Korea tops trios qualifying at 2015 World Women's Championships

Results

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates -
Going into the final game of trios qualifying Tuesday night at the 2015 World Bowling Women's Championships, four teams had a legitimate chance at earning the No. 1 seed for the semifinals, while first-squad leader, Team USA, could only watch, hoping to hold on for a spot in the medal round.

A standing-room-only crowd at Zayed Sports City's Khalifa International Bowling Centre saw Korea shoot 700 in its final game to take the top spot with a six-game total of 4,116, a 228.67 average.

Singapore finished with 676 to qualify second with a 4,080 total, while England surged into third place with a 680 final game and 4,056 total. Team USA held onto the last spot in the medal round with 4,039, just five pins ahead of Singapore's second trio.

"I made the best shots I could in the ninth and 10th frames and hoped for the best, and thankfully, it was enough," said Liz Johnson of Cheektowaga, New York, who led Team USA on Tuesday with a 1,416 effort. "We got some good pairs with a great reaction, and we got as much as we could in those games. We did a lot of grinding as they got tougher, and we continued grinding to the very last shot."

Korea, which won singles and trios at the 2013 World Championships, again proved its depth and versatility, topping the standings for the second consecutive day, with five of six players scheduled to make medal-round appearances Wednesday.

Baek Seungi led the way for the trios leaders with a 1,384 total Tuesday, and she was followed by Son Hyerin (1,375) and Kim Jinsun (1,357). Their teammates Jeon Eunhee and Hwang Yeonju qualified first and second, respectively, for the singles semifinals, which also will take place Wednesday.

The singles medal round will get underway at 12 a.m. Eastern and feature a pair of Korea-Singapore matchups. Eunhee of Korea will take on Singapore's Shayna Ng, and Hwang will face Singapore left-hander Cherie Tan. The winners will battle for the gold medal, and the losers will share the bronze.

The trios medal round will take place immediately following the singles gold-medal match.

While singles is being contested on the 43-foot Tokyo oil pattern, the higher seed in each trios match will choose between Tokyo and the 36-foot Los Angeles pattern. Trios qualifying included three games on each.

All rounds of the event are being broadcast live on BOWL.com's BowlTV. For a complete schedule, visit BOWL.com/LiveStream.

There are 147 bowlers from 30 countries competing at the 2015 World Women's Championships, and they'll all be back on the lanes Thursday for doubles competition, which will begin at 12 a.m. Eastern. The doubles medal round is scheduled for 9 a.m. EST.

During the seven-day tournament, competitors will bowl for medals in singles, doubles, trios, team, all-events and Masters match play.

Doubles will be contested on the short oil pattern, and qualifying for the team event Friday and Saturday will include three games on each pattern.

Participating countries this year include: Australia, Bahamas, Canada, China, Chinese Taipei, Colombia, Denmark, Dominican Republic, England, Finland, Germany, Hong Kong, Iceland, Indonesia, Iran, Korea, Latvia, Malaysia, Mexico, Panama, Philippines, Poland, Singapore, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine, United States, Venezuela and the host country United Arab Emirates.

For more information on the World Women's Championships, visit the official website of the event at 2015wwc.worldbowling.org.