Women's World Championships - Monterrey Mexico

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Fri 31 Aug 2007

We arrived safe and sound a few days ago now. The journey started at 8:15am on Tuesday morning at the Delta check-in desk in Gatwick North terminal. We had no excess baggage issues as our balls had been shipped the week before so would be waiting for us on our arrival.
We first flew to Atlanta and had 3 hours in the airport before our connection. Just enough time for us all to grab some dinner. We met at the gate and were greeted by two ladies from Team Canada who had missed their connection so were on standby and hoping to make our flight. We all boarded and to our surprise took off leaving the two Canadian ladies behind even though there were seats available...



We arrived to a rainy Monterrey late on Tuesday night to find a big group of ladies here for the tournament waiting for the transport to the hotel. There was a crazy system at the airport where the bus could only stay in the pick up area for a short time before having to go and drive around the block to pick up another ticket. Crazy as the bus was half loaded up and had to drive around the block to come back to the exact same place to continue loading everyone on! We were lucky and were collected by a mini bus pretty quickly and in the hotel in 30 Min's. We went straight to our rooms and went to sleep ready to have an adventure around the area in the morning.



We woke up and went straight to breakfast which was a huge buffet of everything you could imagine. Then returned to the room, unpacked and went down to the bowling centre to have a bowl and loosen up a little. We were able to play on the patterns and to be honest they were very similar to what we had been laying down to practise at home. We then ventured to a huge shopping centre close to the bowl where we had some dinner and a quick look around the shops.
Today we pretty much did the same as yesterday, official practise is tomorrow and we will bowl at 10am so it will be an early start. We will be able to gauge the patterns properly tomorrow as we will play across the house and see how the pattern transitions a little better.





Sat 01 Sep 2007



Official practise went well for all of the team yesterday. The hardest part was deciding which six balls to register as we are limited to the amount of balls we are able to use. Most of the team had 7 or 8 balls which had a good reaction so I think the scoring pace is going to be high as most of the other teams probably had the same.



The balls I decided to register were the following:



Short Oil:
Dry Zone - drilled with a 2" pin
Fury Pearl - Pin above my ring finger and cg in centre of my palm.



Long Oil:
Strike Zone - drilled pin above ring finger and cg kicked out - out of the box surface.
Vapor Zone - drilled the same as Strike Zone.
Total Inferno - drilled the same as Fury Pearl.
and of course my Target Zone.

I bowl doubles at 1:30pm with Kirsten Penny, I'll let you know how it goes!
Jemma & Fiona bowl before us and Lisa & Katie bowl Sunday at 8am.








Sun 02 Sep 2007



Well the doubles are close to completion, the last squad is playing as we speak. Lisa John and Katie Jowsey are bowling now so fingers crossed they do brill! Jemma and Fiona bowled first yesterday and bowled pretty steady, shooting about 40 over as a pair.



FIONA BANKS 214-203-167-248-182-211 = 1225
JEMMA SMITH 188-203-225-149-199-243 = 1207
TOTAL = 2432

Kirsten and I bowled straight after and had a few problems first game shooting a very low first game, we just couldn't get a good reaction. After that we were pretty steady scoring around 440 every game. Except for the first the other pairs were similar to practice, carry is pretty tough in this centre so it was difficult to make up all the pins we had lost on the first game. We finished 100 over as a pair, leaders so far are Korea on an amazing 404 over! I guess they didn't have any carry issues



KIRSTEN PENNY 146-248-224-212-216-235 = 1281
ZARA GLOVER 160-195-233-192-231-215 = 1226
TOTAL = 2507

We bowl Trios at 12:30 and 16:30 today; I bowl first with Kirsten & Fiona, then Jemma, Lisa and Katie after. We bowl three games on the long today and three games on the short tomorrow. Hopefully we can keep up with the high scoring pace easier on the long!








Tue 04 Sep 2007



Well I wasn't that forthcoming in writing anything yesterday as I had a very bad day. The rest of the team did pretty well, the rest of my trios team had a blinding day thank goodness to make up for my performance. However today was another day!



We played team event on the short this morning and started off with a steady 975, again leaving lots of single pins. We then moved onto the end pair at the high end of the centre and it was a totally different story, we opened up with a very powerful start and it continued through the whole game. We had a lot better reaction to carry on this pair and nearly every pocket hit was a strike, not like we had been experiencing on all the other pairs... We just carried on one frame at a time and kept striking... Both Finny and Kirsten were both on for 300 after 8 frames and the rest of us only a few 9 counts behind them! Finny threw a 9 in the 9Th but Kirsten continued with her string of strikes. She nailed every single shot and finished with the second 300 game of the tournament - and very well deserved it was! The team finished on a huge 1261 game 252 average... an new World record by over 100 pins! The previous record had been set by the Danes the game before, showing how high scoring the short pattern could be!



The third game we were crossing with the Danes and we kept it together despite all the excitement shooting a steady game of 1074 keeping us safely in the lead with the Indonesians close behind on 3252. The USA, Korea & Sweden who have been the highest scoring teams so far in the tournament are bowling now.



FB 224 268 258 750
JS 152 219 181 552
ZG 196 259 191 646
LJ 203 215 243 661
KP 200 300 201 701
975 1261 1074 3310

Tomorrow we have three more games on the Long pattern so lets hope we can have a repeat performance!








Thu 06 Sep 2007





Well we had a very disappointing day yesterday, we started off steady with 1046, we had a good lane draw today seeing as we were top seeds and started off on lane 10 then moved across the house instead of changing ends. The next pair we were crossing with the USA and we were really out classed. They were playing as a unit, all in the same part of the lane breaking the pattern down and opening up the lane for each other, as soon as one of the girls balls hooked too much they all made the move. We really showed our lack of practise on these patterns as a team and failed to make the moves needed only shooting 904. The pattern really burned up this game and we struggled when forced to move deeper.



We had dropped to third position after that game as the Americans had a really big game and so did the Malaysians. We were still in contention for gold but needed a big last game to make up the pins we had dropped. We moved to the high end of the centre and to the World Record pair, unfortunately they hooked more on the long as they did on the short. We made the big move inside that we should have made the game before, but couldn't really get comfortable, leaving a few pocket splits and missing a few single pins. We crawled over the finish line with a low 937 and had to wait and watch the teams close behind us finish their games, they were all also struggling and we thought we had just managed to stay ahead of Indonesia. We then got wind of the Danes making a big push with 1099 to finish 5 pins behind us... We were very lucky to hold onto the Bronze medal... The first and second position was a real fight, Malaysia's Shalin Zulkifli made a 4-9 split in the 9th and needed to mark in the 10th for them to take gold. She did and they finished 7 pins in front of a very disappointed Team USA.



I hope we can all learn from this and hopefully in the future we will have better preparation for playing these patterns. We had not practised playing on the patterns in a five man team format and weren't prepared for how the pattern broke down. I think if we had as a team we would have played the long pattern differently and had some different ball selections than we had brought with us.



Still a bronze medal is still a great achievement, I think it might be the first team medal for England in a World Championships... Not sure... If it's not the first then it has been quite a while so we should be proud but hopefully learn and improve from our experiences!



After all the highs and lows of the team event I had to regroup and bowl the singles straight after... Not the greatest decision by the tournament organisers... There was a very bizarre atmosphere in the bowling centre when we started the singles event at 8pm. It felt more like practise, everyone was laughing and joking. I was bowling with Lisa and we had a great time, still scoring the same as we had the whole tournament not able to string any strikes together, but in the pocket the whole time. I finished on 1213, losing it a little in the last few games. Lisa finished strong shooting 1260 and that was our tournament over!



I finished the tournament 17 under, I felt like I bowled really well, made good shots and moves most of the time. I just couldn't work out how to carry, every ball I used from different parts of the lane had the same result... 9!!!! Never mind.. I have enjoyed my time in Monterrey and am looking forward to watching the rest of the girls Singles, hopefully they will shoot big and make the Masters!!!



x-x-x-x

2007 Archived

Aalborg International Denmark

Fri 25 May 2007

Hi,

Arrived in Aalborg yesterday morning. We had a very early flight taking off from Standsted at 7:30am so went to the hotel when we arrived to sleep for a little while then were planning on bowling at 5pm. I am sharing with Kirsten Penny and Toby Stride. We had a bit of a mix up with the times and slept until we received a phone call from the tournament manager at 4:55pm asking where we were for the squad... Ooops! Luckily we managed to get into the 9pm squad. I bowled OK but could tell I hadn't practised at all this week. It took me a few games to settle in, I finished on 1283. Not enough to qualify so I will have to have another go tomorrow at midday. I used my FURY most of the squad only using the Scorchin for the first game as this has an earlier rolling drilling. I started outside with the Scorchin then when the lanes burned up I was forced to drop in and then change to the FURY to get a bit more length. Lets hope I have a bit more success tomorrow! Full Results! Click HERE

Sat 26 May 2007

Bowled 2 squads today. Felt good but didn't score that great, I was around the pocket most of the time. I found big differences from pair to pair, so took 5 frames to line up by that point it was hard to keep up with the high scoring pace!

First block I shot a few bad games of 170 & 175 but finished on 1263, 2nd block I played the lanes a little differently staying inside of 10 all the way through. I had a much more consistent reaction but still didn't score too highly. My high game was 214 and low game 195.... A pretty boring block. I used my Scorchin & Vapor through out this block.

I'm looking forward to having a few weeks off, just playing tournaments in the UK during June and practising a bit more.

This weekend in Aalborg is a huge carnival, it's crazy half of the town is blocked off and there are huge parades and people dressed up everywhere... Lots of fun! So I will probably have a look at that tomorrow while the finals are on. Kirsten made the finals easily so fingers crossed she keeps the UK flag flying tomorrow!!!

FULL RESULTS

Z x-x-x



World Ranking Masters 2007 - Kegel Training Centre V

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Thu 03 May 2007

Official practise took place today.

The men bowled first this morning for an hour and then we bowled at 12:30pm. They had oiled the lanes alternately with the long and short patterns.

I have brought 10 balls with me but will only be allowed to register 6 after practise. The short played very short, there was a lot of friction off the back so I had trouble getting the ball to the breakpoint. Ric Bernoit (Brunswick's rep on the PBA) is here and he talked to me about trying some different hand positions and that worked really well, I was able to get the ball down the lane a lot easier. For the short I have decided to keep the BVP Ambush drilled with the pin above my fingers and close to my track this ball is very stable and even. It smooths out the severe reaction found on patterns this short. I have also kept my BVP Mammoth, this is drilled pin below my fingers but still close to my track so just rolling earlier than the Ambush. I intend to start off with the Ambush then change to the Mammoth when the carrydown occurs. I was standing arround board 8 with my shoulders very open aiming at board 5 until the oil carried down, then I squared up and moved right.

The long played pretty much as I expected, I actually found this pattern to hook quite a lot so didn't keep in my strongest equipment. I have decided to keep in my Vapor Zone drilled pin above my ring finger, Total Inferno drilled pretty similar and my Strike Zone drilled pin below my ring finger and stacked. I was standing between 20 and 15 deending on which ball I was throwing and aiming at 13-16. All three balls are shiney however I intend to take the surface off my Total in the morning to even out the reaction a little.

I am feeling very confident, looking forward to seeing all the CATS from every ball thrown. It's not often you get to accumulate this much information on your bowling during an event and is ugley helpful in seeing ways to improve during an event. We are all very grateful Kegel qo quickly took up the challenge to host this event as without them we would have been stuck for a venue. So keep everything crossed for tomorrow, I play the long 8 games in the morning so I'm off to bed now!!!

Fri 04 May 2007

Hi just finished bowling. I bowled really well, was throwing the ball really clean. Opened up with 278 playing with my Total Inferno, the carry I had in this centre was ridiculous I had pins flying everywhere. The lanes broke down pretty quick I just kept moving left following the oil. When I got in to aiming around 18/19 the Total was too smooth and didn't carry so I switched to the Vapor and moved back right. After 2 more games the middle of the lane had burnt up, and I lost reaction, I was moving all over trying different balls, but shot 2 low games and lost the lead to Caroline Lagrange from Canada. The last game I changed to the BVP Mammoth and moved in and had a much better reaction.

I was pretty close to Caroline so a good game would keep it close, I left a 2 pin first frame then moved right and started striking. I left a 4 pin in the middle and struck out for 269. But I lost pins, Caroline nailed every single shot and had a huge 289 game to win the day and the $1000 daily winner prize. Tomorrow morning we play on the short pattern. Click on this link to go to live scoring. CATS readings for each game are available by clicking each individual game score.

Sat 05 May 2007

Bowled the short today. I didn't have as good a reaction on the short, I started off with my BVP Ambush standing board 10 aiming at 7 with a really weak hand position. For the first game and a half they are really snappy, then the carry down and open up a bit. I stayed with the Ambush just gradually moving right. Once the Ambush started going too long I changed to my BVP Mammoth and dropped in. Standing around 12 aiming 9. I was around the pocket most of the time, but didn't get as many breaks as yesterday. I still finished 95 over but with the scoring pace how it is I was quite far down the field in 11th position. Diandra bowled brill today, scoring 300 over!!! She is just behind me in the overall, Caroline is still leading, increasing her lead today!

Sun 06 May 2007

Hi just finished qualification! Today we played the mixed patterns, one lane with the short oil, one lane with the long oil. It takes a bit more concentration and focus to play this squad. i found it pretty hard as I am playing totally different hand positions on the 2 patterns. On the short I am trying to be a lot more around the side of the ball to get more length.

On the long I am trying to be soft and up the back of the ball to get it to roll earlier, so having the switch every frame makes it a lot easier to make mistakes! I had a good look on the long again, starting off with the Total Inferno then after 2 games changing to the Vapor Zone. In the last game I changed to the BVP Mammoth as the lanes were pretty burnt this ball is a very slow reacting ball so smooths out the reaction. On the short I started off again with the BVP Ambush, then after 3 games switched to BVP Mammoth and dropped in again, the same as yesterday. I had 2 low games where I lost the short, but other than that was pretty solid. I finished off in 4th place so I get to choose the condition I would like to start on in the best of three game match. I am to play Zandra Aziela from Malaysia who had the front 10 in the last game to qualify! Pretty impressive stuff!!!

Mon 07 May 2007

Hi

I have just finished the TV show, bowled pretty good in total.

The long was playing a lot tighter down lane, I squared up a little and looked pretty good in practise. Diandra was the top seed so she got to pick which pattern we started on and whether she or I would start. She chose the long and for her to start. I opened up with a good shot so I thought but left a pocket 7-10 split. The match carried on like that really. Diandra bowled excellent as she had done all week, and I struggled to find any ball reaction. I find it really hard to execute good shots when I know I don't have the right reaction. I struck then went light for a 2-10 split. I moved right and went straight through the nose. Not good! I finished on 140 not very nice to see on TV. We moved to the short for the 2nd game and I was to start.

The short had been the weaker of the 2 patterns for me in qualifying so I knew I needed to make good shots. I was very pleased with how I bowled for this game. I missed in one frame and split and missed out another frame and went past the head pin but other than that I nailed every shot. Unfortunately the pins decided it wasn't my day I needed a strike to push D in the 10th and I threw a really good shot, the 10 pin stood, I threw 2 messengers in that direction but neither hit! So that was my tournament over!

I am really proud of my performance all week, after the past year of struggling my way through bad form, I really feel I am back making good shots and have learnt a lot from the past year. I have a much better understanding of the oiling patterns and ball reaction so am looking forward to bowling tournaments now. If I can keep throwing the ball good again and know much more about the technical side the world will be my oyster!!!

My next tournament will be the Aalborg International in Denmark on May bank holiday.
Check out all the great pictures in the photo album all courtesy of Herbert Bickel at bowlingdigital.com.


World Tenpin Masters

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by zaraglover.com on Fri 20 Apr 2007 21:57 BST

I just got off the lanes from playing the first round of the World Tenpin Masters in Barnsley Metrodome. For the past four years I have gone out in the first round, this year I had an even harder draw than previous years drawing defending champion and PBA star Chris Barnes. I have hit some form recently so felt prety good I was going to bowl well, so it was just a matter of how wel Chris was going to bowl on the day.

In practice I had a pretty good ball reaction with my Vapor Zone playing from about 12 at the arrows out to 7. I was striking a lot and throwing the ball really well. In the four balls practice before the match started I struck with boh my Vapor and Total Inferno but went with the Vapor as it had looked better in the practice session. For two frames it looked good, then the lane got a lot tighter as the oil carried down a little. I moved to the right and the ball hooked even less so changed to the Total in the 9th frame and it looked much better. All this time Chris had been striking most of he time and I was 50 pins down at the hal way point. So was going to need a huge game to make up the defecit. I opened up nine spare then strung some strikes together, unfortunately Chris was also stringing them together and I had no chance of catching him up. He finished up shooting 279 so even if I'd shot 300 I would have been behind!
Over all I was pretty happy with how I bowled, I threw 2 bad shots in two games and enjoyed being on the one lane format. I felt a lot more relaxed than I have over the past years, just a shame I don't get to bowl anymore games.....

For more info on the tournament including Podcasts from all the players minutes before they make their way to the lane and live scoring visit TALK TENPIN and go to the forum section.


Husqvarna International Jönköping Sweden - part II
by zaraglover.com on Mon 09 Apr 2007 09:52 BST

It was an early start having to start bowling at 8am. After a short walk to the bowl to wake up we were on the lanes. I didn't find the condition any different to qualifying, I was still playing the gutter. After using my Scorchin Inferno all through qualifying, I dulled my Red Zone slightly just to give me some more options. I decided to start off with my Red Zone and opened up with 230. I didn't have to make any big moves until the last pair in games 5 and 6. After 2 games I changed to the Scorchin again then in game 5 I had to move in as the outside of board 7 had burnt up as so many people were playing out there. I got lined up again after shooting 191 5th game and shot another 230 to secure my place in the top 8.

CLICK HERE TO SEE MY 6 GAME BLOCK FRAME BY FRAME

By making the top 8 I got one bye so had a long lunch while the first round of best of 5 game matches took place. I was to play Tony Fransson, one of the best left handers in Sweden. Neither of us had a really great look on the pair we drew, while people around us are shooting 250+ games we were fighting it out with 200 games. I won the first three games all going down to the 10th frame. I was really happy I made some great shots in the clutch to win the games.
Then I was to play Magnus Andersson another lefty from Sweden. We moved pairs and I didn't get lined up at all on the right lane. Every ball I threw I got an under - over reaction, as both matches played on the pair previously had gone to 5 matches they were burned up pretty bad. I lost in 4 games, managing to sneak the 3rd game stringing 3 strikes together 7th, 8th & 9th.

CLICK HERE FOR FULL MATCHPLAY RESULTS

I finished up in 6th position and the top lady for the tournament.
Next weekend I am playing the UK championships at Maldon in Essex.


Husqvarna International Jönköping Sweden
by zaraglover.com on Fri 06 Apr 2007 21:40 BST

Hi,

My trip to Sweden started on Thursday morning with a drive to an extremely busy Standsted airport. We checked in with no hassles and the flight went fast, landing a two hour drive from the bowling centre. I had a car booked and the drive was a pleasant one taking in the beautiful Swedish country side. I watched the bowling a little on Thursday night then called it a night.
Friday I stayed in the hotel to catch up on some work then walked to the bowl for my squad at 4pm. Before I came I had looked at the pattern published on the net and had an idea of where to play. The graph showed the pattern was totally flat inside of board 10 which indicated to me that I was going to play somewhere outside of board 10 depending on the lane surface. In practice I got lined up with my Scorchin Inferno as far right as I could get with my feet targeting board 5. I had trouble keeping my ball speed slow enough the first game and had a few nasty splits, but towards the end of the game I got it under control and struck out for a 183 game. From there I bowled games of 222 - 202 - 272 - 227 - 232 for 1338, using the same ball the whole squad. I started leaving some weak 10 pins when the lane burned up a bit, but counteracted that by increasing my ball speed to finish strongly. I was really happy as this was the best I have bowled in months...

The finals are on Sunday starting at 8am, 6 games where the scores go back to zero the it cuts to matchplay.

Click here to see my block frame by frame
Click here to go to the tournament website


Brunswick Euro Challenge
by zaraglover.com on Sun 18 Mar 2007 09:39 GMT

Not such a good trip yet again.....

I have been practicing a lot harder the last few weeks and feel like I am getting back to throwing the ball well again, but the pins didn't agree this weekend!!! :o(

I bowled first squad on Friday morning and opened up using my BVP Mammoth I opened up with 234 the lanes were very slick. This centre always plays very oiling there is not a lot of friction on the backs. I was playing as far right as I could get and with as slow ball speed as I could. Then the Mammoth started leaving weak 10 pins when the lanes carried down so I changed to some of the other balls I brought with me but none matched up that good on this pattern. They all seemed to be reading the heads too early. When I moved inside the volume of oil was much higher and I had trouble hooking the ball at all. I was pretty happy overall with how I bowled physically, but I didn't play the lanes as well as I could. I made the wrong ball selections to bring with me on this trip, always a lottery when you can only bring 4 balls on the flight. My highest block was about 1260 and the cut to the 2nd round was 1304. There are still a few Brits left in so fingers crossed they do well!!!

Next weekend I am bowling the BTBA nationals and Bradford.

Until then....


Barcelona
by zaraglover.com on Sat 03 Mar 2007 09:56 GMT

Hi,

I'm in Barcelona this weekend, playing my 3rd ETBF ranking event of the year. Last weekend I played in Essex, England and the Maldon PTBC held at Madison Heights. I bowled with my better half Matt Giles and we bowled really great in qualifying leading after the 8 games, so we received two byes. When we came in our opponents blew us away, shooting just short of 500 for one game to our 420!

So we finished in positions 5th - 8th. FOR FULL RESULTS CLICK HERE

It was the first time I have visited this centre, and I was very impressed, it is a long time since I have visited an independently run centre and the atmosphere was brilliant, there were local bowlers watching the tournament all day long and the finals were very exciting! The PTBC definitely got it right with this format, doubles and matchplay combined is so much fun, the whole tournament had a buzz about it, and entries were very high compared to other UK tournaments of late! So lets hope Alex and Andy keep up the good work in trying to rebuild the UK tournament circuit.

Anyway back to Barcelona.

We arrived Thursday night, dropped our stuff off at the bowl and then went to the hotel to rest, ready to bowl Friday. On Friday morning we hopped on the Metro and went for a walk around the city, then had some lunch on the harbour, and got to the bowl around 2:30pm. Bowled at 4pm and spent most of the time trying to get lines up, good job I was sparing everything as I wasn't getting many strikes! I shot the following games:

196 - 190 - 224 - 203 - 167 - 237 = 1217 (+48 bonus) 1265

Nothing exciting.... in the last game I changed to my Vapor Zone drilled with the pin above my ring finger and the mass bias close to my thumb so reasonably stable. There wasn't much oil on the heads so I was having to bowl with a lot of pace with a low rev rate, but this looked a lot better so this was my game plan for the next squad.

I started the next squad a lot more convincingly and the Vapor looked good on the fresh to my relief. The first 2 games I shot 230, 240 then started leaving a lot more 9 counts in the 3rd game. Due to the fact we move a pair every game and this centre has huge differences pair to pair, I was praying to accumulate some scores in the first few games as I always score much more on the left side of the house. I caught a few breaks in the last few games and finished on 1343, so I should be in the cut with that.

The format for the finals:
Whatever your highest qualification score is, you take 50% of your pin-fall through, then the top 48 play a further 4 games on Sunday morning. The next cut is the top 24 who play another 4 games then it is cut to the top 3 step ladder.

The federation here in Barcelona have backing from the Catalonian Sports Federation who are trying to promote women's sports so there is an extra prize fund for women which is guaranteed. The top lady will receive 2,500 Euro so there are a lot of women bowling here. It is great to see last night a squad where the women bowlers out number the men! Not a very common sight in bowling these days!

For full scores CLICK HERE


Tilburg
by zaraglover.com on Sun 18 Feb 2007 15:31 GMT

Hi

This weekend I have been in Tilburg Holland playing a European ranking event. It was the first ranking tournament to trial the dual patterns so therefore even though it is a minor in the ETBF calendar it has been given double point status due to the increased difficulty levels. On every pair of lanes the left lane was a 45 foot pattern and the right lane a 35 foot pattern. To see the patterns and read some info on why these patterns were designed and how to play on them click HERE.

As I understand it, the reason for these dual patterns is to try and cut down the likelihood of bowlers stumbling upon good ball reaction and just matching up and scoring well. With these patterns you really have to have a game plan before you get on the lanes. Specific balls drilled for the length of the pattern and the part of the lane you intend to play. I have played these patterns or slight variations of the basic idea a number of times over the past few years, so I have narrowed down which balls work and know where best to play on these.

I brought 8 balls with me, 3 for the short oil,. 4 for the long and a polyester ball. For the short I had a Groove Urethane, BVP Wizard and a BVP Ambush. The Wizard is drilled pin 1" from my Axis and highly polished, to make the ball hook early then stop and the Ambush was drilled with the pin 1" from my track with the pin above my fingers and highly polished, this makes the ball go longer down the lane and makes the core pretty stable so elongates my break point. The Ambush gave me the best reaction until the lane burnt up a bit and I had to switch to the urethane in order to still allow myself to stay playing outside of 1st arrow. The drilling on the Wizard didn't match up very well here.

For the long I had a Strike Zone, Scorchin Inferno, Total Inferno and Fury. The Strike Zone and Scorchin Inferno were both drilled with the pin below my fingers which makes them roll earlier, which wasn't required here, so I didn't use either of these balls. I alternated between my Total and Fury which are both drilled the same pin up and reasonable stable pin approximately 1.5 " from my track.

We drove over on Friday morning leaving around 6am to get the 8am ferry from Dover to Dunkirk, then I drove the 2.5 hours through France, Belgium and Holland to arrive in Tilburg at 2pm. I didn't bowl that day as I was still suffering from Jet lagg and was tired from the drive. I got an early night and bowled at 8am on Saturday morning. I didn't really get to grips with the patterns in the morning, only shooting two 200+ games but got lined up ready for the next squad. At 4pm I bowled really well shooting 250 last game to finish on 1295. Was it enough???

I bowled again as I was boarder line for making it, but didn't bowl well, the jet lagg still taking it's toll. To my relief I was the number 55th, so made it through. We bowled again this morning at 9am. positions 21 - 55 plus 5 from desperado bowled 4 games from scratch with the highest 20 going through. I made it on 867 so went through to matchplay. This was slightly different to normal, 4 bowlers on a pair, top 2 from each pair going through. I shot 220 first game but then blew it having a low game so I went out. I was pleased with how I bowled on the whole, I have improved a lot through practicing on these patterns and also coaching a team playing on these dual patterns. This is all great preparation for future World/European Championships which will be played on the dual patterns.

Next weekend I am playing a Team England ranking event. Doubles with Matt Giles in Maldon Essex. Then off to Barcelona the weekend after for another European event.


Las Vegas - part III
by zaraglover.com on Sun 11 Feb 2007 22:36 GMT

Hi,

What a busy week, we have been bowling non-stop. There is only the TAT finals still to be bowled, which Steve & Alex have qualified for, the finals started there 10 Minutes ago, so fingers crossed they bowl well!!!

MINI ELIMINATOR

The finals of the Mini weren't very successful for any of us, I went out first round after leaving a split in the 7th frame I had no chance of making it even if I struck out. The cut was really high, in my division it took 225 to go through. Dom also made the finals and received a bye as he was daily leader in his division, so he went straight into round 2, but he didn't have the look he had when he qualified either and went out. It looked like the majority of people were finding the conditions totally different to qualifying. Paul also went out first round, so all of us were pretty much done and dusted in an hour! The tournament was won by Kari Schwager formerly a team USA member, the first time a Mega Buck event has been won by a woman! She struck out to shut the other competitors out!

CLICK HERE TO GO TO FINAL RESULTS.

HIGH ROLLER

This tournament was tough, the lane conditions favoured the high rev rate bowler. Dom qualified 1st time, he has had an excellent trip, cashing in everything he bowled! Darren, Stu and Paul had pretty good looks in this centre also, but kept hitting bad breaks not to make it through. They cashed a $1000 a few times but kept just missed the finals. Stu managed to make it through in the very last squad, shooting 3 very high games in a row, pretty impressive stuff! Once in the finals it was down to matchplay. Stu lost to Rhino Page in round 5 - cashing $2,250. Dom made it through to the 7th round cashing $3,250 but was then defeated by the eventual champion Jason Belmonte. Ann also made the finals in the 205 & under division losing in the 4th round and cashing $2,000.

CLICK HERE FOR FINAL RESULTS.

We have a day or so now, to look around the city, so I'm of to take a walk down the strip.
I will take some pictures and load them up. We have only a few so far, but take a look by clicking Las Vegas 2007 in the column on the left.

Take Care
Z x-x-x



Las Vegas - part II
by zaraglover.com on Tue 06 Feb 2007 18:37 GMT


Hi,

Sunday morning a group of us went to Texas Station, which is where thy host the True Amateur Tournament (TAT) if a bowler has ever won over $10,000 in one event they are prohibited from entering this tournament. The whole UK gang went down there to have a practice before the event started.

The group over here is: Myself, Matt Giles, Alex Hamilton, Nikki Harvey, Matt Hamilton, Dom Barratt, Jon Zadel, Toby Stride, Ann Smith, Rhys Parfitt, Lee Burrows, Paul Moor, Stu Williams, Mark Shea and Steve Thornton is due to get in today. Paul Delaney is also bowling, a UK name from the past ... until recently he has been coaching the national team of Kuwait but is in the process of moving to Indonesia.

Nikki, Paul, Stu and myself are unable to compete in the TAT. Jon and Matt entered TAT on Sunday afternoon, Jon won some Brackets money, but neither of them made it through to the finals in that squad.

All the tournaments really kicked off on Monday after the Super Bowl madness was over!
Matt, Paul, Darren and I went over to play the High Roller, this is a 1 game shootout, where 1 in 4 make it through to the 2nd round. In other words the top quarter of the field go through in each squad. Paul played the 1st squad at 9am and breezed the cut with 235, the rest of us bowled 2nd squad at 10am, I made it through by 1 pin shooting 224, Darren shot 235 on the pair next to me and went through, and Matt just missed with 210. The 2nd round was played at 3pm. Paul and myself didn't make it through to 3rd round so didn't cash anything. Darren however bowled really good, shooting another 230+ game and cashing $1000.

While we were at the High Roller the other guys were playing a sweeper at the Mini Eliminator, basically this is just a pot game, bowl 2 games and the person with the highest game wins $1000. Matt Hamilton shot 279 and won the sweeper!!! He bowled amazing throwing his Brunswick Ultimate Inferno up the gutter (1st arrow), another bowler shot 277 so it was very close...

Monday evening Paul, Darren, Matt & I bowled a another sweeper at the Mini, this was on a different pattern to the tournament pattern, a lot flatter but shorter. I found it petty tricky, shooting 196 first game with my Total Inferno again up 1st arrow, I threw 2 bad shots and 3 taps. Then I changed lanes and totally missed getting lined up on this pair, the ball started fading so I moved in and changed to the new FURY this looked OK, but I couldn't carry, I tried a few different things and left splits in 8th & 9th frames. In the 10th, I moved as far right as I could with the Total playing outside of 1st arrow and struck out for 167 ... typical!!! None of the other English guys managed to cash either in this sweeper. The winner of the sweeper shot over 500 for 2 games!!!

Today Darren is playing the High Roller again as he has such a good look over there. Everyone is playing the Early Bird sweeper (the same format as the one MH won yesterday) right now downstairs (Mini Eliminator - Orleans Hotel) as we got free entries into that for entering the main tournament before a set date. So I'm going down now to see how they are all getting on... Fingers crossed someone in the group has won the $1000 again!!!!

I'll let you know and try and get some pictures for you to see.
x-x-x






Las Vegas
by zaraglover.com on Sun 04 Feb 2007 08:20 GMT

Hi,

Not posted for a while. Been stupidly busy in my new job as a Product Specialist for Brunswick Bowling UK Ltd. I'm enjoying he challenge at work although it has been tough adjusting to a routine of working normal hours. I'm still struggling to get up in time in a morning :o)
Well I have just arrived in Vegas to play the batch of tournaments running this week. I went down to the Mini Eliminator this morning to have a practise and drill the new FURY. This ball hooks!!! I threw it a few shots on the practise range but the lanes were too burnt up, it was hooking way too much. I entered at 3pm to bowl my first block of qualifying and matched up really well. I opened up with 211, tapping a few shots towards the end of the game as I wasn't playing wide enough, then I shot 244 - 256 to finish with 711. Leading my division (36 & Under) so qualifying to the finals. A great day, the trip has been very sucessful so far, 1 for 1 qualifying from my first entry. The lanes played totally different from the practise session, I was able to play with the FURY the whole 3 games straight up board 5, the reaction was brilliant the ball seems to hook at the backend like an Asymetric ball would, but roll as evenly as a Symetrical ball. This is due to the balance between the new Torsion Core and High Octane coverstock... check out the info video by clicking the link at the bottom of the linked page - FURY.


There is nothing I can bowl tomorrow until the evening as there are limited squads running due to it being Superbowl Sunday here in the USA. So I plan to do a bit of shopping.


I'll be back when I have some more news!!!


Z x-x-x

2006 Archived

Airport PTBC
November 2006


Last weekend I bowled the last English ranking tournament of 2006 at Airport bowl – Heathrow. This is usually an important tournament for deciding the National team for the year ahead, but for me due to a rule change I know I have already qualified for the squad. Due to me playing the European tour, I missed a lot of the ranking tournaments last year so wasn’t a part of the national team for 2006. This seemed a little silly as it was just a matter of having enough time to play everything, and it is in the best interests of the National team to include the bowlers that are bowling the most frequently. So for this year the rules have been amended so as if you make the top 10 in Europe and play 5 tournaments in England you qualify for the England Squad. So I went down to Airport more for a practice than anything as the tournament was using the WTBA men’s world championships short and long patterns.

It was a bit of a strange format as the first squad comprising of 4 games, 3 bowlers on a lane, was played on the Short pattern. Followed by 4 games, 3 bowlers on a lane playing on the long pattern. Then the top 12 ladies, bear in mind there were only 13 competing… cut to bowl another 4 games this time played on a 37 foot sport pattern!!! Yes 3 different patterns!!! It then cut to the top 8 matchplay where 8 played 1, 7 v 2 etc. on the burnt up sport pattern. A bit of a grueling day, I saw a lot of bowlers going home very confused and heard a few uttering whispers of not bowling again as they were so disgusted with their performance. Unfortunately that is what happens when 3 tough patterns are laid and bowlers with no experience of playing these extreme patterns are let loose with very little guidance of where to play. In order to be successful every bowler really needed to come with a minimum12 ball arsenal and the majority have not got access to this kind of equipment or funds to pay for it.

I struggled on the short pattern, I really need to cut down my drift to score well on this I’m getting better, but definitely need to work on it before going to another championships. The Long, I was pleased with how I bowled, I have got my head around how the long breaks down so I scored pretty well. Then the top 12 played the Sport pattern, the fresh was pretty difficult, just a case of waiting for the lane to open up. Some of the guys found this pretty difficult going searching for a score. I shot two 170’s then 250, 240.

The Matchplay went straight onto the burnt sport pattern and I bowled against Lisa Gardner. I didn’t get lined up at all, and Lisa beat me pretty easily.

It was a good practice on the whole I was pleased with how I bowled.

Next week I go to Kungsbacka for the final European ranking tournament of the year.

Vienna Open 2006
by zaraglover.com on Tue 21 Nov 2006 23:09 GMT

Well a very early wake up, I had to get the the airport for 5:30 on the Saturday morning to catch my flight as I was bowling the same afternoon. We arrived in Vienna and were very kindly picked up by Thomas Gross, the Austrian National Champion on many occassions. I was scheduled to bowl with him in the afternoon. We dropped our bags off at the hotel, just enough time for a quick shower and change of clthes before leaving for the bowl again ready for the squad.

Aswell as the singles tournament the qualifying was made up in doubles with good prize money for the top few teams.

I really struggled to match up yet again in this centre, I find it very difficult every year, my ball speed and roll just seem to give me a terrible reaction. The first squad I started poorly so then used the last few games to try and get lined up for my re-entry straight after. In the second squad I bowled doubles with European Champion Mai Ginge-Jenson from Denmark. We both struggled again and neither of us made the cut. I got a few ranking points so the trip wasn't totally lost.

The sunday I spent the day showing Matt around the cit as I have been there many times, we had yet another wonderful day checking out the sights of another one of Europes Great historical cities.

Take a look at the pictures!!!

The tournament was won by Wu Siu Hong from Hong Kong China using his Red Zone and Absolute Inferno. Another great win for Brunswick.



Barcelona - 2nd European Ladies Masters
by zaraglover.com on Tue 21 Nov 2006 22:19 GMT

Only a week in England well not even that, 4 days then I was off to Barcelona to try and defend another title I won in 2005. This tournament is a favourite for all the ladies playing the European tour as it s the only tournament for the whole year solely for ladies. Clara and Rosa do a wonderful job organising the tournament and gaining so much sponsorship from the Catalonian sports committee to put into ladies bowling. This weekend is also a great social weekend, so Matt accompanied me to enjoy the sights and sounds of the Beautiful City of Barcelona. The trip was a very easy one a half an hour drive down the road to Luton Airport then a quick 2 hour hop over to the East coast of Spain. We flew in on Friday and were picked up from the airport by one of the tournament helpers. Dropped off my equipment at the bowl and met up with Jo Harries and her soon to be husband Darren Cundy (the big day is July 2007!!!). Then back to the hotel to rest up ready for the early start Saturday.

The tournament was a pretty short affair, the entire thing played on one day. There had been qualiying squads all wee but as I was defending champion I was seeded straight through to the Finals day. The day consisted of 6 games, then a break for lunch which was a nice meal set out for all the bowlers by the bowling centre, the back on the lanes for another 6 games. The cut was then to the top 4, 4th playing 1st and 2nd playing 3rd in a best of 3 game match.

The carry in this centre is a little strange as alot of the decks have off set pins so the scores weren't that high, I qualified for the finals in 4th place after a good afternoon making up for a slow start in the morning. Kirsten Penny was in 3rd position, 2nd Helen Johnson, recent European Master Champion from Sweden and in 1st position was Laurence Gaillard from France.

My match was not that close as Laurence struggled to make a double. I won the match in 2 games
Laurence Gaillard (France) 150 - 179
Zara Glover (England) 205 - 214

The other Semi Final was very close going to 3 games. A very exciting last game saw Helen open at the end of te game and Kirsten take the match by striking in the 10th frame.

Helen Johnson (Sweden) 183 - 204 - 209
Kirsten Penny (England) 198 - 170 - 222

There was a bit of a break where the TV cameras were set up as the final was being shown on National TV all over Spain. I had been using my Red Zone the whole tournament.

The finals started and Kirsten has been very good on the fresh oil the whole tournament, she took the first game 255 to my 211. Then the lane transitioned and he started leaving corner pins where my ball reaction got better. I took the second game 235 to 198. The last game was very close with both of us striking the majority of the game, I had one more spare at the beginning of the game to KP's strike. We both struck until the 9th frame, then both of us threw the 9th frame a little shaky, I threw the ball a little fast and left a 2-8 combination. KP struck which won her the game 268 to 247.

The Sunday was a free day to spend looking around the city. It was recommended to us to visit the Park Guell in the north of Barcelona, so Matt and I took a trip on the metro and climed the extremely steep hill upto the park. The hill was so seep there were escalators outdoors in the street. The park was beautiful with great views of the city, and wonderful pieces of Gaudi architecture.

The park is actually the place where Gaudi lived and worked, his house has now been made into a museum. It was a wonderful day as you can see from the photographs attached. In the afternoon we walked down Las Ramblas, the famous street full of street artists leading down to the harbour. Where we ate Tapas in a lovely seafood restaurant, then headed back to the hotel to pick up our luggage and head to the airport.

As I did so well in San Marino I have decided to make the trip to Vienna next weekend as I have caught up alot of points on Britt Brondsted who was leading the European Rankings so it makes sense to go and give myself the best chance I have of catching her up.



San Marino Finals!!!
by zaraglover.com on Wed 11 Oct 2006 11:30 BST


I WON!!!!!!

2 years in a row, I used my two Red Zones with different layouts for the entire finals. I bowled five, two game matches and beat all the Men!
For full details of the scores check out
http://www.bowlingdigital.com/bowling/node/12502/1
Next weekend I will be in Barcelona for the 2nd European Ladies Masters, I won this last year too, so we'll see if I can repeat the double!


San Marino II
by zaraglover.com on Sun 08 Oct 2006 12:14 BST

Just finished bowling the second round, I shot 1334 for six, just missed the top 8 by 20 which would have gained me an extra bye through to round 4. I start the 3rd round matchplay in about 20 minutes.

2nd San Marino Open I
by zaraglover.com on Sun 08 Oct 2006 11:52 BST

I am in the beautiful Republic of San Marino this weekend, a tiny place on top of a mountain in northern Italy, for the 2nd San Marino Open the 17th stop on the European Tour. I have very fond memories of this place as I won the tournament here last year, probably bowling the best I have ever bowled. I threw the last five strikes in the final to force my opponent to need to strike in the tenth frame to win, he didn’t and I won by 1 pin.

We arrived late on Thursday flying into a small airport called Bologna Forle, approximately 40 minutes by car away from the bowling centre. We are staying in Rimini a resort town about 10 km away from San Marino as we left it too late to find a room close by. I think it’s better though here as it is a much bigger place, so a lot more different restaurants and shops to look in.

I bowled the first squad on Friday at 1pm; after studying the graph of the lane pattern published on the internet before leaving home, I thought there would be a shot on the gutter as the pattern is only 37 foot. So I selected the 6 most appropriate balls to give me the best range of options on that pattern. In practice I tried a few different balls in different parts of the lane but decided to go with my BVP Wizard straight up board 5. I drilled this ball in Las Vegas specifically to play the gutter as the pin in located 2 inches from my axis point, which gives a very different ball reaction. The ball gets into a roll very early which creates a much better angle to carry when playing so far right. In practice it looked very good, but when the game started it was over reacting a little, so in the 5th frame I switched to my Red Zone, which looked much better, a lot smoother reaction. This looked really good, as the lanes carried down I just kept moving right, however, when I couldn’t get any further I changed to the Wizard again and it looked very good. I finished with 1364 so qualified for the finals on my first entry. In hindsight I think I should have changed to the Wizard earlier so I will keep that in mind for the finals.

So today (Saturday) I’ve had a day off, just rested up read for the finals tomorrow. We have just got back from a typical Italian meal of Pizza & Pasta and I’m going to bed. We will be on the lanes at 8am tomorrow. All the scores go back to scratch in the morning, the top 24 will make it through to matchplay. This will be 2 game total score wins, instead of the usual best of 3 game matches, so a lot more emphasis on the score rather than just winning the match. I will keep you posted.

Night Night
ZG
x-x-x-x

Sorry been having admin issues!!!
by zaraglover.com on Fri 06 Oct 2006 17:13 BST

Hi All,

Sorry I haven't written for a while, been having problems with the admin for the site, but we're all back up and running now.

I've been very busy the last six weeks....

World Cup Qualifier
I bowled terrible; this tournament sees the winner going to represent England at the AMF World Cup. This year’s representatives will be Dom Barratt and Lisa John!

Greek Ladies Coaching
After the World Cup Qualifier I went to Athens and spent 10 days training the National Ladies Team of Greece, before taking them to Germany to compete in the European Championships. We spent the time practicing on the Short and Long patterns in Athens and we really bonded as a group. It was a little strange for me not bowling but I definitely needed the break. The ladies did themselves proud, struggling a little in parts but for the team event they were fantastic, finishing in 9th position, the highest position they have ever achieved. I really enjoyed the experience of coaching the team; it is definitely something I would like to pursue in the future.
It was very sad leaving them all at Stuttgart airport but I flew home to an exciting new job!!!

Brunswick
The week after the Europeans I started working for Brunswick at their UK distributor, so far I am really enjoying the roll there.

English Open
The next tournament was the PTBC English Open at Nuneaton.

This is the first year the tournament has been organized, to try and put UK bowling back on the European Calendar. It was organized by one of my closest friends and sponsors Alex Hamilton of Power Play Pro Shop.

Unfortunately the tournament clashed with the Men’s World Championships so there were a few faces missing, but the tournament ran extremely well all weekend with out any hiccups. I bowled well too, qualifying high up so receiving byes through to the 3rd round which was where the matchplay began. I won four best of three game matches before meeting Stuart Williams in the Semi Finals. Stuart had a great ball reaction, although he tried to let me win the 1st game opening the 9th & 10th frames, leaving me to need a double in the 10th frame to win. I left a flat 10 pin, and ended up losing in 2 games so finishing joint 3rd with Matt Giles. Stuart went on to meet Paul Moor in the final where he was defeated. I used my Red Zone & Vapor Zone all weekend.


Viernheim Open

This was a very fleeting visit to Germany, I traveled with Kirsten Penny (my Doubles partner from the Worlds 2003). We flew in early Friday morning bowled Friday afternoon & evening. I didn’t bowl very well on Friday, but tried a few things out and got lined up for Saturday.

I bowled well Saturday 1366, putting me in the top half of the field that qualified through to round 2. We bowled again and the field was cut down, and then arranged in to matches, again best of 3 games. I won my first match against a man from Canada, then I faced a PBA bowler Lonnie Waliczek, I had the best ball reaction I think I have ever had, shooting 273 & 279 to win the match by a big margin.

Next I faced Pasi Uotila from Finland, again I opened up with 279 so over the last 3 games I had shot 831 my highest block. I used the Red Zone again straight up board 5. Then my reaction started to fade when the lane carried down and I made the wrong move, changing balls and moving left. In hindsight I should have stuck with the Red Zone and moved right.

So I got knocked out in that round which put me finishing in 14th position.

Liz Johnson – former PWBA bowler won the tournament, bowling phenomenally well!

Next Tournament is the San Marino Open – See if I can defend the title from last year!!





Indonesian Open Final II
by zaraglover.com on Sat 29 Jul 2006 22:41 BST

I WON!!!!

Click here for FULL RESULTS

I beat Shalin Zulkifli in the finals she needed to double in the 10th to win. I struck 9th frame, throwing a messemger onto the 10 pin, but didn't catch the 10th and left a 2 pin, spared then struck. Shalin struck the first one in the 10th but then threw the 11th pretty fast and left a 2-8 combination for me to win by 2 pins.

Roll on 2007 Indonesian Open!!!


Indonesian Open I
by zaraglover.com on Sat 29 Jul 2006 09:46 BST

I arrived here in Jakarta on Tuesday afternoon.
It is common policy here in Asia that the defending champion of each tournament gets sponsored to return the following year and is seeded straight through to the top 24. So I didn't have to qualify, however you do have to play each event once. So on Wednesday I bowled Trios with Missy Bellinder of USA and Shalin Zulkifli of Malaysia. We shot 1298 for the 2 games and ended up winning Gold. Then on Thursday I played my singles which is what is usually used to qualify for the masters. I shot 849 for 4 games, then bowled doubles with Missy again and we shot 772 for 2 games which won us Silver behind Missy and Shalin in Gold.
The Masters started yesterday, I bowled really well, one of the best 8 game blocks I have had in a long time. I finished on 1898 a 237 average (219-256-219-255-278-206-279-186) I had real problems carrying in the last game.

That put me in 1st place at the half way stage but only 22 pins clear of Singapore's Rena Teng who bowled an excellent very consistent block, all her games were between 213 and 256. I was bowling between 2nd & 3rd arrow all day out to about board 5 with my new Red Zone. I love the shape of the new ball, it's the first tournament I've really used it a lot and I'm very impressed with the reaction it gave me. I hardly had to move and didn't change ball all day.
Today wasn't so plane sailing, I had real problems carrying for the first few games. As the lanes were playing a little tighter I was leaving a lot of 10pins even though I was moving around nearly every frame trying different things to carry. I tried bowling with the other 2 balls I had brought, my Strike Zone and Vapour Zone but they didn't give me as good a reaction. I dropped down to second with 3 games to go after shooting 234-201-181-202-200 then finally got the right combination of ball speed and ball roll. I finished off 225-244-236 (1723 daily total) to go back into 1st by 70 pins infront of Shalin. I finised the 16 games with a total of 3621 a 226 average.

I am now waiting while the men finish their qualification then the finals will start at 5pm. The format is a 6 person step ladder where 6,5 & 4 play one game, the highest score then competes against 3 & 2. The highest score in that match then takes on the number 1 seed.
The number 1 seed has to be beaten twice to lose so fingers crossed!!!
I'll let you know how I fare!

CLICK HERE FOR FULL RESULTS



Brunswick Shootout - Las Vegas III
by zaraglover.com on Sun 09 Jul 2006 08:07 BST

I just got back from bowling the shootout and came 2nd!!!
I bowled with my Scorchin Inferno and BVP Wizard and won 4 matches, two of which by only one pin!
If you'd like to read more about the matches check out Bowling Digital as Herbert Bickel is here keeping everyone updated on the happenings at the tournament.
I am bowling the finals on the Mini tomorrow evening at 6pm, see if I can have a repeat performance!!!


Las Vegas II

by zaraglover.com on Sun 09 Jul 2006 02:37 BST

Hi,
Bowled well the last few days, I drilled a new BVP Wizard which matches up really well at the Mini Eliminator I bowled there again after qualifying earlier in the week to play some brackets, I made a bit of money and won a free Shootout entry. This is an extra tournament that Brunswick put on in the evening where only Brunswick balls are to be used! The qualifying for that was last night, 3 games dropping your lowest game. I qualified shooting 454 for last two games. The finals are in an hour, it's 1 game matchplay within your age division.
I also bowled the High Roller and made it through to round 3 shooting two 230's but then in round 3 I only managed 196 so missed the finals but cashed, so I broke even for that tournament. The finals are taking place now at Sam's Town.
Got to get down to the bowl now, keep your fingers crossed for me!!!


Mega Buck Tournaments - Las Vegas I
by zaraglover.com on Wed 05 Jul 2006 23:02 BST

Hi,

Been bowling a lot the last few days, spent Monday and Tuesday at the High Roller, this format is a one game shootout where I am in the 39 and Under age bracket. 1 in 4 bowlers each squad make it through to round 2. I didn't have a very good ball reaction the first day so drilled a new Red Zone to try on Tuesday, however the lanes played a lot tighter the second day so I ended up using my Vapour Zone and had a much better reaction. I had 213 last game there but missed the cut by 4 pins this qualified me for a free re-entry which I will be using later on in the week.
Today I bowled the Mini Eliminator which is the Brunswick sponsored event, I started off with only a 173 game changing balls every few frames as I didn't have that good a ball reaction, then at the end of the game I bowled the Scorchin Inferno which looked fantastic I shot 235 and 247 last two games to make it through to the finals on Sunday.

I haven't decided what I will bowl tomorrow yet, there is a sweeper here at the Orleans tonight which I will probably bowl, this is just a 2 game pot really. Everyone bowls 2 games and the highest scores win money.

Will write again in the next few days.



Malta Open
by zaraglover.com on Wed 28 Jun 2006 01:28 BST

Hi Guys,
Sorry been having a few computer issues. I had a good tournament at the Malta Open finished in 3rd place using my Absolute Inferno the entire tournament.
I went to Malta for a holiday aswell so spent a week there enjoying the sun. I have posted some photographs in the left hand column photo album take a look!

I am now in Vegas for BowlExpo and the Mini Eliminator tournament until 10th July!
ZG



Dutch Open
by zaraglover.com on Sun 11 Jun 2006 13:58 BST

Just finished bowling the finals here in Dolfijn bowling Scheveningen. I arrived on Thursday evening and bowled my first squad at 16:00 on Friday. The pattern here was quite difficult, playing long with an out of bounds to the right. I didn't play very well the first block, but tried out some different balls in different parts of the lane.

The town here is a lovely beach resort, and the weather has been really hot so i spent the next morning checking out the sites, the beach is beautiful! I bowled the 16:00 squad again on Saturday, I was planning on playing up track with the Scorchin Inferno but the lanes were hooking a lot more than Friday so I ended up playing with Strike Zone and Vapour Zone but struggled to carry. I bowled again straight after in the 8pm squad, I used my Vapour Zone the whole block with a slower ball speed and had a much better reaction shooting 1338. It was the best I've bowled in a long time, I needed a 220 last game to make the top 8 and go straight to round 3 but only managed 203 with a tap in the 10th so was placed in 13th place.

The second round started at 8:30 this morning, a six game block everyone starting from scratch. I had a terrible start opening up with 150-138 I just couldn't replicate the slow ball speed I had yesterday, after 3 games I sorted myself out and slowed everything down and was much better then shooting 640 over the last 3 games, but I had left it too late and finished 50 pins short of the next cut!

We are going to set off for home in an hour or so, we will drive from here through Belgium to Dunkerque in France and catch the ferry back to he UK. I fly to Malta tomorrow morning so I will drive straight to the airport in London. I can't wait for Malta, holiday and bowling in one!!! The tournament starts there on Thursday.
ZG

Aalborg International III
by zaraglover.com on Sun 28 May 2006 14:08 BST

Just finished bowling... missed the cut by 18 pins so finished in 20th position. I bowled the first three games in the left hand side of the centre. I have always had trouble on that side of the house every time I have bowled in this centre, it's driving me crazy I can't work out how to get a good ball reaction there. Last year I bowled a low last game in that end of the centre to just miss the next cut. The last game this year I was up at the high end of the centre and bowled a good game, needing a double in the 10th for 240 and to go through. Unfortunately I didn't make it, only shooting a spare and count for 223.

Never mind, I am pleased with how I bowled for the duration of the tournament. I have not had such good form recently, but I feel like I am on my way back to bowling well. A few more hours on a practice lane when I get home and I think I will be sorted! Let hope by the next event!
The next tournament is the Dutch Open 8th - 11th June.
Until then...

Aalborg International II
by zaraglover.com on Sat 27 May 2006 19:59 BST

I went to the 9 pin no tap tournament today. It was great fun I haven't bowled 9 pin since I was a junior. It was in a very small centre only 10 lanes and there were just locals bowling until we showed up (Britt Brondsted, Anja Ginge Jensen, Stuart Williams and myself). It was the highest 3 game block, only bowling on 1 lane! I bowled with Stu, and the first block we weren't that good, just working out where to play, Britt started really well with the front 9 then a pocket 7-10 in the 10th frame, she wasn't impressed!!! I started off using my Vapour Zone then after leaving a few splits changed to my Strike Zone.

The four of us didn't make a score that would cash so we played again, this time we had a bit of a wager, Britt's verses Danes, losers buying lunch!!! Stu and I breezed to victory shooting 540-530-480. I finished with a total of around 750, not enough to cash. We played again, Stu scoring very well this block but still not making 800, we were estimating the winner to have around 850. I missed the transition and only shot 660 this block, however in the last game I changed to my Classic Zone and found a much better ball reaction. So I entered AGAIN ha ha.

This block I did much better, shooting a 244-297-246 total of 787, so close, I chopped a 6-10 spare in the 9th frame of the last game, very frustrating. That was enough for me, I don't think I could have done any better, especially as they were re-oiling the lanes. So we came back to Aalborg as Stu was bowling here at 8pm, and went out for our victory Dinner :o).

The finals here in Aalborg start tomorrow, I am currently sitting in 12th position with the last squad now underway, for a full list of scores go to http://www.bai2006.dk/

ZG


Aalborg International I
by zaraglover.com on Fri 26 May 2006 19:26 BST

Arrived yesterday in Copenhagen then drove up to the north here in Aalborg. We stopped off at a local Danish tournament, six games and the highest total pin-fall wins. I bowled pretty good shot 1388 for 6 games. Britt is winning she bowled brilliant shooting over 1500 for 6 games! I was in 6th place when I left and the tournament runs until Sunday.

I arrived here last night and bowled at 7pm. The lane pattern is pretty difficult scoring is really low so there are a lot of women doing well as we get 8 pins a game bonus. I didn't bowl so well last night, trying different balls in different parts of the lane but by the end of the squad I found a better ball reaction ready for today.

The lanes here in Aalborg are very different from pair to pair so I decided to throw the ball faster and straighter so as I didn't notice the differences as much. I used my Strike Zone the whole squad. I finished on 1337 which currently puts me in 8th position with one more day of qualifying to go.

Tomorrow I'm going to another town to play a 3 game 9 pin no tap tournament, apparently this is really popular in Denmark and usually takes a 900 series to win so we'll see how that goes!
ZG


WRM conclusion
by zaraglover.com on Mon 15 May 2006 19:47 BST

Well the tournament has come to a very exciting conclusion. The ladies title was returned to Columbia for the second conecutive year, this years champion was Sara Varges. The men's champion was Kuwaiti, Khalid Al-Dubyan a very talented youth bowler. So you can imagine the crowd was going crazy in the finals yesterday when he defeated Pasi Uotila from Finland. The entire tournament was screened live on the sports channel for the Gulf region.

Britt unfortunately lost her first match to Shalin from Malaysia. I have really enjoyed watching the tournament, it as been nice to have a week of not bowling and I think I have learned a lot about the break down of these Short/Long patterns so I think the trip has been very beneficial for my future career (and also my tan!!)

The next tournament I have is the Aalborg International in Denmark 24th - 29th May, the 9th stop of the European tour.



World Ranking Masters
by zaraglover.com on Sat 13 May 2006 14:25 BST

Qualification is over... Today was 8 games on the short and long at the same time... One lane on each pair short pattern the other long. This really highlighted the experienced bowers and they moved up the field pretty quickly today. I have been helping Britt all week, just being an extra pair of eyes for her to bounce ideas off. She bowled really well today, we'd figured out what moves worked and didn't over the last few days and it was just a matter of putting into practice what we had learned.

Britt finished in 5th position and meets Malaysian Shalin Zulkifli tomorrow at 9am in a best of 3 game match alternating patterns every game.

Sorry I haven't been able to tell you about the Men but I've been sunning myself at the pool in the afternoons, instead of watching them bowl. If you would like to see results go to http://www.kuwaitbowling.com/

Will let you know how it goes tomorrow.



World Ranking Masters
by zaraglover.com on Thu 11 May 2006 14:06 BST

I have stayed on in Kuwait to watch the World Ranking Masters, I didn't play enough tournaments to qualify last year, but thought I would stay and watch catch up with some friends. There are 3 English representatives, in the Ladies Jo Harries and the Men's Paul Moor and Stuart Williams.

In the time in between the two tournaments Britt Brondsted and I spent some time at an Arab Beauty salon owned by one of the bowlers, we had a very amusing day and got done up with full Arabic makeup!! Don't worry we took photos... I will post them in the next few days then you can all have a giggle! (See if you can recognise us)

Official practise was yesterday, this was also a short and long oiling pattern tournament, the patterns were changed from those put down for the kuwait open by the technical committee as they thought something more challenging was required for the level of bowlers competing in the Masters. It is after all the top 8 bowlers from each of the three WTBA zones. Both patterns were made flatter to increase the level of accuracy required to score. Most players seemed confident after practise was over.

Today all the bowlers completed 8 games on the short pattern. From the back the lanes seemed the same as practise for the first 3 games but then broke down a little different. Because all the bowlers were lined up playing a similar part of the lane, the break down was very different to yesterday when bowlers were trialing different areas of the lane. This threw a some people as they made wrong moves and dropped down the field.

Ladies from Europe took an early lead with Helen Johnsson (Sweden) starting with an impressive 269 she was later joined at the top by fellow European Tanya Petty (Germany), both of them lapping the field and competing between themselves for the daily leader prize money. Tanya finally taking the victory when she shot 235 last game to Helen's sub 200 game. Tanya finished the 8 games with a total of 1796 (225 ave).

The men are bowling now so will let you know how they do, I'm off to the pool!!!!



Bad Day at the Office!!!
by zaraglover.com on Tue 09 May 2006 14:32 BST

Unfortunately I didn’t do so well in the second round here in Kuwait, bowled well on the long but I didn’t work out the short. The short pattern was a great deal harder than the long and difficult to create the correct angle into the pocket to carry. I ended up in 8th position , the eventual champion was Shalin Zulkifli from Malaysia and in the men’s Jason Belmonte from Australia.

I will stay in Kuwait for another week to watch the World Ranking Masters.



Kuwait Open 2006
by zaraglover.com on Fri 05 May 2006 21:34 BST

I'm in Kuwait this week playing the Kuwait Open.

It is a re-entry two pattern tournament (Short and Long oil), with your highest two 3 game totals on each pattern counting towards your place in the finals. The scoring has been very high all week as the field is of a very high quality due to this centre hosting the World Ranking Masters next week and the majority of the competitors arriving early to play both tournaments.
I arrived on Tuesday morning on a 10 hour flight from Manchester via Doha in Qatar. Had a short rest and bowled on Tuesday afternoon. It has taken me a while to get lined up on the two patterns, the long was playing roughly as I expected it to, but the short has been a little weird! I wasn't expecting to have trouble hooking the ball on the short oil, but have ended up using the same balls on both patterns just in different parts of the lane.

Today is the last day of qualifying, the last squad is half way through their first game now and I'm currently in 7th position in the ladies with a total of 2617 for 12 games (218 Ave). I've had an OK ball reaction on both patterns using my Scorchin Inferno and Strike Zone on the long and Absolute Inferno and Strike Zone on the short, but have scored slightly more on the long oil. The finals start tomorrow morning and the top 10 ladies and 2 locals go through to the finals, so fingers crossed I stay inside the top 10 after this squad. Tomorrow the ladies bowl 4 games on each pattern then it cuts to the top four for a live televised step ladder. Last year I made the step ladder but lost to my Doubles team mate from the World Champs Kirsten Penny and finished in 3rd position.

I am going to try my luck in the Desperado when this squad finishes as I can compete in the Men's final as well as the Women's but the scores have been huge this year so no women have got close to qualifying on their total score. Desperado is basically a one game shootout for those of you who aren't familiar with the term, you bowl on one lane only and the top scores go through to the finals. Here the top 4 scores will go through to the finals tomorrow, so I think we're all going to have a go, after all what's one more game???

So I will go and prepare and be back tomorrow to let you know how it goes!!!

Cross your fingers!



Welcome to my World
by zaraglover.com on Wed 26 Apr 2006 12:21 BST

Hi, Welcome to my website…

Let me tell you a bit about myself. I have been bowling since I was a junior, first qualifying for Team England when I was 14 years old, after being approached and offered coaching by the then junior England coach Brian Michael he rebuilt my game around my natural talents. Through his knowledge and my determination (and also many hours on a practice lane) together we created the mental and physical game I have today. I had reasonable success throughout my career but my big break came at the World Championships in 2003, this was my first world event at the adult age category, and I surprised everybody, even myself winning 3 gold’s and 1 silver medal. Since then my life has changed dramatically, I have been fortunate enough to visit some of the most beautiful places on the planet and experience many of the most friendly and hospitable cultures around and all while competing in the sport I love.

I had just graduated from Portsmouth University where I had been reading Psychology for 3 years when the letter came announcing I had been selected as a member of Team England, the six man team to be sent to Kuala Lumpur later on that same year. I was not very certain what career path I was going to take after graduating, and as the trip was going to entail 3 weeks of traveling so soon after starting a new job, I decided I would take the summer off before seriously job seeking and use it to prepare myself for the event.

This was the biggest tournament of my career so far; I spent the summer working in Power play Proshop Poole learning about bowling equipment and surface adjustments while being able to practice freely every morning before shop opening times. This was the first time I had been able to dedicate so much time to bowling and the results spoke for themselves. My game improved immensely from the volume of time I was spending practicing and only increased my confidence in my bowling abilities. Since then I have spent most of my time bowling tournaments and coaching. I am currently running bowling coaching Academy’s in Europe for Brunswick.

With this site I’m aiming to give you an insight into my life on the road! The trials and tribulations of the amateur bowling world along with what I learn and experience along the way….. I hope you enjoy it and learn from my experiences!

ZG


My World Masters Weekend

Tenpin Bowling is back at the Barnsley Metrodome this weekend for this years' World Tenpin Masters. The event see's 16 of the world’s best bowlers representing twelve different countries.

Schedule of Events:
Round of 16
Friday, April 21
Match 1 at 19:00 Dominic Barrett (ENG) vs. Jens Nickel (GER)
Match 2 at 20:00 Tomas Leandersson (SWE) vs. Guy Caminsky (RSA)
Match 3 at 21:00 Lynda Barnes (USA) vs. Wim Van Der Veen (NED)

Saturday, April 22
Match 6 at 16:00 Zara Glover (ENG) vs. Jason Belmonte (AUS)
Match 4 at 14:00 Liza Del Rosario (PHI) vs. Paul Moor (ENG)
Match 5 at 15:00 Tore Torgersen (NOR) vs. Alex Liew (MAS)
Match 7 at 19:00 Kirsten Penny (ENG) vs. Michael Schmidt (CAN)
Match 8 at 20:00 Britt Bröndsted (DEN) vs. Chris Barnes (USA)

Round of 8
Saturday, April 22
Match 9 at 21:00 Winner Match 1 vs. Winner Match 2

Sunday, April 23
Match 10 at 13:00 Winner Match 3 vs. Winner Match 4
Match 11 at 14:00 Winner Match 5 vs. Winner Match 6
Match 12 at 15:00 Winner Match 7 vs. Winner Match 8

Semi-finals
Sunday, April 23
Match 13 at 18:00 Winner Match 9 vs. Winner Match 10
Match 14 at 19:00 Winner Match 11 vs. Winner Match 11

Finals
Sunday, April 23
Match 15 at 21:00 Winner Match 13 vs. Winner Match 14