Malaysia won eight gold medals at the last Asian Tenpin Bowling Championships, yet both team titles slipped away. Singapore’s men beat them by 26 pins. Korea’s women edged them by just 17. All three meet again in Doha, where 19 federations have entered the 28th edition.
Qatar hosts the championships from November 12 to 22, 2026. Singles opens the competition on November 14, followed by doubles, trios and the five-player team events. The men’s and women’s Masters stepladder finals close the week on November 22.
Even the opening singles squads could have a say in who goes to Korea next year. In both the men’s and women’s fields, each federation’s five highest All Events totals count toward qualification for the 2027 IBF World Championships, according to the tournament bulletin.
Malaysia defend a record haul from Bangkok
Malaysia arrive as the team to beat. At the 27th edition in Bangkok in September 2024 they topped the medal table with 8 gold, 5 silver and 4 bronze, their best showing at the event. Singapore were second with 3 gold and Korea won 1 gold, 5 silver and 4 bronze.
Rafiq Ismail was the star of Bangkok. He won men's singles with 1,419, trios with Syafiq Ridhwan and Hafiz Zainuddin, All Events with 5,354 and the Masters, where he beat Korea's Park Dong Hyuk 466-435 in the two-game final. He has stayed in form since, with team gold at the IBF World Cup in Hong Kong in January 2025 and a third Malaysian International Open title in June 2026. After the World Cup he told BowlingLife that Malaysia had broken records at the Asian Championships.
On the women's side, Sin Li Jane won the Masters by beating Korea's Jung Da Wun 473-442, took All Events and won doubles with Natasha Roslan.
Bangkok 2024 gold medallists
Results of the 27th Asian Championships, per the ABF past winners list.
Can Singapore and Korea stop Malaysia?
The team events are where Malaysia were beaten in 2024. Singapore's men won the team of 5 with 6,449 pins, 26 ahead of Malaysia, with Hong Kong third. Korea's women won their team title with 6,100, just 17 pins clear of Malaysia, and Japan took bronze.
Singapore also have the defending women's singles champion in Daphne Tan, who added trios gold with Bernice Lim and New Hui Fen. Korea matched Malaysia's five silver medals and reached both Masters finals, so the stepladder on November 22 could easily look like Bangkok again.
The Philippines, China and Chinese Taipei all send full teams of six men and six women, and the hosts field a full men's team on home lanes.
Schedule and format
The week opens with ball registration and unofficial practice from November 11, the ABF General Assembly on November 12 and official practice plus the opening ceremony on November 13. Medals are presented three times: after doubles on November 16, after the team event on November 20 and after the Masters on November 22, followed by the victory banquet.
Doha 2026 at a glance
Competition days from ABF Bulletin 1. Times are local (Doha).
The Masters closes the championships: the qualifiers bowl two blocks on November 21 and 22, and the leaders meet in a stepladder for the title. The ABF results page will carry live standings for every squad.
Which oil patterns will they bowl on?
The ABF has published two Kegel patterns for Doha, a long and a medium one, both laid down with a Kegel Flex machine on QubicaAMF lanes and pinsetters.
Two oil patterns for Doha
Kegel pattern sheets published by the ABF. The ABF has not said which pattern is used for which event.
A 48-foot pattern with a 2.52:1 ratio is demanding and tends to reward accuracy and spare shooting over raw hook. The 40-foot medium pattern gives bowlers more room to play the lane.
The Amir Cup follows straight after
Doha stays busy once the Asian Championships end. The H.H. Amir Cup 2026 runs at the same center from November 23 to December 3, with US$129,100 in prize money and US$25,000 for the winner. It is an Asian ranking event and a Platinum stop on the European Bowling Tour, which is why European players regularly make the trip, as they did for the 2024 Amir Cup in Doha. Finland's Tomas Kayhko won the 2025 edition.
Together the two events give Doha almost a month of top-level bowling, from the first practice squad on November 13 to the Amir Cup final on December 3.
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