Tommy Jones by a whisker, Martin Paulsson falls one pin short of a tie after 12 games

    09/23/12

    2012 WSC

    Team USA member maintains lead with half of the men's field having completed preliminaries; four players each of Squad 1 & 2 among the top 8

    2012WSCTommyJones.jpg2012WSCMartinPaulsson.jpgTommy Jones (pictured left) of the United States maintained a one-pin lead as the 32 players of the men's division Squads 1 & 2 have completed the 12-game preliminaries at the World Singles Championships in Limassol, Cyprus.

    The 13-time PBA champion and 2010 WTBA World Champion (Team event), who led the 71-player field after six games with 1511, toppled 1247 pins Saturday morning in Squad 2 for 2758 total and an average of 229.83.

    After a slow start into the day, Martin Pualsson (right) of Sweden, the 2010 WTBA World Champion in Doubles and European Masters champion, closed out his set with 234, 248 and 257 to falls one pin short of a tie with 2757 (229.75.

    2012WSCChrisBarnes.jpg 2012WSCDennisEklund.jpgJones' fellow country man Chris Barnes (left) became the second player in this Championship, who cracked the 1500-bar, in Squad 1 on Saturday afternoon.

    The 13-time PBA champion and two-time WTBA World Champion in 2010 (Team and Masters), who was below the cut line (24th place) after the first block (29th, 1213), had games of 234, 238, 256, 288, 233 and 258 for 1507 to jump into third place with 2720 total.

    Barnes is the lone player of Squad 2 in the top 5 as Squad 1 bowlers Mohammed Kamel of Kuwait and Khaled Al-Dossari of Qatar finished the day in fourth and fifth place with 2691 and 2634, respectively.

    2012WSCMahmoudMazloum.jpg2012EBT04ToreTorgersen.jpgRounding out the top 8, who will receive a first-round bye for the finals, are currently three players of Squad 2. Dennis Eklund (above right) of Sweden was sixth with 2595 and was followed by Mahmoud Mazloum (left) of Egypt and former World and European Champion Tore Torgersen (right) of Norway with 2590 and 2576, resp.

    The top three players of Squads 3-5, who will complete the preliminaries on Sunday, must average over 225 to beat out Jones for the No. 1 seed for the single-elimination finals. Finland's two-hander Osku Palermaa (1406) and England's Matt Miller (1405) need 1353 and 1352, respectively, while Syafiq Ridwan of Malaysia must repeat his performance (1379) including a last game higher than 2005 (Jones).

    All 71 men from 40 countries bowl 12 games of qualifying on the 41 feet WTBA Montreal oil pattern (Lane Map Guide) before the cut to the top 24 players, who advance to the finals Sept. 24 and 25.

    Free live streaming will be provided of the entire championships. To view the live streaming and the archived videos click here.

     


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    Men's Division - Standings after Day Three Qualifying


    Squads 1 & 2 after twelve games; Squads 3 & 4 after six games

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