Hong Kong welcomes WYC with opening ceremonies

HONG KONG - More than 250 bowlers from 46 countries were recognized Wednesday night as the opening ceremonies for the 2014 World Bowling World Youth Championships took place.

The traditional march out of the teams, speeches from dignitaries and a Chinese lion dance show kicked off the nine-day event at the SCAA Bowling Center.

Official practice will take place Thursday before competition gets underway with the singles event on Friday and Saturday. Bowlers will compete for medals in five events - singles, doubles, team, all-events and Masters.

Bowling fans from around the globe will be able to watch the competition live on BOWL.com's BowlTV starting Friday thanks to a partnership between the United States Bowling Congress and the Hong Kong Tenpin Bowling Congress.

The United States is the reigning champions in the boys and girls four-player team event and Junior Team USA will send another strong squad to defend those titles.

At the 2012 World Youth Championships in Bangkok, Thailand, Junior Team USA came away with seven total medals, while Korea led the medal table with eight medals.

The United States' boys roster includes Wesley Low of Palmdale, California, Greg Young of Viera, Florida, Kamron Doyle of Brentwood, Tennessee, and Matt Farber of Plainview, New York.

On the girls side, Junior Team USA will be represented by Liz Kuhlkin of Rotterdam, New York, Stephanie Schwartz of Racine, Wisconsin, Mary Wells of Westerville, Ohio, and Sarah Lokker of New Baltimore, Michigan.

For complete information on the World Youth Championships, visit WYC2014.com. The complete live-streaming schedule (all times Eastern) can be found at BOWL.com/LiveStream.