Bengaluru: Akaash Ashok Kumar hit the front in the men's division of the 9th K Damodar & Co Karnataka State Tenpin Bowling Championships at Amoeba on Wednesday.
At the end of the opening round, played on dual oil conditions, Akaash struggled to find his rhythm, scored 1127 (average of 187.8) in his first block of 6 games on long-oil and an impressive 1306 pins (average of 217.6) in his second block of six games on medium-oil and moved to top with a total pinfall of 2433 pins in 12 games.
Defending champion Girish Gaba had a bad start on long-oil, scoring total pinfall of 1071, but came back strongly on medium-oil, scoring 1268 (average of 211.30), finished with total pinfall of 2339.
Girish is in the second position, trailing Akaash by 94 pins. Sathish A V (2186) is in the third position.
Top 18 men qualified for the second round, and will play 12 games, six games on long-oil and six games on
medium oil, to be completed on Thursday.