Malaysia, United States lead after two days at 2018 QubicaAMF World Cup

Standings - Women | Men

LAS VEGAS -
The QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup regularly features bowlers from more than 80 nations, making it the sport's largest event in terms of participating countries.

Each country is asked to hold a qualifying tournament, or designate an event, if possible, from which the winners will earn the chance to represent the country at the QubicaAMF World Cup.

For Malaysia's Sin Li Jane, the women's leader after two rounds of qualifying this week at the Sam's Town Bowling Center, that meant being the pinfall leader after 90 games of roll-offs, a process that lasted three weeks and ended just a few days before she and teammate Alex Liew were on a plane to the United States.

Team USA's Kyle Troup also had a long road to World Cup, though the start to his journey took place 10 months ago at the 2018 United States Bowling Congress Team USA Trials, a 30-game marathon over five days that featured five World Bowling lane conditions and a unique points-based ranking system.

The 27-year-old two-hander entered the event with his sights set on making Team USA for the first time, and while winning the tournament helped that dream come true, it also earned him the chance to compete in the 2018 World Cup.

2018WCMenDay2ForWeb250x140Troup is making the most of the opportunity and has averaged 235 to pace the men's field through two days of competition. His 16-game total of 3,760 tops the 81-player standings, and he is followed by Finland's Osku Palermaa (3,656), Canada's Ryan Reid, who closed the day with the event's first perfect game (3,626) and Colombia's Andres Gomez (3,598).

"This event has been one of the best experiences of my bowling career, just bowling with the best bowlers from so many different countries all in one special and prestigious event," Troup said. "Yesterday went well, and there's not much I could be upset about. Today, I bowled well, but couldn't seem to close games the way I wanted to. I've got a cushion on second place, but when you're in that position, you want to get as many pins as you can. I'll take the positives from each day and just tune things up a little tomorrow."

Sin's performance this week hasn't been as dominating as Troup's, and Wednesday's second round for the women actually was as much leapfrog as it was bowling. Sin was able to reclaim the top spot with a 234 effort in her final game.

Coming on the heels of two top-tier events in Asia, the Malaysian trials just meant more opportunity for her to stay sharp for this week's World Cup, and she has averaged more than 215 through 16 games to top the women's standings with a 3,441 total.

Venezuela's Karen Marcano finished the day in second place with a 3,398 total and was followed by Diana Zavjalova of Latvia (3,394) and Nadine Geissler of Germany (3,377).2018WCWomenDay2ForWeb250x140

The 2018 World Cup marks the third tournament appearance for Sin, who was the runner-up to Colombia's Clara Guerrero in 2014 and fifth in her tournament debut in 2012.

To continue on a successful path this week in Las Vegas, Sin plans to focus on minimizing mistakes, especially on the pairs of lanes that may be a little less forgiving. All competition this week is being contested on a 41-foot oil pattern.

"I think I just need to enjoy my game one step and one frame at a time, instead of making myself feel pressure by looking at the scores," Sin said. "If I do my job, the scores should do theirs, too."

Sin's actual job is being a full-time representative for the Malaysian national team.

As national team members, the 26-year-old right-hander and her teammates spend a minimum of two hours per day, five days each week, practicing on the lanes, and they're also required to train in the gym at least three days each week. If there's a major tournament coming up, they add Saturday practices to the schedule.

Each year, the teammates compete in more than a dozen high-profile events that take them across Asia, Europe, the United States - really, anywhere they can go to showcase and test their skills.

The Malaysian contingent has found much success in limited participation on the Professional Women's Bowling Association Tour, including back-to-back wins from Siti Rahman and Sin during the 2017 season.

Despite the rigorous training and non-stop travel, Sin loves what she does and absolutely appreciates the opportunity she has this week in Las Vegas.

"As a bowler like me from Malaysia, I have to be part of the national team to have the opportunity to bowl on the world stage in events like the World Cup and World Championships," Sin said. "I love bowling and traveling, so I'm incredibly happy with everything right now. Being here means a lot to me, and winning would mean so much, especially since someday, I'll no longer be able to bowl on the national team, and I may not get another chance on this stage."

Competition at the 54th running of the World Cup resumes Thursday at 11:30 a.m. Eastern, as the men take the lanes for their final qualifying block. The women will begin their third round of qualifying at 5 p.m. EDT.

At the conclusion of the 24 qualifying games (eight games each day), the field will be cut to the top 24 men and top 24 women for eight additional games. After 32 games, total pinfall will determine the eight bowlers in each division for eight games of round-robin match play.

The top four men and top four women after 40 games, including bonus pins, will advance to Saturday's knockout-style semifinals, where the No. 1 seed will face the No. 4 qualifier and No. 2 and No. 3 will meet. The winners of each match will earn a spot in the championship game.

After Wednesday's second round, Saudi Arabia's Hassan Abdullah Alshaiekh is in 24th place on the men's side with a 3,292 total, a 205.75 average, while Switzerland's Tanya Cuva is 24th in the women's standings with 3,138, a 196.12 average.

All rounds of competition this week at being broadcast live on BowlTV.

This year's tournament returns to the 56-lane Sam's Town Bowling Center, where it was held in 2015, and includes representatives from 83 countries - 81 men and 68 women. Each country is permitted to send one man and one woman.

The World Cup first was contested in 1965, and the tournament now is considered one of the sport's most prestigious singles titles.

For more information, or to follow the scores from the QubicaAMF World Cup, visit QubicaAMF.com.