23rd August, Las Vegas: Thirty-four participating teams including Hong Kong, paraded in a packed house at South Point Bowling Plaza during the official opening ceremony of the 2019 World Bowling Women's Championships on Friday.
The teams, comprising of 179 world-class women bowlers, paraded in front of World Bowling board members, representatives of USBC, bowling product manufacturers, host South Point Hotel and Casino, distinguished guests, federation delegates and team officials.
Among those present were Mr Kevin Dornberger, CEO of World Bowling, Mr Mike Monyak, Director of Bowling for South Point Bowling Plaza, Mr Vern Vernazzaro, President of Southern Nevada USBC Association, Mr Martin Faba, Tournament Director and Mr Marios Nocolaides, Technical Delegate.
Also present were Mr Bader Alshaikh, President of Saudi Arabia Bowling Federation, who is sending, for the first time-ever, a women's bowling team from his country to compete in the championships.
Team Hong Kong with team officials and coaches
The United States of America national anthem was played after the teams march past. A short welcome speech was delivered by Mr Dornberger during which he thanked all the countries for their support in taking part in this year's championships.
This was followed by a speech from Mr Monyak thanking World Bowling for their trust and support for bringing the championships once again to United States and especially to the vibrant city of Las Vegas.
Team USA member, Ms Stefanie Johnson took the athletes' oath on behalf of all the players while Mr Vern Vernazzaro took the oath on behalf of all tournament officials. Mr Faba then officially declare the championships open ending the opening ceremony.
The 8-day event, which will begin tomorrow, will showcase 179 of the world's top women athletes from 34 countries. Fans will be bale to watch the action over live video streaming via worldbowling.sport website by newly-appointed medai partner, Dailymotion at dailymotion.com/World_Bowling.
Hong Kong team will be led by 2017 World Championships Singles bronze medallist, Chan Shuk Han with Milki Ng and Joan Cheng. Making their debut were Gigi Leung and Chloe Wu accompanied by team manager, Frankie Cheung and coaches David Haynes and Kim Eui Young.
Competition will kick off with the Singles on August 24, Doubles on August 25, Trios event over two blocks of 3 games each on August 26 and 27 and the Team of 5 over two blocks of 3 games each on August 28.
Team Hong Kong march past during the opening ceremony
The Singles semi-finals and final will be contested on August 27 while the semi-finals and finals of the Doubles will be held on August 28. The semi-finals and final of the Trios and Team of 5 will be on August 29. The top 24 with the highest pinfalls from a total of 24 games in the All Events standings will qualify for the Masters finals.
The championships will end on August 30 with the Masters Finals Round 1, Round 2 and Round 3 elimination knockout finals before the semi-finals and final. A Victory Banquet will be hosted at South Point Hotel Casino.
Photos by Terence Yaw in Las Vegas, USA.
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