Germany's
Kai Günther (l.) took a surprising lead after day one of the Singles event in the Men's World Championships 2008 in Thailand. Günther, who wasn't nominated for the team event, felled 1,317 pins in the first of three squads today, an average of 219.50 over six games, to lead a field of 200 (out of total 330) players. Shaking off an uncharacteristic sub-par week, Team USA's
Walter Ray Williams Jr. (r.) of Ocala, Fla., moved into second place with 1,316. Both players will now wait out the final two preliminary squads on Friday to see if their scores remain in the top four to qualify for the semifinals.
Shalin Zulkifli has etched yet another success story in her bowling career by taking up a prominent role in the World Tenpin Bowling Association (WTBA). She is now a member of the WTBA coaching and technical committee, a post rarely given to a female bowler. Last weekend, she attended the first committee meeting in Bangkok to discuss the rules and format and current trends in the world of bowling. She came out of it refreshed and inspired to make changes. The 30-year-old professional bowler also sees her exposure to the coaching set-up of the world body as a first big step towards becoming a calibre coach for Malaysia.
Peter Ljung (left) from Sweden finished his six-game series on the tough long-oil pattern with two big games (224, 237) en route to lead Squad 4 and to jump into fourth place overall in the Singles event at the Men's World Championships in Thailand. The lefty topped the previous fourth seed, Shu Liang-Chen, Chinese Taipei (1283) by 12 pins with 1295 pinfall total and an average of 215.83. The top 3 - Kai Günther, Germany (1317), Walter Ray Williams Jr., United States (1316) and Francois Sacco, France (1310) - remained unchallenged. They have to wait out the final preliminary squad at 1.30 p.m. to see if their scores remain in the top four to qualify for the event semifinals later this evening.