A total of 310 entries is possible for the inaugural Oltremare Championships, a total that is expected to exceed that of the Brunswick Euro Challenge staged in Greece in March where the record entry was 306.

Players from 15 countries will be here for a tournament that next year will be classified as a major event on the ETBF Tour.

To see this result is a great pleasure for all. That It could be the consequence of hard work during last months and the boost to work more to offer a good product to the all players and to the spectators that during the tournament week will be in the stands to see the best of International bowling...

Among those on the early entry list is the gold medal winner of the recent European Cup Individual, Domenico Righi of San Marino and the ladies' silver medalist Roberta Ferina of Italy. Nina Flack from Sweden and Germany's Martina Beckel, bowlers in the top eight of the European ladies' rankings, are also scheduled to compete.

England's  Paul Moor, the current European rankings leader,  Bill Hoffman from USA, Teemu Raatikainen from Finland and many players of top rank of EBT2004 will be eagerly seeking ranking points and prize money.

The top squad will be Friday, November 12 at 5.00pm.

Columbia300 will debut the new high performance bowling ball, BIG BULLY, and the Kegel Team will organize seminars on lane maintenance.

A major seaport and popular tourist destination, Naples, the capital of Campania, sits on the Bay of Naples and in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius, a volcano which last erupted in 1948.

We can't promise any earth shattering events during the inaugural Oltremare Championships, November 9-14, but we're sure that Bowling Oltremare will be pulling out all the stops to guarantee the finest conditions for the penultimate ETBF ranking tournament of 2004.

The tournament organization is in the hands of amiable Stefano Coppa (right) and a very capable team. No mean bowler in his own right, Coppa knows what the tournament players really, really want and has studied tournament organization from other events in the Mediterranean area over the past couple of years.

Situated close to the city center, Bowling Oltremare is within walking distance of museums, the royal palace and other historic attractions. The center is also close to the zoo, an 11-screen cinema and the Edenlandia amusement park, the largest in southern Italy. It's roughly a 15-minute ride from Capodichino Airport or a quick hop from the Napoli Centrale train station. An efficient underground system also serves the city, with a stop quite close to the bowling center.

One change to that printed upon the original entry form is now an eight-game initial qualifying round, not nine games as previously published.

For further information, contact Keith Hale: keithhale679@aol.com