11th September, Hong Kong: Team USA's Shannon Pluhowsky became the first women in the history of the world championships to earn four gold medals in a tournament when she took victory in the Masters final on Sunday.

Pluhowsky opened with a 300, the tournament's fifth perfect game when she beat Daphne Tan of Singapore, 300-226 in the first game of the best-of-five championship match on long oil pattern. The American lost the second game, 219-238 on her weaker medium oil condition.

But the third-seed bounced back with a strikefest reeling in 11 consecutive strikes before leaving a pin 10 and almost rolled another 300 when she took the third game, 299-234 to go 2-1 up. She went on to take the title with a 223-191 victory in the fourth game.

"In the fifth game against Patricia (Luoto) in the first round, I started off slow and was trailing her before she missed a spare and I came on strongly to win the tie," said the 29-year-old 2002 and 2004 AMF

World Cup champion, Shannon Pluhowsky, who had won gold medals in the Doubles, Trios and Team event.

"And luckily I get to pick the long oil pattern in the semi-final match against another German, and since I've been strong all week on that pattern, I was able to grind out a win over her to reach the finals. It's been a long week and we're excited to go home to share our victory with everyone in the US."

The champion had sailed past Tannya Roumimper of Indonesia 3-0 with back-to-back 260s in games 2 and 3 in the quarter-finals before edging Nadine Geibler of Germany, 3-2 in the semi-final.

Daphne beat top seed and All Events gold medalist, Mai Ginge Jensen of Denmark, 3-1 in the other semi to face Pluhowsky. The Singaporean also eliminated the second of three Americans who made the Masters, Kelly Kulick 3-1 in the quarter-finals.

The third American featured in the 16-player Masters finals, Liz Johnson crashed out in the first round losing to the Indonesian, Roumimper 2-3.

The victory by Pluhowsky capped off a stella week by Team USA as they took home four gold and three bronze medals. They took the Team gold after an absence of 25 years from three consecutive runner-ups.

Mai Ginge Jensen won the gold in the All Events and three bronze medals in the Singles, Doubles and Masters to give Denmark second position in the medal tally. Jacqueline Sijore of Malaysia won the gold in the opening Singles event for third spot.

Singapore was again denied a gold by Pluhowsky and went home with 3 silver and a bronze medal. The World Women Championships 2011 featured 171 bowlers from 33 countries and competed in the Singles, Doubles, Trios, Team, All Events and matchplay Masters.

At the victory banquet held after the Masters finals, Pluhowsky also picked up the "Most Popular Bowler of the Championship" award. The bowlers and officials were entertained with a video highlight presented by Gold sponsor, Nikon produced by Derrik Yaw.

The bowlers, team officials and many members, who are representing their federations in the WTBA Congress meeting tomorrow, were also entertained by students from various schools in traditional drums, ballroom dancing and street dancing before taking the floors themselves and dancing to the disco music organized by the host.

The next world championship will return with the men and women competing together and will be held in Las Vegas, USA in 2013 hosted by Sunset Station Hotel & Casino with USBC.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Hong Kong.

10th September, Hong Kong: Team USA put in a scintilating performance to bag the 5-player Team gold of the World Women Championships 2011 after almost 25 years to give United States their third gold on Saturday.

And for a fourth consecutive time, a fourth seed went all the way through to the semi-finals and final to win the gold medal at the championships. Team USA of Carolyn Dorin-Ballard, Shannon Pluhowsky, Shannon O'Keefe (alternating with Stefanie Nation), Kelly Kulick and Liz Johnson defeated No. 2 seed, Singapore 1210-1140 in the title match to take a well-earned victory.

Dorin-Ballard led her team-mates with 205, Pluhowsky 256, O'Keefe 226, Kulick 244 and anchorwoman Johnson a stunning 279 to beat Cherie Tan 224, Daphne Tan 193, New Hui Fen 214, Shayna Ng 240 and Jazreel Tan 269.

USA had earlier edged top seed, Germany 1080-970 over the medium oil pattern chosen by the Germans to reach their third consecutive

finals of the competition while Singapore sailed past No. 3 seed, Colombia 1225-1103 in the other semi.

"This is the epitome of the greatest team in the world. I mean we all worked as a team, each one of us contributing something to this victory and we worked really hard to get here," said Carolyn Dorin-Ballard.

"We prepared for it and this is what we wanted and that's what we came to get." Asked if they would go on further to win more medals, Dorin_ballard added: "Absolutely, the girls in the masters will be there and we'll be rooting for them all the way. We're waiting for them to finsih one-two-three and four!"

"This is a long time waiting to get to this position," added Kelly Kulick after winning her first gold medal of the championship. "Germany bowl great and Singapore came out striking and we finally carried when we finally needed to. We all knew we needed to make great shots and in the end we came out with greater numbers."

"I agree with them. I had finished second twice so it feels great to win," said Pluhowsky, a member of Team USA who was runner-up twice and runner-up in Las Vegas last year.

Singapore settled for their second silver medal having lost their match in the Team final. New Hui Fen and Jazreel Tan had lost to Shannon Pluhowsky and Liz Johnson in the Doubles final Tuesday, September 6 while Shayna Ng had won the bronze medal in the Singles.

Germany topped the earlier second block Team of 5 over the long oil pattern with 6750 to advance to the elimination round ahead of Singapore, who retained second position from the first block yesterday with 6675.

Rocio Del Pilar and reigning Masters champion, Clara Juliana Guerrero of Colombia struck out in their two final frames to make the cut in third with 6662 pushing the Americans into fourth position with 6660.

Favorites and defending champion, Korea was edged out by the Colombians into fifth spot to miss the cut by 21 pins while Australia finished fifth ahead of overnight leader, Denmark in sixth.

Singles bronze medalist, Mai Ginge Jensen made up for the hugh disappointment of the Danes by capturing the All Events gold medal with 5744. 2009 AMF World Cup champion, Caroline Lagrange of Canada claimed the silver medal with 5687.

Shannon Pluhowsky of United States added a bronze medal to the two gold she had already won by finishing third in the All Events with 5607. The American also headed her team-mates, Johnson and Kulick into the Masters finals.

Three Americans, four Koreans, three Singaporeans, three Germans and one each from Denmark, Canada and Indonesia made up the top 16 who advanced into the Masters elimination finals over best-of-5 matches tomorrow.

Hong Su-Yeon, who tied 16th position with team-mate, Hwang Sun-Ok on 5373 qualified for the finals by virtue of scoring a higher last game of 279 in the final discipline over Hwang's 190.

United States is way ahead in the medal tally with 3 gold and 3 bronze medals. Malaysia and Denmark shared second spot with one gold medal each in the Singles and All Events. Singapore is third with 2 silver and a bronze medal.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Hong Kong.

9th September, Hong Kong: Denmark snatched the lead of the Team of 5 event at the World Women Championship 2011 after the the first block of three games played over the long oil pattern at the Hong Kong Bowling City on Friday.

>Germany smashed the one-game record of 1151 set by the Americans in 2007 over the same long oil condition with a scintilating 1262 to take the early lead in the Team of 5 first block, 126 pins ahead of Colombia in second.

But the Germans only managed 1043 to slip down the field as Singapore's Daphne Tan, Geraldine Ng, Cherie Tan, Shayna Ng and Jazreel Tan followed up on their opening game of 1131 with a strong 1185 in the second to surge ahead into the lead.

Britt Brondsted of Denmark shot the tournament's fourth 300 in the second game and together with Anja Ginge Jensen, Kamilla Kjeldsen, Rickke Holm Agerbo and Mai Ginge Jensen knocked down 1179 to trail the Singaporeans by 37 pins.

The Danes sailed past Singapore with 1140 and erased the 3-game record of 3265 set by Sweden in 2009 with 3419 to finsih in pole position. Singapore shot 1061 to finish second with 3377 while the defending champion, Korea stormed home to clinch third spot with 3372.

"This is our favourite discipline of the competition and we were all looking forward to bowling together especially when we won the Team event at the European Championship last year," said anchorwoman Britt Brondsted, who shot her career fourth 300.

"Everybody bowled well on the long pattern today. I found the lanes much better today, for me anyway. I had very good ball reaction. Even Kamilla shot 800 series and everyone had very good scores today.

"The differences today were mainly being able to adapt to the changing conditions and how fast we could make those changes. I'm sure we can maintain our momentum into the next block and hopefully we will make the finals."

Pace-setter Germany finished fourth with 3368, just three pins ahead of Colombia, who recovered to take up fifth position with 3365 with United States in sixth position with 3338.

After four events from the Singles, Doubles, Trios and the first block of Team, two bronze medalist, Mai Ginge Jensen topped the All Events standings with 5052. Third perfect gamer, Caroline Lagrange of Canada is second with 4968.

Two gold medalist, Shannon Pluhowsky of USA is third with 4925 while the cut at 16 position for the Masters finals is occupied by team-mate, Shannon O'Keefe with 4715.

The players will return for the second block of 3 games over the shorter medium oil pattern an hour earlier than the usual 9.00am local time. The top 4 will advance to the elimination semi-finals and finals.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Hong Kong.

8th September, Hong Kong: Shannon O'Keefe, Shannon Pluhowsky and Stefanie Nation of Team USA won their second consecutive gold medal of the World Women Championship 2011 with a victory in the Trios final on Thursday.

Pluhowsky and Liz Johnson had won the first in the Doubles final two days ago. O'Keefe, Pluhowsky and Nation had advanced to the semi-finals with a sizzling 750-663 win over top seed Korea and edged overnight leader and No. 3 seed, Japan 631-605 to claim USA's second gold medal.

For the third consecutive finals, a fourth seed had gone all the way to winning the gold medal. Malaysia's fourth seed, Jacqueline Sijore won the first gold in the opening singles event while the second fourth-seed Pluhowsky and Liz Johnson of Team USA took the gold in the doubles final.

O'Keefe also registered the championship's third 300 in the fifth game of the second block in which Team USA broke the one-game record of

739 set by Korea in the first block yesterday, with a stunning 802 with Nation and Pluhowsky contributing 236 and 266.

"I think we already knew that they (Japan) were going to choose the medium especally after bowling so great yesterday and beating our girls in the semi so we knew it was coming," said Nation, who won her second gold medal in two consecutive world championships.

"We had to like stop our mental thought and looked forward to our next match and it was just staying the moment and doing what we need to do at that time."

"We made the most of the 15 minutes of practice time we had since we bowled the long oil all day and we took the time to really figure out what the lanes were doing and how the pattern was playing today," said Pluhowsky.

"It's so real and wonderful and that's why we come here for," added O'Keefe. "It's really happening and to bring back the gold to USA is a great feeling. We're looking forward to our next event and try and take home more gold medals."

Japan's Natsuki Sasaki, Haruka Matsuda and Kanako Ishimine prevented an all-American finals after they edged the second trio of Carolyn Dorin-Ballard, Liz Johnson and Kelly Kulick, 668-661 in the closely contested semi-final.

Japan won their first medal of the competition with the silver while Dorin-Ballard and Kulick had to settle for their second bronze medal. Korea has yet to land a gold medal taking the bronze. They did set a new 6-game record with 4232 erasing the 3970 they set in 2007.

Competition will shift to the Team of 5 with the first block of three games to be contested tomorrow moring at 9.00am local time over the long oil pattern in a single squad. The second block over medium oil will resume on September 10 with the top 4 advancing to the semi-finals and final matches.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Hong Kong.

7th September, Hong Kong: Korea's second trio of Hwang Sun-Ok, Jeon Eun-Hee and Son Yun-Hee topped the second squad of the Trios qualifying round at the World Women Championship 2011 to trail Squad 1 leader, Japan by 10 pins.

After drawing blanks on the second event in the past two days, Asian Games and World Championship multiple gold medalist, Hwang Sun-Ok steered her team-mates, Jeon Eun-Hee and Singles silver medalist, Son Yun-Hee with a superb opening game of 739.

Their effort erased the one-game record of 721 set by the first Danish trio in the earlier squad. Despite a decent second game of 642, the Koreans found themselves slipping behind the second Australian trio of Lexi Nicoll, Ann-Maree Putney and Narelle Baker.

Not letting the opporunity of fizzling off in the third game, Korea bounced back with a superb 718 to re-claim top spot in this squad with 2099. Australia managed only 630 to finish second with 2030.

Denmark's Anja Ginge Jensen, Sascha Wedel and Britt Bronstead completed the top three with 2010 ahead of Carolyn Dorin-Ballard, Liz Johnson and Kelly Kulick in fourth position with 2004.

"We finally were able to grasp the lane condition after four days and bowled well today," said the team caption of Japan, Kanako Ishimine after realising that they have retained the lead. "Bowling well together encourages us to work harder.

"As for the second block tomorrow, we know the scores will be a lot higher, we need to stay focus and work as a team to stay on top." Japan remained on top in the first block with 2109, 10 pins ahead of the Koreans.

Denmark, who finished second to Japan in the first squad, slipped one spot down to thrid on 2065 followed by Australia in fourth and the top American trio of Ballard-Pluhowsky-O'Keefe completing the top 5.

Squad 2 will resume their second block of three games over the high-scoring long oil pattern in the morning while Squad 1 will contest their second block at 1.00pm local time. The top 4 will make the cut for the one-game semi-finals matches where the winner will advance to the title match.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Hong Kong.

7th September, Hong Kong: The first Japanese trio of Kanako Ishimine, Natsuki Sasaki and Haruka Matsuda upstaged favorites to take a slender lead in the opening squad of the Trios first block round at the World Women Championship 2011.

The Japanese trio immediately took the lead after smashing the one-game record of 678 set by Chinese Taipei in Las Vegas two years ago when they turned in 719 in their opening game, just 1 pin ahead of Germany in second.

But Nadine Geibler, Birgit Poeppler and anchowman, Patricia Luoto steered Germany into the lead after rolling a better second game of 688 to Japan's 677 albeit only 10 pins ahead.

While Germany dropped their third game with a poor 572, Japan bounced back to end the first block with a much stronger 713 to claim pole position of the squad with 2109. The trio also set a new record by erasing the 2009 3-game record of 1916 set by USA.

Doubles bronze medalist, Kamilla Kjeldsen and Mai Ginge Jensen teamed up with Rikke Holm Agerbo to snatch the one-game record from the Japanese with 721 in their third game and stormed home to take second spot with 2065.

2009 AMF World Cup champion, Caroline Lagrange of Canada rolled the championship's second 300 in her third game which only helped her team to finsih 10th position with 1905.

Favourites, United States took third spot with 2025, 84 pins off the leader's pace while 2009 champions, Chinese Taipei ended in 22nd and the mighty Koreans managed 12th position.

The second squad will take to the lanes for their first block of three games over the medium oil pattern. Squad 2 will resume in the morning of September 8 while this squad will continue their contest in the afternoon.

The top 4 finshers at the end of the two block, will advance into the semi-final and final one-match shootout thereafter.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Hong Kong.

6th September, Hong Kong: Fourth-seed, Shannon Pluhowsky and Liz Johnson of United States outclassed third-seed, New Hui Fen and Jazreel Tan of Singapore, 453-392 to claim the Doubles gold medal of the World Women Championships 2011 on Tuesday.

The American pair, who topped the opening squad in yesterday's qualifying round started off on a right footing reeling in three consecutive strikes each as both the Singaporeans had a split each.

Jazreel did mount a comeback with two double strikes and Hui Fen also had a double strike but anchorwomen, Johnson made sure they kept their momemtum going with another turkey while Pluhowsky rolled another double to put the match beyond their opponents.

Pluhowsky ended her match with 206 to add to Johnson's 247 for a team total of 453 to take the match and the gold against Singapore's 392.

The champion had ousted their team-mates and top seed of Carolyn Dorin-Ballad and Kelly Kulick, 455-419 in an all-American semi-finals to reach the finals.

"We knew that it's going to be extremely tough as we'are bowlng against two of the best bowlers in the world," said anchorwomen, Liz Johnson, who was a member of Team USA at the 2009 championship and winning two silver medals. "We had to focus on just the one game and make good shots."

"We just have to bowl our own game and not think about who our opponents were and just concentrate on making good shots," said the left-handed Shannon Pluhowsky, whose last world championship appearance was in Aalborg, Denmark winning a team silver and doubles bronze medal.

"We hope that we can carry forward our form into the next few events and hopefully we can come away with more medals," added Johnson.

Jazreel and Hui Fen, who eliminated second-seed, Mai Ginge Jensen and Kamilla Kjeldsen of Denmark, 454-391 to face the Americans but were unable to repeat the form they displayed earlier to settle for the silver.

Jensen and Kjeldsen had earlier topped the third and final squad qualifying round with 2855 but fell short by 46 pins to finish second overall which forced the top seed to face their team-mates in the semi-finals.

Both Denmark and the second American pair took home a silver medal each as losing semi-finalists. Jensen, who won a bronze medal in the Singles event two days earlier, topped the All Events standings with 2958.

2009 AMF World Cup champion, Caroline Lagrange of Canada, who partnered Isabelle Rioux to finish second to the Danes in the third squad and missed the cut in fifth position, is second in the standings with 2861.

Singles bronze medalist, Shayna Ng, who topped the Singles qualifying round with a record-breaking 1601, downed 1259 in her Doubles event to slip to third with 2860.

Competition shifts to the Trios event tomorrow divided into two squads and bowling the first block of three games over the medium oil pattern. The players will resume with the second block over long oil on Thursday, September 8.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Hong Kong.

5th September, Hong Kong: American PBA pros Carolyn-Dorin Ballard and Kelly Kulick turned in a record-breaking performance to lead the two qualifying squads of the Doubles event at the World Women Championships 2011 on Monday.

The first pair of Shannon Pluhowsky and Liz Johnson had topped the opening squad with 2780 to lead the first Korean pair of Hwang Sun-Ok and Singles silver medalist, Son Yun-Hee by 105 pins on 2675. Pluhowsky rolled 1401 while Johnson downed 1379.

The Koreans had led the first three games before being overhauled by the Americans in the second half. Australia's first pair of Lexi Nicoll and Marelle Baker finished third with 2612.

In the second squad, New Hui-Fen and 2010 BWAA Rookie of the Year, Jazreel Tan of Singapore had taken the early running by setting a new one-game record of 535 in the third game erasing 521 set by England in 2009.

The Singapore duo also smashed the 3-game series of 1336 set by Korea in 2009 with 1468 but a poor fifth game of 356 slipped them behind the second American pair of Carolyn-Dorin Ballard and Kelly Kulick.

Ballard and Kulick had a weak start managing only 382 but stepped up their pace with 477 and 506 to trail Singapore by 103 pins at the halfway mark.

The Americans ended the squad by breaking the one-game record set by the Singaporeans with 556 to end in pole position with yet another record 2901.

The leader's second series of 1536 also surpassed that of Hui Fen and Jazreel. The Singaporeans recovered with a strong final game of 493 to tie second spot with the first American pair but claimed second with a better sixth game.

"We came in early and watched our team-mates bowl and got a read on the lanes and it seems the lanes were playable," said Carolyn, who won a silver in the team event and a bronze in the All Events at the 2009 championship in Las Vegas. "We didn't have to move too much and we're pretty happy with where we're."

"The lanes read well and it was inevitable that everyone could get to the pocket and whoever has the most carry will reach the top," said Kulick, who picked up her first Asian title with a victory at the Singapore Open in June.

"Carolyn is a strong leader and I was able to follow her and she gave me a good read from pair to pair and once we got into the zone we were able to get our strikes. Hopefully our score is good enough after the third squad."

Hwang and Son hung on to the cut position in fourth with 2675. Competition resume tomorrow with the third and final squad. The top 4 finishers will advance to the semi-finals in which the top seed will face the fourth seed and the second and third seed in the second semi.

The winner will square off in the final for the second gold medal of the competition while the losing semi-finalists will take home a bronze medal each.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Hong Kong.

4th September, Hong Kong: Second squad leader, Jacqueline Sijore bagged the first gold medal of the World Women Championships 2011 with a confortable victory over second seed, Son Yun-Hee of Korea, 266-217 in the finals on Sunday.

Both the gold medal contenders started the final match level after two frames and it was the second seed, Son Yun-Hee who took a 9-pin lead after rolling a turkey from frame 3. But the Malaysian responded briliantly reeling in eighth consecutive strikes to close out the match with a whopping 266.

The Korean was unable to respond going down to Jacqueline with 217 and settled for the silver medal. Son had earlier edged third-seed, Mai Ginge Jensen of Denmark in a high scoring semi-final, 279-268 to reach the final.

Jacqueline defeated top seed, Shayna Ng, 246-214 in the other semi-final to advance to the title match against Son. Ng and Jensen took home a bronze medal each as losing semi-finalists.

"I was quite worried when I saw the scores were so high in the third squad and that I might not make the top 4," said the 19-year-old Jacqueline Sijore. "Luckily my score was good enough for fourth spot.

"The match against Shayna was good because my coach, Holloway reminded me to deliver my shots at the spot I'm comfortable with. I just bowled my game during the final match against the Korean.

"Winning the gold is an incredible achievement for me especially this is my first world championship. I'm glad that I can deliver the first gold medal for my country."

In the earlier third and final squad qualifying round, Shayna Ng smashed the record of 1496 set by Son yesterday with an astonishing 1601 6-game total to finish as top seed for the semi-final shootout.

American PBA pro, Kelly Kulick had rolled the first perfect game of the championship in her opening game to lead Colombian Laura Fonnegra by 21 pins. Her lead was short-lived as Shayna downed 259 and 290 to take over the running.

The Singaporean continued a blistering pace with 257 and another 290 to pull away from her nearest opponent. Mexico's Sandra Gonggora came close in third at the halfway mark trailing by 51 pins.

Denmark's Mai Ginge Jensen trailed Shayna 103 pins after the fifth game as the Singaporean eased off with 259 in her final game record-breaking 1601. Jensen finished second with 1486 to tie with Squad 2 leader and the champion, Jacqueline to make the top 4 cut.

Sandra missed the cut by 43 pins after finishing fifth overall while American Shannon O'Keefe, who finished second to Son in the first squad, dropped out to eighth behind Anja Ginge Jensen of Denmark and another Korean Kim Moon-Jeong in sixth and seventh positions.

The Doubles event will be held in the next two days over the medium oil pattern in three squads. The semi-finals and finals will be held after the third squad on September 6.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Hong Kong.

3rd September, Hong Kong: Korea stamped their mark with a record-breaking performance from the opening squad leader, Son Yun-Hee taking in the lead after two squads were contested at the World Women Championship 2011 at Hong Kong Bowling City.

Son Yun-Hee, who won a gold and two bronze medals at the last championship in Las Vegas, USA, set off to a cracking pace with 258, 256 and 257 to break the 3-game series of 747 set by compatriot, Cha Mi-Jung in 1999 with 771.

Debutant, Daphne Tan of Singapore trailed the Korean for two games before slipping down behind Shannon O'Keefe of the United States, who took over second spot 3 pin behind at the halway mark.

Son ended the squad with another splendid 725 series to finish in the lead with 1496, setting another new record and erasing the 1407 set by Clara Juliana Guerrero of Colombia in 1999.

O'Keefe settled for second with 1442 while the second Singapore women, Geraldine Ng finished a strong third, just 10 pins off the American with 1431.

The pace for the second squad was equally hot with Hayley Rumkee of England opening with a game of 278 followed by Malaysia's debutant, Jacqueline Sijore in second with 266. Sijore followed her next two games with 279 and 267 to set yet another new 3-games series record with 812.

Another superb 258 in the fourth game from the Malaysian put her on course to topple first squad leader but a poor 202 in the fifth meant she needed 224 or more to end the day in pole.

Sijore managed only 214 and fell short by 10 pins to the Korean and had to settle for second overall with 1486. Denmark's Anja Ginge Jensen stormed home to take second spot in the squad with 1442 while Israeli, Tali Itzhak took third with 1428.

"I had a good start and was pacing myself nicely in the first four games," said Son Yun-Hee, who won two gold and a silver medal at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games.

"The lanes became slower in the fifth game and I was slightly confused. But I made the necessary adjustments and finished well to retain my lead. I hope I can make the top 4 positions and bowl as well as I did today in the semi-finals."

The Dane finished third overall while Squad A second-placed, O'Keefe slipped to fourth. The third and final squad will bowl their Singles tomorrow morning and the top 4 from the combined scores will advance to the medal shootout.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Hong Kong.

2nd September, Hong Kong: The official opening ceremony held at Hong Kong Bowling City on Friday evening where 33 countries marched past in front of a packed house, marked the the start of the World Women Championships 2011.

The ceremony was graced by the guest of honour, Mr Tsang Tak-Sing, Secretary for Home Affairs, Hong Kong SAR, the Honorable, Mr Timothy Fok, GBS., JP., President, Sports Federation & Olympic Committee Hong Kong SAR and a member of the IOC, Mr Kevin Dornberger, President of World Tenpin Bowling Association and Ms Vivien Lau, BBS., JP., the Organizing Chairman, Honorary Life President of ABF and Chairman of Hong Kong Tenpin Bowling Congress.

Among them were also countless distinguished guests, federation presidents and representatives of their respective federations and congresses, team officials, coaches, players, supporters and spectators.

Ms Astrid Lo, emcee for the opening ceremony, welcome all present and kicked off the ceremonies by introducing the participating teams. Australia was the first to marchpast in front of a packed house folllowed by the 31 other countries and ending with the host nation, Hong Kong. The national anthem was played after the teams have lined up on the lanes.

Speeches started with Ms Vivien Lau welcoming players and officials to the championship followed by Mr Kevin Dornberger, who praised Ms Vivien Lau and her able committee members and volunteers in its superb organization of the championships. Mr Timothy Fok then gave his inspiring speech on behalf of Hong Kong in welcoming the officials and players.

Ms Vanessa Fung, a member of the Hong Kong team took the bowlers' oath on behalf of players followed by Mr Leung Yuet Ming, taking the oath on behalf the tournament officials.

Mr Tsang, Mr Fok, Mr Dornberger and Ms Lau were inviting to perform the dotting of the lion's eyes signifying good fortune and smooth running of the championships. The traditional lion dance performance by Sun Ngai Kwun Performing Arts group started and thrilled those who witnessed the lion dance for the first time.

The championship was subsequently declared officially open by Mr Tsang after which Mr Dornberger presented tokens of appreciation to Mr Tsang and Mr Fok.

The swift and relatively simple ceremonies ended at around 8.00pm local time. Earlier in the day, players took to the lanes for their official practice, divided into three squads testing the medium and long oil patterns laid for the championships.

Competition will commence with the 6-games Singles event over the long oil pattern, divided into three squads. Squads 1 and 2 will contest the event on September 3 while Squad 3 will end the first event on September 4.

The top 4 players will advance to the semi-finals in which the top seed will meet the fourth seed and the second will meet the third seed. Winners of the semi-finals will advance to the final match.

The losers of the semi-finals will earn a bronze medal each. The semi-finals and finals will be shown over TVB, the official host broadcaster.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Hong Kong.

1st September, Hong Kong: One hundred and seventy-one bowlers from 33 countries will be vying for glory when they commence competition at the World Women Championships 2011 on September 3 at Hong Kong Bowling City in Kowloon City.

171 women bowlers' names were confirmed by the team officials who attended the meeting chaired by Tournament Director for the championships, Mr Michael Seymour from Australia. Also present was Mr Kevin Dornberger, President of World Tenpin Bowling Association, who welcomed the officials to the championship.

Mr John Janawicz from United States is the Technical Delegate responsible for the maintenance of the lanes while the local tournament coordinator is Dr Danny Santos, Vice President of Asian Bowling Federation.

Mr Kyohei Akagi from Japan (Asian Zone), Honorary Life President of WTBA, Mr Pekka Korpi from Finland (European Zone) and Mrs Hazel McLeary from Canada (Pabcon) were appointed the Jury of Appeal by Mr Dornberger.

A roll call was conducted by Mr Seymour, who subsequently kicked off the meeting by going through some of the major issues of the championships such as lane draws, official practice sessions and some key WTBA playing rules.

Mr Janawicz also announced the lane conditions which will be deployed for the championships and distributed the lane charts to team officials.

Official practice will be held tomorrow, September 2 at 10.00am divided into three squads. The official opening ceremony will be held at 7.30pm local time.

Competition will kick off with the Singles, divided into three squads. The first and second squad on September 3 and the third squad on September 4. The top 4 finishers will advance to the medal shootout.

The Doubles will be staged over two days on September 5 and 6 with the medal shootout finals thereafter. The Trios will be divided into two squads with the first block of three games on September 7 and second block on September 8.

The Team of 5 will be contested together over two days in two blocks of 3 games on September 9 and 10. The top 16 finishers in the All Events after 24 games will advance to the Masters Finals on Septmber 11.

The WTBA and FIQ Presidium meetings are scheduled for September 9 and 10 and the elections at the WTBA Congress and FIQ Congress will be held on September 12 and 13. The final day of WTBA Congress and ABF Exco Meeting will be held on September 14.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Hong Kong using a NIKON D3s DLSR.

29th August, Hong Kong: A press conference was held at the atrium of the Emax International Trade Center in Kowloon Bay to announce the World Women Championship 2011 graced by Mr Jonathan Mckinley, Deputy Secretary for Home Affairs of Home Affairs Bureau and Mr Kevin Dornberger, President of WTBA.

The press conference was held in conjuction with the special appearance of Team USA, which demonstrated their bowling skills together with bowlers from the Physically Disabled and Mentally Handicapped.

Also at the conference were Ms Vivien Lau, BBS, JP., Chairman of the Hong Kong Tenpin Bowling Congress, Mrs Laura Ling, BBS, MH, Chairman of Special Olympics Hong Kong, Mrs Jenny Fung, BBS, JP, Chairman of Hong Kong Paralympic Committee & Sports Association for the Physically Disabled and Mrs Stella Lau, JP, Chairlady of Hong Kong School Sports Federation.

Present was Mr Henry CC Chan, MH, Tai Pio District Council Member of the HKSAR Tai Pio District who is the Platinum Sponsor, Honoh of the championship and Mr Christer Johnsson, secretary general of WTBA.

The special appearance of Team USA comprising of Shannon Pluhowsky, Liz Johnson, Carolyn Dorin-Ballard, Shannon O-Keefe and Stefanie Nation. The sixth member of the team, Kelly Kulich was unable to join as she was held up in the United States due to the hurricane in New York.

The Hong Kong team comprising of Vanessa Fung, Chan Shuk Han, Milki Ng Tsz Yin, Zoe Tam Shun Yee, Sonia Ho Sze Yui and Victoria Chan were also introduced. Thereafter, members of the Physically Disabled and Handicapped bowlers were also introduced.

The players adjourned to the Hong Kong Bowling City for a demonstration session during which, members of Team USA gave usual tips to the aspiring bowlers as well as bowling together.

At 11.00am tomorrow August 30, students from Poh Leung Kuk will also be demonstrating their bowling skills at Hong Kong Bowling City as part of the promotional activities to create awareness of the championship.

WTBA is also organizing a sepcial Symposium on Anti-Doping and Sport Science Support, which is a series of educational seminars for bowling athletes, coaches and officials of WTBA members federations.

The symposium will be presented by a group of experts from the Hong Kong Anti-Doping Committee of the Hong Kong National Olympic Committee. Professionals from the Hong Kong Sports Institute will deliver information on sports science support for the enhancement of high performance in competitions for bowling athletes.

This is the first WTBA Anti-Doping Symposium and is free for all participants attending the World Women Championship 2011.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Hong Kong using a NIKON D3s DLSR.