23rd November, Hoofddorp: England and USA were crowned the 6th World Tenpin Team Cup Women's and Men's champion which ended today at the Bowling Centre Claus, Partyworld.

The English women narrowly defeated topseed, USA 354-332 for a 3-0 win and the title while the American men beat host nation and challenger, Netherlands 467-426 to become the World Champions.

USA started well with a double strike in the women's final first match but a 5-pin split in the 4th frame and another split in the seventh frame proved costly. England was in all sorts of problem from the beginning as well, with three splits in first three frames but managed to convert the third. The winner of the first match then struck home from frame 9 to win the match 196-175.

In the second match, USA could not settle down and bowled poorly with four open frames which allowed England to just not make any mistake. Despite having two splits in the third and eighth frames, England took the second match 158-157. The 21-pin margin from the first match was enough to give England a 3-0 win and the title with 354-332.

The men's final first match was a classic between challenger, Netherlands and topseed USA. Although the Dutch started with a strike in the first frame they had a costly split in the second. Soon after they were on a roll with 6 strikes-in-a-row. USA responded with 6 strikes-in-a-row from frame 1 onwards but a split in the 7th frame gave the challenger a slight chance of taking the match. The Americans were lucky to win the match by a single pin, 233-232.

The win in the first match gave USA the condifence to go on and take the second match comfortably 234-194. With a capacity crowd behind Netherlands, they could not response to eventually go down 0-3 on total pinfalls of 426-467.

In the semifinal match between the runner-up, Netherlands and second-seed Belgium, the host nation entertained a capcity crowd to a superb 411-390 win over the Belgians and a crack at the title. Belgium settled for the Bronze medal while Netherlands took the Silver.

England had earlier outclassed Germany in the women's semifinal match, 439-375 for a convincing 3-0 win before going on to take the crown. USA settled for the Silver medal with Germany the Bronze.

The 6th World Tenpin Team Cup at Hoofddorp, Netherlands is the last team cup to be conducted over the "Baker's Format". It will be, instead abolished and replaced by the Women's World Championship in 2005 and the Men's World Championship in 2006.

Photos courtesy of Netherlands Bowling Federation.

23rd November, Hoofddorp: Last round leader, USA bowled superbly to end the final round of 7 matches to claim top spot in the 6th World Tenpin Team Cup at the Bowling Centre Claus, Partyworld this afternoon.

The Americans picked up 14 points out of a possible 21 for a total of 78.5 points, to join their women teammates in the stepladder finals as topseed ahead of Belgium in second with 74.5 points and Netherlands third with 72 points.

The overnight leader started on the right foot winning 2-1 in the 33rd match and beating Netherlands 3-0 in the 34th match to pick up 5 points and maintaining their lead at 69.5 points. Belgium overtook the Dutch with two 3-0 wins to give themselves a total of 64.5 points for second while the host nation lost both their matches by 0-3 margins and failed to gain any points at all.

While USA continued their lead with another 2-1 win over Germany, Netherlands came back strongly to beat Canada 3-0 to regain second spot over the Belgians, who lost to England 1-2.

USA kept their momentum going with another victory in the 36th match thrashing Sweden 3-0 while both Netherlands and Belgium lost their match 1-2. Another 3-0 win in the 37th, a two losses in the remaining two matches did not matter much as the Americans claimed top spot after an eventful final round.

While Belgium was more of less certain of qualifying for the stepladder finals in second, there was a keen battle for the last spot between Netherlands, Norway, Finland and Malaysia in the final deciding match.

Norway was unfortunate to miss a single pin in frame 9 to throw away the winning point, while Netherlands took 3 points from Germany to qualify. A bye for Finland and a 3-0 win by the Malaysian over USA was not enough to give the two teams any chance of finishing in the top 3.

The top 3 men teams will be start their stepladder finals later with Netherlands meeting Belgium in the first match with the winner taking on topseed USA.

Photos courtesy of Netherlands Bowling Federation.

22nd November, Hoofddorp: Team USA surged to the lead of the 6th World Tenpin Team Cup men's division at the end of the fourth round were completed at the Bowling Centre Claus dislodging overnight leader, Netherlands into second.

The Americans was outstanding when they brought home five 3-0 wins, a bye, a 2-1 win and a draw to take their total to 64.5 points, 1.5 points from the host, Netherlands who dropped to second with 63 point.

When the men took to the lanes for their fourth round this afternoon, Netherlands did well with two convincing 3-0 wins by defeating England and Canada to give the Dutch team a total of 52 points and stretching their lead from 0.5 points to 1.5 points over Belgium.

The Belgians picked up 5 points from their 3-0 win over Malaysia and 2-1 win over Qatar in the first two matches to total 50.5 points while the US took a maximum of 6 points from their first two matches to move up to third with 49 points. Chinese Taipei remained fourth after only managing a 2.5-0.5 win over England.

Netherlands surged ahead of the field with a further 7 points in the next three matches to a total of 59 points but the Americans were right on their tail having picked up 6 points for themselves to move to second with 56.5 points. Belgium dropped to third after collecting only 3.5 points from three matches on 52.5. Second round leader, Finland recovered slightly from seventh overnight to take over fourth spot at this stage, with 50 points while Chinese Taipei slid down to fifth with 48.5 points.

The lead changed hands when USA defeated China 3-0 in the 18th match whilst Netherlands lost 0-3 to Qatar but the Dutch immediately regained it after a bye in the next and USA only picked up 2 points beating Finland 2-1. In the final match of the fourth round, USA pipped Netherlands for the top spot after beating Qatar 3-0 and Netherlands lost to Belgium 1-2.

Belgium settled for third with 58.5 points ahead of the second round leader, Finland recovering to finish fourth on 56 points. Norway and Malaysia made up grounds to take up fifth and sixth positions with 55.5 and 54.5 points respectively.

The men will complete their final 7 matches tomorrow (23rd, November) during which the top 3 will make the cut for the stepladder finals.

Photos courtesy of Netherlands Bowling Federation..

22nd November, Hoofddorp: Team USA pursued relentlessly to end the final round by topping the field as top-seed for the women's stepladder finals of the 6th World Tenpin Team Cup dislodging leader, England to second by just half-a-point.

USA accummulated a total of 83 points to England's 82.5 points for second while the Germans totalled 77 points for the final spot in the stepladder finals. Canada finished fourth, 9 pins short on 68 points with Sweden in fifth spot with 67.

The final round of 7 matches for the women division concluded at around 12.30pm local time with the top three teams USA, England and Germany battling amongst themselves for top-seed in the stepladder finals. Even before the matches commenced, all the other teams had no chance of getting into the top three due to wide margin in the points.

England lost ground to the Americans after the first two matches, but regained the lead after fifth match by 1.5 points. But USA bounced back strongly to regain the lead after sixth match by half-a-point after beating

Austria 2-1 while England lost to Finland 0-3.

Germany confirmed their third position before the final match and it was down to the wire between USA and England to battle it out for the top spot. At the end of the 7th match, USA maintained the narrow margin of 0.5 point when they beat Netherlands 3-0, although England also defeated Chinese Taipei 3-0.

Austria (6th-64.5 pts), Netherlands, Finland and Chinese Taipei (tie 7th-64 pts), Malaysia (10th-62 pts) completed the top 10. England will meet Germany in the women's first stepladder match over two matches with the winner moving on to face top-seed USA for another two matches to detemine the champion.

The men will start their fourth round shortly and the stepladder will take place after the men complete their final round of 7 matches tomorrow, 23rd November.

Photos courtesy of Netherlands Bowling Federation.

21st November, Hoofddorp: Host nation, Netherlands thrilled a large crowd of local supporters to claim pole position in the men's division of the 6th World Tenpin Team Cup at the end of the third round.

The Dutch won six matches, lost one and had a bye in the final match of the third round to take over the lead with 46 points, just 0.5 points ahead of Belgium in second with 45.5 and Sweden in third, another 0.5 points away.

The tussle for the lead is extremely tight at this stage of the championship with the lead changing after every round. With the large crowd gathering at the Bowling Centre Claus in the weekend, Ron van den Bogaard, Marcel van den Bosch, Wesley Selier, Peter Smits, Wim van der Veen and Remco Verboon gave their supporters plenty to cheer about.

Having tied with USA and Sweden for second in the previous round, the Dutch started well to defeated Norway and Malaysia 2-1 in the first two matches. And despite a slight setback in the next match when they lost to overnight leader, Finland 1-2, the Dutch won all their remaining matches including a bye in the final match for a well deserve lead.

Belgium did well to move up from sixth from yesterday's round to second just 0.5 points behind the leader. The Belgians was in great form winning the first four matches with 3-0 margins including a bye in the third. If it wasn't for their 0-3 lost to Netherlands in the fifth match and 0-3 to the Swedes in the sixth, the Belgians would have been today's leader.

Another 0.5 points away came Sweden with 45 points winning six matches but crucially loosing to Belgium and the Netherlands for third spot. Chinese Taipei finished fourth with 44.5 points while first round leader, USA took fifth position with 43 points. Overnight leader, Finland finished a disappointing seventh with 41 points behind the improving Malaysian in sixth with 41.5 points.

The men will continue their fourth round tomorrow (22nd November) after the women finish their final 7 matches. The top 3 teams from bothe the divisions with the highest points will proceed to the stepladder finals scheduled for Tuesday, 23rd November.

Photos courtesy of Netherlands Bowling Federation.

21st November, Hoofddorp: Fourth round of 8 matches of the 6th World Tenpin Team Cup ended this afternoon with England remaining a clear leader with 71.5 points, 4.5 points ahead of USA in second and 9.5 ahead Germany in third.

England won 5 matches, loosing two and had a bye in the last match to remained a clear leader while the Americans, despite winning six matches had lost to Sweden in the 25th and England in the 26th match to settle for second.

Although the 2003 WTTC runner-up lost to China 1-2 when they started the fourth round this morning, they defeated USA 2-1 in the next match. Thereafter, the English soon got back into their momentum to turn in another fine performance to remain a clear leader.

The Americans picked up 16 points after winning 5 matches, loosing two and getting a bye for a total of 68 points. The Germans won 5 matches, lost two and a bye to finish third on 63 points.

In the mid-field, Sweden made up the most places from seventh overnight to tie in fourth with Canada, who dropped one spot to 55 points ahead of Chinese Taipei in sixth with 54. Finland (7th-52 pts), Austria (8th-50.5 pts), Netherlands (9th-50 pts) and China (10th-49 pts) made up the top 10.

The women will complete their rounds with the final 7 matches tomorrow (22nd November) while the men will be starting their third round later today.

Photos courtesy of Netherlands Bowling Federation.

20th November, Hoofddorp: Finland took over the lead of the 6th World Tenpin Team Cup Men's second round with 32 points from overnight leader, USA who tied with host nation, Netherlands and Sweden in second on 29 points each.

Petteri Salonen, Osku Palermaa, Kimmo Lehtonen, Pasi Uotila and Lasse Lintila, led by 2003 World Championship Gold medalist, Mika Luoto of Finland, were on a roll, with five 3-0s wins, a bye, a 2-1 win and only conceding a 1-2 lost to Germany for an evetual lead of 32 points.

Overnight leader, USA started off their second round campaign poorly and managing only 1 point out of the first two mtaches for a total of 20 points. The Americans lost to Malaysia 1-2 in the first and were thrashed by China 0-3 in the second match.

Despite loosing the first match, host nation, Netherlands took advantage with a 2-1 win over England in their 10th match to total 20 points and tied with the Americans at this stage.

World Team Cup debutant, China scored 4.5 points in their first two matches to surge up third on a total of 19.5 points while Canada won 3-0 in the first and a bye in the second to take up fourth spot with 19.0 points.

USA were unable to repeat the form they showed in the first round loosing most of their matches while their opponents continue to make better progress.

The Americans only managed to pick only 7 points plus a bye to total 29 points and tieing with host nation, Netherlands and Sweden for second. Chinese Taipei moved up one spot to claim fifth position with 28.5 points while sixth place went to the Belgians on a total of 28 points.

Canada (7th-26 pts), Norway (8th-25.5 pts), Malaysia (9th-24.5 pts) and China (10th-23.5 pts) made up the top 10. The men will play their third round of 8 matches tomorrow (Sunday, 21st November) after the women finish their fourth round.

Photos courtesy of Netherlands Bowling Federation.

20th November, Hoofddorp: England dominated the third round of the 6th World Tenpin Team Cup by maintining pole position with 56 points with USA finishing strongly in second and Germany in third.

The English women added 19 points to their overnight score of 37 to give them a total of 56 points, 4 points clear of USA in second with 52 while the Germans dropped one spot to third with 48.

England continued to lead the field after three matches were played this morning with USA moving up to second spot when they beat Austria 3-0 while the Germans dropped one spot to third loosing to Iceland 0.5-2.5.

By the end of the 24th match, England emerged a clear leader after dominating today's event despite being put on pressure by the Americans in hot pursuit. Shannon Pluhowsky, Diandra Asbaty, Olivia Sandham , Amanda Burgoyne and Joy Esterson with Lisa Duenow taking a rest, were outstanding moving up from fourth position after the second round.

Canada also did well to improve from sixth to take up fourth place with 41 points, just 2 points ahead of Finland and Chinese Taipei tieing in fifth with 39 points.

Sweden and Austria shared seventh position after accummulating 38.5 points while World Team Cup debutants, China and host Netherlands finished 9th and 10th with 36 and 35 points respectively.

The men will be playing their second round of 8 matches after lane maintenance.

Photos courtesy of Netherlands Bowling Federation.

19th November, Hoofddorp: 2003 WTTC runner-up, England stretched their lead at the end of the second 8 matches were contested in the 6th World Tenpin Team Cup at the Bowling Centre Claus with Germany in second and Austria third.

England maintained their lead despite loosing to Germany 1-2 at the start of the second 8 matches to 22 points while Finland defeated host Netherlands 2-1 to reduce the gap by 1 point on a total of 21 points. Austria trashed China 3-0 to stay in third with 19.5 points.

Fiona Banks, Pauline Buck, Lisa Gardner, Zara Glover, Jo Harries and Nikki Woods lost the tenth match, 1-2 Canada but Finland did not take advantage of it to loosing to Germany 1-2 to remain second. England started to find their winning ways again from the 11th match onwards 2-1, 3-0 in the 12th, 2-1 in the 13th and 14th matches.

With one more match to go, the leader was in a commanding position and winning 2-1 against Italy before ending the second 8 matches with a 3-0 win over Finland in the 16th match to stretch their lead after two days of competition with 37 points.

The Germans and the Austrians kept their second and third positions with 32.5 points and 30.5 points respectively while the Americans improved from seventh overnight to tie with Chinese Taipei in fourth position with 29 points.

Finland had a poor day sliding down from second yesterday, to tie in sixth positions with Canada on 28 points. Defending champions, Malaysia improved slightly moving up one spot to 11th and trailing the leader by 17 points.

The women will continue their third 8 matches tomorrow, 20th November while the men have a rest day before their second 8 matches after the women's third 8.

Photos courtesy of Mr Sidney Tung, MTBC.

18th November, Hoofddorp: Team USA grabbed a slender lead from host Netherlands in the 6th World Tenpin Team Cup at the end of the first round of 8 matches at The Bowling Centre Claus, Partyworld this evening.

Sean Rash, Dino Castillo, David Haynes, Derek Sapp, Bill Hoffman and Tony Manna Jr. won 19 games for a total of 3317 pinfalls to take a 1 point lead over the host nation, Netherlands in second with 18 points.

Norway, Belgium, USA and host, Netherlands all had a good start winning their first matches 3-0 over their opponents with Norway scoring the highest total pinfalls of 450 for the lead.

Belgium, USA and Netherlands continued their good form to win their second matches 3-0 to tie at 6 points a piece for the top three positions. Belgium dropped a point after beating Norway 2-1 allowing USA and Netherlands to tie at the top two positions after another 3-0 in the third matches.

At the halfway-mark, USA pull away to 12 points with another 3-0 win over Norway for a 2 points lead over the strong finishing Chinese Taipei on 10 points while Netherlands dropped to third with 9 points.

USA went on to top the field after the 8 matches were completed on Day 1 with 19 points, just 1 point ahead of the recovering Netherlands on 18 points. Chinese Taipei did well to finish third with 17 points with Belgium and China finishing in the top 5 with 16 and 15 points respectively.

Defending champions, Malaysia stayed mid-table throughout the matches and found the going tougher this time round to eventually drop to eighth with just 12.5 points. While the England led the women's table in the morning, their male counterparts disappointed to finish 11th.

The women will play their second round of 8 matches tomorrow (19th November) while the men will take a day's rest and continue their second round on Saturday, 20th November.

Photos courtesy of Netherlands Bowling Federation.

18th November, Hoofddorp: England took the lead in the 6th World Tenpin Team Cup on Day 1 after the first eigth matches were played this morning at Bowling Centre Claus with Finland in second and Austria third.

The runner-up in the previous championship led from match 6 onwards to lead the field of 13 countires with a total of 21 points on 3212 pinfalls followed by Finland with 19 points while Austria finished third with 17 points.

Finland, England and Austria tied at 10 points a piece at the halfway-mark with Finland having the upperhand on 1614 total pinfalls to England's 1591 and Austria just 7 pins further away.

Finland managed the tie after beating Italy 2-1 in the fourth match while England lost to USA 1-2. Austria had a chance to pull ahead but also lost theirs 1-2 at the fourth match to Germany. Despite having a bye in the fourth match, defending champion Malaysia tied eight position with just 8 points with Sweden and China.

Finland and England won their fifth matches convincingly 3-0 over Austria and Chinese Taipei respectively still tie in top spot while Germany took over third from Austria with 11 points. The turning point was in the sixth match when England defeated China 3-0 for 16 points while Finland lost to Austria 1-2 to settle for second.

England eventually topped the field winning 3-0 in their seventh match and 2-1 in the eight for 21 points, just 2 points ahead of Finland insecond with 19 points. Austria moved back to third with 17 points. Malaysia ended up a disappointing 12th with just 9 points.

The women will continue their second 8 matches tomorrow morning while the men will be playing their first 8 matches after lane maintenance.

Photos courtesy of Mr Sidney Tung, MTBC.

17th November, Hoofddorp: Thirteen men and thirteen women from 16 countries paraded during the official opening ceremony of the 6th World Tenpin Team Cup at Hoofddorp in the Netherlands this evening.

Teams and officials of the 16 countries from three zones, America, Europe and Asia, paraded for the last and final World Tenpin Team Cup at the Claus Event Center at Partyworld attended by local dignitaries and bowling federations officials.

The 6th World Tenpin Team Cup will be replaced by the WTBA Women's World Tenpin Bowling Championship in 2005 and the Men's World Tenpin Bowling Championship in 2006.

After speeches by Mr. Marti Koedijk, President of the Netherlands Bowling Federation and Mr. Addie Ophelders, President of the European Bowling Federation, the officials and bowlers took their oath before adjourning to a welcome reception hosted by the Netherlands Bowling Federation.

The competition will commence tomorrow, 18th November with the men teams taking to the lanes in the morning followed by the women in the afternoon. The teams will play five rounds of 9 matches each over five days and the top three with the highest points will proceed to the stepladder finals on the Tuesday, 23rd November to determine the champion.

Photos courtesy of Netherlands Bowling Federation.