Shabbir in front

Former National champion Shabbir Dhankot of Tamil Nadu made a superb start at the 25th National Tenpin Bowling Championship that began here on Tuesday.

At the end of the first block of six games in round one, played in long oil condition, Shabbir finished with total pinfall of 1347 and an average of 224.50.

He began with 202 in the first game and followed it up with scores of 275, 246 and 225 in games two, three and four.

Dhankot slumped to record a poor 146 in the fifth game but recovered well to end the day with another high score of 253 in game six.

Defending champion Dhruv Sarda of Delhi is placed second with a total pinfall of 1231 and an average of 205.17, trailing Shabbir by 116 pins.

Huned Khokhar of Karnataka is placed third with total pinfall of 1185 and an average of 197.5. He is closely followed by his teammate and national elite squad bowler Aakash Ashok Kumar of Karnataka with a total pinfall of 1180 and an average of 196.67.