Suarez rallies to 5th spot; Canare slips

TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS — Jojo Canare slowed down a bit and slid to eighth place in women’s play but compatriot CJ Suarez turned hot and jumped to fifth place in the men’s side in the second round of the 2003 AMF Bowling World Cup at the Planeta Sipango bowling center here Monday.

The Filipino bets thus stayed on track for spots in the top 24 of their respective divisions with Canare returning for another five games of qualifying Tuesday morning followed by Suarez in the men’s division starting at 3:30 p.m. Both the men and women’s fields will be cut to the top 24 following completion of play Wednesday night.

The 24-year-old Suarez, a gold medalist in the 2001 Southeast Asian Games, shot a five-game series of 1113 to boost his 10-game total to 2191 for a 219 average.

The effort sent Suarez to fifth place from 13th although he stood 100 pins behind the 2291 rolled by Chris Van Damme of Belgium, who took the lead after 10 games with a five-game series of 1194, including a 279 game.

Canare actually had a better second five-game series of 1116 but the 34-year-old Filipina slid to eighth place with 2109, 147 pins behind Costa Rican Marie Ramirez, who had a 2256 for a 225 average.

"I bowled well tonight but I felt I was unlucky," said Ramirez, who paced Hiroko Shimizu of Japan by 17 pins. "I left a lot of 10-pins on some very good pocket hits. I was also feeling stiff today, because I had to throw the ball very strongly the last couple of days."

Tere Piccini Healey of Mexico, who finished tied for fifth at last year’s AMF World Cup in Latvia, is in third with 2227 pins and a 222.7 average. Defending women’s champion Shannon Pluhowsky of the USA is fourth with 2208 pins and a 220.8 average.

Shalin Zulkifli of Malaysia posted the high game for the women thus far with a 288 effort in the late block. She is in seventh place, averaging 211.0.

In the men’s division, Van Damme has a 10-game total of 2291 pins, and a 229.1 average. His high game thus far, a 279, came Monday morning. Van Damme leads Mohammed Al-Qubaisi of the UAE, the 1988 men’s champion, by five pins. Al-Qubaisi is averaging 228.6 after 10 games.

"I have some motivation, because I wasn’t invited to be on the Belgian national team that participated in the World Championships this year," Van Damme said. "I could not have competed because of work obligations, but I thought I deserved the invitation. So you could say I have something to prove in this tournament."

The USA’s Bill Hoffman moved into third with 2,276 pins for a 227.60 average.

Defending champion Mika Luoto of Finland is in 21st position with 2,067 pins and a 206.7 average.

Honduras’ Gil Valle Suarez sits in 50th, averaging 191.6 with 1,916 pins. His counterpart, Maria Elena Breve Ferrari, is 42nd in the women’s division with 1,774 pins and a 177.4 average.