The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

WHILE Driskell Rolle will be making her debut, Sonith Lockhart is expected to return for another appearance at the QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup.

The duo is scheduled to leave today for Krasnoyarsk, Russia, and they are confident that they can at least come back home with a medal.

The 49th version of the tournament is scheduled for November 15-24. Rolle and Lockhart were awarded the trip by virtue of winning the respective women’s and men’s title at the Bahamas Bowling Federation’s National Bowling Championships.

“When I first started bowling at the Village Lanes, I always wanted to get a chance to represent the Bahamas at this event,” said Rolle, who went on to become the junior national champion in 1992-93. “Unfortunately, I went off to college and when I came back, the Village Lanes was closed down.

“When Mario’s was opened, I felt it was an opportunity for me to finally get the chance to compete after the Bahamas Bowling Federation reintroduced the nationals. When I started bowling again in 2010, I knew that I could get a chance to travel to the tournament.”

Rolle, a 37-year-old accountant by profession at Ernst & Young and one of the top female bowlers in the country, said she’s delighted that the opportunity is here.

“I feel good. It’s an awesome opportunity, something I am really glad about,” said Rolle, who has represented the Bahamas in a number of international tournaments like the Tournament of Americas. “I am prepared mentally and I am prepared physically for the tournament.”

Rolle and Lockhart are scheduld to depart from Nassau and stop in Miami, Florida. From there they will connect to New York, then Moscow, Russia before disembarking in Krasnoyarsk.

Once at the tournament, Rolle said their goal is a simple, but well-calculated one.

“First, we are looking at trying to make it through the qualifying round where the top 24 will advance,” said Rolle, who along with Lockhart will have to play a total of 24 games over four days. “Once we get to the third round, we will have to make it in the top eight to get into the medal round.”

In preparation for the tournament, Rolle said she and Lockhart appreciate the reduced rates given to them by Mario’s Bowling so that they were able to practice 3-4 times a week, working on their techniques and making sure that they are prepared mentally.

“I’m looking forward to competing with all of the top bowlers from around the world,” Rolle said. “I’ve been to some of the smaller tournaments, but this is the toughest. I expect that the competition will be tough, but I know I can compete with the bowlers.”

For Lockhart, who has been to at least two World Cups before, the expectations are very high for both of them.

“We have been preparing very well, practicing for at least 3-4 months straight at Mario’s,” said Lockhart, an engineer by profession. “We are going up against the best bowlers in the world. But I think we are prepared mentally and physically. We are competing against bowlers from Europe, Asia, Australia, the Philippines, the United States and Canada, so we have to be ready.”

Known as a competitor who “strives under pressure,” Lockhart said he participated in the Commonwealth Bowling Championships in 2006 where he won a silver medal in the men’s singles competition. He also had a chance to win a medal at the World Cup in Las Vegas, but he got sick on his way to the tournament and didn’t get to perform at his best.

“I know that the Commonwealth Bowling Championships is a lesser tournament than the World Cup,” he said. “But I can assure you that because of the way that we have prepared ourselves for this tournament, when we leave, the world would have known that the Bahamas competed there.

“We are both confident that we can go there and if we don’t win the gold medal, we will definitely come back with a medal. That’s just how confident I am about our abilities. This is a high level of competition, but we are both prepared to compete to the best of our abilities.”

Lockhart asked the public to pray for their safe journey to Russia and for their success in the tournament.

In 1981 at the age of 38, Glenroy ‘Flo’ Saunders captured the first and only medal for the Bahamas at the World Cup when he picked up a bronze in Madison Square Gardens in New York. Due to some mix-up with his entry the next year, Saunders was unable to compete in Scheveningen, Netherlands.

The World Cup began in 1965 in Dublin, Ireland with just 20 men competing in what was then called the International Masters. It then changed to the AMF and then the QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup. Women competed for the first time in 1972 in Mamburg, West Germany.

The most successful nation in the QubicaAMF World Cup is the United States, who won a combined 17 titles (nine men and eight women). But only one nation has ever swept both the men’s and women’s titles in the same year in 1986 when Sweden defeated the Philippines to accomplish that feat.

The official opening ceremonies for this year’s tournament is set for Sunday. The week-long tournament will begin with both the men and women playing their first six game block on Monday through Thursday when the final six-game blocks will be contested.

The top 24 will advance to play on Friday to determine the final eight for Saturday’s round robin. Out of that will come the three for the semifinals and finals on Saturday night. The bowlers will depart on Sunday, November 24.