LADIES - SQUAD 3 - Dual lane pattern:

Game 1
It seems that the girls have adapted to the dual lane pattern of one lane with the long oil condition and the other with short much earlier than their male counterparts yesterday. There were only six players scoring less than 200 and the high game was 256 by Alicia Marcano of Venezuela.
Caroline Lagrange still has four wheels on her wagon and is bowling consistently, as shown with almost equal scores on the long and short oil from previous squads.
The fight is now on for those elite last few places in the top eight. Who of those in contention can take the pressure?

Game 2:
Strangely, the field average dropped ten pins in this, the second game. But here we saw Diandra throw a 279 and move up into second place behind Caroline and demoting Zara to third. Patricia Schwarz of Germany, but living in Finland, is making steady progress up the table and is now only six pins short of the cut line.
The sole left-hander in the field, Lai Kin Ngoh, a Malaysian now living in Hong Kong, is not doing too well and is too far off the pace to make the cut.

Game 3:
The field average increased slightly in the third game but there were no exceptionally high games, the 249 from Diandra and 248 by Malaysia's Zandra Aziela.
Putty Armein lost her eighth place and that has been taken over by Wendy Chai of Malaysia and Patricia Schwarz moves up to seventh. four Americans, three Europeans and one Asian in the top eight right now, so nothing like the men's division with seven European qualifiers.

Game 4:
Wendy Chai makes yet another step upwards with the squad high game of 258 and Helen Johnsson is taking the elevator down whilst the top three hold their places.
The field average has yet to get back to the 215, that of the opener this morning, and the 200-plus games seem to be getting rarer as the girls try to master this unique condition.

Game 5:
Getting towards the end of qualifying now and every shot becoming critical. Patricia Schwarz takes over fifth from Wendy Chai and Diandra Asbaty is gaining ground on Caroline Lagrange for that enviable first place. There's a $1,000 prize for squad leader and another for the top qualifier. Diandra is aiming for both envelopes.
The top eight will advance to the best-of-three game rounds this afternoon, taking to the lanes after the top eight men fight their quarter-final. Both semi-finals will be completed later this evening and the televised fnals will take place Monday afternoon.

Game 6:
Now the story is getting very interesting as the fight is on between Diandra and Caroline for the top of the squad and qualifying first place. Diandra is still 55 pins behind Caroline and has just two games to wipe out that deficit. But the Canuck is a stubborn young lady and will not lose pins without a fight.
Wendy Chai is back in fourth place, creeping up on Zara Glover who has fallen back with a 171 this game and Patricia Schwarz consolidated her position with a 247. Maybe all down to eleventh place have a good chance, but you never know what is going to happen as Thomas Gross of Austria upset the apple cart last night by shooting a 279 in the final game and zoomed into eighth place.
 

Game 7:
You can cut the tension with a knife down on the concourse as the crowd hold off breathing because of the close fight between Caroline and Diandra. Just 21 pins separate the two now as Diandra's 268 against the 234 of Caroline brought the pair so close together.
"What happened in Diandra's second frame," asked a renowned magazine editor. That was because the scoresheet showed a 8-split. "It was a 3-10 split," replied Diandra's coach, Jeri Edwards.
The fight is on, too, for the lower places and as the top seed will play the low, maybe some are looking at trying to avoid a confrontation with Diandra or Caroline. A few tactics could come into play in these final frames.

Game 8:
If you'll pardon me using an old English expression, I'll say 'Cor Blimey' after watching the last ten frames. It was so, so tense but Diandra's quest to take over as top qualifier was thwarted by a few spares before she could string the strikes. The Canadian's 237 opened the gap so she finishes in first place for the $1,000 bonus but Diandra took the thousand for being squad leader.
All credit to Diandra for a fine performance after the grueling runner-up position in the Queens last week and quarter-finalist in the World Tenpin Masters in England a couple of weeks ago.
One of the final game highlights was a 278 from Malaysia's Zandra Aziela, taking her up to fifth.
But the day belonged to Caroline, fending off all the challenges from the talented field. When bowling on the dual pattern, Caroline said, "You have to get out of the bubble (think outside the box) - you have to be able to make the right moves at the right time. It's a real test of versatility. You need to minimize your errors and find a way to get to the pocket as often as you can."
Caroline will face Alicia Marcano of Venezuela in the first round of the quarter-finals, a best-of-three game encounter. It will be a USA vs Germany battle with Diandra facing Patricia Schwarz; Wendy Chai has to beat Aumi Guerra of the Dominican Republic and the fourth is for the 'Z's', Zara Glover, England, and Zandra Aziela of Malaysia.
Photo: Kegel's Del Ballard made the presentations to Caroline Lagrange (left) and Diandra Asbaty.