Squad 1 leaders Bill O'Neill, Tommy Jones and Chris Barnes (pictured left, r-l) of the United States held on to the lead as the Men's Trios event has reached its halfway mark at the World Championships in the Las Vegas area.

The multiple world champions toppled 2040 pins and averaged 226.67 on the 33-feet Sydney pattern. Barnes, who won Doubles title Wednesday led the way with 705. Jones contributed 685 pins and O'Neill, who won his second consecutive gold medal in Singles earlier this week added 650.

The Americans held a 48-pin lead over Canada and Colombia, who were tied for second place at 1992 (221.33 average).

Canadians Mark Buffa, Francois Lavoie and Patrick Girard (right, l-r) rolled games of 694, 605 and 693 to lead the second squad on Friday afternoon. Girard led the team with 698, Buffa had 672 and Lavoie added 622.

Colombia's Edward Rey, Oscar Rodriguez and Santiago Mejia (right, r-l), who remained in second place with 1992 and an average of 221.33. Rodrigues posted a 786 series (262 average), the highest three-game block on short oil of the Championships so far.

The second U.S. trio featuring John Janawicz, Mike Fagan and John Szczerbinski (right, l-r) took the early lead in Squad 2 with a huge 742 game, but fell out of the top four behind a sub-par 555 in game two. The Americans rebounded with a 678 game powered by Szczerbinski's 287, to finish second in Squad 2 and fourth overall with 1975 (219.44).

Just outside the top four, looking in were Shaker Al Hassan, Sayed Al Hashemi and Nayef Oqab (left, r-l) of the United Arab Emirates, who rolled three consistent games between 645 and 655 for 1947 (216.33).

Sixth place belonged to Choi Bok-Eum, Cho Young-Seon and Kim Jun-Yung, who checked in with 1925 (213.89). Australia's Glen Loader, Sam Cooley and Jason Belmonte (right, r-l) moved into seventh place with 1922, followed by the second UAE trio Hussain Al Suwaidi, Sultan Al Qubaisi and Hareb Al Mansoori in eighth place with 1908.

Rounding out the top 10 were Swedes Robert Andersson, Dennis Eklund and Martin Larsen in ninth place with 1903 and Thailand's Sivakorn Krittslunon, Phoemphun Yakasem and Atittarat Cheng (left, r-l) in 10th place with 1900.

With 15 of 24 games in All-Events (combined qualifying results in Singles, Doubles, Trios and Team) in the books, Chris Barnes and Bill O'Neill of the United States lead the 216-player field with 3571 (238.07 average) and 3341 (222.73). Swede Martin Larsen is third with 3331 (222.07).

The Bowling World Championships continue Saturday with the Women's Trios qualifying, also on short oil pattern. The men will return Sunday for the second block on long oil (Seoul) followed by the semi-finals and finals. The women will conclude the Trios event on Monday.

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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.

 

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