Bok-Eum, Shazwani take over lead after Qualifying Block 2 in International Bowling Championship

    02/10/12

    2012 World Bowling Tour #4

    Men's and women's field will be cut to the top 24 after the third three-game block

    2012IBCChoiBokEum.jpg2012IBCSitiShazwani.jpgChoi Bok-Eum (pictured left) of Korea and Malaysia's Siti Shazwani (right) moved to the top of the men's and women's leaderboard after the second qualifying block in the International Bowling Championship 2012 supported by DHC Friday morning at Hakata Star Lanes in Hakata, Japan.

    Bok-Eum, the only non-U.S. player who reached the Masters finals in the 2010 Men's World Championships, added a 712 three-game series to the 706 from Thursday to leap from third to first place with 1418 pinfall total and an average of 236.33 for six games. The lefty had games of 268, 250 and 194.

    201112PBABillONeill.jpg2012IBCMikeFagan.jpgThree-time PBA Tour champion Bill O'Neill (left), who won the first event of the 2012 World Bowling Tour event in Finland, used a 713 series to move from eighth to second place with 1405.

    Third place belongs to Jang Dong-Chul, Korea, who toppled 723 pins to leap ten spots into third place with 1399. Three-time PBA champion Michael Fagan (right), United States, who finished second to O'Neill in the Ball Open and won the second WBT event, the PBA "major" USBC Masters, slipped from first to fourth place with 1394 behind a 684 series including a 168 last game.

    Park Kyung-Sin, Korea, rolled the highest series in the men's division so far with 738 including games of 269, 246 and 223 to rocket from 41st to eighth place with 1364. Ohta Takamasa was the best Japanese bowler in tenth place with 1331.

    201112PBADanMacLelland.jpg201112PBAMikaKoivuniemi.jpgDan MacLelland (left) of Canada, who won The International Mini and the $30,000 top prize last Sunday, was in 12th place with 1330 and was followed by fellow PBAers Scott Norton and Sean Rash, United States, in 13th and 14th place with 1325 and 1324, respectively.

    Reigning PBA Player of the Year Mika Koivuniemi (right), Finland, was in 16th place with 1320, while 13-time PBA champion and Masters champion at the 2010 Men's World Championships, Chris Barnes moved from 30th to 20th place with 1301.

    With the final three-game block before the cut to the top 24 to go, Tomoyuki Sasaki of Japan holds the last place to advance with 1288 and an average of 214.67. Sasaki had a 721 series Friday morning to leapfrog from 71st to 24th place.

    2011WWCJeonEunHee.jpg2009WUSAMissyBellinder3.jpgFor the second consecutive day, the women's leader outaveraged the men as Siti Shazwani topped the women's field with 1423 six-game total and an average of 237.17. The Malaysian had a 719 second block including games of 236, 259 and 224 to move from second to first place.

    Team USA's Diandra Asbaty, who was fourth after the first block used a 720 series to leap into second place with 1421. Jeon Eun-Hee (left) of Korea matched Asbaty's score to go from tenth to third place with 1383. Fourth place belonged to USBC Queens winner Missy Parkin (right), United States, with 1378.

    2011WWCZandraAziela.jpg2012IBCCherieTan.jpgZandra Aziela (left), Malaysia, fired games of 268, 276 and 247 for 791, the highest three-game set of the tournament so far, to rocket from 64th to sixth place with 1368. The top-ranked Japanese women after six games, Homma Yukari, was seventh with 1358.

    First block leader Cherie Tan (right) of Singapore fell to eighth place with 1358 behind a 643 series. 10-time JPBA champion Wendy Macpherson, United States, was 12th with 1337, 2011 Women's World Championships All Events gold medalist, Mai Ginge Jensen, Denmark, was 15th with 1311, and four-time World Champion Shannon Pluhowsky, United States, was 22nd with 1271.

    Mari Kimura of Japan holds the 24th and last place to advance with 1264 and an average of 210.67.

    Qualifying ends with the third and last three-game block scheduled for 1 p.m. local time. The field will then be cut to the top 24 men and 24 women, who will advance to the semifinals on Friday afternoon.

    2012IBCLogo.jpg The International Bowling Championship 2012 supported by DHC 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 16 of the international trials (Feb. 7 and 8), as well as 23 seeded and invited players.

    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 another two three-game blocks on Friday 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 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.

    In the stepladder, 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 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..

    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.

     


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    Men's Division - Standings after the Second Block

     


    Women's Division - Standings after the Second Block

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