The 13^th World Youth Bowling Championship 2014 are officially open after a stunning opening ceremony at South China Athletic Association (SCAA) Bowling Center in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong, China.

Master of Ceremony Ms. Astrid Lo welcomed all attendants to the Opening Ceremony, which started with the official march past of youth Team Pakistan along with more than 250 players and the national anthem.

The three-member team attend the Opening Ceremony .The team includes 16 years old Ahmer Abbas Saldera, 17 years old Faizan Tariq and 20 years Ali Suria

 Players, coaches, officials and guests were welcomed by Ms. Vivien Lau (left), BBS, JP, Hon. Life President of the Asian Bowling Federation, World Bowling Secretary General, and chairman of the WYC Organizing Committee and the Hong Kong Tenpin Bowling Congress, who is hosting the biennial event.

The World Youth Championships is listed as 'M' Mark event (large-scale sport event) by the Hong Kong Government and will be participated by almost 400 under-21s, coaches and officials from 46 countries and regions.

Hong Kong team representatives, Ms Joan Cheng and Mr Michael Mak took the players' oath on behalf of all players while Mr Leung Yuet Ming took the officials oath on behalf of the officials.

 The Opening Ceremony ended with Mr. Fok, Mr. Ko, the Hon. Ma Fung Kwok, SBS, JP, Wang Chun Nam, Vice Chaiman of the host South China Athletic Association, and Mr. Dornberger accompanied by Ms. Lau performing the "eye-dotting ceremony" for the lion dance after which Mr. Fok declared the 13th World Youth Championships open. 

166 boys, 96 girls and 120 team officials from 46 countries are taking part in this 13th edition of the World Youth Championships. Official practice will be held Today, August 7 with the championships kicking off with the Singles for boys and girls over two days, August 8 and 9.

The Doubles will be held on August 10 and 11 while the Team of 4 will be contested on August 12 and 13. The top 24 boys and top 24 girls based on the All Events standings (18 games) will qualify for the Step 1 Masters finals on August 14.

The top 8 boys and top 8 girls after Step 1 finals will advance to Round-robin Matchplay Step 2 finals on August 15. The championships will close with the victory banquet at Panda Hotel in Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong.

After a colorful Opening Ceremony on Wednesday, action at the World Youth Championships shifts to the Official Practice on Thursday. Youth Team Pakistan (Ahmer Saldera, Ali Suria & Faizan Tariq) attended a practice session for 90 minutes at South China Athletic Association (SCAA) Bowling Center in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong, China.

 Media Cell

KARACHI- 04, August: Youth Bowling Team Pakistan will participate in the 13^thWorld Youth Bowling Championship 2014, Hongkong. The event is scheduled on 6th august to 16th august 2014 at South China Athletic Association Bowling Centre, HongKong

The 10-day event kicks off with the Team Managers Meeting on Wednesday, August 6 followed by the Opening Ceremony in the evening. On Friday, August 8, after a day of official practice rounds, bowlers and fans will enjoy the first of eight days of competition.

Friday and Saturday are set aside for Boys Singles, followed by the Doubles events Sunday and Monday and the Team events on Tuesday and Wednesday. The competition comes to an exciting end Thursday and Friday with the Masters competition. The semi-finals and finals will start on Friday, August 15, at 1:00 p.m. Hong Kong time.

Mr. Aleem Agha(Vice President, Pakistan Tenpin Bowling Federation Romis Ali  (Joint Secretary of PTBF & Khawaja Ahmed,CEO, Virtual Entertainment Pvt Ltd Axis , said in joint statement addressing the Media on Monday.

168 boys from 45 countries- Australia, Bahrain, Canada, China, Chinese Taipei, Colombia, Costa Rica, Czech, Egypt, England, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Kuwait, Latvia, Macau, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Scotland, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, UAE, Ukraine, United States, and Venezuela will take part in the event.

The three-member team will leave for Hongkong on Tuesday, August 05, 2014 .The team includes 16 years old Ahmer Abbas Saldera, 17 years old Faizan Tariq and 20 years Ali Suria. The players are highly Motivated and charged towards the youth world cup with great enthusiasm which will give them Great exposure and confidence for this and future events

The youth World Cup is featuring participants from 54 countries and Ahmer believes that Pakistan can finish among the top contenders this year.“We are all set to compete among the best players of the world,” Ahmer told the media. “We are practicing every day for three hours and hopefully our hard work will pay off.

“But the real challenge for us was that we don’t have any bowling alleys from the government, so we have to go to different private clubs and schedule our practice hours accordingly. We can’t take more than three hours in one club at a time.” Besides we desperately need a Certified International Coach .

The Healthy Sport Game of Tenpin Bowling is gaining huge popularity in Pakistan, and we feel proud that Three Talented Pakistani Youth are venturing to take part in 13^thWorld Youth Championship 2014, Hongkong and bring a name for Pakistan officiated players .We are working towards grooming of our talented players based on Ranking results and will encourage them to represent Pakistan in such International events in future.Said Aleem Agha

Romis Ali further stated that Tenpin Bowling Team Pakistan is participating in13^thWorld Youth Championship 2014, Hongkong First time in the history & this is the outcome of Federations’ efforts and struggles. The tour is being financed and Supported by Pakistan Tenpin Bowling Federation and partially by local sponsor Mr. Khawaja, CEO of Virtual Axis Pvt Ltd to promote and encourage the sport. He further expressed that not only Federation enlighten the name of our country at international level but will also wave Pakistani Flag in year 2014 at Hongkong.The Pakistan sports Board has endorsed the Participation and funds are awaited for this and future participations

Three Member Youth Team Pakistan comprises of Top seeded Ahmer Abbas Saldera, Ali Suria and Faizan Tariq the selection is made purely on merit basis & players who are physically fit and displayed best performances.

Romis; stated that this is also a good opportunity for the youth  to gauge themselves at international platform and increase their Ranking thus enabling them to have ample exposure and interaction with international players. It will help to motivate other bowlers to perform well at domestic  events to qualify for international events on merits.

"The General Secretary of Pakistan Tenpin Bowling Federation Mr. Ijaz Ur Rehman while addressing to media said that we have very talented people in Pakistan, we just need to train and unleash them and we do have the capacity to compete internationally. All efforts are being made with meager funds to provide Pakistan Bowers Professional Trainer .He said that the federation is promoting the game at its own and appealed from the government to support the said game as it is the most trending game of future. He further told that Pakistan Tenpin Bowling Federation has represented Pakistan in 120 countries around the world and Government should support us in order to facilitate the young enthusiastic bowlers to earn fame and respect for the country."Besides this the KEY is to provide Training Centers in major Cities .

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