Top foreign bets show wares in PH Open bowl

Hussain Alsuwaidi of the United Arab Emirates on Thursday showed why he is a six-time Asian Bowling Federation Tour champion after rolling 1494 to lead the way in the men’s open foreign qualifying rounds of the PBF Pagcor Philippine International Open at Coronado Lanes in Starmall, Alabang.

Alsuwaidi, a double-gold medalist in the 2006 Asian Games, put together a series of 748 and 746 to easily surpass the 1477 of Hong Kong’s Wu Siu Hong.

“This is the kind of competition that we will face in the Asian Games,” said Bong Coo, a four-time world champion and now the secretary general of the Philippine Bowling Federation.

Prominent names in the Asian Tour such as Hassan Alshiekh of Saudi Arabia (1468), Australian Sam Cooley (1462), Saudi’s Yousef Akbar (1449) and Mohammed Al Saud (1420), and Singapore’s Jonavan Neo (1406) are also in the hunt for the men’s open title.

The six best foreign bowlers after the qualifying phase of the men’s and women’s opens will meet the top 6 Filipino qualifiers in both divisions during the finals on Sunday.

Defending champion Kenneth Chua leads the men’s open qualifying round for locals with 1522, dislodging Jomar Jumapao, who first accomplished a record series of 1520 over the weekend.