?BAHRAIN’s national bowling team yesterday (JULY 4) started their bid in the Fourth Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games (AIMAG), being held at Incheon, in South Korea.
The nationals came 16th overall among 20 entrants in the first block of the men’s team of four preliminary round at Anyang Hogye Gymnasium, where each team played the first three of the six games.
The men’s team of Ahmed Al Goud, Masood Saberi, Taha Ebrahim and Isa Abduljabbar teamed up against some of the continent’s best bowlers in the first block, where they could score a combined total of 2,205 points, and ahead of teams from Oman, Pakistan, Mongolia and Iran.
The results came 48 hours after two Bahraini pairs losing their preliminary round matches in the men’s doubles event.
Late on, the women’s team of four preliminary round also took place as Bahrain’s team of Noora Al Janahi, Majeda Saleh, Layla Al Janahi and Fatema Ali faced another daunting challenge.
And after playing three games in the first block against 13 other teams from Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Japan, Singapore, China, Chinese Taipei, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Macau, Kuwait and Mongolia, the Bahrainis could claim 13th place with a combined total of 1,681 points.
The Bahraini teams will look to improve on their present overall position today, the concluding day of the Games, when they play in the second block from 4am (Bahrain time) at the Anyang Hogye Gymnasium. The Games closing ceremony is scheduled for tomorrow.
Meanwhile, two of Bahrain’s up-and-coming cueists were back in action yesterday as they hoped to progress in the last-16 round in the women’s Nine-Ball billiards singles event.
But the competition, which took place at Songdo Convensia at Incheon, was hard for the nationals who unable to match the strength of their respective opponents in the last-32 round encounters.
Twenty five-year-old Jomeya Al Doseri then went head to head with Suhana Sabtu of Malaysia. Jomeya showed composure but could do little against the more experienced and talented Malaysian, who booked her berth in the competition’s last 16 with an easy 7-0 win.
Late on, Fatema Yusuf Rajab took on Ho Yun Tan of Chinese Taipei, aged 30, who dominated the game right from the start for a well-earned 7-0 victory.
Bahrain also sent a couple of their swimmers to Incheon last week. Farhan Faraj and Sameera Al Bitar, who returned home yesterday along with their coach Khalid Ahmed, had successfully set up new personal records in several events held at Dowon Aquatics Center.