unheralded squad of Madeline Llamas and Rachelle Leon eased into second place after teaming up for 730 after shooting 372 and 358, respectively, while teammates Alexis Sy (358) and Kim Lao (364) slipped to third with a 722 aggregate.

Layoso also hogged the solo spotlight after soaring to the top of the men’s Class O singles with a crackling three-game series of 732 after burning the lanes with scores of 244, 241 and 247, good for a sharp 244 average.

Carrying the colors of MTBA-Heinrich, Layoso bumped teammate Ong, also a member of the TBAM-Prima squad, to second place (677) while ex-world masters titlist Biboy Rivera, another TBAM-Prima bet, slipped to third (673).

Seasoned campaigner Liza Clutario remained on top of the ladies’ Class O standings with a 661, but Alexis Sy and Lara Posadas were the new faces in the No. 2 and No. 3 spots after shooting 603 and 594, respectively.

The meet is sanctioned by both the World Tenpin Bowling Association and Asian Bowling Federation and serves as part of the national team tryouts to the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China in November.