KUWAIT CITY, March 8: By shining in their respective championship match, a tenacious Fahad Abul and a sharp Bong Autida brushed aside their rivals to clinch the Group 1 and 2 titles of the just concluded Cozmo 2011 Kuwait Liberation No Tap Bowling Tournament held to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the historic liberation of Kuwait from the Iraqi occupation. On their way to the finals the two worthy champions both topped the 8-game series semifinal round.
At the end of the elimination round of this event where toppling 9 pins on the first delivery is equivalent to a strike, the Top 16 bowlers in Group 1 and the Top 20 in Group 2 continued their title quest in the 8-game series semi finals where the Top 5 in each group moved on to the step ladder finals. Suiting up in the Group 2 semis were Sonia Mathews, Emma Gatus, Mina Andaya, Elvie Sotio, Liza Catapia, Janet Shaikh, Hanadi Mezaeil, Fatima Al Shatti, Bobby Ferrera, Obet Cabrera, Aseel Al Roomi, Ahmed Kandari, Farid Gabriel, Bong Autida, Rod Llait, Abdulrahman Swayed, Aqeel Farisi, Mahdi Bushary, Rommel Genciana and Mandy Manalo. By kicking off her semi final stint with 223 and 264 scores, Hanadi Mezaeil (487) was the early leader after the opening 2-game block and crowding her in the lead pack were Aqeel Farisy (477), Bong Autida (470), Bobby Ferrera (453), Ahmad Kandari (473) and Abdulrahman Swayed (452). Another superb 235 and 232 scores on the next pair of games helped Hanadi Mezaeil (954) to hold on to the number one post. Meanwhile, Bong Autida who submitted a 4-game series of 909 pin falls took over the next spot followed by Aqeel Farisy-908, Fatima Al Shatti-905, Abdulrahman Swayed-882, Liza Catapia-878 and Rod Llait-874.

Into the remaining 4 games, Hanadi Mezaeil (1425) and Bong Autida (1400) continued to set the pace at the end of game 6 and hounding them for the finals berth at stake were Fatima Al Shatti-1392, Liza Catapia-1374, Rod Llait-1365, Rommel Genciana-1313 and Abdulrahman Swayed-1311. In the penultimate game, the top 5 bowlers looked headed for the next round even as Bong Autida (1630) grabbed the leader board supremacy after out scoring Hanadi Mezaeil (1607) 230-182 and with just a game left to bowl Fatima Al Shatti-1392, Liza Catapia-1374 and Rod Llait-1365 were 5 marks ahead of their nearest pursuer. Bong Autida succeeded in taking the twice to beat top finalist post by closing out with a score of 228 in game 8 and a final tally of 1858 pin falls. Fatima Al Shatti came in next with 1821 followed to the wire by Hanadi Mezaeil-1790, Liza Catapia-1779 and Rod Llait-1765. Diminutive as she maybe, Liza Catapia (236) stood tall in the first match of the finals where she eliminated Hanadi Mezaeil (191) and hubby Rod Llait (170). Liza Catapia then marched on to the championship match by nipping Fatima Al Shatti 201-190. Still beaming with confidence, Liza Catapia forged a deciding game as she edged Bong Autida in game one 214-212. In the final match, Bong Autida slowly wore off the intensity of Liza Catapia who succumbed to the tenacity of Bong who bagged his second title in a row via an impressive 264-230 victory.

In the Group 1 semi finals the 16 qualifiers were, Bong Bermillo, Al Bautista, Fadel Qassem, Mike Garcia, Meshary Fadhli, Fahad Ragheeb, Noel Bejar, Egay Cabildo, Edwin Latoja, Fahad Abul, Waleed Ghareeb, Ayad Al Amiri, Dhari Al Amiri, Lee Mills, Kiko Andaya and Romy Fermil. With a perfect 300 game each in game two, Waleed Ghareeb (543) and Fahad Abul (510) showed the way in the early going of the round together with Egay Cabildo-510, Ayad Al Amiri-502, Fahad Ragheeb-484 and Edwin Latoja-453. After missing another perfect game by just 2 pins, Fahad Abul snatched the yellow jersey at the halfway mark from Waleed Ghareeb 1015-973. Following the two top finalist contenders were Ayad Al Amiri-964, Fahad Ragheeb-957 and Egay Cabildo-952.
In game 5 and 6 Fahad Abul (1518) and Waleed Ghareeb (1484) have already taken their respective place in the finals leaving behind Ayad Al Amiri-1431, Lee Mills-1420, Dhari Al Amiri-1380, Edwin Latoja-1380 and Fahad Ragheeb-1371 to scramble for the three remaining slots. As expected Fahad Abul completed his task of taking the top finalist post by finishing with a final score of 1985 pin falls. Earning their places in the finals were Waleed Ghareeb-1919, Ayad Al Amiri-1882, Dhari Al Amiri-1851 and Lee Mills-1846. After the small but terrible Ayad Al Amiri (255) ended the final round stint of Lee Mills (240) and Dhari Al Amiri (226) in match number 1, the Cozmo Ranking champion easily disposed Waleed Ghareeb on the next match via a 233-179 count. But against the waiting Fahad Abul, challenger Ayad Al Amiri lost the magic touch he displayed in the first two matches he played. This enabled Fahad Abul to breeze home with the title in his pocket after clobbering the hapless Ayad Al Amiri 276-161.