Nasser Alkanderi captured the title at the Muscat International Open Bowling Championships after the tournament concluded with a full stepladder final on Monday evening in Muscat, Oman.
The Muscat International Open brought together a strong international field,
with qualification rounds completed on Sunday before all final stages were
played on Monday.
After several elimination phases, the top
players advanced to the stepladder finals to decide the champion.
The stepladder opened with a three-player match featuring Finland’s Tomas Käyhkö, Malaysia’s Mohammed Syazirol, and Oman’s Musaab Aladwi. Käyhkö posted the highest score in the opening game with 224 and advanced to the next match, while Syazirol and Aladwi were eliminated with scores of 202 and 210, respectively.
In the second stepladder match, everything was decided in the last frame. Käyhkö needed a strike and a good count, but unfortunately left a split and England’s Ben Robinson earned a place in the championship match with 238-217 final result.
Robinson had already been one of the standout performers earlier in the finals by scoring a 300 game in the Final Step 1.
In the championship match, Ben Robinson took on Kuwait’s Nasser Alkanderi, the
top seed who would have needed to lose twice for Robinson to claim the title.
That scenario did not unfold, as Alkanderi produced the highest game of the
stepladder, securing the win with a 245–217 victory.
With the
victory, Alkanderi secured the Muscat International Open title and the
tournament’s top prize of $22,000. Robinson was awaded with almost $12,000,
while Käyhkö earned almost $8,000 for a third place.
155 players
participated in this year's event in Oman.
