8th September, Busan: Filipino, Biboy Rivera ended the World Men's Championship by defeating Germany's Achim Grabowski, 3-2 in the Masters at Homplus Asiad Bowling Centre with a perfect game in the final match to capture the Gold medal.

Ranked ninth, Rivera chose the long oil to start the finals against fourtheen-seed, Achim Grabowski of Germany winning the first match, 232-223. The champion went on to edge the German, 225-223 in a thrilling second match.

Looking strong for the third, Rivera struggled to find his line going down, 175-204 forcing the Filipino having to play the fourth match. Grabowski bounched back with a 220-193 win over his opponent to force yet again Rivera to the final decider.

With his favourite long oil condition, the Filipino went on a strikefest, knocking down 12 consecutive strikes to score the championship's third perfect game for an crushing victory over Grabowski and claimed the Masters gold and the World Champion title.

Rivera's last success was winning the the Doubles Gold medal with Chester King in the 2002 Asian Championship in Hong Kong. The win also ended Philippines 15-year medal drought in the World Championship when Paeng Nepomuceno and Paulo Valdez took the bronze medal in the 1991 Championship in Singapore.

The 32-year-old champion made the finals after knocking out favourite, Jason Belmonte of Australia, 3-2 in the second semifinals while the runner-up, Grabowski ousted American, Rhino Page, 3-1 in the first semifinals.

Top-seed and winner of two gold medals, Remy Ong of Singapore defeated sixteen-seed, Bader Al Shaikh of Saudi Arabia, 3-0 in the first round played Thursday evening but was eliminated in the quarterfinals by Achim Grabowski, 3-1.

Singapore emerged the overall champion with 2 gold medals won by Remy Ong in the Singles and All Events. USA finished second with 1 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze medal. Host nation, Korea came in third with 1 gold, 1 silver and 2 bronze medals. Two other gold medals was won by Sweden in the Doubles and Philippines in the Masters.

Photos courtesy of MTBC.

7th September, Busan: Singapore's Remy Ong became a hero when he bagged the Singles and All Events Gold medals of the World Men's Championship during the conclusion of a thrilling final Singles squad on Thursday evening.

At the end of Squad 3 played earlier, Rhino Page of USA was sitting comfortably at the top of the field with a record-breaking 1481 posted in last night's Squad 2 and looked set to win the Gold medal.

As the final Squad 4 took to the lanes, Saudi Arabia's Bader Al Shaikh took an early lead with a 257, just 2 pins ahead of England's Nick Froggatt. Singapore's Remy Ong then fired a superb 268 to shoot to the front with 494 after the second game. Another good game of 248 saw the leader stretching his lead to 35 pins on a 3-game series of 742.

The Singaporean went into top gear to knock down back-to-back 268 in game 4 and 5 and built up a 66 pins margin on a 5-game total of 1278. Needing only a 203 in his final game, the leader more or less eased off with a 246 for a convincing victory and on a record 1524 total with 43 pins to spare.

Rhino Page could only watch his gold medal slip by him as the champion secured the win. Page settled for the silver while Squad 1 leader, Jo Nam-Yi of Korea took home the bronze medal.

Despite finishing second behind Ong in final squad, Bader Al Shaikh ended up in tenth position. American Scott Pohl, who was third before the final squad, was relegated to fourth overall. Both Ong and Page broke the 1999 Abu Dhabi World Championship record of 1480.

Ironically, all the top 3 singles winners also bagged the All Events titles in the same order. Ong claimed his second Gold with 5566, erasing the 2003 Kuala Lumpur World Championship of 5480 set by Anders Öhman of Sweden. Page again settled for the silver with 5452 and Jo took home yet again the bronze medal with 5443.

Nine Asians, three Americans and four Europeans made the Masters Elimination Finals by virtue of finishing in the top 16 of the individual All Events standings. Bader Al Shaikh edged Thailand's Yannaphon Larpapharat by 37 pins to make the last and 16th spot.

Singapore's two Gold medals put the island in front of the Overall Medal tally with 2 gold medals with USA in second with 1 gold and 2 silver medals.

Host nation, Korea is third with 1 gold, 1 silver and 2 bronze medals. The other gold medal went to Sweden who is fourth.

The top 16 Elimination finals will start shortly with the winners moving into the top 8 quarterfinals tomorrow (Friday). The winners of the top 8 matches will proceed to the top 4 semifinals and the top 2 finals to determine the Masters champion and the final gold medal.

Photos by James Kim, Bowling Cam and courtesy of MTBC.

7th September, Busan: Overnight leader, Rhino Page of USA maintained his lead in the Singles overall standings of the World Men's Championship after Squad 3 completed their block Thursday morning.

Manila SEA Games Masters Gold medalist, Markwin Tee of the Philippines had a great start when Squad 3 took to the lanes at Homplus Asiad Bowling Centre for their 6-game Singles event with 225 and 236 but lost to lead to Doubles bronze medalist, Jason Walsh of Australia at the halfway mark.

Walsh's 3-game series of 697 was short lived as Saudi Arabia's Yousif A Akbar tok over the lead after the fourth game. Walsh came back strongly to regian the lead after the fifth but handed back the lead after a poor 183 in the final game.

Despite topping Squad 3, Yousif's 1345 was only good enough for 12th position in the overall standings when the three squads were combined. Amercian, Rhino Page remained at the top of the field with his scintillating 1481 total from last night's Squad 2.

The top 3 positions remained unchanged with Squad 1 leader, Korea's Jo Nam-Yi in second and American, Scott Pohl third with 1448 and 1417 respectively.

Photos by James Kim, Bowling Camp.

6th September, Busan: Team Gold medalist, Rhino Page of USA, bulldozed his way to top the Singles event of the World Men's Championship after Squad 2 was completed at Homplus Asiad Bowling Centre Wednesday evening.

Team silver medalist, Azidi Ameran set a cracking pace as Squad 2 took to the lanes this afternoon with a superb first game of 268 and a 224 in the second for a 24 pin lead over Hong Kong's Wicky Yeung in second.

The Malaysian lost the lead to Thailand's Yannaphon Larpapharat when the latter posted a 279 in the third for a slender lead of 2 pins from Rhino Page of USA in second hot in pursuit. Page then went into top gear chalking up a 279, 253 and 279 to end the block with 1481 while Azidi fought back to finish second with 1398.

Page's 3-game series of 811 fell short by 15 pins to breaking a record of 826 set by Kimmo Lehtonen in 1999 in Abu Dhabi. Squad 1 leader, Jo Nam-Yi dropped to second when the two squads were combined ahead of another American, Scott Pohl third with 1417.

UAE's Shaker Al-Hassan and Azidi Ameran dropped out of a medal contention ending up in fourth and fifth positions with 1399 and 1398 respectively. Page has also shot to the front of the idividual All Events standings after 24 games on 5452. Squad 3 and 4 will contest their Singles tomorrow (Thursday).

Photos courtesy of MTBC.

6th September, Busan: Korea signalled their return after missing out on the Team event when Jo Nam-Yi topped the opening squad of the Singles in the World Men's Championship ahead of USA's Scott Pohl in second and UAE's Shaker Al-Hassan third.

Jo, who had a great start in the first game with 268, but trailed Chinese Taipei's Ku Ching-Ho on a 279 opener. The Korean then fired a superb 278 in the second game to take a 35 pin lead over Team Gold medalist, Scott Pohl hot on his heels.

The lead continued to blazed the lanes at Homplus Asiad Bowling Centre with consistent lines of 236, 231, 203 and 232 to end the squad with 1448, just two pins short of the record set by Michael Sassen of the Netherlands in 1995.

American, Scott Pohl settled for second with 1417 while southpaw, Shaker Al-Hassan of UAE stormed home in the final game to take up third with 1399. A further two pins were South Africa's Keith Doolabh, who posted a 268 in his final game and tied with another American, Dan Petterson in fourth with 1397.

Photos by James Kim, Bowling Camp.

5th September, Busan: USA captured the Team Gold medal after a 35-year wait when they topped the Team of Five event of the World Men's Championship at the end of Squad 1 second block Tuesday evening.

Overall leader after last night's first block of 3 games over long oil, USA's Scott Pohl, Ronnie Sparks, David Haynes, Rhino Page and Bill Hoffman had a nervous start in the second block with 1024 in the fourth game.

With two more games to go, the Americans needed at least 2100 in the next two games in order to beat Squad 2 leader, Malaysia. With sheer determination, USA fired all cyclinders to draw closer to an emphatic victory when they chalked up 1167 with anchorman, Bill Hoffman scoring the championship's second perfect game.

The Americans only required to score 932 or more to assure victory and in the final game, they posted a 1032 to secure the Team Gold with 6618 after a 35-year gap. The last time the Americans won the Team gold was in Milwalki, USA in 1971.

Despite settling for the silver medal with 6518, Malaysia's Daniel Lim, Ben Heng (alternated with Aaron Kong), Azidi Ameran, Alex Liew and Zulmazran Zulkifli were overjoyed to have bagged their second medal.

"It's a historic win for Malaysia and all the six players contributed to this magnificient achievement," said the delighted team manager, Cheah Ban Cheng. "Winning the silver medal has also put Malaysia at par with the best in the world.

Finland's Kimmo Lehtonen (alternated with Petteri Salonen), Osku Palermaa, Kai Virtanen, Petri Mannonen and Lasse Lintila, who finished second to Malaysia in Squad 2, edged Sweden by 14 pins to claim the bronze medal with 6394.

Sweden, who was in a chance to a medal, posted a costly low game of 984 to finish fourth with 6380 while the Germans and host nation, Korea ended their block in fifth and six spots respectively.

After three events, second perfect gamer, Bill Hoffman of USA took over the lead in the individual All Events standings with 4138 from Doubles brnze medalist, Jason Belmonte in second with 4117. Finland's Petri Mennonen, who led after the Trios, dropped to third with 4073.

Photos courtesy of MTBC.

5th September, Busan: Malaysia bounched back with a superb second block in the Team event of the World Men's Championship and set the benchmark of 6518 for remaining Squad 1 to beat at Homplus Asiad Bowling Centre Tuesday morning.

Malaysia's Daniel Lim, Ben Heng (alternated with Aaron Kong), Azidi Ameran, Alex Liew and Zulmazran Zulkifli started the second block over short oil with a bang posting 1122. The Malaysians then broke the one-game record, ironically set by the Americans in 1999 by 4 pins with 1185.

Looking set to build up a good margin before the final game, a lowly 1020 in the crucial game only gave them a total of 6518 and a team average of 217.27, but only 9 pins away from the overall first block leader, USA, who had 226.33 average.

The difference between the Malaysians and the Americans are only 3123 and all the Americans need to do in their second block is to score an average of 1041 per game to win the Gold and the Swedes to score 3211 to knock the Malaysians into third.

Anchorman, Zulmazran Zulkifli, who was struggling in the Trios event, finally turned on his power to post the highest 6-game series with 1388, followed by Asian Championship All Events Gold medalist, Azidi Ameran on 1364 while Daniel Lim downed 1305.

Finland's Kimmo Lehtonen (alternated with Petteri Salonen), Osku Palermaa, ai Virtanen, Petri Mannonen and Lasse Lintila, who was hot on the Malaysian's heels, ended with 6394, 124 pins adrift in second. Canada finished third in this squad with 6293.

Photos courtesy of MTBC.

4th September, Busan: Japan topped Squad 2 first block Team of 5 event in the World Men's Championship but trailed Squad 1 and overall leader, USA and Sweden in second on Monday evening at Homplus Asiad Bowling Centre.

The Japanese team comprising of Asian Championship bronze medalists, Tomokatsu Yamashita, Toshihiko Takahashi, Masaru Ito, Yoshinao Masatoki and Masaaki Takemoto set a cracking pace in Squad 2 with a superb 1116 but soon found themselves trailing the Malaysian team by 24 pins after the second game.

Trios bronze medalists, Aaron Kong and Zulmazran Zulkifli, joined by Daniel Lim, Azidi Ameran and Alex Liew of Malaysia, chalked up 1066 and 1122 but a poor 1003 in their final game saw them dropping to fourth with 3191.

Despite regaining the lead after posting 1093 in their final game for a total of 3257, Japan ended up third behind USA in first and Finland in second. USA's Scott Pohl, Ronnie Sparks, David Haynes, Rhino Page and Bill Hoffman, who led Squad 1 earlier were the overall leader with 3395.

Sweden's Robert Andersson, Andres Öhman, Peter Ljung, Martin Larsen and Tomas Leandersson finished second with 3307, 88 pins adrift the leaders while Japan settled for third spot. With less than 200 pins separating the top 5, competition will heat up in the second block over short oil condition tomorrow.

Photos courtesy of MTBC.

4th September, Busan: Team USA staked their claim on the Team Gold as the Americans topped Squad 1 first block over the long oil condition in the World Men's Championship at Homplus Asiad Bowling Centre Monday morning.

Scott Pohl, Ronnie Sparks, David Haynes, Rhino Page and Bill Hoffman set the lanes ablazed with lines of 1129, 1143 and 1123 for a commanding total of 3395, 88 pins ahead of Sweden. Anchorman, Hoffman posted the highest 3-game series of 734 to give the Americans the lead.

Doubles Gold medalist, Robert Andersson led teammates, Anders Öhman, Peter Ljung, Martin Larsen and Tomas Leandersson to take up second for Sweden with a team total of 3307 while Qatar's Ahmed Shaheen, Khalifa Al Kubaisi, Bandar Al Shafi, Abdulla Al Qattan and Saeed Al Hajri finished third with 3237.

Germany's Achim Grabowski, Jens Nickel, Thomas Block, Tobias Gäbler and Kai Günther, who were trailing the American after the second game, dropped to fourth with 3233, just 14 pins adrift the Qataris.

The second block of 3 games over short oil will be contested Tuesday while Squad 2 will take on the lanes shortly after lane maintenance.

Photos courtesy of MTBC.

3rd September, Busan: New leader, Joung Seoung-Joo, Choi Jong-In and Kim Tae-Won clinched Korea's first Gold medal in the Trios event of the World Men's Championship as their teammates, Choi Bok-Eum, Kang Hee-Won and Jo Nam-Yi edged Malaysia for the silver.

Joung, Choi and Kim, who trailed overall leader, Malaysia after last night's first block, opened Squad 2 second block with a 675 followed by two superb 697 and 694 in the fifth and final games to amass 4073.

When Squad 2 took to the lanes, the overnight leader of Aaron Kong, Ben Heng and Zulmazran Zulkifli blazed the lanes with a high game of 705. With another moderate 674 in the fifth game, all the Malaysian needed was a 661 to topple the Koreans.

Malaysia's disappointing 610 in the final game and a total of 4022, turned out to be a joy for the Koreans as they hung on to top the field and 51 pins ahead. With the final squad to play, the only real threat were coming from the Malaysians again with their second trios.

As the final squad took to the lanes, Daniel Lim, Azidi Ameran and Alex Liew was lying third based on their team average. The trio opened with a 659 but could only manage 620 and 628 in their fifth and sixth games.

Korea's second trio of Choi Bok-Eum, Kang Hee-Won and Jo Nam-Yi posted a much better 675 and 697 in their fourth and fifth games and only needed 725 or more to edge the first Malaysian trio. With the strong home supporters firmly behind them, they rallied on for a superb 727 to edge the Malaysian by just 2 pins and snatched the silver medal with a total of 4024.

Despite loosing to Korea for the gold and silver, Malaysia had plenty to cheer especially meeting their target of winning at least a medal after waiting for 27 years. Lim, Azidi and Alex finished a creitable seventh place overall with 3859.

Chinese Taipei's Cheng Chao-Sheng, Ku Ching=Ho and Kao Hai-Yuan finished overall fourth with a total of 3888, just 8 pins ahead of the best European team of Petri Mannonen, Petteri Salonen and Lasse Lintila of Finland in fifth with 3880.

Photos courtesy of MTBC.

3rd September, Busan: Malaysia lost the chance for a Gold medal as Aaron Kong, Ben Heng and Zulmazran Zulkifli ended the second block of the Trios event of the World Men's Championship to trail the Koreans by 51 pins.

The trio, who was the overall leader after the first block of 3 games over short oil yesterday, had a superb start with 705 in the opening game. Another good game of 674 in the fifth allowed the Malaysian to maintain the lead based on the team average.

Needing only 661 to topple the local favourites, Kong, Heng and Zulmazran managed only 610 with 214, 203 and 193 scoreline in the final game and missing a great opportunity to overtake the Koreans.

Choi Jong-In, Joung Seoung-Joo and Kim Tae-Won of Korea, who posted 4073 was good enough to retain the lead with the final Squad 1 to play. Malaysia finished second with 4022 and hopeful of maintaining second for a medal chance.

USA's Rhino Page, Dan Petterson and Bill Hoffman and Philippines' Chester King, C.J. Suarez and Biboy Rivera finished second and third in Squad 3 with 3827 and 3808 and appeared to be out of the medal contention.

Meanwhile, the first perfect game of the championship came in game 5 of this squad when Antonios Evaggelidis of Greece downed twelve consecutive strikes. The perfect game was the twice national champion's fifth in his 12 year bowling career and 5 years in the national side.

Malaysia's other trio of Daniel Lim, Azidi Ameran and Alex Liew are third based on team average but has a tall order needing 2121 to beat the Koreans and 2172 to overtake their teammates.

Photos courtesy of MTBC.

2nd September, Busan: Malaysia regained the lead when Aaron Kong, Ben Heng and Zulmazran Zulkifli topped the Trios first block of the World Men's Championship at the end of Squad 3 at Homplus Asiad Bowling Centre Saturday evening.

Despite a slow start in their opening game, the trio posted big games of 724 and 707 in the second and third game to reclaim the lead which their teammates, Daniel Lim, Azidi Ameran and Alex Liew had in Squad 1.

Southpaw, Ben Heng posted the highest 3-game series in this event with 744 while Kong and Zulmazran contributed 658 and 631 to give the Malaysian the lead with a team total of 2033. Korea's Choi Jong-In, Joung Seoung-Joo and Kim Tae-Won, who led after squad 2 was completed, dropped one rung to second with 2012, just 21 pins adrift.

"We're happy with the performance with every member of the Team today," said team manager Cheah Ban Cheng. "We're in a great position with first and fourth placings and we hope they'll continue to shine on the long oil in the second block tomorrow.

Singapore's Lee Yu-Wen, Shaun Ng and Remy Ong settled for third position with 1957 while a further five pins away was Squad 1 leader, Malaysia in fourth with 1952. The second block of 3 games will be bowled over long oil tomorrow (Sunday).

Photos courtesy of MTBC.

2nd September, Busan: Korea's Choi Jong-In, Joung Seoung-Joo and Kam Tae-Won scorched the lanes at Homplus Asiad Bowling Centre to storm into the lead after the Trios Squad 2 first block of the World Men's Championship were completed.

The Korean trio set a cracking pace with a 684 opening game and followed it up with the highest game so far recorded on 730. Despite a poor third game of 598, the host nation was able to overtake Squad 1 leader, Malaysia on a total team score of 2012.

Choi chalked up the highest 3-game series over the short oil pattern with 696 followed by Kim with 664 and Joung on 652. Singapore's Lee Yu-Wen, Shaun Ng and Remy Ong, who took the lead in the first game, kept pace with the leader to finish second with 1957.

Squad 1 leader of Daniel Lim, Azidi Ameran and Alex Liew of Malaysia was relegated to third spot with 1952, just 5 pins behind the Singaporeans. Australia's Jason Walsh, Bradon Qualischefski and Jason Belmonte, who was second in Squad 1, also dropped to fourth on 1937.

Saudi Arabia and the other Korean trio completed the top 5 in fourth and fifth positions with just 5 pins separating the two on 1930 and 1925 respectively. The final squad will contest their first block of 3 games shortly after lane maintenance.

Photos by James Kim, Bowling Camp.

2nd September, Busan: Asian Championship Gold medalists, Daniel Lim, Azidi Ameran and Alex Liew put Malaysia in the lead at the end of the 3-game Trios first block Squad 1 of the World Men's Championship on short oil this morning.

All three bowled consistently for a combined total of 1952 to lead Australia by 15 pins. Lim downed the highest 3-game series of 673 followed by Liew on 640 and Azidi on 639. The trio had lines of 607, 669 and 676 to top the field of 29 teams.

Doubles bronze medalists, Jason Belmonte partnered Jason Walsh and Brandon Qualischefski to take up second spot with a total of 1937 while host nation, Korea with Choi Bok-Eum, Kang Hee-Won and Jo Nam-Yi finished third, just 12 pins adrift on 1925. Canada and Sweden rounded up the top 5 with 1921 and 1889 respectively.

"Azidi is the key," said team manager, Cheah Ban Cheng at the end of first Squad. "He started rather uncomfortably with 182 but recovered with 210 and 247 to bring the team and himself up in contention.

"Lim was superb and Liew was consistent. They put themselves in a good position by topping the first squad, but to win a medal in this event, they need to put their very best in the next block of 3 games on long oil tomorrow," added Cheah.

Photos courtesy of MTBC.

1st September, Busan: Sweden bagged their first Gold when Robert Andersson and Martin Larsen hung on to their lead as the final squad of the Doubles event of the World Men's Championship ended this evening.

The Swedish duo, who took over the lead when Squad 3 were played earlier this morning with a total of 2831, appeared to be overtaken by host national, Korea. Kang Hee-Won and Choi Bok-Eum set a cracking pace with 479, 464 and 474 to shoot to the front of Squad 4 after Mexico and Australia were leading game 1 and 2.

With a superb 511 in Korea's fourth game, they pair looked to surpass the benchmark set by the Swedes. With two more games to go, the Koreans need 903 to snatch the lead and a possble Gold but nerves must have crept into the duo as they could only post 394 and 420.

While the Koreans lost their chance, Australia's Jarrod Lean and Jason Belmonte also came close to overhaul the Swedes. The Aussie needed 528 in the final game but again fell short with 460 in the final game and also did not overtake second-placed, England.

Daniel Stride and Mike Quarry of England took the silver medal with 2808 while Australia settled for the bronze medal with 2763. Belmonte had a consolation after recording the highest 6-game series with 1541 to head the individual standings.

Squad 2 leader and third before the last squad dropped to fourth and missed out on the medal with 2746. Squad 4 pace-setter, Korea only managed a fifth place finish with 2742.

Photos courtesy of MTBC.

1st September, Busan: Sweden's Robert Andersson and Martin Larsen scorched the lanes at Homplus Asiad Bowling Centre in the third squad to take over the lead of the Doubles event of the World Men's Championship Friday morning.

Larsen posted the highest 6-game series so far with 1459 while his partner, Andersson fell 1372 to give the Swedes a combined team total of 2831 for the lead. Spain set the pace in this morning's opening Squad 3 but was soon overtaken by the Sweden after the second game.

Host nation's Joung Seoung-Joo and Jo Nam-Yi gave the local crowd plenty to cheer as the duo snatched the lead at the halfway mark. The Swede proved too good chalking up 494 and 505 in game four and five to regain the lead.

Needing only 373 in their final game to overhaul overnight leader, Australia, the pair posted 458 to top the field. England's Daniel Stride and Mike Quarry, who was trailing the Swedes most of the way, stormed home with a 495 in the final game but fell short by 23 pins to finish second with 2808.

Overnight leader, Jason Walsh and Brandon Qualischefski of Australia was relegated to third on their total of 2746 while Squad 1 leader, Lasse Lintila and Kimmo Lehtonen of Finland dropped out of a medal chance ending up in fourth with 2713.

With just one more squad to play, Sweden looks set for at least a medal with their strong performance. Martin Larsen also took over the individual All Events standings with his 1459, 35 pins ahead of Filipino, Biboy Rivera and Aussie, Jason Walsh tieing in second with 1424.

Photos by courtesy of MTBC.

31st August, Busan: 2005 World Ranking Masters champion, Kimmo Lehtonen and Lasse Lintila of Finland snatched pole position in the Doubles Squad 1 of the World Men's Championship which got underway at Homplus Asiad Bowling Centre Thursday morning.

The Finns, who trailed pace-setter, Philippines in the first four games, took over the lead with a superb 502 game in the fifth and a 402 in their final game was sufficient to hang on for the pole position with a total of 2713.

The leader had lines of 510, 360, 488, 451, 502 and 402 with Lehtonen scoring 1292 and Lintila scoring 1421. Filipino, Biboy Rivera posted the highest 6-game series of 1424 followed by Lintila on 1421.

Chester King and Biboy Rivera of the Philippines settled for second with 2689 despite leading in the early stages of the 6-game Doubles event over the long oil condition. Malaysia's pair of Aaron Kong and Daniel Lim stormed home with a high game of 483 to pip the Singaporean for third spot with a total of 2636.

Singapore Open champion, Lee Yu-Wen and debutant, Lionel Lim did well to tie fourth spot with France's Bertrand Pujol and Yaon A. on a total of 2616.

Photos by courtesy of MTBC.

30th August, Busan: The inaugural World Men's Championship was officially declared open by the Mayor of Busan, the Honourable Hur Nam Sik at a packed Homplus Asiad Bowling Centre where participants and officials from 45 countries paraded.

The opening ceremony, which ran like clockwork, were also attended by Mr Steve Hontiverous, FIQ President, WTBA President, Mr Heikki Sarso, Honorary Life Presidents of WTBA, Mr Khoyei Akagi, Dato' Dr P S Nathan, Honorary Life President of ABF, Mrs Vivien Fung, FIQ Secretary General, Dr Danny Santos, government officials, dignitaries and distinguished guests.

"It is an honour for Busan to host the World Men's Championship after successfully hosted the Asian Games in 2002," said the Honourable Hur Nam Sik in his opening speech.

"On behalf of the people in Busan, I like to welcome all participants and officials from 44 coutries, and hope they will have an enjoyable stay in Busan.

FIQ President, Steve Hontiverous said in his speech that it was in Seoul, Korea in 1988 that Tenpin Bowling was competed as an Demostration Sport in the Olympic Games. He added that he hoped Tenpin Bowling can get into the Olympic in the near future.

Korean Bowling Congress President, Mr Chi Joong-Sup also gave his welcome address before the athlete and official oath taking ceremony marking the end of the colourful opening. The dignitaries, distinguished guests, officials and participants were treated to a welcome reception hosted by Korean Bowling Congress.

The championship will kick off tomorrow (Thursday) with the first two squads of Doubles on long oil pattern and the next two squads on Friday.

Photos by courtesy of MTBC.

29th August, Busan: The stage at Homplus Asiad Bowling Centre in Busan, Korea is all set for the world's best men bowlers to battle for glory in the inaugural World Men's Championship which will be ehld from 31st August to 8th Sepember.

A total of 44 countries have converge at Busan in Korea to participate in the inaugural World Men's Championship to be ehld at Homplus Asiad Bowling Centre which hosted the successful Busan Asian Games in 2002.

The organization for the championship is immaculate according to several teams who have arrive the city. Participants and officials were greeted at the airport by tournament officials before swiftly cleared immigration and customs and were transported to their hotel.

Checking in was so well organized which required no registrations and all the rooms were pre-allocated and ready for checking in even in the early hours of arrivials of some of the teams. Bowler's and officials' name tags were also ready at the secretariat located at the hotel.

Regular bus shuttle were available to ferry bowlers and officials to Homplus Asiad Bowling Centre where ball registrations were carried out. Some of the teams had their unofficial practice sessions.

The press room at the bowling centre was also well equipped with four PC avaialble to team officials to access the internet via broadband. Those with notebooks can also access the internet via wireless throughout the centre.

Official practice starts this afternoon with the first three squads today and another two squad tomorrow. Team Managers' meeting will be held tomorrow at the hotel where the teams will be finalised and lane draws conducted. The opening ceremony will be held the same day at 4.30pm.

Photos courtesy of MTBC.