The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

WITH some changes to the format for this year's National Bowling Championships, Bahamas Bowling Federation president Tyrone Knowles said they hope that the action will be very fierce in both the men and women divisions.

David Slatter and Driskell Rolle are going into the week-long competition at Mario's Bowling and Family Entertainment Center on Sunday night as the respective men and women champions. They will hold onto their crown until Sunday, April 14 when the step ladder final is held.

Knowles, whose executive team are overseeing their first nationals since being elected last month, said they will again crown champions in the men's A, B, C, D and E divisions and the women's A, B, C and D divisions,.

He revealed that there will be three five-game qualifying blocks for the selection of the top 15 men and top 10 women, who will advance to the Super Saturday games in the semifinal roll-off before the top five clinch their berth in the step ladder finals.

"On Sunday past, we selected the Kegal Sport Middle Road 39 feet oil pattern for this year's championship games," Knowles said at a press conference on Thursday at the bowling lanes.

"In political terms, this pattern is centerism in nature because the characteristics lie between the extremes of having to play too far to the right or too far to the left."

Knowles, who lost out to Slatter by eight pins last year, revealed that the middle road is a 39-foot pattern that is moderately challenging, not too easy not is it not too tough.

"The best mindset and line for this pattern is usually somewhere neat the middle of the road," he disclosed. "This year's pattern will level the playing field for all bowlers and should result in what I am expecting to a strike feat and a high scoring event.

"This year in particular, we have seen the emergence of the highest number of men bowlers with sustained averages of 180 plus when compared to the last 10 years. Based on statistics across all the leagues, there are approximately 27 men bowlers who have demonstrated that they can hold their own and put up some very high scores."

As for the ladies, Knowles said they are equally expecting similar competition and even some potential upsets with the emergence of some newcomers to the national championships.

"I am being reliable advised that there are no sacred cows and no fruits are safe on the vine," he said. "Each one is ripe for the picking. Defending national champions David Slatter and Driskell Rolle will have their hands full in seeking to defend their title and remain on the throne."

Yule Hoyte, the first vice president of the federation, said the new format will definitely help all of the bowlers.

"You have the elite bowlers, who you may see go down the lane and swing it into the pockets," he said. "It's also going to be suitable for those who don't have so much of a challenge hooking the ball back to the pocket. So this will be a good one."

To sweeten the pot, Knowles said the federation will be offering cash prizes for any bowler who bowl 300 or more games in every category.

This year, Knowles said they have also changed the format in terms of how they place the bowlers.

"Every bowler will be randomly selected and assigned a group," he said. "Historically we placed all of the top bowlers in one group. That will not happen this year.

"We are going to try to conform as much as we can to the international format so that our bowlers can perform when they go to the international competition."

At the completion of the nationals, a men's national team will represent the Bahamas at a Qualifying Tournament in Lima, Peru and Knowles said they anticipate that they will get some good results.

The ladies' team is just coming from a trip to the Dominican Republic where they finished fifth, just short of qualifying for the Pan American Games.

There are several international tournaments on the horizon and Knowles said they are looking forward to their bowlers going to them and improving on their rankings.

Leslia Miller-Brice, the manager of Mario's Bowling and Family Entertainment Center, said they have done everything to get the lanes ready for the nationals and they will continue to support the federation.

"We are very prepared. Our technicians have been working to keep the lanes working," she said. "We have a service crew that will be coming in tomorrow to ensure that these ladies and gents have a first class experience on the lanes."

Registration for the nationals will close out on Friday night. Competition start on Sunday at 7 pm and will run over the next two weeks.