JOIN USTamil Nadu’s Dhankot, who totalled 6675 pinfalls over 32 games for a cumulative average of 208.59, advanced to the next stage in first place from the league stage while Delhi’s Vikesh Veer Jain finished second with a total pinfall of 6636 (207.38 avg).
The battle for the next two spots was between Huned T Khokar, Akaash Ashok Kumar, Girish Gabba and Rahul Solanki. Khokar and the experienced Akaash, however, kept their nerves during a thrilling final phase to finish third and fourth respectively. The play-off rounds and final will be held on Sunday. Dhankot will take on Vikesh in the first play-off while Khokar will play Akaash in an eliminator. The winner of the first play-off will advance to the final while the winner of the eliminator will take on the loser of the first play-off to decide the second finalist.
The women will also be involved in the play-off format that is being tried for the first in the national championship in order to award consistency.
Prathima primed herself to regain the title with another impressive show. The Karnataka bowler felled a total of 3831 pins over 20 games to top the league charts with a cumulative average of 191.55. Tamil Nadu’s Sabeena Saleem finished second while Nicole Campbell and Anuradha Sarda signed off third and fourth respectively.
Results: Men: Shabbir Dhankot (TN) (6675 pins, 208.59 average) 1; Vikesh Veer Jain (Del) (6636, 207.38) 2; Huned T Khokhar (Kar) (6565, 205.16) 3; Akaash Ashok Kumar (Kar) (6522, 203.81) 4.
Women: Prathima Hegde (Kar) (3831, 191.55) 1; Sabeena Saleem (TN) (3793, 189.65) 2; Nicole Campbell (Mah) (3514, 175.70) 3; Anuradha Sarda (Del) (3346, 167.30) 4.