19th November: The 5th Cathay Bowl Junior Classic is set to take the sport of bowling in Singapore to new heights when the region's biggest youth bowling tournament opens on December 18.

Invitations have been sent to a total of 47 countries worldwide and more than 250 bowlers are expected to participate. For the first time in the tournament's history, bowlers will heat up the lanes at three Cathay Bowl bowling centres. Qualifying rounds will be held simultaneously at the 24-lane Cathay Bowl, SAFRA Yishun and Cathay Bowl, SAFRA Tampines from December 19-21 (Wednesday - Friday).

The top 20 bowlers will vie for the top three positions in the semifinals held at Cathay Bowl, Cineleisure Orchard. The three winners of the semifinals will then advance to the high-tension Stepladder Grand Finals on December 22 (Saturday) at the same venue.

Prizes worth more than S$60,000 will be up for grabs. Besides the championship trophy, the winner of this championship will wlak away with S$6,000 worth of cash and prizes.

The tournament offers the richest perfect game prize of S$30,000 for the participant who accomplishes the feat of 300 pinfalls in a game. The 3rd Junior Classic held at Cathay Bowl, SAFRA Tampines in 1999 saw two bowlers, one from the Philippines and another from Korea, sharing the perfect game prize.

"The Cathay Bowl Junior Classic has always attracted hundreds of participants worldwide, even as far as South Korea, Taiwan and New Zealand. Many avid youth bowlers view the participation as the conerstone to advance their interest or career in the sport as they will be pitting their skills against international competitors," says Billy Choo, the Tournament Chairman.

Registration is now open to bowlers, aged 21 years and below as at 1st January 2001. Interested parties can call 65-7367219, 7367214 or email: tournament@cathay.com.sg for entry forms. More information can also be found at Cathay Bowl website.

The Cathay Bowl Junior Classic is one of the international bowling tournaments Cathay Bowl organises with the aim of fostering and promoting goodwill, comradeship, friendship and sportsmanship amongst members of the bowling fraternity.

Cathay Bowl is one of the wholly-owned subsidiaries of SESDAQ-listed Cathay Organisation Holdings Ltd. With a total of eight centres and 178 lanes, it is the largest bowling centre operator in Singapore. In 1999, Cathay Bowl also achieved the distinction of being the first ISO 9002 certified bowling centre operator in Singapore.