JEDDAH, 2 June 2007 — The Saudi Arabian national deaf bowling team emerged as champions in the second GCC Bowling Championship for the Deaf after winning their fourth gold medal on Thursday in the masters’ event at the Sultana Center on Tahlia Street.
Mohammed Al-Oraif won the gold medal on offer for the day. Saudi bowlers won four golds and five silvers to come first. Bahrain finished second with two gold, one silver and two bronze medals. The UAE came third after collecting three bronze medals, and Kuwait fourth after taking a bronze. Bowlers from Kuwait, Qatar, UAE, Bahrain and host Saudi Arabia participated.
After 15 games in the masters’ event, Fahad Al-Rumaih led the field with the highest pinfall scores. Mohammed Oraif of Saudi Arabia and Ahmed Sultan of Kuwait then faced off over two games to earn the right to challenge Al-Rumaih for the gold. Al-Oraif outplayed Sultan 248-141 to set up a tense finale.
The two Saudi bowlers displayed some fine precision but it was Al-Oraif who was on a roll. Oraif set the tone of the proceedings with a 256 game, compared to Al-Rumaih’s 213 and then followed up with a 259 effort for a 515 two-game series that was way too much for Al-Rumaih to match, who ended up with a 470 total following a 256 tally in the second.
In the doubles the Saudis took their second silver through Al-Oraif and Al-Rumaih. The pair then teamed with Ali Al-Malki to also land the silver in the trio event. The five-man-team golden medal also went to the Saudi team.
Saudi coach Majid Aslani said it is a privilege, thanks to God, to have witnessed Al-Rumaih scoring the perfect score 300 in the competition twice. He first rolled a perfect game during training, and then collected a 300 during his fine run in the event.
Al-Rumaih received an award for the highest game pinfalls following his record 278 in a game. Al-Oraif received the award for the highest six games pinfalls after he carded 1,424 pinfalls and Al-Rumaih picked up two other plums for the highest average pinfalls (210) and the perfect score of (300).The Saudi team, which overcame financial difficulties, to prove themselves in the event, now hope to get more support. They have already placed fourth in the World Deaf Bowling Championship in 2003 in Taipei, and were second runner-up in the first GCC Bowling Championship for the Deaf in Bahrain in 2005. Now, the coach said, they are looking forward to participate in the Asian Bowling Olympics to be held in April 2008 in Kuwait.
