17th November, Palembang: Participants from seventy-five countries paraded in a packed house at Jakabaring Bowling Center in the South Sumatra capital city, Palembang for the official opening ceremony of the 55th QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup on Sunday.

The tournament, which returned to Indonesia after first hosting it 39 years ago in Jakarta, will be held from November 17 to 23, 2019 at the 40-lane center, which also hosted the highly successful 2018 Asian Games.

The opening ceremony was graced by the guest of honour, his honorable Mr Zainudin Amali, Indonesian Minister of Youth and Sports, accompanied by his honorable, Mr Herman Deru, Governor of South Sumatra Province, Mr Mawardi Yahya, Vice Governor of South Sumatra Province and Mrs Hj. Percha Leanpuri, President of Persatuan Boling Indonesia.

Also present were Mr Akhmad Najib, Organising Chairman, Mr Marios Nicolaides, Vice President of World Bowling, Mr Aswin Limansantoso, Special Advisor to Persatuan Boling Indonesia, Mr Roger Creamer, Director of Public Relations and Sports Development of QubicaAMF.

Immediately following that was the traditional South Sumatra "Kipas dance" performed by Sanggar Cempako. Each participating countries subsequently paraded in front of guests, officials and spectators. This was followed by The Indonesian national anthem being played.

Mrs Leanpuri kicked off a series of speeches followed by the Governor of South Sumatra, Mr Herman Deru and the Indonesian Minister of Youth and Sports, Mr Zainudin Amali during which his honorable officially declared the 55th QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup opened.

All the dignitaries were then invited to throw bowling balls to mark the opening ceremony. Mr Roger Creamer presented tokens of appreciation in the form of a bowling pin to the Indonesian Minister of Youth and Sports, Governor of South Sumatra and PBI President.

Mr Roger Creamer, Director of Public Relations and Sports Development of QubicaAMF delivered his speech following the presentation of souvenirs. Mr Marios Nicolaides ended the series of speeches with his speech on behalf of World Bowling.

Seventy-three men and sixty women from a total of seventy-five countries will be vying for the ultimate and prestigious Bowling World Cup champion crown commencing with the Men's first block of six games tomorrow morning followed by the women in the afternoon.

The players will bowl four blocks of six games each totalling 24 games over the next four days. The top 24 men and top 24 women with the highest pinfalls will advance to the Top 24 round for another six games with pins carried forward from the preliminaries on November 22.

The field will be further cut to the top 8 for the final block of six games on November 23 to determine the top four men and top 4 women proceeding the stepladder grand finals in which the top-seed will face the fourth-seed and the second-seed will face the third-seed over a one-game tie.

The winners of the first stepladder match will square off, again over one game to determine this year's champions. Live video streaming has been brought back this year and can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/user/QubicaAMFWorldwide.