7th December, Johannesburg: Reigning champion and top seed, Aumi Guerra of Domincan Republic and Jason Belmonte of Australia were crowned 47th QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup champions denying top seed Tommy Jones and challenger Diandra Asbaty an American double.

Aumi Guerra created history by capturing the women's title in two consecutive world cups after the Dominican top seed defeated challenger and second seed, Diandra Asbaty, 2-1 in the best-of-three women's finals.

Guerra easily took the first match against Asbaty, 266-201 but was edged 214-227 by the 2006 World Cup champion, Asbaty in the second match to force a decider. Both started the third match with a double strike and a spare in the third.

When both suffered a split each in the fourth, neither of them could cover their split until the eighth and ninth frames when both had a double and Guerra was only one pin ahead of Asbaty.

The defending champion spared her final frame and struck in the bonus frame while the American could only spare and knocked down eight pins allowing Guerra to retain the title.

So Aumi became only the second person ever to successfully defend the title. She said afterwards: "I've been so focussed on my play that I've even stayed away from Facebook! Now I'm going to have lots to eat, go swimming, go to the beach and chill!"

Asbaty had earlier advanced into the title match after she defeated No. 3 seed, Sandra Andersson, 2-1 in the semi-finals. Andersson easily won the first match, 267-217 but lost the second, 219-247 and the decider, 243-279.

Meanwhile, Jason Belmonte became the first Australian to win the men's title after the two-hander toppled top seed, Tommy Jones of United States, 2-1 in the finals. The Aussie lost the first match, 259-279 but bounced back with a 247-216 win over the American to force yet another decider.

Belmonte started off with four strikes in a row but after a first frame spare by the Jones, the American struck six times to open up a 19 pin margin. An opened frame in the eighth proved decisive as Belmonte srtuck out from frame eight to take the match and the title, 259-236.

"I was a long way in the lead in 2004 in Singapore, and got knocked out early on," said Belmonte, "And again I led the field in St. Petersburg in 2007 and then I lost in the final.

"So I was happy to go in as number two seed this time. All credit to Tommy for some great bowling. He always looked as if he was going to strike. And I do sympathise as I know what it feels like to lead the field and not win."

The Aussie's three game total of 765 is a new finals record, just beating the previous mark of 764 set by Petter Hansen of Norway in Singapore in 2004. The champion had earlier outclassed, Mykhaylo Kalika of Ukraine 2-1.

Belmonte won the first match, 237-203 and although the Ukrainian got back into the match with a 266-248 win over the Aussie, Kalika was no match for Belmonte winning the third match and the tie, 266-185 to advance into the finals.

Although the Jones and Asbaty were denied a possible double, the Amercians did win the Bent Pertersen Trophy for United States as the best finishers.

81 men and 70 women from 83 countries took part in this year's World Cup at Let's Go Bowling, Northcliff in South Africa.

QubicaAMF Worldwide is the founder, organiser and principal sponsor of the Bowling World Cup. Additional information on the QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup, including archives and bulletins for this year’s event can be found on www.qubicaamf.com.

QubicaAMF Worldwide is one of the largest bowling products companies in the world. With worldwide headquarters in Richmond, Virginia, USA, and European headquarters in Bologna, Italy, the company manufactures a complete line of high-quality, innovative solutions for new and existing bowling and entertainment centres.

Photos courtesy of Hero Noda in Johannesburg.

6th December, Johannesburg: Overnight leaders, Aumi Guerra of Dominican Republic and Tommy Jones of United States cruised into the stepladder finals of the 47th QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup after topping the Top 8 Round-robin finals on Tuesday.

Reigning champion, Aumi Guerra retained the lead to advance into the stepladder finals as top seed with a 36-game total of 8703 despite winning three and drawing one match in the Top 8 Round-robin finals.

But the leader, who led from the first day of qualifying rounds, were consistent throughout the 8 matches and never looked in danger of being overhaul at all. 2006 World Cup champion, Diandra Asbaty of USA totaled 8426 from four wins to take up second spot.

"I've been bowling great the whole week and I mush have used up a lot of my energy," said Guerra after the finals. "I thought I will just pace myself and get decent scores. Afterall, I was ahead of Diandra with quite a big margin so I thought I take it easy to save some energy for tomorrow."

World Bowling Tour Grnad Finals first runner-up, Sandra Andersson of Sweden booked her stepladder final spot after she finished third with 8246 with four wins and a draw.

Singapore's Cherie Tan, who was third going into the Top 8 finals, missed the cut by 65 pins despite being the only women to win five matches.

Meanwhile, Tommy Jones of the United States also had an uneventful finals but did bring in big games to end the finals with 8977 from five wins. Jones lost the first match to Jason Belmonte of Australia, 277-278 in the opening game.

But Jones won his five matches with impressive big games of 279, 258, 269, 268 and 269. Belmonte settled for second spot with 8790 picking up four wins.

"The lanes have been kind to me and I had a lot of good breaks," said the American PBA pro. "The big games helped me to build up a decent margin which relaxed me quite a bit. I was just making sure I made quick adjustments to adapt to each pair of lanes."

The highlight of the men's finals was the close battle between Ukraine's Mykhaylo Kalika and Argentina's Lucas Legnani. Kalika had a 64 pin margin over the Argentinian going into the position round match.

Legnani ended with 236 plus a 30 pin bonus for the win but Kalika struck out in his last frame to end with 181 and still finish just 8 pins ahead of the Argentinian to take up the final stepladder spot.

The top 3 women and top 3 men advanced into the stepladder finals with the first match between the second and third seed over the best-of-three semi-finals. The winner will meet the top-seed again over the best-of-three finals.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Johannesburg.

5th December, Johannesburg: American PBA pro and qualifying round leader, Tommy Jones bowled consistently in the Men's Top 24 Finals of the 47th QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup to move into the next stage in pole position.

Jones, who had a 61 pin lead over Australian, Jason Belmonte, started off slowly yet the Amercian was able to remain in the lead albiet only 8 pins ahead when the Aussie posted 256 in his opening game.

Belmonte, who rolled the first of three perfect games of the qualifying rounds, shot his second and the fifth of the tournament in the second game to surge ahead of Jones. The two-hander continued to head the field up but Jones battled on to regain the lead after the fifth game.

The duo was neck-and-neck as they traded the lead in the next two games before Belmonte stumbled in his final game with 157 to hand the lead back to Jones.

The American knocked down 1836 8-game series to take his 28-game tally to 6739 to move into the next round in pole position. The Aussie settled for second with 6702 despite posting a higher 8-game series of 1870.

Mykhaylo Kalika of Ukriane surprised many by taking up third spot with 6681 and shared the highest 8-game series of 1927 with Kimmo Lethonen of Finland, who tied fourth spot with Argentina's Lucas Legnani on 6534.

Filipino Biboy Rivera shot the tournament's fourth 300 in the opening game but faded off towards the end to finish seventh with 6500 behind Belgium's Mats Maggi taking sixth position with 6520.

South African's Francios Louw had to work doubly hard to make the cut in eighth position with 6470. The local lad shot 257 and 246 in his final two games to the delight of the local crowd of supporters.

England's Steve Thornton was probably the unluckiest to miss the cut by 29 pins especially after an inspiring massive game of 268 in his final game.

The top 8 men advanced into tomorrow's Quarter-finals for another 8 games and the top 3 would proceed to the stepladder grand finals on Wednesday, December 7.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Johannesburg.

5th December, Johannesburg: It was a stroll in the park for reigning champion, Aumi Guerra of Dominican Republic in the Women's Top 24 finals of the 47th QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup after retaining pole position.

Guerra, who had a 335 pins cushion going into the finals, was in scintilating form knocking down consistent lines of 263, 245, 236, 236, 244, 223, 226 and 212 to end the finals with 1885 and a 28-game tally of 6748.

2006 World Cup champion, Diandra Asbaty of United States was equally impressive after rolling 1880 to add to her 4528 for a 28-game aggregate of 6408, 340 pins adrift.

The top three positions remained unchanged as Singapore's Cherie Tan posted 1787 for a total of 6242 to finish third while Sandra Andersson of Sweden and Krista Pollanen of Finland rounded up the top 5.

Filipina Liza Clutario slipped one spot down to sixth with 6094 followed by Wendy Kok of the Netherlands seventh on 6072.

England's Lisa John, who was in 14th position, made up the most ground to make the cut in eighth position with 5984 after fending off the late charge by Russia's Evgeniya Zelenkova in the final game. The Russian was devasted for missing the cut by just 4 pins.

The women top 8 advanced into tomorrow's Quarter-finals for another 8 games and the top 3 would proceed to the stepladder grand finals on Wednesday, December 7.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Johannesburg.

4th December, Johannesburg: Overnight squad leader, Liza Clutario of Philippines retaining her lead at the end of the final block of the 47th QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup to advance into the next stage in fifth position overall.

The 31-year-old got off her 16th game with a sizzling 258 but could not extend her lead as Sandra Andersson of Sweden posted an even higher opening game of 269 to close the gap slightly.

The gap between the two remain pretty much the same up to the 19th game in which the Swede had scored higher than the Filipina to reduce the margin to just 19 pins.

Whilst Clutario struggled in her final game kncoking down only 165, Andersson did not take advantage of the opportunity when she also struggled ending with 150.

The leader ended with a 5-game series of 1043 taking her tally to 4367 pinfalls. Andersson settled for second with 4333 despite posting a higher 5-game series of 1096.

Evgeniya Zelenkova of Russia finished third in this squad with 4315 while the biggest mover was Malaysia's Jacqueline Sijore improved from eighth to sixth after posting the highest series of 1134.

The top 4 finishers in the earlier Squad A also finished top 4 in the overall standings while the top 3 in the last squad took fourth to sixth psitions. Katrien Goossens of Belgium clinched the last and 24th spot with 3976, averaging 198.50.

Luz Adriana Leal of Catalonia missed the cut by just 2 pins when she finished 25th position with 3874. The women will contest the 8-games Top 24 round in the morning with pins carried forward.

The men will bowl their Top 24 round in the afternoon. The top 8 women and top 8 men will advance to the Top 8 finals for another 8 games. The top 3 women and top 3 men will proceed to the stepladder finals.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Johannesburg.

4th December, Johannesburg: Reigning champion, Aumi Guerra of Dominican Republic advanced into the next stage of the 47th QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup with ease after remaining in the lead with a hugh margin over second-placed, Diandra Asbaty of USA.

Guerra, who had a 299 pin lead after three blocks, extended her margin to 344 pins with a superb opening game of 248. Cherie Tan of Singapore reclaimed second spot as Diandra Asbaty slipped to third.

The Dominican stepped up her pace with 279 and 246 in her next two games and continuing to build up a wider margin. But she struggled big time on a pair of lanes where she encountered three splits.

Despite a 158, Guerra bounced back with 211 to end the block and the qualifying rounds with 1142 series and a 20-game total of 4863. Asbaty claimed second spot with 4528 while the Singaporean finished third with 4455.

"I started where I left off and had a pretty good first three games but when I got to lanes 9 and 10, the condition were breaking down more than I expected," said the 31-year-old Guerra.

"And when I had three consecutive 7-10 splits and I thought to myself - oh god!. It's been great the whole week and to hit a 158 must have shocked me quite a bit. Luckily I ended well and to still have that much a lead over the second-placed bowler is great."

Finland's Krista Pollanen and Netherlands' Wendy Kok completed the top 5 with 4408 and 4241 respectively. England's Lisa John improved one notch to sixth with 4083.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Johannesburg.

4th December, Johannesburg: American PBA pro and debutant, Tommy Jones of the United States advanced into the next stage of the 47th QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup as the new leader of the overall qualifying standings.

Tommy Jones, who trailed Jason Belmonte of Australia by 54 pins yesterday, posted 1202 to add to his three blocks tally of 3701 for a 20-game total 4903 to claim pole position. The American grinded out lines of 227, 256, 237, 246 and 236 in the final 5 games.

Ukraine's Mykhaylo Kalika posted the highest 5-game series in this block with 1210 to clinch second spot with 4754, 149 pins adrift while Belgium's Mats Maggi totaled 4653 for third position.

"The lanes are somewhat a little different and I did a lot of work on one pair to get a decent score," said Jones. "From pair to pair, there's so much difference I was jsut able to keep a good line.

"Of course it's good to have some margin heading into the next round and I'll just continue to work as hard as I could."

South Afirca's Francois Louw managed only 1045 in this block to slipped down to fourth with 4589 as England's Steve Thornton rounded up the top 5.

Earlier squad leader, Jason Belmonte settled for second in the overall standings with 4832, 71 pins adrift and splitting the top 2 from Squad A.

Thomas Gross of Austria survived the cut in 24th position with a total of 4272 averaging 213.60. Tomas Gibinskas of Lithuania was less fortunate missing the cut by just 4 pins in 25th position.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Johannesburg.

4th December, Johannesburg: It was a day at the office for Jason Belmonte as the two-handed Aussie cruised to a comfortable lead in the fourth and final block of qualifying rounds at ther 47th QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup.

Belmonte, who was the leader after three blocks, again led from start to finish and unbeatable when the Aussie widen his gap from 188 to 281 at the halfway mark but ended the final block with 170 and a 20-game total of 4832 and 115 pins margin.

Third perfect gamer, Lucas Legnani shot the highest 5-game series of 1284 to move up to second with 4717 while last year's second runner-up, Biboy Rivera of Philippines also made up grounds to finish third with 4613 total.

"Except for the first two games, the remaining three just wasn't good at all," said the 28-year-old 2008-09 PBA Rookie of the Year. "The competition will really start to heat up in the next two rounds and I'll have to put in 110% effort to do well."

Finland's Kimmo Lethonen, who was third overnight, slipped down one spot to fourth with 4607 while Hong Kong's Wu Siu Hong also fell down to fifth with 4541.

Squad 1 leader, Tommy Jones may pose a threat to Belmonte especially after the Aussie ended with an average of 241.6 while the American PBA pro has 246.7. Jones' squad will complete their fourth and final block later today.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Johannesburg.

3rd December, Johannesburg: Overnight Squad 1 leader, Tommy Jones of United States drew clear of his nearest rival extending his lead the Men's third block of qualifying rounds at the 47th QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup on Saturday evening.

Tommy Jones, who shot the tournament's second perfect game to finish in the lead in Squad 1 yesterday, extended his margin from 85 to 157 pins at the end of the third block. The 32-year-old rolled 1246 in this block for a 15-game tally of 3701 to retain his lead.

The American had lines of 244, 231, 268, 265 and 238 to draw away from his nearest rivals, Francis Louw of South Africa and Mykhaylo Kalika of Ukraine sharing second position.

"I had a couple of good breaks in the third and fourth game in this block and had high games," said Jones, who won the DSD Samho Korea Cup in Septmber this year. "It's just anther routine block and I'm pretty happy with my position."

Louw, who had an 87 pins cushion over Ukrainian, ended with 193 for a series of 1174 and a total of 3544. Kalika chalked up a big game of 270 in the 15th game to tie second spot after rolling 1204 series.

Sweden's Patrick Bohm, who was third before the last game also posted 193 to slip down to fourth on 3462 while Belgium's Mats Maggi finished stronger to clinch fifth spot with 3445.

Jason Belmonte of Australia, who led the earlier squad, retained pole position with 3755, 54 pins ahead of Jones taking over second position in the overall standings. Finland's Kimmo Lethonen dropped to third with 3567.

The South African and Ukrainian completed the top 5. Surasak Manuwong of Thailand holds the 24th position with a total of 3237, averaging 215.80.

The men will resume with their fourth and final qualifying block tomorrow and the top 24 would advance to the next round for another 8 games with pins carried forward.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Johannesburg.

3rd December, Johannesburg: First perfect gamer, Jason Belmonte of Australia bowled consistently to remain in the lead of the Men's qualifying rounds at the 47th QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup after the third block.

Belmonte, who had a margin of 140 over his nearest opponent, knocked down lines of 225, 259, 255, 235 and 246 to register a 5-game series of 1220 and taking his 15-game tally to 3755.

Kimmo Lethonen of Finland, who trailed the Aussie in second throughout the block, downed 1172 to give himself a 15-game total of 3567, 188 pins adrift. Hong Kong's Wu Siu Hong ended slightly stronger to take third spot with 3440.

"The lanes were a lot tricky today and I had to go tighter with my shots," said 28-year-old from Orange, NSW who made two previous World Cup appearances and also shot a perfect game in 2007.

"I had to make sure I made good shots because a small mistake could prove to be costly. I'm happy with my performances to far."

Lucas Legnani of Argentina, who shot the tournament's third 300 in the opening game of this block and was third before the final game, slipped behind Wu to settle for fourth position with 3433.

Filipino Biboy Rivera dropped down to sixth from third overnight while reigning men's champion, Michael Schmidt of Canada moved up from 12th position to ninth.

Squad 1 of the men's division will take to the lanes for their third block later ending the third day of competition before the final block tomorrow.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Johannesburg.

3rd December, Johannesburg: Overnight leader, Aumi Guerra of Domincan Republic built up a massive 299 pins lead after another astonishing display in the third block of qualifying rounds at the 47th QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup on Saturday.

With 127 pins margin going into the third block, Aumi Guerra got another cracking start with 278 in her opening 11th game to increase her lead over Singapore's Cherie Tan to 169. She followed it up with 234, 267, 246 and rounding off with a sizzling 279 for a record-breaking 1304 5-game series.

The incredible performance gave the Dominican a 15-game tally of 3721 to remain firmly in the lead. 2006 World Cup champion, Diandra Asbaty of United States finished strongly with 266 in her 15th game to snatch second spot with 3422.

Cherie Tan of Singapore settled for third spot with 3417 after trailing Guerra most of the way. Krista Pollanen of Finland and Wendy Kok of the Netherlands rounded up the top 5 of this squad.

"I played in the Pan American games early last month and I was aweful," said the 31-year-old Guerra. "After that, I went back and went back to some basic and practice more regularly.

"There are a lot of great bowlers here and to be leading by such a big margin is an incredible feeling. I guess my style of bowling and the lane conditions here matched up well."

Squad 2 leader, Liza Clutario of Philippines finished fourth in the overall standings ahead of Pollanen while Sandra Andersson of Sweden, who finished second to Clutario, took sixth position.

The women will conclude the qualifying rounds with their fourth block tomorrow afternoon and evening after the men finish their final block in the morning. The top 24 women and top 24 men will advance to the next stage.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Johannesburg.

3rd December, Johannesburg: Liza Clutario of Philippines retained her lead in the Women's Squad 2 after completing the third block of the 47th QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup with Swede Sandra Andersson and Russian Evgeniya Zelenkova in second and third.

The Filipina debutant led from start to finish despite knockng down a lower 5-game series in the third block. Clutario posted 1071 to add to her two-blocks score of 2253 for a 15-game tally of 3324 to retain her lead.

World Bowling Tour Grand Finals first runner-up, Sandra Andersson of Sweden rolled the highest 5-game series in this block with 1168 to haul herself up from sixth overnight to second with 3237.

"I had a poor outing at the recent SEA Games in Jakarta as I had a bit of a family problem which prevented me from putting in my total focus," said the 31-year-old Clutario.

"I began to put more effort on my training after the games and I'm able to make good shots although I had a weaker series today. Overall I'm happy with where I'm after three days of bowling."

Russia's Evgeniya Zelenkova bowled the second highest series with 1140 to move up two notches to third with 3218 as Ireland's Hannah Cullen and Day 1 leader, Mercedes Perez de la Losa of Argentina slipped down to fourth and fifth positions.

Squad 1 of the women's division will take to the lanes for their third block before the men's turn in the afternoon and evening.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Johannesburg.

2nd December, Johannesburg: Reignng champion and overall leader, Aumi Guerra of Dominican Republic blazed the lanes at Let's Go Bowling in Northcliff to retain her lead in the 47th QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup women's qualifying standings after two blocks.

Having posted the highest 5-game series of 1145 in her first block yesterday, the 34-year-old led from start to finish to extend her lead over her nearest opponent from 51 pins to 127 pins.

Guerra registered lines of 244, 280, 279, 190 and 279 for an astonishing 1272 series for a 10-game tally of 2417. Cherie Tan of Singapore, who shared second spot yesterday, remained in second with 2290 after an impressive second block series of 1196.

2006 World Cup champion, Diandra Asbaty of the United States slipped down to third with 2256, a further 34 pins away.

The top 3 finishers in this squad claimed the top 3 positions in the overall standings. Earlier squad leader, Liza Clutario finished fourth with 2253 while Finland's Krista Pollanen rounded up the top 5 with 2220.

Squad 2 first block leader, Mercedes Parez de la Losa of Argentina finished sixth position with 2123 and Ireland's Hannah Cullen took seventh position with 2119.

Teresa Oberkerch of Austria occupied the current 24th position with 1990, an average of 199.00. The women will returned for their third block tomorrow morning while the men will bowl theirs in the afternoon and evening.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Johannesburg.

2nd December, Johannesburg: Debutant Liza Clutario of Philippines took over the lead of Women's second squad after the second block of qualifying rounds at the 47th QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup on Thursday.

Clutario, who trailed overnight leader, Mercedes Parez de la Losa of Argentina by 33 pins, not only overturned the deficit but streaked into a massive 130 pins margin over the Argentinian.

The Filipina downed consistent lines of 244, 201, 193, 235 and 256 to end the block with 1129. Her first block scoreline of 1124 gave Clutario a 10-gane aggregate of 2253 to lead the squad.

Mercedes managed a much lower 966 series to trail in second with 2123 while Ireland' Hannah Cullen rolled 1062 to add to her first block score of 1057 to take up third spot with 2119.

Kazakhstan's Yelena Grishinenko and Russia's Evgeniya Zelenkova made up the top 5 of the second squad with 2111 and 2078 respectively. The secnd highest series scorer was Malaysia's Jacqueline Sijore, who posted 1128 in this block.

The women's first squad will bowl their second block of 5 games later before resuming their third block of qualifying rounds tomorrow and the final block on Sunday.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Johannesburg.

2nd December, Johannesburg: Perfect gamer, Jason Belmonte of Australia led from start to finish in the second block of 5 games of the 47th QubicaAMF Bowlng World Cup to retain pole position of the Men's overall qualifying standings.

Belmonte, who shot the tournament's first perfect game yesterday en-route to leading the men's preliminary qualifying standings, set another blistering pace in his first three games with 267, 278 and 269 to stretch his lead from 69 pins to a massive 199.

Kimmo Lethonen of Finland could only response with 259, 236 and 189 to trail in second while last year's second runnerup, Biboy Rivera of Philippines gradually made up grounds to take up third.

The Aussie, who uses the unique two-handed style of delivery, capped off a spectacular second block with 213 and 230 to end the block with 1257, slight lower than the 1278 he posted last night.

His 10-game tally of 2535 put him 80 pins ahead of PBA pro and the earlier squad leader, Tommy Jones of United States in second with 2455. Lethonen, who finished second to Belmonte, finished third overall with 2395, a further 60 pins away.

South Africa's Francis Louw and Rivera completed the top 5 with 2370 and 2359 respectively. The Filipino is the best Asian performer after two blocks. The cut at 24th position is held by Qatar's Mansour Al Awamy with 2145, averaging 214.50.

The women's two squads will be staged after lane maintenance which will complete the second day of competiton. The bowlers will return for their third block tomorrow and their final block on Saturday.

At the end of the four blocks, the top 24 men and top 24 women would advance into the next round for another 8 games. The field will be further cut to top 8 men and top 8 women for their final 8 games.

The top 3 men and top 3 women will then proceed to the stapladder grand finals on Wednesday, December 7 in the best-of-three matchplay semi-finals and finals.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Johannesburg.

2nd December, Johannesburg: Overnight squad leader and PBA pro, Tommy Jones of United States shot the second perfect game of the 47th QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup to remain in the lead after the second block of 5 games.

Tommy Jones, who had a 20 pin lead over South Africa's Francis Louw, did have the best of starts managing a lowly 209 consdering the high scoring lanes provided to the competitors here at Let's Go Bowling.

But the 32-year-old Jones from Simpsonville, SC., picked up his pace with a splendid 279 in the seventh game to extend his lead back to 21 after seeing it reduced to just 11 at the start as Ukraine's Mykhaylo Kalika moved into second.

With another strong 238 in the eighth game, the American repeated his 12 shots with pin-point accuracy to shoot the tournament's second 300.

Jones ended the block with 247 on a series of 1273 and a 10-game total of 2455 to remain the leader in Squad A. Louw shot back-to-back 270s in his eighth and ninth games but downed only 184 to finish second to Jones with 2370.

"Apparently the lanes on the lower-numbered lanes part of the center were higher scoring lanes so I had some good games there," said Jones, who shot his career 23 perfect games with the Ebonite Elevate.

"I didn't have a good start but when the lanes settled down and I had better carry. During the practice session, the lanes from 1-12 were drier and the lanes from 13-24 were a lot quicker. But it's the opoosite today."

Kalika finished third with 2340 while Sweden's Patrick Bohm rolled 1202 in this block to move up to fourth in the squad. Asia's best finisher was Shaker Al Hassan of UAE in sixth position with 2251.

The second men's squad will bowl their second block after lane maintenance while the women will complete their second block in the afternoon and evening.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Johannesburg.

1st December, Johannesburg: Jason Belmonte of Australia shot the tournament's first perfect game en-route to topping the final squad and taking over the Men's overall qualifying standings of the 47th QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup.

Asians made an immediate impact in the opening game of the men's second squad when Hong Kong's Wu Siu Hong and Australia's Jason Belmonte made the early running with 277 and 248 respectively.

But the two-handed Aussie responded with his own 279 in the second game to move to the front with Kazakhstan 15-year-old Alexandr Panchenko trailing in second, 35 pins adrift. Belmonte remained in the lead with a superb third game of 233 and Penchenko still in second.

Belmonte then went on a strikefest reeling eleven consecutive strikes and literally putting the Northcliff house to a standstill with all the spectators craming in to watch his 12th delivery.

The 2008-09 PBA Rookie of the Year duly oblidged by knocking down the first 300 of the tournament in the fourth game to the delight of the spectators and giving himself a massive 107 pins lead over his nearest opponent.

The leader rounded off with a fine 218 to end the first block with 1278. Finland's Kimmo Lethonen finished second with 1209 while Israel's Ben Fishler too third spot with 1184. Squad 1 leader, Tommy Jones slipped down to fourth with 1182.

Last year's first runner-up, Biboy Rivera of the Philippines rounded the top five with 1180. The top 24 cut is held by Panchenko with 1083, an average of 216.60. Reigning men champion, Michael Schmidt of Canada finished 20th overall.

Competition will resume with the men bowling their second block of 5 games in the morning and afternoon while the women will bowl theirs in the evening.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Johannesburg.

1st December, Johannesburg: American PBA pro, Tommy Jones took pole position in the Men's opening squad of the 47th QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup after the first block of 5 games at Let's Go Bowling, Northcliff on Thursday.

A cracking start from Mykhaylo Kalika with 277 saw the Ukrainian lead the field of 39 bowlers contesting their first block of 5 games in the men's opening squad 12 pins ahead of Qatar's Mansour Al Awamy, who had nine consecutive strikes.

Belgium's Mats Maggi rolled 258 and 244 to move into the lead with 502 as the Qatari continued to trail in second. But the three consistent games of 244, 235 and 257 from Maurizio Celli of Italy put him in fornt after the third game.

The Italian could not hold on to the lead as the pace got faster as PBA pro, Tommy Jones fired 247 in his fourth after rolling 256, 242 and 221 in his earlier three games to become the new leader.

The American hung on to the lead with 1182 pinfalls despite ending with 216. Host nation's Francis Louw of South Africa stormed home to snatch second spot with 1162. Early leader, Kalika tied third spot with Mansour with 1155.

"I had a good start and I got a lot of good breaks," said the 32-year-old Tommy Jones of Simpsonville, SC. and 2005-06 PBA Player of the Year. "The lanes from one side of the center to the other side so I had to make a lot of adjustments.

"Although the lanes had changed quite a bit toward the end, I'm glad I hung in there to end well," added Jones, who is making his first appearance at the world cup. "Of course my target is to win and I'll take it one step at a time."

The final squad of the day will see the remaining 42 men contesting their first block of 5 games. Competition will resume with the second block of 5 games tomorrow.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Johannesburg.

1st December, Johannesburg: Mercedes Perez de la Losa of Argentina topped the second squad to lead the Women's qualifying rounds of the 47th QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup after the first block of 5 games at Let's Go Bowling, Northcliff.

Yelena Grishinenko surprised the field of the remaining 30 women bowlers in the second squad to take the lead with a scintilating 279 in her opening game. A lower game of 176 in her second game gave Filipina, Liza Clutario an opportunity to move in the front as the Argentinian slipped 30 pins behind.

Clutario continued to lead after the third game as Russia's Evgeniya Zelenkova took up second spot, 28 pins adrift. Argentina's Mercedes Perez de la Losa scorched the lanes with 258 to take over the running after the fourth game.

The 33-year-old Mercedes, who took part in the 2007 World Cup, ended with a strong 241 to top the squad as well as finished as overall leader after the first block with 1157.

Clutario bounced back to claimed second spot with 1124 while Catalonia's Luz Adriana Leal stromed home to snatch third spot with 1111.

First squad leader and reigning champion, Aumi Guerra of Dominican Republic dropped to second, 12 pins behind the Argentinian in the overall leaderboard followed by Clutario in third.

The women will resume with their second block of 5 games tomorrow while the 81 men, divided into two squads will contest their first block later today.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Johannesburg.

1st December, Johannesburg: Reigning champion, Aumi Guerra of Dominican Republic got off to a spectacular start in her effort to defend the women's title of the 47th QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup by leading the opening squad.

Krista Pollanen of Finland set a cracking pace with 239 to lead the field of 35 bowlers in the first squad of the opening block. The Finn's lead did not last long as reigning champion, Aumi Guerra shot into the lead after two consistent games of 224 and 234.

A sizzling 255 from 2006 World Cup champion, Diandra Asbaty of United States gave the American a slim lead over World Women Championship two silver medalist, Cherie Tan of Singapore after the third game.

Cherie, who matched Asbaty's third game with her own 258 , followed it up with a splendid 244 to take over the running.

But the Singaporean struggled in the fifth and final game with 158 to tie second spot with Asbaty on 1094. Guerra, who was the most consistent of all, ended with 247 to regain top spot with 1145.

Netherlands' Wendy Kok finished fourth with 1087 ahead of early pace-setter, Pollanen completing the top 5 of Squad 1.

Squad 1 will resume with their second block of 5 games tomorrow in the final squad of the day after Squad 2 contest theirs in the afternoon. Squad 2 will bowl their first block later after lane maintenance.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Johannesburg.

30th November, Johannesburg: The opening ceremony of the 47th QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup was held in Johannesburg in which 151 bowlers from 83 countries comprising of 81 men and 70 women were assembled attended by guests and officials.

Mr Bernard Gibbons, Tournament Director kicked off proceedings as emcee of ceremonies which consisted of the parade of 75 participating countries. The opening was also attended by Mr Kevin Dornberger, President of World Tenpin Bowling Association and FIQ.

Mr Gerald Paluzzi, head of Let's Go Bowling South Africa in his welcome address commented: "It's a wonderful opportunity and a privilege to be able to host of bowling's most prestigious tournament in Johannesburg.

"Ever since we hosted the Bowling World Cup in 1993, it has been my dream to bring it back to South Africa. We are very much looking forward to welcoming the world's leading bowlers and we guarantee them, their supporters and visitors a most memorable event and experience."

Mr Mark Tau, mayor of Johannesburg in his speech welcome all the participants, coaches and officials to the city and invited all to find time to visit this wonderful country and experience the hospitality of its people.

The guests and participants were entertained to South African tribes traditional warrior dances in which some of the participants also joined in. The players' oath was taken by South Africa's women representative, Marika Van Der Berg.

Four squads have been allocated for the official practice - two for the men in the morning session and two for the women in the afternoon session.

Players will bowl four blocks of five games each over the next four days commencing Thursday, December 1 to 4. The top 24 based on 20 games total pinfalls will advance into the next stage for another 8 games pins carried forward.

The field will then be cut to 8 for the final 8 games block. The top 3 at the end of 36 games will proceed to the semi-finals and finals on Wednesday, December 7.

Photos by Hero Noda.