Wang Hongbo wins first World Cup title for China on home turf

22 October, 2016

World Cup

3322

Ads

Wang Hongbo became the first bowler, man or woman, to win a QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup title for mainland China when he defeated Christopher Sloan of Ireland in the men’s title match of the 52nd edition of the prestigious event Sunday at Luwan Sports Complex in Shanghai, China.

Both players started the match with two strikes, spare, and a strike. The Chinese spinner (above and left), who uses the so called helicopter style, followed his strike with back-to-back open frames, but Sloan, who uses the two-handed delivery from the right-hand side gave the advantage back as he failed to convert two splits in the fifth and seventh frame.

Hongbo jumped on it and wet off the sheet closing the game with six consecutive strikes to shut out the Irishman (right), 225-180. Hongbo is just the second man in the 52-year history who won the World Cup on his home turf.

American Robert Worall won the 17th edition in New York back in 1981. Wu Siu Hong of Hong Kong, China, won in Las Vegas last year but was unable to defend his title due to injury.

In the first semi-final match, fourth-seeded Sloan eliminated top seeded Martin Larsen (left), 188-165, to end the Swedish chances for a clean sweep. However Larsen and women’s World Cup champion Jenny Wegner won the Bent Pedersen Country Award for the best country in this World Cup.

Larsen, who averaged 213.47 for 36 games at Hao’s Bowling to lead the top 4 players into the finals, struggled from the beginning and was down by 47 pins after four frames. He narrowed the gap to 15 pins in the seventh frame but “Greek Church” (4-6-7-9-10 split) proved to be his undoing. Sloan sealed the win with a 2-8-10 split.

In the second semi-final match against third seeded Anže Grabrijan of Slovenia, Hongbo, seeded second, was perfect in the first five frames while Grabrijan (right) suffered back-to-back open frames after failing to convert the “big four”( 4-6-7-10) and a converting the 3-6-7 split into a spare.

The lefty narrowed the gap with a double but the Chinese bowled a clean games and closed with three strikes to advance to the title match.

The 52nd QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup was held from October 14-23 at Hao’s Bowling in Shanghai, China.

Bowlingdigital.com provided onsite coverage of the 52nd QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup from Shanghai including reports, photos and results after each round. The United States Bowling Congress provided live streaming on BowlTV.

The 81 men and 63 women from 83 countries bowled 20 qualifying games over four days before the field was cut to the top 24 for eight additional games. The 28-game pinfall totals determined the 8 players who advance to eight games round-robin match-play (30 pins for each win, 15 for a tie).

The top 4 players with highest 36-game total including bonus pins advanced to the playoffs, which were staged on a specially constructed two-lane arena in the Luwan Sports Complex which is also where Hao’s Bowling is located. The finals were covered by live streaming on BowlTV and local Chinese live streaming through Ali Sports.

There were one-game knockout matches with the No. 1 seed versus the No. 4 qualifier and No. 2 versus No. 3. The winners of each match earned a spot in the championship game.

Jenny Wegner becomes third Swedish woman to win the World Cup
Bernice Lim, Martin Larsen earn No. 1 seed for World Cup finals
It’s down to eight men at Shanghai World Cup
Malaysia’s Syaidatul Afifah sets the tone in women’s Round of 24
Singapore’s Bernice Lim wins women’s qualifying at Bowling World Cup
Wang Hongbo retains lead as men’s field is cut to the top 24
China’s Wang Hongbo prevails by one pin to lead after Round 3 Qualifying
Singapore’s Bernice Lim begins pulling away at Women’s World Cup
England’s Lisa John takes the pole position in Women’s World Cup
Korshak maintains lead; Larsen moves into second place in Shanghai
Russia’s Yan Korshak averages 230 to take first-round lead in Shanghai
USA’s Danielle McEwan sets the pace in women’s World Cup
52nd QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup officially declared open
Clara Guerrero looks to make history at 2016 QubicaAMF World Cup
52nd QubicaAMF World Cup Preview
QubicaAMF announces official hotel for Shanghai World Cup
Recap – Stats, records and more stuff on the 51st QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup

52ndQubicaAMF Bowling World Cup – Men’s Round Robin Match Play

Hao’s Bowling in Shanghai, China (Oct. 14-23, 2016)

Championship Round:
1. Wang Hongbo, China, 459 (2 games)
2. Christopher Sloan, Ireland, 368 (2 games)
3. Martin Larsen, Sweden, 165 (1 game), and
(tie) Anže Grabrijan, Slovenia, 200 (1 game)

Playoff Results:
Semi-Final Match 1: No. 4 Sloan def. No. 1 Larsen, 188-165
Semi-Final Match 2: No. 2 Hongbo def. No. 3 Grabrijan, 234-200
Championship Match: Hongbo def. Sloan, 225-180.

Herbert Bickel