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 30th to December 7th, 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 9th 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 (5th in 2000) and Thomas Gross of Austria (8th in 2007).

For the women we will welcome back Krista Pollanen of Finland (5th in 2008) and Sophie Herbin of Monaco (8th in 1995). Also returning will be last year’s Sportswoman of the Tournament, Bigi Manico of Switzerland, who will be making her 10th 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 (www.facebook.com/qubicaamfworldcup) . Check out the World Cup page on the website to get all the latest scores and news during the event.