Pre-qualifying is underway for the main event of the International Bowling Championship 2012 supported by DHC which will be staged Feb. 9-11 at Hakata Star Lanes, a 60 wooden-lane center on two floors, in Hakata, Japan.

The tournament is the fourth stop of the 2012 World Bowling Tour and offers total prize fund of 30 million Yen or more than 380,000 U.S. Dollars.

Men and women will compete in separate divisions. Each division consists of 84 players - 45 local bowlers (15 each from three pre-qualifying tournament), the top 15 of the international trials (Feb. 7 and 8), and 24 seeded players (international medalists, guest bowlers from PBA, LBO, JPBA and All Japan National Team bowlers).

The prize money for each division is the same, with the men's and women's winner each taking 6 million Yen or more than $75,000, with $37,500 and $18,750 going to the second and third place finishers, respectively..

Only the PBA Tournament of Champions currently offers a higher total prize fund and a higher individual pay check in this sport.

In addition to the enormous prize fund, a 300-game award of 10 million Yen or approx. USD125,000 will be given to EVERY player who rolls a 300 game during the stepladder finals of the International Bowling Championship 2012 supported by DHC.

In accordance with Japanese Law, all prize money to be paid is subject to 20 per cent of income tax, which will be withheld from prize-funds paid to non-resident entrants.

The TV Final to be broadcasted nationwide by NHK Global Media Services, Inc will be staged on specially constructed lanes in Diamond Hall on the second floor of the building.

Bowlingdigital will provide daily coverage of the International Bowling Championship 2012 supported by DHC commencing Wednesday Feb. 8 with the Trials all the way through to the TV stepladder finals on Saturday Feb. 11.

Two out of three pre-qualifying tournaments are already in the books and 60 local bowlers - 30 men and 30 women - earned theirs berths for the main event.

Tetsuya Kobayashi of the Japan Professional Bowlers Association led the men's field in the first pre-qualifier with 1856 eight-game total and an average of 232. Junkio Natsuga, a member of the Ladies Bowling Organization, topped the women's field with 2046 and an average of 227.33 for nine games.

Leading the men's second pre-qualifier was Tamio Okuno, who used two 772 three-game series for 2224 nine-game total, an average of 2447.11. JPBA's Akiko Tanigawa paced the women's field with 2053 or an average of 228.11.

Please scroll down this page to view the top 15 results of the pre-qualifiers.

Another 30 local bowlers - 15 men and 15 women - will advance from the third pre-qualifying tournament. In addition, 30 international bowlers - 15 men and 15 women - will advance from the trials for international bowlers. .

The men's trials will be spearheaded by PBA champions Robert Smith (left), Michael Fagan (right) and Scott Norton followed by Brian Greenwood and Mat Moran (United States), Remy Ong (Singapore), George Frilingos (Australia), Mi Zhong Li, Liu Shaoyi (China) and Im Sung-Chul, Yang Tae-Sun, Kim Byung-Hak, Lee Moon-Gi, Gu Yong-Jin, Kang Sung-Yu, Jang Seok-Chang, Park Jong-Soo, Noh Dong-Hyun, Park Kyung-Sin, Gong Jin-Seok, Kim Young-Kwan, Choi Jong-In, Yun Yeo-Jin, Seo Jung-Hwan and Jo Nam-I (Korea Professional Bowlers Association), Adrian Ang, Aaron Kong, Alex Liew, Muhamad Nur Aiman, Syafiq Ridhwan and Zulmazran Zulkifli (Malaysia) plus two members of the Korean national team.(tba).

The women's trials will feature Carolyn Dorin-Ballard, Diandra Asbaty, Wendy Macpherson (United States), Sandra Anderson (left, Sweden), Carol Gianotti (right, Australia) and Han Jung-Hee, Oh Eun-Kyung, Kim Choon-Hee, Ko Myung-Sook, Lee Young-Mi, Go Young-Sun, Cha Mi-Jung and Yoong San-I (Korea Professional Bowlers Association), Jacqueline Sijore, Dayang Khairuniza Dhiyana, Sin Li Jane, Shalin Zulkifli, Siti Shazwani and Zandra Aziela (Malaysia), Jasmine Yeong-Nathan, Jazreel Tan, Shayna Ng, Geraldine Ng, Amanda Ng, Bernice Lim and New Hui Fen (Singapore) plus two members of the Korean national team.(tba).

The format for the international trials of the International Bowling Championship 2012 is six games total pinfall. Each block is split into two three-game blocks, one on each floor of Hakata Star Lanes.

There are four squads for the international trials - one on Tuesday Feb. 7 (5-8.15 p.m. local time) and three on Wednesday Feb. 8 (8.30-11.45 a.m., 12.30-3.45 p.m. and 5.30-8.45 pm.). Players can enter all four squads if they want to. The best six-game total will be used for the qualifying standings. The top 15 male and the top 15 female bowlers will qualify for the main event.

The 45 locals and 15 international bowlers in each division will be joined by 24 seeded players featuring international medalists as well as guest bowlers from PBA, LBO, JPBA and the All Japan National Team. The main event of the International Bowling Championship will be held from Thursday, Oct. 9 through Saturday, Oct. 11.

All 84 men and 84 women will bowl nine games of qualifying divided into three blocks of three games - the first block on Thursday and blocks 2 and 3 on Friday. Based on the nine-game total, the top 24 men and the top 24 women will advance to the semifinals.

Those 24 will bowl a six-game block with the pinfall from the qualifying being carried forward. The top 9 men and the top 9 women with the highest 15-game total will proceed to TV Finals.

The top three in each division will directly advance to the TV stepladder finals. Bowlers seeded fourth to ninth will compete in a single-game shoot-out match, The winner of that match will earn the No. 4 seed for the stepladder.

In the TV stepladder finals, which will be staged on specially constructed lanes, the No. 4 seed will bowl the No. 3 seed. The winner of the single-game match will take on the No. 2 seed for the right to bowl the No. 1 seed for the title. The men's and women's winner of the championship matches will earn the title and the $75,000 top prize.

Tournament Information (pdf file)
Prize Fund (pdf file)
International Trials Schedule (pdf file)
Main Event Schedule (pdf file)

The 2012 World Bowling Tour currently consists of 14 tour stops in 10 countries - Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Finland, France, Japan, Korea, Kuwait, Thailand and the United States (4). The top 50 men and the top 50 women in each event earn ranking points (from 50 points for the winner to 1 point for 50th place).

2012 World Bowling Tour Rankings by Bowlingdigital - Current Standings
2012 WBT Women's Ranking
2012 WBT Men's Ranking

Those points will be tabulated throughout the season to determine the top three men and top three women who will be invited to compete in the second World Bowling Tour Finals.

The top three men and top three women will bowl a stepladder finals format in their respective divisions. The prize money for each division is the same, with the winner taking $10,000, second place earning $6,000 and third place winning $4,000.

The first WBT Finals, the season-ending event of the 2011 World Bowling Tour, took place during the PBA's World Series of Bowling in November 2011 in Las Vegas. Mika Koivuniemi, Finland and Carolyn Dorin-Ballard, United States, captured the men's and women's crown. The event was aired nationally in the United States.

 

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The Bahamas will host 2012 World Bowling Tour event

 

IBC Pre-Qualifying #1 (local bowlers only) - Men's Division

The top 15 qualify for the main event.

Pos	Name	Association	G1	G2	G3	G4	Block 1	G5	G6	G7	G8	Block 2	Total	Avg.
1.	Tetsuya Kobayashi	JPBA	227	249	211	246	933	278	201	244	200	923	1856	232.00
2.	Takashi Kudo	JPBA	277	179	234	259	949	246	242	213	194	895	1844	230.50
3.	Nobuhito Fujii	JBC	225	287	243	208	963	216	218	212	227	873	1836	229.50
4.	Naoyuki Iguchi	JPBA	199	191	225	211	826	278	288	195	233	994	1820	227.50
5.	Shunsuke Miyata	JPBA	223	183	289	192	887	202	217	237	211	867	1754	219.25
6.	Takahisa Inaba		258	174	220	237	889	221	205	223	211	860	1749	218.63
7.	Takashi Sugasaki		192	223	236	268	919	259	182	178	189	808	1727	215.88
8.	Kazuhiro Nakano	JPBA	233	224	188	220	865	215	203	226	214	858	1723	215.38
9.	Hideki Imaizumi	JPBA	194	202	208	268	872	220	204	184	231	839	1711	213.88
10.	Koichi Saito	JBC	217	204	212	248	881	180	192	234	208	814	1695	211.88
11.	Roberto Saito		225	216	204	231	876	203	212	210	191	816	1692	211.50
12.	Sachiyuki Iijima	JBC	192	181	300	204	877	206	218	222	168	814	1691	211.38
13.	Toshiyuki Kaneko	JPBA	199	190	209	174	772	237	222	234	223	916	1688	211.00
14.	Teruyuki Obara	JPBA	177	201	176	205	759	215	239	258	211	923	1682	210.25
15.	Sho Hirai	JPBA	196	221	278	186	881	182	213	215	186	796	1677	209.63

 

IBC Pre-Qualifying #1 (local bowlers only) - Women's Division

The top 15 qualify for the main event.

Pos	Name	Association	Block 1	Block 2	Block 3	Total	Avg.
1.	Junkio Natsuga	LBO	665	711	670	2046	227.33
2.	Junko Harigaya	JBC	698	719	569	1986	220.67
3.	Nao Oishi	JBC	635	601	715	1951	216.78
4.	Yumi Nakajima	LBO	656	645	633	1934	214.89
5.	Kaori Yamanaka	JBC	609	707	610	1926	214.00
6.	Masae Nakajima	JPBA	681	671	567	1919	213.22
7.	Honma Yukari	JBC	553	607	737	1897	210.78
8.	Ayako Handa	JBC	686	669	529	1884	209.33
9.	Manae Kameshima	JBC	557	667	652	1876	208.44
10.	Aino Kinjo	JPBA	681	581	564	1826	202.89
11.	Risa Nakajima	JBC	631	639	552	1822	202.44
12.	Mayumi Naito	JBC	589	637	592	1818	202.00
13.	Yuka Yoshida	JBC	581	573	664	1818	202.00
14.	Kozue Totsue	JBC	667	614	534	1815	201.67
15.	Kuniko Hara		617	591	600	1808	200.89

 

IBC Pre-Qualifying #2 (local bowlers only) - Men's Division

The top 15 qualify for the main event.

Pos	Name	Association	Block 1	Block 2	Block 3	Total	Avg.
1.	Tamio Okuno		772	680	772	2224	247.11
2.	Hiroyuki Hoshino	JPBA	707	758	718	2183	242.56
3.	Minoru Sendan	JPBA	657	731	683	2071	230.11
4.	Kakao Hirose	JBC	633	772	641	2046	227.33
5.	Yuto Hiraoka	JBC	666	697	681	2044	227.11
6.	Fumiyoshi Nakae	JBC	585	750	709	2044	227.11
7.	Toshimasa Iwakiri	JPBA	722	675	633	2030	225.56
8.	Motoshi Suzuki	JPBA	674	666	686	2026	225.11
9.	Naoya Kinoshita	JPBA	694	665	656	2015	223.89
10.	Yoshihiro Tanaka	JBC	651	707	649	2007	223.00
11.	Kazuki Fukui	JBC	680	657	662	1999	222.11
12.	Toshiyuki Nakanishi	JBC	675	642	679	1996	221.78
13.	Ryo Suzuki	JBC	705	685	595	1985	220.56
14.	Akifumi Matsushia	JBC	654	725	606	1985	220.56
15.	Shigeo Saito	JPBA	643	688	645	1976	219.56

 

IBC Pre-Qualifying #2 (local bowlers only) - Women's Division

The top 15 qualify for the main event.

Pos	Name	Association	Block 1	Block 2	Block 3	Total	Avg.
1.	Akiko Tanigawa	JPBA	645	642	766	2053	228.11
2.	Miki Nishimura	JPBA	643	785	583	2011	223.44
3.	Hiroe Ishimoto	LBO	765	630	599	1994	221.56
4.	Hikaru Takekawa	JBC	696	619	673	1988	220.89
5.	Haruna Nojima	JBC	652	658	676	1986	220.67
6.	Aya Horiuchi	JPBA	645	677	654	1976	219.56
7.	Mari Kimura	JBC	675	637	656	1968	218.67
8.	Kana Minowa	JBC	600	645	686	1931	214.56
9.	Natsumi Koizumi	JBC	635	697	579	1911	212.33
10.	Seika Matsuo	JBC	622	607	633	1862	206.89
11.	Mika Yamada	JBC	633	637	575	1845	205.00
12.	Aki Suzuki	JPBA	631	607	585	1823	202.56
13.	Akemi Nishimura	JBC	621	611	578	1810	201.11
14.	Mariko Nakano	JBC	554	639	611	1804	200.44
15.	Miki Takehara	JPBA	602	643	537	1782	198.00