Mark Buffa, Francois Lavoie and Patrick Girard of Canada (pictured left, l-r) took the lead in the Men's Trios event at the World Championships as the 36 trios of Squad 2 have completed their second three-game block on the 39-feet Seoul lane conditioning pattern.

The 36 trios of Squad 1 including first block leaders Bill O'Neill, Tommy Jones and Chris Barnes (right, r-l) of the United States will complete the qualifying at Sunset Station's Strike Zone in Henderson, Nev., later this afternoon. The top four trios will advance to the Medal Round starting at 3 p.m. PDT.

The Canadians averaged 227.33 for the day including games of 663, 713 and 670 and 2046 total, which was added to the 1992 short-oil block to set the pace with 4038 and an overall average of 224.33.

Buffa, the son of renowned Canadian coach Frank Buffa, had 730 on the long pattern to lead his team with 1402. He was followed by Girard with 1358 and Lavoie, who contributed 1278.

Second place belongs to Team USA's John Janawicz, Mike Fagan and World Champion in Doubles John Szczerbinski (left, l-r), who were 90 pins behind the Canadians with 3948 (219.33) including 1975 on short oil and 1973 (702, 640, 631) on long oil.

Glen Loader, Sam Cooley and Jason Belmonte (above right, r-l) of Australia are further 68 pins behind in third place with 3880 (215.56) behind games of 647, 732 and 579 and a 1958 series.

Jimmy Mortensen, Frederik Øhrgaard and Carsten Warming Hansen (left, l-r) averaged 241 on long oil to shoot into fourth place in Squad 2 with 3874 and an average of 215.22. The Danes started the day with 671 and 731 and closed out with 767, the highest game of the Trios event so far, to fall eleven pins short of the championship record for one game (Finland, 778; 1999, UAE).

Their 2169 total is just 27 pins short of the championship record for three games (USA, 2196; 2010, Germany).

The other 32 trios of Squad 2 have no chance anymore to make the Trios finals later on Sunday. Martin Paulsson, James Gruffman and Jesper Svensson (above right, l-r) finished in fifth place with 3850 with Osku Palermaa, Petteri Salonen and  Pasi Uotila (left, l-r) of Finland in sixth place at 3804.

South Korea's Shin Seung-Hyeon, Park Jong-Woo and Kim Ju-Young were seventh with 3790, followed by Toshihiko Takahashi, Tomoyuki Sasaki and Shusaku Asato (above right, l-r) of Japan in eighth place with 3789.

Ninth place belonged to Anthony Fabre, Sebastien Henry and Kevin Seve (left, r-l) of France to totaled 3757. Rounding out the top 10 of Squad 2 were Ildemaro Ruiz, Richard Leon and Amleto Monacelli (right, l-r) of Venezuela with 3707 including a 757 opening game today.

Costa Rica's Rodolfo Madriz, Alejandro Reyna and Diego Rojas (below left, l-r) closed out the day with a huge 765, the second-highest game of the event so far, to land in 11th place with 3705.

With Squad 1 bowlers still haven't completed the Trios qualifying, Australian two-hander Jason Belmonte took the lead in All-Events (combined qualifying results in Singles, Doubles, Trios and Team) with 3994 total or an average of 221.89 for 18 games.

John Janawicz, United States, is 31 pins behind in second place with 3964 (220.17) with Korea's Shin Seung-Hyeon in third place with 3948 (219.33).

Squad 1 bowlers will bowl their second block on long oil from noon to 2.30 p.m. The top four will advance to the Medal Round starting at 3 p.m. PDT live on BowlTV.

Bowlingdigital's Photo Album

The World Tenpin Bowling Association World Championships run from Aug. 16 thru 31, 2013 at Sunset Station's Strike Zone in Henderson, Nev. in the Las Vegas area. The Championships will award medals in six disciplines - Singles, Doubles, Trios, Team, All Events and Masters.

The entire competition will be broadcast live on BOWL.com's BowlTV. Bowling fans will be able to watch live and on demand for free. The schedule is available at BOWL.com/LiveStream.

 

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