16th August, Helsingborg: The final qualifying squad bowlers packed up their equipment this evening and only those who have made the cut, or are going to shoot for glory in the 'Desperado' squad, remain in this prestigious, well-organized and enjoyable tournament.

American Robert Spigner of Vernon Hills, Illinois topped the scores over the final six games of qualifying, rolling 1,463. The 21-year-old student is enjoying his first foray on foreign soil and is evidently very pleased with his performance so far.

"That was great!" Spigner exclaimed as he came off the lanes this evening. "When you get bounced out of the top eight it's really hard to come back, so I'm mighty relieved that I did that."

"I was well prepared to bowl today," he added. "I was on a good pair of lanes to start and had a 266 and 279. I was bowling with a good tempo and was getting a strong ball reaction. Lanes 11 & 12 were the hard pair for my third and fourth games, but I hung in and maintained good momentum."

Spigner's outstanding bowling over the past year has earned him the prestigious Billy Welu Scholarship Award from the Professional Bowlers' Association. Thisamounts to a $1,000 grant towards his continuing education at the Indiana University. He received the phone call with the good news just four days before he left for this trip.

Amazingly, the cut for 44th place came at 1,350, an all-time record high for the Super Six and Super Series. The previous was 1,347 for Tore Torgersen in Kungsbacka, Sweden, a few years ago.

The lanes were packed with those bidding for those coveted four places from the Desperado squad. The result was a further stage in the tournament for those listed below in the yellow section. Jesper Agerbro got through after a 233 tie with Anette Karlsson and a 236-228 win after the second game roll-off. For detailed scores, visit Bowlers Journal International website.

Story and photos by Keith Hale, Bowlers Journal International

16th August, Helsingborg: Ahmed Shaheen of Qatar took over the running with an opening three games in this first squad this morning to total a very handsome 775 and the AMF Bowling World Cup champion had his sights set on doubling that to become the third player over 1,500 for six games.

Alas, that was not to be, but he was still involved in the battles for the prime positions as several of these talented players piled on the strikes to put paid to the last two games syndrome that has seen so many pole contenders dumped into the wilderness.

Going into the last game, it was Sweden's Peter Ljung at the head of the squad, adding a 278 to his previous 289, but an open eighth frame cost him the lead as Ahmed Al-Mohannadi took over the reins previously held by Shaheen and hit a final 256 to top the squad standings with 1,468, just three pins ahead of Ljung, yet another past AMF World Cup champion.

Ahmed Al-Mohannadi, 29, holds a 210 average at home in Doha, but upped that to a 244 here in Helsingborg. His 19 years bowling experience told him to make some changes with this, his fifth entry. He desperately needed to

improve on his previous high of 1,323 as that was now out of the cut. "I made several adjustments today," he said. "I moved left on the approach and that really worked well for me."

The Qatar team are in this event as training for the upcoming WTBA World Championships in Malaysia next month and they rate the Super Series as a good training event for the major conflicts to come. "There is a very high level of competition here," Al-Mohannadi added. "It is great to play alongside Tomas Leandersson, Tim Mack and Mika Koivuniemi, so this is good practice for Malaysia. I'm very pleased that I'm now in the top 16, which will give me a break before I have to bowl again."

Our genial host Patrick Backe, proprietor of this unique and pleasant bowling center, now sits in 44th place. That will, most probably put him out of

the qualifiers after the next squad, but the tall Swede was quite philosophical about it, "Well, I'm rather busy here, so wouldn't really have time to play the final anyway." He can make up for this when he plays for the Swedish national team in Malaysia.

The record cut for the Super Six/Super Series is 1,347. It remains to be seen whether that figure will be exceeded this afternoon. Just one full qualifying squad remains before the Desperado squad, then the finals commence at 19:00, local time. For detailed scores, visit Bowlers Journal International website.

Story and photos by Keith Hale, Bowlers Journal International