Bowling will make its maiden appearance in the pan-Arab Games, reports Ghada Abd El-Kader Bowling will be making its debut in the pan- Arab Games that Egypt will host in November, and the country is ready to win the premiere. The championship will be held at the International Bowling Centre in Nasr City. Egypt will participate with six men and four women. Competition is expected to be stiff since Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia have world champions. Indeed, the third best player in the world is Saudi and the Saudi team consistently ranks in the world's top 16. "It's a big challenge for us," said Rashid Wahid, coach of the Egyptian Police Sports Federation, the most successful bowling club in Egypt. To prepare for the occasion, an advisor, Canadian coach Alan Tone, who has had stints managing Malaysia and Bahrain, was brought. Egyptian coach of the bowling team Mohamed Wagdi El-Kurdi said the squad's target is the Arab championship and the women's team world championship. For both events, training is in the morning and evening. "The performance of the bowlers isn't just good; it's outstanding," El-Kurdi. The Egyptian bowling cup for teams, which was held from 30 June to 4 July, was played like the World Championship, meaning 80 bowlers from nine clubs participated. Each club entered six bowlers. Each team competed in individual, double, and triple events. Then, the best 16 bowlers qualified for the individual competition. The winners went on to the Masters finals, playing 16 games. The winners then qualified for the finals. In the individual competition for men, Tarek Helmi from Wadi Degla Club won the cup. Belal Abdu and Mahmoud Mazloum from the Egyptian Police Sports Federation Club won second and third place. In the doubles event, Amr Essam and Helmi from Wadi Degla Club won the gold medals. Amgad Magdi and Karim Sherif from the Egyptian Police Sports Federation Club won the silver medals. Yasser El-Sherbini and Sherif Abdel-Moniem from the Interior Club won the bronze. In the triple event, Magdi, Sherif and Mazloum from the Egyptian Police Sports Federation Club won the gold medals. El-Sherbini, Mustafa Abul-Saoud and Sherif Abdel-Moniem from the Interior Club won the silver. Amr Essam, Yanni George and Tarek Helmi from the Wadi Degla Club won bronze. In the final event, Michael Shaker from the Egyptian Police Sports Federation Club won first place. Abul-Saoud and Mazloum took second and third. In individual women, Hala Sharawi from Wadi Degla Club won the cup. Aliaa Ismail and Hasma Ahmed from the Egyptian Police Sports Federation Club won the silver and bronze medals. In doubles, Ismail and Ahmed won the gold medals. Hala Sharawi and Hala Khafagi from Wadi Degla Club won the silver medals. Suzan El-Ezabi and Amal Bakr from the Interior Club won the bronze medals. In the final for women, Sharawi won first place. Omneya Mustafa from the Egyptian Police Sports Federation Club took second and Aliaa Ismail third. Said coach El-Kurdi, "I congratulate all the winners and tell them treat yourself as a winner and you'll be one." "This championship was very strong," Tarek Mazloum said. "The difference between the players is not much. This was as a result of the training with Alan. He improved our technique and the mental toughness of the game. Bowling is a mental game in the first place." Mustafa Abul-Saoud, bowling since 1999, ranks seventh in Egypt. "Alan helped me a lot. He corrected the mistakes in my holding of the ball, how to think in the front of the lane and the spare game." Yanni George was a billiards player before turning to bowling. "Training today is better than before. There is a plan and a system. This [pan-Arab] championship is a big test."
