2008 Hermosillo, Mexico

In 1971, Benny Corona represented Mexico in the Bowling World Cup in Hong Kong, finishing second. Now, 37 years later, his nephew, Rodolfo, will proudly take part, this time in his home country, and will surely be trying to go one better than his uncle and win the title.

Family connections are again strong this year and we will be welcoming four married couples. From France come Isabelle and François Sacco. Isabelle, better known as Isabelle Saldjian, is an old Bowling World Cup friend, having played in the event three times already finishing 5th in 2000 and 2005 while François will be coming back to Hermosillo as he competed there in 1994. The couple got married last August.

Romania will be represented by Marius and Odette Piticariu. Each has played once before, Marius in 2006 and Odette in 2005. Participating for Lithuania will be Zilvana Perminas, bowling in the World Cup for the first time, and Daiva Perminiene, who played in 2004, 2005 and 2007.

And making their Bowling World Cup debuts will be Ali Aziz Zadeh and his wife Hanieh Mashaallah Aziz Zadeh from Iran.

The 44th QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup, now the world’s largest annual sports event in terms of the number of countries participating, will be held at the newly built Bol 300 centre in Hermosillo, Mexico, from 7th to 15th November 2008.

Aida Granillo of El Salvador will be taking part in the event for the 17th time, an all-time record for men or women. She made her first appearance in 1982 and has only missed one Bowling World Cup this century.

Another old friend making a welcome return is Ingellimar Contreras of Venezuela. Ingellimar has only played in the tournament once before, in Portugal in 2000, but she was the prime mover and local organiser behind our 2005 event in Caracas. Since then, she has got married and had a baby!

The QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup is also noted for its ‘Sportsmanship’ award, voted for by the players themselves. This year, three previous winners of this award will be with us in Hermosillo: Bashar Kalaji of Syria, who was chosen in 2001, Guy Caminsky of South Africa (2002) and Beatrix Pesek of Hungary (2003).