JOIN USMost of the top bowlers in the country, including bronze medal winners in the Commonwealth Championship this year, will be seen in action during the six-day event at Star City that concludes on Nov 13.
In total 86 bowlers will compete for the top prize in men’s section while 18 will pit their skills in the women’s competition.
During round one of the men’s competition, competitors will bowl 12 games each — six each on short oil and long oil. Top 32 (cumulative scores) will then proceed to round two, top 12 to round three and the top four will then qualify for the play-off rounds which is to be trialled for the first time in the National championship.
Just like the India Premier League IV system, the top two bowlers will contest in the first play-off for a place in the final while the third and fourth placed bowlers will be involved in an eliminator. The loser of the eliminator will sign off fourth while the winner will play the loser of the first play-off to determine the second finalist. “We are trying out this method to give a fair chance to the most consistent bowler,” said Tenpin Federation of India president Karti P Chidambaram at a press conference to launch the event.
The overall prize money has been hiked to Rs 4.5 lakh with the men’s winner taking home Rs 60,000 and the women’s champion getting richer by Rs 35,000.
Defending champion Shabbir Dhankot of Tamil Nadu and Akaash Ashok Kumar and Girish Gaba of Karnataka will be the ones to watch out for in the men’s competition. The women’s battle looks like a two-horse race between holder Sabeena Saleem and 2009 champion Prathima Hegde.