Kent extends lead, McEwan sixth at World Cup

ARLINGTON, Texas – Marshall Kent of Yakima, Wash., increased his lead in the men’s division and Danielle McEwan of Stony Point, N.Y., moved into sixth place in the women’s division after Thursday’s fourth round of qualifying at the QubicaAMF World Cup in Wroclaw, Poland.

The field was cut to the top 24 men and top 24 women following Thursday’s competition. For Friday’s second round, the competitors will bowl eight games to determine the top eight in each division for round-robin match play.

Marshall Kent headshotKent continued his solid performance with games of 209, 279, 232, 268 and 226 – a 242 average. With a 4,667 pinfall total through the 20 qualifying games, he increased his lead to 91 pins over Hareb Al Mansoori of the United Arab Emirates.

“I had a couple of errant shots early in the first game, then found a nice little groove and went plus-205 the next four games,” Kent said. “I used all the little things I learned this week to get in a really solid block before we start the round of 24. My shot execution was even better today. Hopefully, that trend will continue.

“There’s a little cushion for me going into tomorrow. I’ll just take it one shot at a time; don’t get too caught up in the scoring pace and try to play my game.”

Danielle McEwan headshotMcEwan also had a solid day, posting games of 248, 200, 235, 276 and 211 for a 234 average to increase her pinfall total to 4,454. Singapore’s Shayna Ng (4,659) has a 99-pin lead over England’s Kirsten Penny to lead the field. Two-time defending champion Aumi Guerra of the Dominican Republic is third at 4,510.

“I’m pretty happy with how today went,” said McEwan, who has the only 300 game at this year’s World Cup. “I threw the ball a lot better and had a lot better result, though the standings don’t really show it. I only moved up a spot or two, but I closed the gap between the people ahead of me and separated myself from the people behind me.

“We have eight games tomorrow, so hopefully I can climb higher and put myself in a good position.”

After the eight games on Friday, the top eight in each division will advance to Saturday’s round-robin match play to determine the top three men and top three women for the stepladder finals. The stepladder finals also are Saturday.

The World Cup is the largest international bowling tournament in the world in terms of the number of countries competing. This year’s event is features 81 men and 68 women from more than 80 countries.

Kent and McEwan won their respective division at the USBC Team USA Trials last January to earn the opportunity to compete in the World Cup. The World Cup is being contested for the 48th year and is one of the most prestigious singles titles in the world.