TalkTenpin - Online International Tenpin Magazine

QubicaAMF World Cup 2011

Johannesburg, South Africa

Aumi Guerra of the Dominican Republic will defend her title at the QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa, from November 30^th to December 7 ^th, joining the reigning men’s champion, Canada’s Michael Schmidt.

Anne-Marie Board, QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup Manager said: “This is amazing! It is only the second time in the history of the event that both reigning champions have returned and the other occasion was 1993 when the tournament was also held in Johannesburg!”

The returning champions that year were Paeng Nepomuceno of the Philippines and Martina Beckel of Germany who had won their titles in Le Mans, France, in 1992.

Only one player in the 46-year history of the event has successfully defended the title – Australia’s Jeanette Baker in 1982 and 1983.

The bowlers for the host nation have now been nominated. They are Francois Louw and Marike van de Ber. Francois is a bowling centre manager who also competed last year in Toulon, where he was involved in a one game play off with Engleberto Rivera of the Philippines to determine the final player for the round robin. Francois lost on that occasion but will surely be looking improve on his 9 ^th place now that the tournament is in his home country. Marika will be making her BWC debut.

Also making a first appearance in the event will be Haiti. Jean Edouard Nelson, President of the Haitian Federation told us about bowling in his country:  “We have virtually nothing now. Our headquarters was located in Port-au-Prince, Haiti but was completely destroyed in the earthquake. We had six bowling centres before the earthquake but now only one a small centre in St Marc is left.  It’s a long way from the capital and our infrastructure has been very badly damaged, so it’s difficult to get to. It will take time to rebuild the country. And don’t forget, so many of us have lost someone – family members or friends.”

Anne-Marie commented: “Haiti’s representatives will be Nathalie Sterlin and Jean Stephane, who is a 36-year-old journalist, and after all the country has suffered it will be a special pleasure to welcome them and all their delegation to Johannesburg.”

The Swedish participants have just been announced and the Bowling World Cup will welcome another returning champion, this time Tomas Leandersson who won the title in Lisbon in 2000. Tomas has also acted as coach to the Swedish players in the past. Tomas also represented Sweden in South Africa in 1993, when he finished in second place.

“We are so pleased that Tomas will be back as a player,” said Anne-Marie. “He was with us last year as coach to the Swedish team and it will be great to see him back on the lanes.”

Tomas will face up again to another Scandinavian player who has excelled in the past – Kimmo Lehtonen, who reached the top eight in 2000,not to mention Steve Thornton from England (5 ^th in 2000) and Thomas Gross of Austria (8^th in 2007).

For the women we will welcome back Krista Pollanen of Finland (5^th in 2008) and Sophie Herbin of Monaco (8^th in 1995). Also returning will be last year’s Sportswoman of the Tournament, Bigi Manico of Switzerland, who will be making her 10^th appearance in the event.

The resort for this year’s event has been confirmed as The Monte Casino Resort , which boasts an array of entertainment and will ensure that competitors and visitors alike will be treated to the best South Africa has to offer .  So check out www.montecasino.co.za. The hotels available are Southern Sun ( www.southernsun.com/Hotels/Montecasino ),  the Palazzo Hotel (www.southernsun.com/Deluxe/The-Palazzo-Montecasino)  and Sun Square (www.southernsun.com/SunSquare/Montecasino ).                

And for social networking fans, the QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup can now be followed on Facebook. Check out the World Cup page on www.qubicaamf.com to get all the latest scores and news during the event.

The Champions of 1993 were Rainer Puisis of Germany and Pauline Smith-Buck of England. Only one South African has ever won the title – Anne Jacobs who won in Hermosillo, Mexico, in 1994.

QubicaAMF Worldwide is the founder, organiser and principal sponsor of the Bowling World Cup. Additional information on the QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup, including archives and bulletins for this year’s event can be found on www.qubicaamf.com

QubicaAMF Worldwide is a leading manufacturer and marketer of bowling and amusements products. With worldwide headquarters near Richmond, Virginia and European headquarters in Bologna, Italy, the company offers a complete line of high-quality, innovative solutions for new and existing bowling and entertainment centers.    Please see our web site www.qubicaamf.com for further information.

QubicaAMF has over 50 years of experience, an install base of more than 10,000 centres worldwide and can provide the perfect combination of bowling equipment, products and services to build a traditional bowling centre, an FEC or entertainment facility to suit any budget. The company has sales offices in 15 countries, and distributor network with worldwide reach. It maintains the largest R & D team for software, electronics and entertainments systems in the industry. Additional information on QubicaAMF Worldwide is available at www.qubicaamf.com.