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onefrombills
11-09-2008, 05:20 PM
HERMOSILLO, Mexico - Players from around the world, their families, friends and guests, dignitaries, sponsors and local bowling fans were among the hundreds of people who turned out to see the 2008 QubicaAMF World Cup kick off Saturday night at Bol 300.

The festive and energetic opening ceremony gave guests a taste of Mexico's culture and flavor and welcomed the World Cup back to Hermosillo for the second time (1994). This year's event features 82 men and 63 women representing 85 countries.

Team USA's Derek Eoff is looking to make it two consecutive wins for the American men, and despite his quiet demeanor and limited international experience, many eyes already are looking his way. Last year, nine-time Team USA member Bill Hoffman took the title back to the United States for the first time since 1995.

Eoff, who is making his first World Cup appearance, has been on quite a tear during the last year and a half that includes a perfect game and second-place doubles finish at the 2007 United States Bowling Congress Open Championships, a five-medal performance at the 2007 Men's American Zone Championships, a fifth-place effort at the 2007 USBC Masters and a win at the 2008 USBC Team USA Trials.

Since arriving in Hermosillo on Thursday, Eoff and Team USA member Shannon Pluhowsky have been hard at work studying the lanes and getting a feel for the approaches at Bol 300, which opened its doors for the first time last summer.

Saturday's official practice session gave the players an hour and a half to practice across the 32-lane house and narrow their arsenals down to the six balls they would check-in for competition.

"I thought I had a pretty good reaction overall with three or four balls, and I know I'll be OK as long as I make pretty good shots," said Eoff, who made his international debut as a member of Junior Team USA at the International Youth Friendship Tournament in 1999. "I've seen that the scores in this tournament have been high in the past, but I'm not going to think about that at all. I don't want to add any pressure or worry about what other people are doing. I'm just hoping to get lined up and throw a lot of strikes."

There's also attention on Pluhowsky this week as she returns to the World Cup for the first time since 2004 and looks to become the event's first three-time champion. She's banking on eight years of international experience and the variety of challenging conditions she regularly sees at home. In her three World Cup appearances (2002-2004), the young left-hander has posted two wins and a runner-up finish.

"I thought practice went well today, and I'm throwing the ball as well as I have in a while, so that gave me more time today to cross the house and see some of the tendencies, which is what the practice session is supposed to be for," Pluhowsky said. "Of course, winning again is on my mind because everyone is talking about it, but at the same time, it's a new year and a long week, and I just want to do my best."

This week, all competitors will bowl 24 games of qualifying before the field is cut to the top 24 in each division. The top 24 then will bowl eight more games before the field is cut to the top eight in each division. Finally, the top eight players will bowl eight games of round robin match play with the top three advancing to the best-of-three stepladder finals, which will be shown live on Mexican television.

Competition begins Sunday with the first of four, six-game qualifying blocks. The field has been divided into two men's squads (10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Eastern) and one women's squad (4 p.m. Eastern).