2nd August, Las Vegas: All Events gold medalist, Clara Juliana Guerrero denied Korea a clean sweep of the Masters event with victory over Hwang Sun-Ok in the title match of the World Women's Championship 2009 which concluded Sunday.

But the victory did not come easy as the match was stretched into the fifth and deciding game in the best-of-5 championship Masters finals where Colombia's Clara Juliana Guerrero edged Korea's Hwang Sun-Ok, 203-182 in the deciding game.

After a convincing trashing over another Korean, Son Yun-Hee in the semifinals with a 3-0 victory of 248, 268 and 289 over Son's 227, 216 and 238, the two-time Colombian national women champion had struggled to find her form in the finals.

Guerrero edged Hwang 205-185 in the opening game and lost her rythmn in the second with a 204-263 defeat to take the match one-all. Hwang easily took the third game, 257-169 as Guerrero had three opened frames.

With tension mounting, both had a poor fourth game with Guerrero drawing level again by edging the Korean, 197-192 forcing the fifth and final decider. But the Guerrero prevailed to take the game and the gold medal with 203-182.

The victory gave the Colombian her second gold medal after she clinched the All Events gold medal to advance into the Masters Elimination Round as topseed. She worked hard to advance into the quarterfinals with a 3-2 win over Malaysia's Siti Safiyah in the first round.

From then on she was in total control by beating No. 15 seed, Putty Armein of Indonesia with a 3-1 victory and a trashing of Son Yun-Hee in the semi, 3-0 to prevent an-all Korean finals.

"It's amazing to win the Masters gold medal here especially with such a strong field," said the 27-year-old member of the Colombian national team for the past 13 years. Guerrero's first world title came when she

was crowned the World Ranking Masters Championship in Florida, USA in 2005.

The champion, who now resides in Texas, had gone back to Colombia to compete in the trials to make the team for this championship after she had won the Doubles gold medal with Jennifer Larsen in the recent WIBC 2009 Championship in Reno.

Guerrero came near to winning her first wolrd title when she was runner-up in the 2000 AMF World Cup. Her past successes were winning the Team Silver medal in the Abu Dhabi World Championship in 1999 and a Team Bronze medal at the 2003 World Championship in Malaysia.

Hwang, who won the Doubles gold medal with Gang Hye-Eun, defeated her partner 3-1 in the semifinals to face the Colombian. Both Gang and the other losing semifinalist, Son settled for the bronze medal each.

Singles gold medalist, Stefanie Nation and All Events bronze medalist, Carolyn Dorin-Ballard of USA made early exits in the first round while Liz Johnson lost to Hwang in the quarterfinals.

Korea emerged the overall champion with a medal haul of 2-1-3 with Colombia in second with two gold medals won by Guerrero. Host nation, USA had to settled for third place with 1-2-1. Chinese Taipei is the only other nation to win a gold in the Trios event.

The next World Women's Championship in 2011 will be hosted by Malaysia, who was also the host in the 2003 championship when both the men and women competed together.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Las Vegas.

1st August, Las Vegas: Asia's powerhouse, Korea overwhelmed the American PBA pros in the Team championship match to bag their second gold medal of the World Women's Championship 2009 at Cashman Center on Saturday evening.

Carolyn Dorin-Ballard led her teammates, Kim Terrell Kearney, Lynda Barnes, Stefanie Nation and Liz Johnson to a steady start to the title match against topseed, Korea but once Hwang Sun-Ok, Gang Hye-Eun, Jeon Eun-Hee, Son Yun-Hee and the experienced Kim Yeon-Jin settled down to their repetitive rythem, there was simply no stopping the mighty Koreans.

Hwang shot 212 despite two opened frames in her last two, Gang struck out for 190, Jeon, Son and Kim shot massive games of 258, 257 and 258 respectively to a convincing 1175 total victory over USA's 1071.

Apart from Terrell-Kearney's 189 and Barnes' 166, Ballard's 232,

Nation's 225 and Johnson's 259 were a touch short of beating the Koreans. USA again settle for the silver medal for three straight world championships.

"We knew it would be a tough match with the experience professional bowlers, but we kept our cool and everyone of us bowled well," said anchorwomen, Kim Yeau-Jin who won her first-ever world championship gold medal.

The Koreans, who topped the two blocks of three games over short and medium oil patterns with 6604, easily beat fourth-seed, Sweden, 1041-974 to reach the finals. USA was equally impressive when they beat third-seed, Singapore 1035-934 in the other semi.

Meanwhile, Colombia's Clara Juliana Guerrero captured the All Events gold medal with a 24-game total of 5330 from Sweden's Helen Johnson who took home the silver with 5278. Carolyn Dorin-Ballard won the bronze medal with 5195.

With 2 gold and 1 silver medal, Korea topped the Medal Tally followed by USA in second with 1 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze medal.

The top 16 in the All Events standings advanced into the Masters Elimination Rounds with the topseed meeting the 16th seed in a best-of-5 matchplay rounds. The winners will proceed to the quarterfinals, semifinals and finally the title match to determine the champion./p>

The losing semifinalists will be awarded a bronze medal each. The finals will be video-streamed at www.bowl.com.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Las Vegas.

31st July, Las Vegas: Squad 2 leader and No. 2 seed, Tsai Hsi-Yi, Yang Hao-Ting and Tang Ya-Chun of Chinese Taipei upstaged American PBA favourites in the title match to win the Trios Gold medal of the World Women's Championship on Friday.

The sweet victory came when Tsai, Yang and Tang defeated topseed Carolyn Dorin-Ballard, Stefanie Nation and Liz Johnson, 660-602 in the Trios event championship match. Tsai led with 225, Yang shot 223 and Tang 212.

Carolyn's 180 and Singles gold medalist, Stefanie's 190 with Johnson's 232 was not good enough to the Taiwanese trio, who went into the match as underdogs and the American pros undoubtedly the clear favourite.

The champion earned their spot in the finals after they edged No. 3 seed, Denmark, 610-605 in the semifinals. The American reached the finals by beating Japan, 742-659 in the other high-scoring semi.

"Reaching the finals had assured us at least the silver medal which is already quite an asthonising achievement," said th 31-year-old most experienced Taiwanese, Tsai Hsin-Yi, who won the Team gold medal at the 2005 World Championship.

"And this victory is an added bonus. Of course, we tried our best and it worked perfectly. We now look forward to receive a cash incentive from our government when we return home."

"I switched to hook-ball style in 1999 and thereafter, I've won a few titles," said the 39-year-old anchorwomen, Tang Ya-Chun, who participated in the 1999 World Championship in Abu Dhabi as a spinner. Two of the three Taiwanese were spinners.

The losing semifinalists, Maki Nakano, Nao Ohishi and Ayano Katai of Japan and Kamilla Kjeldsen, Anne Gales and Rikke Rasmussen of Denmark took home a bronze medal each.

The other Danish trio of Britt Brondsted, Anja Ginge Jensen and Mai Ginge Jensen, missed the cut for the stepladder finals by a mere 2 pins to finish fifth at the end of the second block. First block Squad 2 leader, Colombia finished fifth.

USA topped the earlier 6-game Trios event with a total of 3858, 60 pins ahead of Squad 2 leader, Chinese Taipei with 3798. The Danes totaled 3798 for third while the Japanese squeezed in with 3767.

After three events, Colombia's Clara Guerrero lead the All Events standings with 3946 after 18-games played. Sweden's Helen Johnsson and two bronze medalist, Rikke Rasmussen of Denmark trailed in second and third with 3928 and 3909 respectively.

The top 16 in the All-Events will make the cut for the Masters Elimination Rounds on Sunday, July 2nd. The bowlers will return to the lanes for the two blocks of 3-games Team of 5 event. The top 4 highest teams will advance to the stepladder finals.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Las Vegas.

30th July, Las Vegas: Squad 1 leader and second-seed, Gang Hye-Eun and Hwang Sun-Ok took a convincing victory in the Doubles finals to give Korea their first gold in the World Women's Championship while the second Korean pair took home the bronze.

The first semifinal match between topseed, Korea and fourth-seed, Australia was a tightly fought encounter with little separting the two pairs.

Son Yun-Hee and Hong Su-Yeon made no mistakes toward the halfway mark and looked set to advance into the finals. But an open frame by Hong in the eighth frame proved costly as Carol Gianotti struck out to give the Aussies 417.

Although Hong recovered by striking home, she could only give the Korean pair a total of 409 to crash out. In the other semi, Gang Hye-Eun and Hwang Sun-Ok simply outclassed their opponent, Denmark with a 484-386 victory.

The Korean pair was equally impressive in the finals from the word "Go" as they again cruised to another easy win over the Aussie, 458-368 to capture their first gold medal with Australia settling for the silver.

"My first world championship was in Alborg in Denmark four years ago in which I went home empty handed so this win here is so rewarding," said the 25-year-old 2008 Asian Championship gold medalist, Hwang Sun-Ok.

"I've to thank my teammate, Hye-Eun who is in fantastic form in the six games round and today in the semi and final." The losing semifinalist added a bronze medal for Korea while Denmark's Anne Gales and Rikke Rasmussen was also awarded with a bronze medal.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Las Vegas.

30th July, Las Vegas: Preliminary rounds topseed, Stefanie Nation bagged America's first gold in the World Women's Championship 2009 when she defeated Sandra Gongora of Mexico, in a low-scoring Singles finals, 167-131.

American PBA pro bowler, Stefanie Nation gave host nation their first gold medal after she defeatd challenger, Sandra Gangora of Mexico in the lowest finals in the history of the championship, 167-131 in the title match.

Nation, who topped the Singles preliminary 6-games two days ago, had earlier ousted newly-crowned World Games 2009 and fourth-seed, Krista Pollanen of Finland, 220-195 to earn her place in the fnals.

Second-seed, Sandra Gongora of Mexico advanced into the final match after she ousted third-seed, Anja Ginge Jensen of Demark, 258-209 in the other semi but went down to the American in a set of difficult lane conditions.

"The lanes where we bowled our semi was simply perfect but when we got to lanes 45 and 46, they were completely opposite," said the 25-year-old newly-crowned world champion, Stefanie.

"To come off a poor showing at the World Games in Koahsiung just last week and to win this gold is pretty amazing. I had not bowled here before and I'm actually slightly surprise at my perfermance."

Gongora settled for the silver medal while the losing semifinalists, Pollanen and Ginge Jensen were awarded a bronze medal each. The Doubles finals will follow shortly after lane maintenance.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Las Vegas.

30th July, Las Vegas: Colombia's Paola Gomez, Rocio Restrepo and Clara Juliana Guerrero snatched pole position in the Trios first block of the World Women's Championship from host nation and first squad leader, USA.

When the competition resumed on Thursday with the Squad 1 of the first block Trios event, the mighty Koreans again demonstrated their prowess by taking an early lead with a first game score of 681.

But their lead was short-lived as Denmark's Britt Brondsted, Anja Ginge Jensen and Mai Ginge Jensen overtook the Koreans after the second game with the surprise Chinese Taipei coming into the frame to trail the Danes by 26 pins in second.

A superb 691 by the American PBA pro of Carolyn Dorin-Ballard, Stefanie Nation and Liz Johnson in the third game saw them surged into the lead to clinch pole position with 1942 with Korea and Denmark settling for second and third positions with 1930 and 1929.

England's Jo Cundy, Hayley White and Lisa John shot a sizzling 714 to lead Squad 2 and despite a lower 629, the English threesome kept the lead into into the final game of the first block.

Colombia's Paolo Gomez, Rocio Restrepo and Clara Guerrero trailed England by 11 pins after shooting consistent 669 and 663 with the help of the scintilating form displayed by Guerrero firing 257 and 276.

The Colombians were ended the first block stronger to end with 1960 not only topping the squad but overtook first squad leader, USA for an 18-pin margin. USA settled for second with 1942.

Korea's Hwang Sun-Ok, Gang Hye-Eun and Kim Yeau-Jin claimed third spot with 1930 while early leader, Denmark clinched fourth spot with 1929. Clara Guerrero, who was third in the All Events, shot to the front of the standings after 12 games with 3312.

Rikke Rasmussen of Denmark finished second with 3306 follwed by Helen Johnsson of Sweden third with 3273. Singles topseed, Stefanie Nation and another Dane, Britt Brondsed rounded up the top 5.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Las Vegas.

29th July, Las Vegas: Korea ruled the Doubles event of the World Women's Championship 2009 as Son Yun-Hee and Hong Su-Yeon overtook their teammates and Squad 1 leader, Gang Hye-Eun and Hwang Sun-Ok for a 1-2 finish in the overall standings.

Gang Hye-Eun and Hwang Sub-Ok had set the benchmark with a total of 2613 in the opening squad to secure a spot in the top 4 stepladder finals ahead of Denmark's Anne Gales and Rikkie Holm Rasmussen in second after two squads had completed.

Filipinas Liza Del Rosario and Liza Clutario clinched third spot after claiming pole in the second squad with England's Hayley White and Jo Cundy fourth before the start of the third and final squad.

Australia's Carol Gianotti and Ann-Maree Putney set the early pace as the women took to the lanes but tied with Korea's Son Yun-Hee and Hong Su-Yeon after shooting 467 in the first game.

The Korean's pace was too hot to handle for the Aussies as Son and Hong pulled away to a 34 pin lead after the second game and continued to lead the field followed only by Denmark's Kamilla Kjeldsen and Mai Gine Jenses in second.

The Korean pair ended the series with a superb 2616 as topseed overtaking Squad 1 leader and teammates, Gang and Hwang by just 4 pins to give the Koreans a 1-2 finish. The Danes dropped one spot to third but secured their place in the finals with 2608.

A poor 375 from Kjeldsen and Ginge Jensen saw the pair lose their chance of making the cut when the Aussie pair of Gianotti and Putney stormed home with a sizzling 492 final game to snatch that cruicial fourth place with 2570.

Second squad leader, Del Rosario and Clutario was also relegated to sixth with the English pair of White and Cundy seventh. Son and Hong will meet with the Aussies in the first semifinal while the other Korean pair will face the Danes in the other semi.

The Doubles finals will take place after the Singles finals scheduled after the Trios first block ends on Thursday, 30th July. LIVE video will be streamed at www.bowl.com brought to you by USBC.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Las Vegas.

29th July, Las Vegas: Filipinas, Liza Del Rosario and Liza Clutario snatched pole in the second squad of the Doubles event at the World Women's Championship 2009 to move into third spot overall.

Jeon Eun-Hee's 190 and Kim Yeau-Jin's 279 in their opening game gave the Korean pair 469 to set the pace for the second Doubles squad of the day, 29 pins over the Canadian pair of Isabele Rioux and Kerrie Ryan-Ciach.

But the Koreans managed only 388 in their second game to give the American pair of Kim Terrell-Kerney and Lynda Barnes the lead and had to trail by 4 pins. Another disasterous 327 in the third saw Jeon and Kim dropping out of contention while the Amercians remained atop.

Terrell-Kearney and Barnes continued their relentless pace to down 422 and 486 in the next two games but were kept on their toes as the Danish pair of Anja Ginge Jensen and Britt Brondsted paced in second spot.

Meanwhile, Liza Del Rosario and Liza Clutario of the Philippines, made their bid with two superb games of 422 and 486 to take up third spot forcing the final game to decide who will take pole in this squad.

The American pair could only end with 374 and the Danes 391 while the Filipinas finished stronger of the three to snatch pole with 2549. Del Rosario posted the highest 6-games series of 1324 with her partner knockng down 1225.

Korea's Jeon and Kim also finished strongly to claim second spot with 2533 relegating America into third spot on 2528. Denmark settled for fourth with 2519.

The efforts of Del Rosario and Clutario gave them a third place finish after the two squads were combined. Squad 1 leader, Hwang Sun-Ok and Gang Hye-Eun retained pole with 2613 and Denmark's Anne Gales and Rikke Holm Rasmussen remained second with 2608.

England's Hayley White and Jo Cundy dropped one spot to fourth overall on 2548. The third and final squad of the Doubles will end the second day of competition which will determine which of the top 4 pairs that will advance into the stepladder finals.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Las Vegas.

29th July, Las Vegas: Asia's powerhouse, Korea took pole position in the opening squad of the Doubles event of the World Women's Championship which resume at the Cashman Center on Wednesday morning.

Asian Championship gold medalists, Hwang Sun-Ok and Gang Hye-Eun set the early pace with a moderate opening game of 438 with only a slender lead of 7 pins over England's Heyley White and Jo Cundy.

A superb 524 by the English pair moved them to the front of the running with the Korean pair dropping down to second and 27 pins adrift. Despite a poor 382 in the third game, England was barely hanging on to the lead with just a single pin over Korea at the halfway mark.

As England managed 417 and 371 in their next two games, it was clear that the Koreans were much stronger posting 403 and 455 to take over the lead.

Denmark's Anne Gales and Rikke Holm Rasmussen, who was slowly making grounds, down a superb 459 to move up into second spot leaving England behind in third with a final and sixth game to play.

But the limelight was diverted to Maria Jose Rodriguez when she became the first bowler in the championship to score a perfect game in the fourth.

Korea eventually ended the squad with 2613 to take pole position while Denmark drew closer in second with 2608, just 7 pins adrift. Hwang shot 1313 while her partner posted 1300. Rasmussen totaled the highest 6-games series of 1357 to her teammate's 1251.

England settled for third with 2548 with Indonesia's Shalima Zalsha and Putty Armein finishing strongly for fourth spot with a total of 2533. American favourite, Stefanie Nation and Liz Johnson could only finish eighth with 2456.

Squad 2 will take to the lanes for their doubles event after the lane maintenance followed by the third and final squad of the day later today. The top 4 pairs will advance to the stepladder finals on Thursday after the Singles finals./p>

Photos by Terence Yaw in Las Vegas.

28th July, Las Vegas: Sandra Gongora of Mexico missed the top spot of the Singles event of te World Women's Championship 2009 by 4 pins from leader, Stefanie Nation of USA at the end of the third squad.

Sandra Gangora immediately surged into with a sizzling opening game of 265, 6 pins ahead of teammate, Daniela Alvarado to give Mexico a 1-2 dream start in the third and final squad of the Singles event.

Another superb 257 saw the Mexican stretched her leas to 29 pins from Sweden's Veronica Lantto moving into second spot. Gangora continued to fire 197, 221, 180 and 237 to round off the squad in the lead with 1357.

But her fine effort missed to topple the benchmark of 1361 set by Squad 1 leader and American PBA pro, Stefanie Nation. Newly-crowned World Games Singles gold medalist, Krista Pollanen of Finland finished strongly to take up second spot with 1345.

Reigning World Ranking Masters champion, Siti Safiyah Amirah's late run gave her third spot in the squad with 1327 but failed to make the top 4 cut into the stepladder finals finishing fifth overall.

Squad 2 leader, Anja Ginge Jensen of Denmark dropped one spot to third with 1347 while Pollanen took the final and fourth spot for the stepladder finals on Thursday. The Finn will meet Stefanie Nation in the semi while Jensen will face Gangora in the other semi.

The winner of the semifinal match will meet in the title match to decide the first gold medal of the championship which will be held after the end of the Trios first block.

The semifinal and final matches will be shown via LIVE video at www.bowl.com brought to you by USBC using Ustream.TV, a service that will insert advertisements over the video times. The Singles finals will be streamed commencing 17:30 local time.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Las Vegas.

28th July, Las Vegas: Denmark's Anja Ginge Jensen claimed pole position of the second Singles squad of the World Women's Championship 2009 but finished four pins behind Squad 1 leader, Stefanie Nation of USA.

As the women resumed their bowling on the opening event over the short oil pattern, American PBA pro, Liz Johnson opened account with a cracking 258 to lead the field and featuring the power play displayed by the Americans.

But Johnson's lead was short-lived as Ann Louise Haugen of Norway surged into the lead after knocking down 248 in the first game followed by a 219 in the second. Haugen held the top spot at the halfway mark, 11 pins ahead of Australia's Bianca Flanagan taking second spot.

Despite Johnson rebounding with 247 and 237, the field saw Denmark's Anja Ginge Jensen posting 241 and a sizzling 268 to move to the front

and with the final and sixth game to play with a 39 pins cushion, the Dane ease off with 180 to end the squad atop with 1347.

Jensen could have overtaken the overall lead had she posted more than the 180 she shot allowing Stefanie Nation to retain pole with 1361. Colombia's Clara Guerrero stormed home to snatch second in the squad to take up third overall with 1339.

Germany's Tina Hulsch, who finished third, occupied the fourth and final spot of the stepladder finals before being decided by the third and final squad of the Singles.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Las Vegas.

28th July, Las Vegas: American PBA pro, Stefanie Nation stemed her power to lead the opening squad of the Singles event of the World Women's Championship underway at Cashman Center on Tuesday morning.

After a disappointing performance in the World Games 2009 in Kaohsiung just last week, the 25-year-old Stefanie Nation made amends with a superb performance to top the opening squad with a 6-game total of 1361.

Hong Kong's Milki Ng Tsz Yin set a cracking pace with a sizzling 256 opening game to lead 2006 Asian Ranked No. 1 and 2006 Asian Championship Singles gold medalist, Putty Armein of Indonesia in second by 19 pins.

Ng posted a lowly 183 in the second game to hand the lead to the American after the latter returned with a scintilating 257 and building up a 46 pins lead over Ng and Korea's Hwang Sun-Ok in third.

Nation stepped her gear to reel in 205, 242, 206 and a strong 223 to end the squad with 1361 and setting a benchmark for the remaining two squads. Sweden's Helen Johnsson stormed home with 248 in her final game to snatch second spot with 1299.

"I made a lot of good shot today and had plenty of carry," said Stefanie Nation of Arlington, Texas, who won the PBA Women's Series Viper Championship in 2008. "I'm happy with my performance especially after a poor outing at the World Games."

Malaysia's Shalin Zulkifli spirited second series run gave her third spot with 1297, just 2 pins from the Swede. Indonesia's Sharon Limansantoso did well to finish fourth with 1281 while the second American pro, Carolyn Dorin-Ballard rounded up the top 5 with 1276.

Host nation, America will be hoping to display their prowess with 2007 US Women's Open and 2009 USBC Queens champion, Liz Johnson and 2009 PBA Women's Series Earl Anthony Medford Classic champion, Wendy MacPherson.

Squad 2 will take to the lanes after maintenance in the afternoon while the third and final squad will contest their Singles in the evening. The top 4 finishers in combined results will advance to the stepladder finals two days later after the Trios first block.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Las Vegas.

27th July, Las Vegas: The official opening ceremony held at the Cashman Center kicked off the 4th edition of World Women's Championship which will commence with the Singles event on Tuesday morning.

A renowned Fox 5 TV station presenter, Ted Pretty emceed the opening ceremony with his welcome address at 6.00pm on Monday evening followed by the opening speech by host nation's USBC Executive Director and WTBA President, Kevin Dornberger.

"It is tournaments like the World Women's Championship which attracts over 45 countries that will get us our rightful spot in the Olympics," said Kevin Dornberger. "We're extremely confident that the on-going efforts by both WTBA and FIQ that will eventually earn this opportunity."

Ms Darlene Baker, USBC President elect also welcome participants to

this year's championship and she expressed that the bowlers will enjoy the hospitality extended by her staff.

Julian Duas, Las Vegas Community and Visitors Bureau also extended his ppreciation to the participants and hoped that participants and officials will find time to enjoy the many wonderful attractions of Las Vegas.

The speeches was followed with the emcee announcing the marchpast of 45 participating teams led by Australia and ending with host nation, United States. The marchpast was followed by the oath-taking by Australia's Carol Gianotti.

Thereafter, the participants and guests were entertained by the Elvis Presley lookalike series of songs famously sung by the king of rock-n-roll, Elvis Presley. Another Cher lookalike also sung popular Cher hit songs.

The simple opening ceremony ended promptly at 7.30pm and guests and team officials were invited to a welcome reception at the Sunset Station Hotel and Casino. The official practice were held earlier in the day in which the teams tested the lane conditions for the first time.

The championship will commence on Tuesday morning with the Singles event divided into three squads over short oil pattern. The top 4 bowlers after the three squads combined will advance to the stepladder finals scheduled on Thursday, July 30 after the first block of the Trios.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Las Vegas.

26th July, Las Vegas: Team managers from a record 45 countries met this afternoon at the Cashman Conventional Center to get the World Women's Championship 2009 underway on Sunday.

Gilbert Sjnelders, the tournament director together with David Garber, the tournament manager and Daniel Falconi, the tournament technical delegate with WTBA President and Executive Director of USBC, Kevin Dornberger started the managers meeting at the headtable.

The countries participating in this year's championship are Aaustralia, Austria, Bahamas, Bermuda, Bulgaria, Canada, Catalonia, Chile, China, Chinese Taipei, Colombia, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, England, Finland, France, Germany, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Iceland, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Norway, Peru, Philippines, Romania, Russia, Scotland, Singapore, Slovenia, Sweden, Ukraine, Venezuela, Wales and host United States.

A total of 231 players are registered which will see the players divided into three squads for the Singles and Doubles which will kick off on Tuesday over short oil condition. The top 4 will advance to the semifinals and finals which will be played on Thursday.

The Doubles event, also divided into three squads will be staged on Wednesday on medium oil with the top 4 pairs advancing into the semifinals and finals to be played after the Singles stepladder finals.

The Trios event will be divided into two squads commencing on Thursday with first block of three games on short oil and the second block on medium oil on Friday. The top 4 trios team will again advance into the semifinals and finals on the same day.

The two blocks of team of 5 will be contested on Saturday, first block on short oil pattern and the second block on medium oil pattern. The top 3 teams will advance to the semifinals and finals immediately following the second block.

The top 16 based on the All Events standings (after 24 games) will make the cut for the Masters Elimination Finals (best of 5 matches). The topseed will meet the 16th seed, the second against the 15th seed and so on until the quarterfinals semifinals and final title match.

Many of the teams who have arrived Las Vegas have done their ball registration and started their unofficial practice this afternoon af the Cashman Center. The official practice will commence on Monday, July 27 at 12.00 noon.

The official opening ceremony will take place at 6.30pm the same day followed by a welcome reception hosted by United States Bowling Congress. At the end of the Masters finals, a victory banquet will be held on the last day of competition at 6.30pm. For more information, please visit www.worldtenpinbowling.com

Photos by Terence Yaw in Las Vegas.