Eight men, three each from the Asian and European zone and two from the American zone of World Bowling, survived the first group phase of the World Singles Championships Thursday at Qatar Bowling Center in Doha.

For this year’s competition a group stage was added prior to the knockout phase. The top 32 players after qualifying were assigned to four groups to bowl eight games against each other with a point system determining the top two players of each group advanced to a group phase 2 on Friday.

Points were awarded on the following basis: The highest scoring player in each game received 7 points, the second highest scoring 6 points, the third highest 5 points etc. down to the eighth highest, who received 0 points.

Qualifying leader Chris Via (left), United States, and Denmark’s Jesper Agerbo (right), who took the 32nd and last spot for the group phase, advanced from Group A.

The American averaged 237 for his eight games, including six games between 263 and 233, and received 41.5 points to beat Agerbo for the top spot by .5 points. The Dane averaged 231.25, including a high game of 256 and a low game of 214.

Anže Grabrijan (left) of Slovenia dominated Group B and set the highlight of the day by rolling the first 300 game of the Championships in game four. Grabrijan averaged 234 for the day and totaled 43 points, 10 more than second-place Marcelo Suartz (right photo, left) of Brazil, who averaged 212.13 for his eight games and earned 33 points.

Michael Mak (left) of Hong Kong paced Group C with 42.5 points and an average of 225.50. Mak was in the top 3 for the first five games and led second-place Joonas Jähi (right) of Finland by 6.5 points. Jähi closed with 243 in game 8 to secure second place with 36 points and an average of 216.13.

Advancing from Group D were Rafiq Ismail (right) from Malaysia and Thailand’s Annop Arromsaranon (left). Ismail accumulated the field-best 43.5 points. He rolled eight games between 212 and 267 averaging 237.25. Arromsaranon, who had a high game of 288 and a low game of 161, averaged 225.75 and totaled 37 points.

The remaining eight players will return to Qatar Bowling Center on Friday morning at 11 a.m. Arabia Standard Time (AST) to bowl eight games in one group with a system as in group phase 1. The top 4 will bowl for the medals in head-to-head matches starting at 3.30 p.m. with the semi-finals.

The 2016 World Singles Championships will be held Dec. 2-9 at Qatar Bowling Center in Doha, Qatar. Up to two men and two women from each member federation of World Bowling are eligible to compete in the second edition of the event. Each player must have reached the age of 15 years on January 1, 2016.

The Championships drew 134 players from 50 countries, including 81 men from 47 countries and 53 women from 33 countries.

After four days of qualifying featuring three four-game blocks, the top 32 players of each gender advanced. Men and women were split into four groups according to the following bracket: Group A (1, 8, 9, 16, 17, 24, 25, 32); Group B (2, 7, 10, 15, 18, 23, 26, 31); Group C (3, 6, 11, 14, 19, 22, 27, 30); and Group D (4, 5, 12, 13, 20, 21, 28, 29).

Each qualifying group shall bowl eight qualifying games. Each player in the qualifying group shall bowl against every other player in the group every game. Points shall be awarded on the following basis: The highest scoring player in each game shall be awarded 7 points, the second highest scoring shall be awarded 6 points, the third highest 5 points etc. down to the eighth highest, who will receive 0 points.

The top 2 from the point standing of each group will advance to play eight games in one group with a system as specified above.

The top 4 advance to the semifinals (No. 1 vs. No. 4 and No. 2 vs. No. 3), with the higher ranked players having the choice of the starting lane. The losers of both one-game matches will receive bronze medals.

The semifinal winners will determine the champion in a final one-game match. The winner of this match will receive a gold medal and the loser a silver medal.

The men’s gold medalist will receive US$8,000, the silver medalist will earn US$6,000 and the bronze medalists will take home US$3,000 apiece. The women’s gold medalist will receive US$6,000, the silver medalist will get US$4,000 and the bronze medalists will earn US$3,000 each. The prizes will be paid by the Qatar Bowling Federation which also offer daily high series awards, $300 for men and $200 for women.

For more details including the latest schedule, click here.

The World Singles Championships will be held every four years. The inaugural WSC was held at Galactica Bowling Center in Limassol, Cyprus (Sept. 18-26, 2012) and drew 128 players from 44 countries, 71 men from 40 countries and 57 women from 33 countries.

World Bowling provides governance to international bowling and is made up of 115 member federations within three geographical zones. For more information on the World Bowling Tour, click here.

Photos courtesy of Terrance Yaw, Asian Bowling Federation (ABF).

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2016 WSC Group Phase 1 – Men Group A

Top 32 after qualifying were split into four groups to bowl eight games. Each player in the group bowled against every other player in the group every game. Points were awarded on the following basis: The highest scoring player in each game received 7 points, the second highest scoring 6 points, the third highest 5 points etc. down to the eighth highest, who received 0 points. Top 2 from the point standing of each group advance to Group Phase 2.

Pos	Player	Country	Points	G1	G2	G3	G4	G5	G6	G7	G8	Total	Avg.
1.	Chris Via	United States	41.5	210	263	233	257	242	186	246	259	1896	237.00
2.	Jesper Agerbo	Denmark	41	245	256	235	224	214	235	216	225	1850	231.25
3.	Manuel Otalora	Colombia	32.5	210	234	256	216	217	201	224	187	1745	218.13
4.	Raoul Miranda	Philippines	32	203	187	217	206	248	247	253	188	1749	218.63
5.	Yannaphon Larpapharat	Thailand	28	214	212	215	256	237	225	210	163	1732	216.50
6.	Ilya Orlov	Kazakhstan	21	211	225	224	166	161	190	202	198	1577	197.13
7.	Jaime Gonzalez	Colombia	18	195	205	193	192	225	193	228	180	1611	201.38
8.	Mark Jacobs	Netherlands	10	212	172	222	169	160	159	190	178	1462	182.75

2016 WSC Group Phase 1 – Men Group B

Top 2 from the point standing of each group advance to Group Phase 2.

Pos	Player	Country	Points	G1	G2	G3	G4	G5	G6	G7	G8	Total	Avg.
1.	Anže Grabrijan	Slovenia	43	227	227	173	300	224	268	245	208	1872	234.00
2.	Marcelo Suartz	Brazil	33	193	232	236	228	196	216	198	198	1697	212.13
3.	Peter Hellstrøm	Sweden	29	181	224	232	191	227	210	233	189	1687	210.88
4.	Yousif Falah	Bahrain	28	258	174	280	224	209	226	181	172	1724	215.50
5.	Martin Paulsson	Sweden	27	207	196	191	221	190	228	214	225	1672	209.00
6.	Frank Drevenstedt	Germany	25	148	158	213	257	208	179	207	262	1632	204.00
7.	Fabian Lopez	Mexico	20	289	200	203	204	186	197	183	192	1654	206.75
8.	Marek Talpa	Czech Republic	19	192	201	192	245	198	184	196	162	1570	196.25

2016 WSC Group Phase 1 – Men Group C

Top 2 from the point standing of each group advance to Group Phase 2.

Pos	Player	Country	Points	G1	G2	G3	G4	G5	G6	G7	G8	Total	Avg.
1.	Michael Mak	Hong Kong	42.5	217	217	279	235	227	216	225	188	1804	225.50
2.	Joonas Jähi	Finland	36	225	197	183	237	200	241	203	243	1729	216.13
3.	Oliver Morig	Germany	32	193	233	184	224	214	191	247	189	1675	209.38
4.	Mats Maggi	Belgium	31.5	188	258	213	224	217	227	167	206	1700	212.50
5.	John Janawicz	United States	26.5	206	195	218	208	210	195	227	181	1640	205.00
6.	Marco Moretti Uribe	Costa Rica	21.5	190	170	217	182	225	224	209	154	1571	196.38
7.	Aleksei Parshukov	Russia	18.5	204	146	225	219	203	184	185	188	1554	194.25
8.	Mostafa Almousawi	Kuwait	15.5	172	170	176	230	197	191	227	184	1547	193.38

2016 WSC Group Phase 1 – Men Group D

Top 2 from the point standing of each group advance to Group Phase 2.

Pos	Player	Country	Points	G1	G2	G3	G4	G5	G6	G7	G8	Total	Avg.
1.	Rafiq Ismail	Malaysia	43.5	236	267	222	231	225	247	212	258	1898	237.25
2.	Annop Arromsaranon	Thailand	37	212	288	247	219	255	161	218	206	1806	225.75
3.	Jari Ratia	Finland	29	244	244	223	186	238	182	202	175	1694	211.75
4.	Jassim Al Muraikhi	Qatar	28	222	190	194	201	185	267	223	211	1693	211.63
5.	Muhd Jaris Goh	Singapore	26	187	255	213	180	216	222	224	202	1699	212.38
6.	John Wells	England	23	214	233	177	221	229	245	169	179	1667	208.38
7.	Sean Bowling	Australia	20.5	240	224	201	185	201	173	179	211	1614	201.75
8.	Abdullah Aldolijan	Saudi Arabia	17	191	213	209	190	185	221	212	194	1615	201.88