John Szczerbinski (pictured left), United States, took a 75-pin lead after the second round of men's qualifying Wednesday at the 46th QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup.

Szczerbinski, who had had games of 238, 246, 267, 256 and 227, averaged 246.8 for five games in the second block and moved from seventh place into the lead with a 10-game total of 2335. Mads Sandbækken (right), Norway, jumped from 16th to second place with 2260 after a 1207 series.

Matt Miller, England, managed an 1158 series despite starting with 134 to leap into third place with 2239. Kwan Harn-Chieh, Switzerland, who was second after the first block. started with 173 and 168 but closed out the second round with 289 to sit in fourth place with 2218. William Ching, Venezuela, maintained his fifth place with 2206.

With the final six-game qualifying block to go on Thursday, Mark Spiteri, Malta, holds the 24th and last spot to advance with 2060 or an average of 206.

Record 167 players (91 men and record 76 women) from 92 countries bowl for the coveted World Cup titles. Men and women bowl in separate divisions each split into two squads.

The total number of participants broke the previous record of 166 set in the 40th BWC in Singapore in 2004. The number of females bowlers broke the previous record of 73 set in Singapore, Caracas (2006) and St. Peters burgh (2007) .

To view the complete list of participating countries and players click here .

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After a delay on Tuesday due to structural problems with the roof of the bowling center, the preliminaries consist of 3 blocks, two of 5 games and one of 6 games, with the top 24 men and the top 24 women after 16 games advancing to the intermediate round. Those players bowl another 8 games with the pinfall total from the preliminaries being carried forward.

The top 8 men and the top 8 women after 28 games will bowl a further 7 games round robin match play plus 1 game position round total 8 games) with 30 pins bonus per win and 15 for a tie. The top 3 men and the top 3 women after 32 games including bonus pins will determine the champions in a stepladder final in best-of-three games format on Saturday Oct. 23.

Bowlingdigital.com will cover the event live from Bowling de Provence with stories and results after each round, high quality photos and high definition videos commencing Sunday Oct. 17 with the Opening Ceremonies all the way through to the stepladder on Saturday Oct. 3.

Bowlingdigital will also simulcast all broadcast coverage provided by BOWL.com.