onefrombills
11-13-2008, 02:25 AM
HERMOSILLO, Mexico - After four days and 24 games of qualifying, Team USA's Derek Eoff of Greenfield, Wis., and Shannon Pluhowsky of Phoenix both made the first cut at the 2008 QubicaAMF World Cup on Wednesday.
Eoff posted games of 257, 185, 218, 255, 235 and 194 for a 1,344 final block and maintained the men's lead for the third consecutive day. He ended with 5,500 after 24 games, an average of 229.17. Zulmazran Zulkifli of Malaysia is second with 5,402, and Martin Larsen of Sweden is third with 5,326. It took an average of 207.83 to make the top 24 in the men's division.
"I feel great, and I actually feel like I bowled better today than I did yesterday, even if the scores don't reflect that," said Eoff, a two-time Team USA member and first-time World Cup participant. "I'm throwing the ball well and making my spares, and I think my shotmaking has gotten better each day. Hopefully, my reaction will be the same tomorrow, and I will try to get as many pins as I can heading into match play."
Pluhowsky continued to struggle with her ball reaction and slipped from 10th place into a tie for 13th with 1,236 in the final round. She finished with a 5,067 total for 24 games and currently is 82 pins out of the top eight, which will advance to round-robin match play after eight additional games Thursday morning.
"Today, I struggled with getting comfortable physically, and I never really got the reaction I was looking for," said Pluhowsky, who won the World Cup in 2002 and 2004 and is looking to become the first woman to win the event three times. "Since I can't fix what has already happened, I am just going to concentrate on the bowling I have left. I'll try to start with a big game and go from there."
Jasmine Yeong-Nathan of Singapore, who rolled one of three perfect games in the women's division this week, averaged 228.21 during qualifying and leads with 5,477. Defending champion, Ann-Maree Putney of Australia, closed the gap with a 1,357 block Wednesday and sits second with 5,370. Helen Johnsson of Sweden is third with 5,364. It took an average of 200.08 to make the top 24 in the women's division.
"I bowled well the first day, but didn't score well, so I moved inside and everything fell into place," said Putney, who also had blocks of 1,204, 1,443 and 1,366. "I'm just here to bowl and have fun, and if I can stay in the top three, I'll be happy. It was amazing to win this event once, and, of course, it would be nice to do it again, but all I can do is go out and bowl my best."
At the start of the event, there were 82 men and 63 women representing 85 countries. In all, there were four 300 games rolled during qualifying (Sara Vargas, Colombia; Jasmine Yeong-Nathan, Singapore; Cookie Lee, Hong Kong; Nikita Koshelev, Russia).
With 24 games now in the books, the top 24 competitors in each division will return for an additional eight games Thursday. The field then will be cut to the top eight in each division for round-robin match play. The top three players in each division will advance to the stepladder finals Friday, which will be shown live on Mexican television.
Eoff posted games of 257, 185, 218, 255, 235 and 194 for a 1,344 final block and maintained the men's lead for the third consecutive day. He ended with 5,500 after 24 games, an average of 229.17. Zulmazran Zulkifli of Malaysia is second with 5,402, and Martin Larsen of Sweden is third with 5,326. It took an average of 207.83 to make the top 24 in the men's division.
"I feel great, and I actually feel like I bowled better today than I did yesterday, even if the scores don't reflect that," said Eoff, a two-time Team USA member and first-time World Cup participant. "I'm throwing the ball well and making my spares, and I think my shotmaking has gotten better each day. Hopefully, my reaction will be the same tomorrow, and I will try to get as many pins as I can heading into match play."
Pluhowsky continued to struggle with her ball reaction and slipped from 10th place into a tie for 13th with 1,236 in the final round. She finished with a 5,067 total for 24 games and currently is 82 pins out of the top eight, which will advance to round-robin match play after eight additional games Thursday morning.
"Today, I struggled with getting comfortable physically, and I never really got the reaction I was looking for," said Pluhowsky, who won the World Cup in 2002 and 2004 and is looking to become the first woman to win the event three times. "Since I can't fix what has already happened, I am just going to concentrate on the bowling I have left. I'll try to start with a big game and go from there."
Jasmine Yeong-Nathan of Singapore, who rolled one of three perfect games in the women's division this week, averaged 228.21 during qualifying and leads with 5,477. Defending champion, Ann-Maree Putney of Australia, closed the gap with a 1,357 block Wednesday and sits second with 5,370. Helen Johnsson of Sweden is third with 5,364. It took an average of 200.08 to make the top 24 in the women's division.
"I bowled well the first day, but didn't score well, so I moved inside and everything fell into place," said Putney, who also had blocks of 1,204, 1,443 and 1,366. "I'm just here to bowl and have fun, and if I can stay in the top three, I'll be happy. It was amazing to win this event once, and, of course, it would be nice to do it again, but all I can do is go out and bowl my best."
At the start of the event, there were 82 men and 63 women representing 85 countries. In all, there were four 300 games rolled during qualifying (Sara Vargas, Colombia; Jasmine Yeong-Nathan, Singapore; Cookie Lee, Hong Kong; Nikita Koshelev, Russia).
With 24 games now in the books, the top 24 competitors in each division will return for an additional eight games Thursday. The field then will be cut to the top eight in each division for round-robin match play. The top three players in each division will advance to the stepladder finals Friday, which will be shown live on Mexican television.