In the Police Open Championship for Bowling Mahmoud Mazloum of the Egyptian Police Sports Federation won the gold medal. Ghada Abd El-Kader covered the tournament Fahd Al-Rugheib from the Kuwaiti Police Federation Club took silver and Karim El-Gowali of Egypt the bronze medal. "I have been playing this game for five years," Al-Rugheib of Kuwait, 27, said. "One of my colleagues in school was bowling. I watched and liked it very much." Mazloum doubles as coach of the Egyptian Shooting Club. The director of a bowling centre, Mazloum said bowling was not very well known in Egypt. "It needs a lot of patience, accuracy, discipline, and physical and mental effort." The coach of the Kuwait Police Sports Federation Nour El-Emari began bowling 20 years ago. "I'm still playing the game and at the same time I am the team coach." Kuwait, with six players, was making its debut at the tournament. "In Kuwait, bowling is popular but there are not many women," El-Emari said. "A bowler has to love the game to continue in it." In the women's event, Suzan El-Azabi from the Interior Club won the cup while Aliaa Ismail took second. Hamsa Ahmed from the Egyptian Police Sports Federation club won both third place and first place in the juniors. "Bowling was a hobby," Ahmed, 20, said. "Then I was selected for the national team. I participated every year in all national championships starting from 2004 and placed second. "It is suitable for men and women," Ahmed added. In the youth competition, Ayman Hashim of the Egyptian Police Sports Federation Club won the gold while Sherif Hossam from Shooting Club took the silver medal. Mohamed Merdash, also of the police, won the bronze. Merdash, 18, had won the juniors cup in 2006. "I admired the game and my coach Rashid encouraged me." Merdash took first place in the national championships in 2006 and second in the Hurghada Championship the same year. He has been playing for eight years and will participate in the World Cup in Germany 2008 and in the Beijing Olympics. "I've encouraged a lot of my friends to start bowling," Merdash told Al-Ahram Weekly. In men juniors' event, from the Egyptian Police Sports Federation Club Alex Alexander won the gold medal, Mohamed Abdel-Fattah won the silver medal and Ahmed Mustafa El-Baghdadi the bronze medal. "It's my first time to participate in this championship and I am so glad," Abdel-Fattah, 15, said. In the women's junior event, Omneya Mustafa won her second title. "I am so happy to win," Mustafa, 20, said. "I hope in the coming championship to win the cup. I dedicate my prize to my mother who has always encouraged me." Mustafa started bowling five years ago. In the Sinai International Open Bowling Championship in 2006, she finished fifth. "Bowling is considered the second most difficult game in the world in the Guinness Book of World Records," said Rashid Wahid, coach of the Egyptian Police Sports Federation for 14 years. "The alley is different from any other game. It varies. A line has to be fixed every five minutes. "This game needs a lot of practice. The players are also different. Twelve bowlers participated in this championship -- men, women and juniors. The bowlers have to be talented, disciplined and patient. It looks from the outside an easy game, someone just shooting the ball, but on the contrary, it is difficult." Bowlers must determine their true skills in such areas as accuracy, consistency, the ability to read lanes, and spare shooting skills to succeed. The game also needs coaching for strategy and technique. It's expensive, too. Bowling equipment like shirts, balls, shoes, towels, bags, wrist support and finger aids are very expensive. The main problem is that the lane needs a lane machine, oil and lane surfaces with specific criteria. "Still, it's very popular in Egypt among youth. The number of bowling centres in Egypt is good," Wahid said. Egyptian coach Mohamed Wagdi El-Kurdi defends the game. "Bowling is a new game. It isn't as popular in Egypt as in European countries for several reasons. It's an expensive game. Each ball costs LE2,500. "Second, there are no sponsors for the players. Taxes on equipment are too high. Renting bowling centres is also very expensive. The federation does its best and has set up a school for teaching bowling." The school, located in the International Centre of Bowling in Medinet Nasr, costs LE100 per month. Equipment is free. The Egyptian federation organised the second Police Open Championship for Bowling from 17-20 March. It was held at the Bandar bowling centre in Maadi. Clubs Shooting, Wadi Degla, Aviation, Interior, Police, Zamalek, Shams, the Egyptian Police Sports Federation and Kuwaiti Police Federation took part in the four-day event. The championship comprised 53 bowlers -- men, women, youth and juniors under-16. Each bowler played 16 rounds over three days. In the semi final the best eight bowlers from each group played in what is called round roping. In the final, the best four players played step-ladder. The fourth played against the third player. The winner played the second best player and the winner faced the No 1 for the title.
