Just when we were wondering how many more countries could possibly participate in the QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup, five more nations sign up for this yearÂ’s event in Ljubljana, Slovenia, from November 12th to 20th: the Azores, Libya, Mongolia, Serbia-Montenegro and Slovakia.

“I am always really delighted to be able to welcome ‘newcomer’ nations to the event,” commented QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup manager, Anne-Marie Board. “We already have 91 nations who have registered their participation for this year and there are more to come. We may even make the magic figure of 100!”

Rida Omar Al-Fazani of Libya had intended to compete last year in Singapore but hit visa problems. He lives in Tripoli and has been bowling for just over one year. But he says: “I like this game more than anything. It is in my blood now!” This year he will fulfil his dream and represent his country in a major bowling event for the first time.

Slovakia will be sending Monika Bozsoky and Ladislav Frunyo who won their way through to the Bowling World Cup at the national tournament, held at Bowling Club 300 in Nove Zamky last Sunday (September 26th).

Anne-Marie Board went on to say: “We are very much looking forward to greeting Monika and Ladislav and also Dejan Radulovich and Gordana Radulovich from Serbia-Montenegro. Both of these countries are geographically close to Slovenia. The Azores maybe small but they are a welcome addition to the QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup family and the participation of Mongolia is a real coup.”

The names of the competitors from the Azores and Mongolia will be announced later.

The event will take place in the Gladiator Bowling Centre, Ljubljana, Slovenia in November. Last year, players from a record 95 countries took part in the tournament in Singapore, won by Kai Virtanen of Finland and Shannon Pluhowsky of the USA.

Notes for Editors

Please contact Anne-Marie Board if you require photos of any of the players mentioned above.

Players so far declared are (in alphabetical order by country are (men first):
Afghanistan: Atiq Sikander
Argentina: Lucas Legnani, Ana Maria Benko
Australia: George Frilingos, Clair Johnston
Austria: Leopold Grundschober, Evelyn Tutschka
Azerbaijan: Ilkin Babayev, Nadezhda Logetskaya
Bahrain: Mohamed Janahi, Nadia Ageel Al-Awadhi
Belgium: Gery Verbruggen, Sandrine Peelman
Bulgaria: Zabi Sikander, Polina Shishmanova
Canada: Michael Schmidt, Veronica Lalande-Lapointe
Denmark: Mikael Braendeskov Anderson, Trine Davgbjerg Simonsen
Dominican Republic: Victor Richards Jr, Aura Guerra
Egypt: Samy-Anna Saba
England: Steve Thornton, Fiona Banks
Finland: Lasse Lintilae, Piritta Kantola
France: Thierry Sacco, Isabelle Saldjian
French Guiana: Maurice Talane, Justine Arcas
Germany: Kai Guenther, Patricia Schwarz
Gibraltar: Graham Coles, Julie Jackson
Guam: Reynaldo Zialcita
Guernsey: Derek Tomlin, Joanne Johnson
Hungary: Tamas Szabo, Beatrix Pesek
Iceland: Arnar Saebergsson, Gudny Gunnarsdottir
Iraq: Shant Panos Tomassian
Ireland: Alan Bride, Laura Meade
Isle of Man: David Hill, Diane Moore
Israel: Or Aviram, Yifat Tal
Italy: Massimo Pirozzi, Anna Cionna
Japan: Koichi Takahashi, Suzuna Miyagi
Jersey: Matt Leonard, Stephanie Le Lion
Jordan: Mohammed Masri
Kazakhstan: Makhmut Lazaridi, Veronika Solozhenkina
Libya: Reda Omar Al Fazani
Malaysia: Alex Liew, Wendy Chai
Malta: Kenneth Arpa, Lorraine Casha
Martinique: Ludovic Agier
Mauritius: John Koon
Mexico: Daniel Falconi, Iliana Lomeli
Morocco: Patrick Mehdi Leroy, Daniele Amsellem
Netherlands: Erik Kok, Marieke de Jong
New Caledonia: Marin Tranier
New Zealand: Jason Waters, Belinda Tan
Northern Ireland: Lynda Black-Watson
Norway: Petter Hansen, Ann Louise Haugen
Portugal: Nuno Martinho, Manuela Soares
Puerto Rico: Edmanuel Ramirez, Yoselin Leon
Reunion: Thia Song Fat, Marie-Pierre Tartaroli
Serbia-Montenegro: Dejan Radulovich, Gordana Radulovich
Slovakia: Ladislav Frunyo, Monika Bozsoky
Slovenia: Marjan Pecaver, Barbara Brezic
South Africa: Guy Caminsky, Lisa Paluzzi
Sweden: Anders Ohman, Helen Johnsson
Syria: Bashar Kalaji
Tunisia: Arif Mohammed-Hedi, Fatma Ben Abdallah
UAE: Nayef Eqab Abdulla Jaber Alabdool, Rahma Mubarak Suliman Salem al Sharqi
USA: Ryan Page, Lynda Barnes
Uzbekistan: Sergey Sapov, Elena Sergeeva
Venezuela: Arturo Hernandez, Nardy del Biondo

The 41st edition of the QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup will be held at the Gladiator Bowling Centre, a brand new centre which opened in May 2005. The centre is owned and operated by Kolosej, one of the biggest leisure and entertainment companies in Slovenia and QubicaAMFÂ’s key partner for this yearÂ’s event. More can be found on their web site: www.kolosej.si. For further information on the Gladiator leisure complex, please go to www.arenalive.si.

Additional information on the QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup, including archives and bulletins for this yearÂ’s tournament, can be found on www.amfbowlingworldcup.com.

QubicaAMF Bowling Worldwide is the founder, organiser and principal sponsor of the Bowling World Cup and is also one of the leading bowling products manufacturers and marketers in the world. With worldwide headquarters near Richmond, Virginia, USA and European headquarters in Bologna, Italy, the joint venture offers a complete line of high quality, innovative solutions for new and existing bowling and entertainment centres. The name of the event was changed to QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup following the merger of Qubica and AMF earlier this year. For more information on the merger on QubicaAMF worldwide can be found in www.qubicaamf.com.