Team USA ready for World Singles
September 17, 2012
ARLINGTON, Texas - Team USA members Chris Barnes, Tommy Jones, Kelly Kulick and Shannon O'Keefe will travel to Cyprus to take on the best bowlers from 46 other countries this week at the inaugural World Tenpin Bowling Association World Singles Championships.
The event, which will take place at Galactica Bowling Center in Limassol, Cyprus, begins with the opening ceremony Wednesday with competition scheduled to begin Thursday.
"Any time you get to compete and represent your country, it's an incredible honor, and I'm truly blessed to have the opportunity," said O'Keefe, an eight-time Team USA member who won the singles gold medal at the 2007 WTBA World Women's Championships in Monterrey, Mexico. "I have known Kelly, Chris and Tommy a really long time, and I'm looking forward to experiencing Cyprus with them."
All athletes will bowl two six-game blocks of qualifying with the top 24 men and top 24 women advancing to the single-elimination match-play bracket. Once in bracket play, matches will be best-of-five games, which takes place Sept. 24-25. The top eight qualifiers receive one bye.
The final two players in the bracket will battle for the gold with the loser getting the silver. The semifinals losers will share the bronze medals.
The World Singles Championships was created to bridge the gap between the other WTBA World Championship events, which feature full teams.
The WTBA World Championships for men and women will take place in 2013 in Las Vegas, while the WTBA World Men's Championships will be held in 2014 and the WTBA World Women's Championships will take place in 2015, both in Abu Dhabi, UAE. The cycle begins again in 2016 with the second World Singles Championships.
The event, which will take place at Galactica Bowling Center in Limassol, Cyprus, begins with the opening ceremony Wednesday with competition scheduled to begin Thursday."Any time you get to compete and represent your country, it's an incredible honor, and I'm truly blessed to have the opportunity," said O'Keefe, an eight-time Team USA member who won the singles gold medal at the 2007 WTBA World Women's Championships in Monterrey, Mexico. "I have known Kelly, Chris and Tommy a really long time, and I'm looking forward to experiencing Cyprus with them."
All athletes will bowl two six-game blocks of qualifying with the top 24 men and top 24 women advancing to the single-elimination match-play bracket. Once in bracket play, matches will be best-of-five games, which takes place Sept. 24-25. The top eight qualifiers receive one bye.
The final two players in the bracket will battle for the gold with the loser getting the silver. The semifinals losers will share the bronze medals.
The World Singles Championships was created to bridge the gap between the other WTBA World Championship events, which feature full teams.
The WTBA World Championships for men and women will take place in 2013 in Las Vegas, while the WTBA World Men's Championships will be held in 2014 and the WTBA World Women's Championships will take place in 2015, both in Abu Dhabi, UAE. The cycle begins again in 2016 with the second World Singles Championships.