The 36th annual AMF Bowling World Cup welcomed a record 88 nations, including 10 making their first-ever World Cup appearances, to host center Bowling Internacional de Lisboa in Lisbon, Portugal, October 15-21.

The total topped by five the previous record set in 1997 in Cairo, Egypt. The newcomers included Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Eritrea, Gibraltar, Nepal, Nicaragua, Peru, San Marino, and Slovenia. Palestine had also planned to compete for the first time, but its athletes were unable to travel due to the heightened political tensions in that area at the time the tournament began. Ninety-eight countries had officially entered the 2000 AMF Bowling World Cup this year.

Of the 155 athletes who competed in Lisbon, three -- men's champion Tomas Leandersson of Sweden and runnerup Tore Torgersen of Norway, and Diane Buchanan of Canada -- rolled perfect games during tournament week. Leandersson preceded his with a 299 game, and Torgersen posted a 300 game exactly 10 frames after Leandersson cracked the barrier.


Buchanan became the third woman in World Cup history to record a 300 score during the tournament, and the third Canadian overall. Canada's Jack Guay rolled the first ever in 1994 in Hermosillo, Mexico and encored the following year in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Jill Friis continued the tradition last year in Las Vegas, USA. The three perfect games shot in Lisbon bring to 13 the total rolled in the tournament's history. Shalin Zulkifli of Malaysia, who led the women's 67-player field after 40 games, rolled the first perfect game by a woman in 1997.

Despite the three 300 games, scoring for the first 40 qualifying games was slightly below the record pace established in 1999 at Sam's Town Bowling Center in Las Vegas. Men's leader Torgersen averaged 226.5 pins per game, while women's leader Shalin Zulkifli of Malaysia posted a 218.7 mark. Last year's leaders after 40 games, Kenny Ang of Malaysia and Amanda Bradley of Australia, averaged 229.2 and 222.8, respectively. The overall records set for 48 games under the old format -- 229.8 by Germany's Frank Boerner and 223.4 by Bradley -- included bonus pins won during matchplay.

The 2000 AMF Bowling World Cup introduced a new best-of-three-games, single-elimination format to replace the aforementioned matchplay and stepladder formats of previous World Cups. The single-elimination phase was held over two days on specially installed lanes in the Atlantic Pavilion in Lisbon's Nations Park, site of the 1998 World Expo. Belgium's Chris Van Dame rolled the highest single-game score during the quarterfinal round, a 278 game, while Clara Juliana Guerrero of Colombia set the women's mark during the semifinals with a 244 game.

Women's champion Mel Isaac of Wales, the No. 6 seed in the single-elimination phase, defeated 1999 WTBA World Masters champion Ann-Maree Putney of Australia and 1999 World Masters bronze medallist Kirsten Penny of England before overpowering Guerrero, 2 games to 1, to win her first world championship.

Leandersson, the men's No. 2 seed, erased the bitter memory of his runnerup finish to Germany's Rainer Puisis in the 1993 AMF Bowling World Cup by sweeping 1994 World Cup champion Torgersen in the men's final round, 2 games to 0. Torgersen needed to double in the 10th frame of the second game to force a third and deciding game but was able to strike only once. Leandersson has won numerous medals and titles in international competition, both individually and as a member of the Sweden national team.


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FINAL STANDINGS - MEN:
1. Tomas Leandersson, Sweden; 2. Tore Torgersen, Norway

FINAL STANDINGS - WOMEN:
1. Mel Isaac, Wales; 2. Clara Juliana Guerrero, Colombia

TOURNAMENT AWARDS

Sports Woman Award:  Seble Dejene, Ethiopia
Sports Man Award:  Danny Falconi, Mexico
High Game Woman Award:  300, Diane Buchanan, Canada
High Game Man Award:  300, Tomas Leandersson, Sweden
   300, Tore Torgersen, Norway
Bent Petersen Country Award:  England



MEN RESULTS - Finals

#2 Tomas Leandersson, Sweden def. #1 Tore Torgersen, Norway
2 games to 0 (247-226, 209-201)

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WOMEN RESULTS - Finals

Mel Issac, Wales, def. Clara Juliana Guerro, Colombia
2 games to 1 (203-150, 178-207, 215-180)

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MEN RESULTS - Semifinals

#1 Tore Torgersen, Norway, def. #6 Chris Van Damme, Belgium
2 games to 1 (178-192, 257-225, and 228-185)

#2 Tomas Leandersson, Sweden def. #5 Mohammed K AlQubasi, UAE
2 games to 1 (242-237, 215-223, and 207-201)

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WOMEN RESULTS - Semifinals

Mel Issac, Wales def. Kirsten Penny, England
2 games to 0 (213-164, 201-159)

Clara Juliana Guerro, Colombia def. Diane Buchanan, Canada
2 games to 0 (244-177, 197-156)

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MEN RESULTS - Quarterfinals

#1 Tore Torgersen, Norway, def. #8 Domenico Righi, San Marino
2 games to 1 (210-182, 215-235, and 235-171)

#2 Tomas Leandersson, Sweden def. #7 Kimmo Lehtonen, Finland
2 games to 1 (188-197, 218-214, and 226-189)

#6 Chris Van Damme, Belgium def. #3 Guy Caminsky, South Africa
2 games to 1 (214-234, 200-149, and 278-171)

#5 Mohammed K AlQubasi, UAE def. #4 Steve Thornton, England
2 games to 1 (236-191, 189-216, and 209-164)

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WOMEN RESULTS - Quarterfinals

#8 Kirsten Penny, England def. #1 Shalin Zulkifli, Malaysia
2 games to 0 (205-178, 204-186)

#2 Clara Juliana Guerro, Colombia def. #7 Isabelle Saldjian, France
2 games to 1 (193-183, 184-196, 197-191)

#6 Mel Isaac, Wales def. #3 Ann-Maree Putney, Australia
2 games to 0 (208-158, 224-192)

#5 Diane Buchanan, Canada def. #4 Heidi Larnia, Finland
2 games to 0 (208-166, 185-172)

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Men's Results After 24 Games
  Name Country High Game Total Average
1 Tore Torgersen NORWAY 300 5563 231.8
2 Steve Thorton ENGLAND 269 5457 227.4
3 Guy Caminsky SOUTH AFRICA 277 5364 223.5
4 Tomas Leandersson SWEDEN 300 5362 223.4
5 Kimmo Lehtonen FINLAND 268 5343 222.6
6 Andres Gomez*** COLOMBIA 274 5337 222.4
7 Chris Van Damme* BELGIUM 258 5335 222.3
8 Ahmed Shaheen***+ QATAR 269 5311 221.3
9 Domenico Righi SAN MARINO 297 5286 220.3
10 Mohammed Khalifa AlQubasi*********+ UAE 280 5268 219.5
11 Todd Squire CANADA 296 5233 218.0
12 Franz Hahn* AUSTRIA 278 5225 217.7
13 Daniel Falconi*** MEXICO 278 5223 217.6
14 Halldor R Halldorsson ICELAND 259 5210 217.1
15 Jose Estevez**** SPAIN 269 5201 216.7
16 Eduardo Padilla NICARAGUA 279 5182 215.9
17 Bill Hoffman USA 288 5170 215.4
18 Marco Odio********* COSTA RICA 270 5136 214.0
19 Koichi Takahashi* JAPAN 269 5128 213.7
20 Marcel van den Bosch* NETHERLANDS 243 5126 213.6
21 Jose Vicente Lander VENEZUELA 269 5109 212.9
22 Oliver Blase GERMANY 267 5109 212.9
23 CJ Suarez PHILIPPINES 248 5083 211.8
24 Alan Gibbons IRELAND 276 5079 211.6
25 Andrew Fang SINGAPORE 268 5076 211.5
26 Alfred Pang* HONG KONG 279 5070 211.3
27 Ñico D'Achille ITALY 269 5046 210.3
28 Habib Dogan* TURKEY 266 5016 209.0
29 Bruno Maglieri AUSTRALIA 267 4989 207.9
30 Ricardo Dalla Rosa* ARGENTINA 267 4974 207.3
31 Gerald Samuel MALAYSIA 269 4965 206.9
32 Frankie Colon Jr* PUERTO RICO 246 4940 205.8
33 Patrick Rolland FRANCE 257 4936 205.7
34 Derek Tomlin*** GUERNSEY 256 4926 205.3
35 Brian Farrugia MALTA 256 4858 202.4
35 Kevin Horton** NORTHERN IRELAND 258 4858 202.4
37 Pai-Feng Lin CHINESE TAIPEI 237 4847 202.0
38 Tarek Helmy EGYPT 239 4814 200.6
39 Ye Min Swe** MYANMAR 240 4809 200.4
40 Jose Manuel Machon MACAU 257 4759 198.3
41 Francisco Oduber* ARUBA 268 4757 198.2
42 Carlos Cruz BRAZIL 258 4747 197.8
43 Ñick Cayzer ISLE OF MAN 257 4742 197.6
44 Carlos Rodriguez CURACAO 258 4737 197.4
45 Paul Wright** JERSEY 235 4721 196.7
46 Hosman Gonzalez GUATEMALA 239 4712 196.3
47 Zoltan Kiss HUNGARY 246 4704 196.0
47 Andy Gillespie SCOTLAND 236 4704 196.0
49 Gil Valle HONDURAS 257 4692 195.5
49 Walter Davarro PANAMA 242 4692 195.5
51 Gary Hopkins WALES 236 4689 195.4
52 Rolando Sebelen Sr****** DOMINICAN REP 238 4675 194.8
53 Belay Habtom** ERITREA 237 4644 193.5
54 Jeffrey Tuala NEW ZEALAND 267 4640 193.3
55 Amredin Tabatabaei IRAN 256 4595 191.5
56 Jamie Alvarino Garland PERU 245 4537 189.0
57 Hugo Moorehead VIRGIN ISLANDS 235 4516 188.2
58 Sonith Lockhart* BAHAMAS 220 4488 187.0
59 Christian Betfort NEW CALEDONIA 234 4448 185.3
59 Joao Januario PORTUGAL 257 4448 185.3
61 Beat Grauwiler SWITZERLAND 255 4436 184.8
62 Julio Acosta EL SALVADOR 247 4427 184.5
63 Christophe Carro MARTINIQUE 231 4426 184.4
64 Nikorn Onnom THAILAND 234 4417 184.0
65 Oleg Smirnov* RUSSIA 269 4413 183.9
66 Jurij Rjazansky LATVIA 222 4403 183.5
67 Nedeljko Glavas** YUGOSLAVIA 236 4402 183.4
68 Maurice Talane FRENCH GUYANE 242 4396 183.2
69 Franjo Katalenic**** CROATIA 231 4389 182.9
70 Michalis Perikleous CYPRUS 247 4388 182.8
71 Gediminas Cerniavicius LITHUANIA 235 4368 182.0
72 Eliezer Shineman ISRAEL 234 4354 181.4
73 Mashoud Emamsaib MAURITIUS 243 4341 180.9
73 Benigno Villa***** PARAGUAY 215 4341 180.9
75 Sergiy Simachenko UKRAINE 224 4334 180.6
76 Aare Noormaa ESTONIA 224 4320 180.0
77 Marin Tranier***** VANUATU 236 4318 179.9
78 Alain Lieners** LUXEMBOURG 226 4295 179.0
78 Grzegorz Drozdowski POLAND 228 4295 179.0
80 Dmitry Varabyeu BELARUS 215 4259 177.5
81 Patrick Leroy*** MOROCCO 214 4221 175.9
82 Ramesh Rawat INDIA 221 4194 174.8
83 Sonam Nepali NEPAL 205 4177 174.0
84 Edmund O'Reilly GIBRALTAR 216 4103 171.0
85 Vlado Golja SLOVENIA 224 4088 170.3
86 Ashot Grigoryan ARMENIA 210 3949 164.5
87 Tamiru Assefa ETHIOPIA 200 3890 162.1
88 Ravil Novruzov AZERBAIJAN 204 2541 158.8
           
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Women's Results After 24 Games
  Name Country High Game Total Avg.
1 Clara J Guerrero COLOMBIA 258 5332 222.2
2 Ann-Maree Putney* AUSTRALIA 280 5292 220.5
3 Shalin Zulkifli*** MALAYSIA 268 5257 219.0
4 Heidi Larnia FINLAND 259 5143 214.3
5 Kirsten Penny ENGLAND 258 5078 211.6
6 Laura Rhoney* SCOTLAND 259 5077 211.5
7 Isabelle Saldjian* FRANCE 258 5020 209.2
8 Diane Buchanan CANADA 279 4989 207.9
9 Mel Isaac WALES 267 4985 207.7
10 Julieanne Mollet NEW ZEALAND 278 4955 206.5
11 Diandra Hyman USA 246 4923 205.1
12 Kerena Dykes* IRELAND 247 4886 203.6
13 Jesmine Ho** SINGAPORE 289 4817 200.7
14 Arianne Cerdena***** PHILIPPINES 256 4794 199.8
15 Nachimi Itakura JAPAN 235 4785 199.4
16 Sarit Mizrahi ISRAEL 264 4785 199.4
17 Mette Hansen* NORWAY 254 4776 199.0
18 Su-Fen Tseng****+ CHINESE TAIPEI 237 4762 198.4
19 Sue Abela** MALTA 247 4749 197.9
20 Doris Szvasztics* AUSTRIA 247 4707 196.1
21 Martina Beckel*****+ GERMANY 236 4707 196.1
22 Serafina Liuzzi ITALY 258 4689 195.4
23 Farida Pascoal-Blom*** NETHERLANDS 235 4679 195.0
24 Ingelimar Contreras VENEZUELA 244 4673 194.7
25 Aida Granillo********** EL SALVADOR 236 4645 193.5
26 Lisa Paluzzi**** SOUTH AFRICA 235 4637 193.2
27 Ruth Doppler SWITZERLAND 248 4636 193.2
28 Maria Toth*** HUNGARY 246 4601 191.7
29 Cindy Jaspers** BELGIUM 244 4590 191.3
30 Claudia Falconi MEXICO 259 4588 191.2
31 Connie Kwok* HONG KONG 237 4552 189.7
32 Asa Wetterlund SWEDEN 226 4534 188.9
33 Cristina Kortright* PUERTO RICO 228 4531 188.8
34 Samantha Ibanez CURACAO 254 4396 183.2
35 Marisa Chiaruzzi SAN MARINO 211 4364 181.8
36 Elena Krainik RUSSIA 255 4349 181.2
37 Grace Angela ARUBA 236 4322 180.1
38 Rosanna Garcia DOMINICAN REP 227 4282 178.4
39 Gloria Sala-Mestres* SPAIN 235 4252 177.2
40 Joanne Powell BAHAMAS 226 4245 176.9
41 Oksana Skorobagach** UKRAINE 226 4178 174.1
42 Marina Paiva BRAZIL 219 4177 174.0
43 Pauline Maxwell*** ISLE OF MAN 217 4139 172.5
44 Sylvia Carrion* COSTA RICA 236 4138 172.4
45 Glynis Wilson* NORTHERN IRELAND 206 4125 171.9
46 Elaine Springer VIRGIN ISLANDS 214 4111 171.3
47 Hala Shaarawy EGYPT 233 4100 170.8
48 Lizzy Abood PANAMA 233 4097 170.7
49 Tracey Ann aubert JERSEY 223 4076 169.8
50 Ana Maria Benko ARGENTINA 214 4071 169.6
51 Stella Loizidou* CYPRUS 204 4031 168.0
52 Karen Ramirez GUATEMALA 224 4006 166.9
53 Lauren Gervolino** NEW CALEDONIA 217 3948 164.5
54 Rita Silva PORTUGAL 207 3946 164.4
55 Marija Mezhiricka LATVIA 198 3943 164.3
56 Rose-Anna Telcide MARTINIQUE 207 3941 164.2
57 Rita Zaveckiene LITHUANIA 193 3920 163.3
58 Sylwia Swierczek** POLAND 212 3912 163.0
59 Annick Chassain FRENCH GUYANE 200 3788 157.8
60 Ester Penjam ESTONIA 224 3774 157.3
61 Alouani Bouchra* MOROCCO 198 3727 155.3
62 Jharna Badlani* INDIA 190 3676 153.2
63 Ilknur Vural TURKEY 202 3656 152.3
64 Alison Prigent GUERNSEY 183 3500 145.8
65 Alena Lazuta BELARUS 184 3440 143.3
66 Julie Jackson GIBRALTAR 174 3399 141.6
67 Seble Dejene ETHIOPIA 139 2550 106.3
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