Sheikh Talal Mohammad Al-Sabah of Kuwait has been re-elected president of the
Asian Bowling Federation (ABF) for another four years.
Nobody
stood against him at the 28th ABF General Assembly, held on November 12 at the
Grand Regency Hotel in Doha, Qatar, on the eve of the
2026 Asian Tenpin Bowling Championships.
Talal is also president of the International Bowling
Federation, the sport's world governing body, so the vote keeps him at the
head of both the world and the Asian federation. He was
re-elected IBF president in 2023.
Who Was Elected to the ABF Board?
Twenty-seven of the ABF's 33 member federations were represented, 18 in person and 9 by proxy. All three regional vice president posts were filled without a contest.
President and vice presidents
Satrulee is the only vice president who carries over from the board elected in 2021, when the posts went to Choi Jang-Kyu of Korea, Satrulee and Prince Abdulhakim Bin Mosaad of Saudi Arabia. Al-Qattan, the president of the Qatar Bowling Federation, was the only nominee for the Western Region.
Three new board members join: Dato Najeeb Abdullah of the Malaysian Tenpin Bowling Congress, John Ng of the Macau China Bowling Association and Talal Al-Towereb of the Saudi Bowling Federation. Makhmut Isjakov of Kazakhstan and Kannan Ramachandran of India were re-elected. Bandar Al-Shafi of Qatar, Ma Chi Seng of Macau and Steve Robles of the Philippines did not stand again.
How Long Has Talal Led World and Asian Bowling?
Talal became president of World Bowling in December 2015, confirmed at the
federation's congress in Abu Dhabi. He was re-elected 82-22 in 2019, and World
Bowling took the name International Bowling Federation in 2020.
His IBF presidency was interrupted in 2022, and in October 2023 he
won a third full term, beating Cathy Innes 87-17 at the IBF Congress in
Kuwait.
His ABF run goes back further. The 2021 General Assembly, held online during the pandemic, had already given him a fifth four-year term as Asian president.
What Happens in Doha Now?
The 28th Asian Tenpin Bowling Championships run from November 12 to 22 at the
Qatar Bowling Federation's 30-lane centre.
Competition starts with
women's singles on Saturday, November 14, followed by doubles, trios and team
events, with the Masters stepladder finals on November 22. 168 total bowlers
are expected to bowl, 108 men and 60 women.
As our
Doha preview
explains, the event also counts toward qualification for the 2027 IBF World
Championships in Korea.
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