Suarez, Canare burn lanes in Latvia

RIGA, Latvia – Filipino bowlers CJ (Christian Jan) Suarez and Josephine "Jojo" Canare posted big rounds Monday and Tuesday to rank among the leading scorers after 15 games of the 38th AMF World Cup international finals at the Toss Lanes here.

Suarez carded 3479 pins for an average of 231.93 per game while Canare shot 3101 (206.73) to check in fourth and ninth, respectively, in the men’s and women’s divisions.

Together with 82 other male and 71 female contenders, Suarez and Canare were scheduled to complete the 20-game eliminations yesterday to determine the 24 bowlers who will make it to the next round in both divisions.

The top 24 will play 12 more games today, with the top eight advancing to the quarterfinals.

Suarez and Canare competed for the Philippine team in the recent Asian Games in Busan, winning a silver each in the men’s trios and women’s team of five.

American Shannon Pluhowsky continued to dominate the women’s field, amassing 1190 more pins in her five-game set Tuesday night to compile a 15-game total of 3470 and a 231.33 average.

Germany’s Kai Guenther, bowling in his first international tournament, surprised experts by grabbing the lead in the men’s division.

Guenther’s 1254-pin series for Tuesday’s five-game block pushed him past England’s Wayne Greenall by 70 pins, 3599 to 3529. Guenther is averaging 239.93 for 15 games.

Pluhowsky, a Phoenix resident who competes for the University of Nebraska bowling team, took a 144-pin edge over her nearest challenger France’s Pascale Moynot, who tallied 3326 and a 221.73 average.

Australia’s Amanda Bradley, the 1999 World Cup champion, checked in third with 3209, followed by Malaysia’s Wendy Chai (3173), Mexico’s Teresa Piccini (3165), Austria’s Ivonne Altmuller (3161), England’s Nikki Harvey (3158), Colombia’s Sara Vargas (3135), Canare and Finland’s Heidi Larnia (3092).

Australia’s Paul Trotter tallied 3491 to rank third in the men’s division, followed by Suarez, Qatar’s Ahmeed Shaheen (3471), Singapore’s Remy Ong (3455), Malaysia’s Zulmazran Zulkifli (3408), Japan’s Masahiro Hibi (3371), American Andrew Cain (3369) and Finland’s Mika Luoto (3342).

Ong was the star in the recent Asiad bowling competition winning three gold medals for Singapore.