Ryu Seo-Yeon (pictured left) of Korea and Chris Barnes (right), United States, are in the pole position after the first round of the Masters competition on Sunday morning at the WTBA World Championships in Henderson, Nev. as the field of 24 women and 24 men was cut to the top eight for round robin.

Ryu, who won gold medals No. 3 and 4. in Singles and Trios, leaped from fourth place to first in the women's division behind the field-best 1423 series (237.17 average) including a high game of 289 for 6584 total and an average of 219.47 for 30 games including the 24-game All-Events total.

Places two and three also belong to Korean bowlers. All-Events silver medalists Son Yun-Hee (left), Korea, remained in second place with 6528, while Kim Moon-Jeong (right) jumped from ninth to third place with 6512 behind the second-highest 1392 series today.

All Events champion Shannon O'Keefe, United States, slipped to fourth place with 1277 and 6486 total. O'Keefe's team mate Liz Johnson used a 1342 series to jump from 14th to fifth place with 6436.

Lee Na-Young remained in sixth place with 6114 and is the third Korean women in round robin. Jazreel Tan (left) of Singapore moved from 16th to seventh place with 1327 and 6409 overall. Rounding out the top 8, was Malaysia's Sin Li Jane (right), who tied Tan at 6409.

Defending champion Barnes started the day with a 210-pin pin buffer over second placed Cho Young-Seon of Korea.

The five-time World Champion including the titles in Doubles and All Events at this year's event, averaged 216.83 for his six games (1301) on the dual lane condition (left lane dressed with long oil, right lane dressed with short oil) to easily maintain the pole position with 6910 total and an overall average of 230.33.

His team mate Bill O'Neill (left) used the men's best 1382 series to leap one spot into second place with 6752. Cho slipped to third place with 6693 behind a 1294 series.

Cho's team mate Kim Jun-Yung (right) leaped from ninth to fourth place with 1335 and 6580.

Martin Larsen of Sweden fell one position to fifth with 6567 and is followed by Amleto Monacelli (below left) of Venezuela who toppled 1337 pins in round one to move from 14th to sixth place with 6541.

Places 7 and 8 belong to Korean bowlers Shin Seung-Hyeon and Park Jong-Woo (right) with 6482 and 6475, respectively, which brings the number of Koreans bowlers in round robin to four.

The top 8 men and women will return at 12.30 p.m. PDT for seven games of round robin match play, where 20 bonus points are awarded for a won match and 10 bonus points for a tied match.

The top four players with the highest 37-game total including bonus points will advance to the medal round on Friday morning. The No. 1 meets No. 4 and No. 2 bowls No. 3 in the semifinals. The winners advance to the gold medal match to determine the Masters champion. All matches will be decided in one game.

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

U.S. women earn the No. 1 seed for the Team finals; Shannon O'Keefe claims gold in All-Events
Korean men earn the No. 1 seed for the Team finals; Chris Barnes wins gold in All-Events
Korean women take the lead in five-player Team event and All-Events
Women's Team Photos from the five-player Team event
Women's high definition video focusing on the various releases
Venezuelan men average 219 to take the lead as five-player Team event reaches halfway mark
Men's Team Photos from the five-player Team event
Men's high definition video focusing on the various releases
Korea comes from behind in dramatic fashion to win gold in Women's Trios
Canadian women overtake Korea and Sweden to take the lead in Women's Trios
Canadians Buffa, Lavoie, Girard defeat USA and Korea to win gold in Men's Trios
Canadians take the lead in Men's Trios as Squad 2 finishes second round of qualifying
Korea, Chinese Taipei and Singapore continue to lead Women's Trios event
Asian countries dominate the first squad of the Women's Trios event
O'Neill, Jones and Barnes hold on to the lead as Men's Trios event reaches halfway mark
Slow motion video of the women's players' releases, ball motion and pin action
Team USA's O'Neill, Jones and Barnes set the tone in Men's Trios at World Championships
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