Liza, Biboy finish fifth in World Cup

Filipino bowlers Biboy Rivera and Liza del Rosario gave their best in the round-robin series among the remaining eight men’s and women’s title contenders but they fell short and landed only fifth at the end of the 50th QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup championships at Sky Center in Wroclaw, Poland, over the weekend.

If it was any consolation, former world FIQ champion Rivera ranked ahead of Australia’s Glen Loader, Colombia’s Opalora and Israel’s Oron Cohen, while Del Rosario wound up ahead of Sweden’s Rebecka Larsen, Canada’s Caroline Lagrange, who was last year’s winner, and Ukraine’s Daria Kovalova.

American PBA (Professional Bowling Association) star Chris Barnes and Colombia’s Clara Juliana Guerrero emerged men’s and women’s champion, respectively.

Barnes, who beat Sweden’s Magnus Johnson, 257-213, in the position round to wind up third in the eight-man competition, sparkled in the semifinals by sweeping his two opponents, highlighting his performance with a perfect 300 game.

Barnes then beat second-ranked Mykhaylo Kalika of Ukraine, 2-0 (215-205, 300-219), to earn a shot at consistent leader Tobias Bording of Germany.  In a high-scoring first game, Barnes racked up 10 strikes against Bording’s nine to prevail, 265-248.  Then the American took the second game, 231-216, to prevail.

Guerrero, who first bowled in the World Cup as a 17-year-old in 2000 in Lisbon, Portugal where she finished No. 2, earned the women’s plum by outdueling Malaysia’s Li Jane Sin in three games, 2-1 (239-234, 243-257, 265-211), in the final match.  The Colombian’s 747 card in the final is a new World Cup record.