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World Cup 2003

   Updated
September 4, 2003

Honduras will host 2003 AMF World Cup - September 27 - October 4 

BTAA's Paulette Watson, President, World Bowling Writers,  
will be covering the AMF World Cup tournament from Honduras
For daily 2003 scores, pictures and articles GO>> SCORES

A visit to Honduras - well worth the trip!

TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS SET TO HOST 2003 AMF BOWLING WORLD CUP

LONDON, ENGLAND, March 3, 2003 - Tegucigalpa, Honduras, will welcome the 2003 AMF Bowling World Cup
September 27-October 4, at the 24-lane Planeta Sipango center.

John Walker, Chief Operating Officer of AMF Bowling Products, met with Mrs. Amida de Lopez, one of the Vice-Presidents of Honduras; Raul Mejia, president of the local bowling federation; Jose Gerardo Rischmagui, World Cup organizing committee president and President of the Honduran Confederation of Sports, and other Honduran officials Monday, March 3, in Tegucigalpa during a formal signing ceremony and press conference for more than 150 guests and reporters.

Honduras is the first-ever Central American/Caribbean nation to host AMF's annual fall sports classic, which is the world's largest annual international sports championship in terms of number of participating nations.  The Bowling World Cup will also be Honduras' first international sports championship, says tournament manager Anne-Marie Board.

"President Maduro has pledged his country's full support to make the tournament a success," Board reports.  "He told me that he personally enjoys taking his grandchildren bowling on weekends and looks forward to seeing the top-flight competition for which the World Cup is known."

"The news that Honduras has been awarded the World Cup has made me, my staff and the rest of my country feel overjoyed with excitement," says Rischmagui.  "We look forward to receiving the world with open arms and to make this event one of the best in AMF history."

Planeta Sipango, located in southeast Tegucigalpa, boasts 24 AMF "HPL" lanes equipped with AMF furnishings, a lounge, snack bar, games arcade, bowling pro shop and office space.  Its mezzanine floor, equipped with billiard tables and a full service bar, accesses the "Ozono" discotheque, which is located in the same building.  Owned by the Simón family, Planeta Sipango opened in November 1999, with a Central American championship tournament, according to facility manager Gerardo Simón.   "We are all very proud and excited with the news that we have been chosen to host the AMF World Cup," says Simón.

Honduras follows the lead of Northern Ireland, which hosted the 1996 Bowling World Cup in the Belfast suburb of Castlereagh; that tournament was also Northern Ireland's first-ever international sports championship and played a major role in the sport's growth in that nation.

With the selection of Honduras, the Bowling World Cup returns to the Western Hemisphere for the first time since 1999, when it was held in Las Vegas, USA.

The 2002 edition was held in Riga, Latvia, the first Eastern European nation ever selected, and 85 countries were represented.  Honduran athletes have competed in the World Cup since 1968; the most recent representative, Gil Valle, finished in a tie for 49th place among the men in Portugal in 2000.

This year's field is expected to include women's defending champion Shannon Pluhowsky of the United States.  Pluhowsky captured her second consecutive USA national amateur championship, her country's World Cup qualifying event, this past December.

AMF Bowling Worldwide Inc., the founder and principal sponsor of the Bowling World Cup, is the world's largest owner and operator of bowling centers in the world, as well as a major manufacturer of bowling center equipment.

For current news releases and player lists GO>> AMF