Hosts Karnataka ruled the roost to capture the overall title in the first National tenpin bowling team championship at the Star City bowling centre here on Sunday.

Karnataka grabbed top honours by bagging five gold, five silver and three bronze for a total of 47 points and ended up far head of second-placed Tamil Nadu, who notched up 25 points.

On the sixth and final day of the championship, in the mixed team of five event, overnight leaders Tamil Nadu carried on with their impressive performance to pick the gold. The TN team comprising Kafil, Dinesh, Sabeena Saleem, Parvez and Rajmohan tallied 5713 pinfalls to finish 216 pins ahead of the hosts.

The Karnataka team of Vijay Punjabi, Girish Gaba, Pratima Hegde, Ajay Singh and Shashi took the silver with a score of 5497, while their State-mates Srinath Pobbathi, Madhu, Sheela Kumari, Abhishek and Harish teamed up to take the bronze with a total score of 5442 pinfalls.

Punjabi wins
In the men’s ‘all events’ category, Karnataka bowlers Punjabi and Gaba did the State proud with a one-two finish.

National champion Punjabi tallied 4887 pinfalls in 24 games to live up to his top billing, while Gaba ended up with 4770 pinfalls. TN’s Dinesh overcame a stiff challenge from state-mate Rajmohan to clinch bronze. Dinesh, with 4656 pinfalls, edged Rajmohan by just one pinfall.

In the corresponding women’s category, National champion Sabeena (TN) finished on top with 4313 pinfalls, while local favourite Pratima had to settle for the second spot with 4232 pinfalls.

Sumathi of Andhra Pradesh finished third and took the bronze.

Results:
Mixed team of five: Rajmohan/ Dinesh/ Kafil/ Sabeena/ Parvez (Tamil Nadu, 5713) 1; Vijay/ Girish/ Pratima/ Ajay/ Shashi (Karnataka, 5497) 2; Srinath/ Madhu/ Sheela/ Abhishek/ Harish (Karnataka, 5442) 3; Raj/ Nicole/ Liyakat/ Imran/ Rajesh (Maharashtra, 5105) 4; Lester/ Rahul/ Sana/ Rafee/ Ashok (Tamil Nadu, 5045).

Men All Events: Vijay Punjabi (Karnataka, 4887) 1; Girish Gaba (Karnataka, 4770) 2; Dinesh (Tamil Nadu, 4656) 3; Rajmohan (Tamil Nadu, 4655) 4; Sumit (Uttar Pradesh, 4534) 5.

Women All Events: Sabeena (Tamil Nadu, 4313) 1; Pratima (Karnataka, 4232) 2; Sumati (Andhra Pradesh, 4109) 3; Sheela (Karnataka, 4004) 4; Judy (Karnataka, 3712) 5.