In Sinai bowling, Mexico and Kuwait took the honours, Ghada Abdel-Kader reports The 10th Sinai International Open Tenpin Bowling Championship for men and women was held in Cairo from 30 April to 8 May at the International Bowling Centre in Nasr City. This year, 120 bowlers from 18 countries participated. Colombia and Mexico were in it for the first time. In the women's Open Stepladder finals, Mexican bowler Teresa Healey won the cup. Healy beat Spaniard Sandra Torrents 204-160 in the final. Colombian Sara Vargas won the bronze. "It is my first time to participate in the championship but it is my third visit to Egypt," Healey said. "It is a very nice competition because people come from all over the world. The tournament is very well organised. People treat you very nicely. I feel so comfortable. "I am very happy that women have become more involved in bowling. There is more participation from Arab women, too. "I took up bowling from my parents," Healey said. "I started playing when I was seven. Bowling was in my family all the time. "The Egyptian team is getting better. I had the opportunity to see the team in the pan-Arab Games. They won a medal and I was very happy for them." In the men's finals, 2006 world ranking Masters champion, Kuwaiti Khaled Al-Dubian, won the gold medal. Qatari Mansour Al-Awami took the silver and another Kuwaiti, Jasim Darwish, the bronze. Al-Dubian ended the final quickly by beating Al-Awami 222-186. It was Darwish's third participation in the championship. "Last year, I was 12 among the top 16." Darwish started practicing six years ago. "My father [a former professional bowler] made me love bowling." Total prize money was $32,000. Al-Dubian took the most, $7,000. Al-Awami received $5,000 and Darwish $3,000. Healey received $3,000, Torrents $2,000 and Vargas $1,500 . In the women's round robin finals: Women's top 8: Healey finished first with 1,814 points, Vargas second with 1,701 and Torrents third with 1,652 points. Egyptian bowler Aliaa Ismail came fourth with 1,636 points, Amal Bakr sixth with 1,503 points, Hala Sharawi seventh with 1,475 and Sherine Saleh last with 1,430 points. "I played for third but unfortunately I lost the game," Ismail said. "Fourth position for me is not bad because this year the competition was fierce and the number of countries was bigger than last year. Ismail is currently preparing for the 20th Asian Tenpin Bowling Championship in Hong Kong from 4 to 13 July. In the men's round robin finals: Men's top 16: Al-Awami came in first with 3,613 points. Al-Dubian was in second with 3,579 points, Bandar Al-Shafi from Qatar third with 3,551 while fourth place was landed by Darwish with 3,473 points. Egypt's Amr Essam finished ninth with total score 3,305. Karim El-Gewaili in 10th position totalled 3,304, Tarek Helmi in spot No 11 with 3,289 and Ziad Anwar came last with 3,089 points. "The competition this year was very strong. The results of the Egyptian players were good," Mohamed Saleh, director of the Egyptian Bowling Federation (EBF), said. "This year, the big names fell and new names came to the surface," Deputy EBF chairman and executive committee member of the Asian Bowling Federation Farouk Haridi said. "This shows the popularity of the game. "We ask the head of the National Sports Council Hassan Sakr to reconsider his decision concerning bringing a foreign coach to the Egyptian team in order to reach international levels."
