VENEZUELA IN POLE POSITION
Arturo Hernandez, 46, of Venezuela blew away all opposition to hold top place on the leader board after the first eight of 24 games, bowled on the short oil pattern Tuesday evening. The Caracas restaurateur, specializing in Arabian food, six consecutive 200 games, five of them really high, before dropping to 189 in the seventh. He came back with a 233 in the eighth to stack a huge total pinfall of 1958, a 244 average, to hold an 86-pin buffer over second-placed Pasi Uotila of Finland and, even better, to win $1,000 for being the top squad scorer.
"It was a great pleasure to play alongside the best bowlers in the world," said Hernandez after the squad. "I have never bowled so well in an event at this level."
Hernandez has been bowling on the Venezuelan national team since 1982, except for a break of five or six years up until 1993, but regularly since that time. He i also a member of the Venezuelan national federation.
"I am self dedicated," he added, "although I have had some coaching over the years. I was very pleased with the lane condition today and I think that the short oil pattern was not quite as short as in previous years of the World Ranking Masters. I hardly had to move more than a couple of boards through the eight games."
The high game of the men's squad tonight was a 288 from Qatar's Ahmed Shaheen, one pin less than that scored by Reija Lunden in the ladies' squad earlier in the day. Lunden's total score of 1936 was only 22 pins short of that of Hernandez.
Wednesday will see the 50 players return to the lanes for eight more games played on the long oil pattern, commencing with the ladies at 9:00 am.

(Picture shows Kegel CEO John Davis presenting the $1,000 squad prize to Hernandez)
 

MEN - SQUAD 1:
First 8 of 24 games - short oil pattern.         
 

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