Bill O'Neill, Tommy Jones and Chris Barnes (pictured left, r-l) representing the host country United States of America averaged 226.67 in the first three-game block of the Men's Trios event en route to lead the 36 teams of Squad 1 with 2040 pinfall total.

The three PBA champions (Barnes 15 titles, Jones 14, O'Neill 4) target to improve on a third-place finish at the 2010 World Championships in Munich, Germany. Barnes, who won Doubles title Wednesday at Sunset Station's Strike Zone bowling center in Henderson, Nev., led the way with 705 to widen his lead in All-Events to 230 pins.

Jones contributed 685 pins and O'Neill, who won his second consecutive gold medal in Singles earlier this week added 650 to move into second place in All-Events (combined qualifying results in Singles, Doubles, Trios and Team).

The Americans finished with a 694 game to overtake the trio from Colombia, which held the lead after two games. Edward Rey, Oscar Rodriguez and Santiago Mejia (right, r-l), who started with 680 and 682 finished with 630 to hold second place with 1992 and an average of 221.33. Rodrigues posted the highest three-game block of the Championships so far on the 33-feet Sydney pattern with 786 behind games of 288, 254 and 244.

Trailing the Colombians by 45 pins to sit in third place were Shaker Al Hassan, Sayed Al Hashemi and Nayef Oqab (left, l-r) of the United Arab Emirates, who rolled three consistent games between 645 and 655 for 1947 total (216.33).

Fourth place belonged to Choi Bok-Eum, Cho Young-Seon and Kim Jun-Yung, who checked in with 1925 (213.89). With the second block on the 39-feet Seoul pattern to bowl on Sunday, Swedes Robert Andersson, Dennis Eklund and Martin Larsen is 22 pins behind the Koreans in fifth place in Squad 1 with 1903. Thailand's Sivakorn Krittslunon, Phoemphun Yakasem and Atittarat Cheng (right, l-r), who led after a 722 opening game, sit in sixth place with 1900.

Rounding out the top 10 in Squad 1 were trios from Norway (1891), Bahrain (1885), Malaysia (1869) and Indonesia (1859).

Squad 2 bowlers bowl their first block on short oil on Friday. Both squads will return on Sunday to bowl the second block on long oil in revised order. The top 4 after six games will advance to medal round, which will take place on Monday evening.

Bowlingdigital's Photo Album

The World Tenpin Bowling Association World Championships run from Aug. 16 thru 31, 2013 at Sunset Station's Strike Zone in Henderson, Nev. in the Las Vegas area. The Championships will award medals in six disciplines - Singles, Doubles, Trios, Team, All Events and Masters.

The entire competition will be broadcast live on BOWL.com's BowlTV. Bowling fans will be able to watch live and on demand for free. The schedule is available at BOWL.com/LiveStream.

 

Related Articles

USA's Nation/O'Keefe beat team mates Kulick/Parkin to win the gold medal in Women's Doubles
Venezuela's Marcano sisters average 240 to take the lead in Women's Doubles
Slow motion video of the men's players' releases, ball motion and pin action
Team USA's Szczerbinski and Barnes shoot 569 to cruise to the Doubles gold
Team USA's Barnes, Szczerbinski in top qualifying position after Doubles Squad 1
Korea's Ryu Seo-Yeon defeats Chinese Taipei's spinners to win Women's Singles title
Chinese Taipei spinner Wang Ya-Ting is the early leader in Women's Singles
Bill O'Neill starts 2013 WTBA World Championships with victory in Men's Singles
Bodo Konieczny sets the pace in Men's Singles at the 2013 Bowling World Championships
2013 World Championships kick off Sunday with the Official Practice
Strike Gold Celebrity Challenge helps usher in 2013 World Championships
Photos from World Championships opening ceremony
Championship Preview
More Stories