30th March, London: Costa Rica's Marie Ramirez, the "hometown favorite" of the 2003 AMF Bowling World Cup, will compete in the 40th anniversary of the tournament this December in Singapore.

Ramirez, an industrial engineer from San Jose, delighted Central American fans and media with her performance last year in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. She led the preliminary qualifying rounds before bowing to eventual champion Kerrie Ryan-Ciach of Canada in the semifinals.

Ramirez thus gets a chance to avenge her loss to Ryan-Ciach, as does runner-up Shannon Pluhowsky of the United States. Ryan-Ciach and Pluhowsky both qualified earlier this year for the December 5-12 pinfest.

Another returnee, Aida Granillo of El Salvador, holds the record for most AMF World Cup appearances ever by a bowler, male or female, with 13.

Granillo would like nothing better than to commemorate her 14th World Cup by improving on her best-ever finish of 7th place. That occurred in Guadalajara, Mexico in 1988. Also returning to World Cup action this year are Azerbaijan's Stella Jalalova, England's Donna Adams, Jersey's Tracey Aubert, and Scotland's Laura Rhoney. Germany's Martina Beckel, who won the AMF World Cup in 1992, joins Ryan-Ciach and 2002 winner Pluhowsky as a returning champion.

Canada's Jack Guay highlights the men's division. Guay became the first bowler ever to roll a perfect game in the AMF World Cup when he carded 12 straight strikes in 1994 in Hermosillo, Mexico. He duplicated that feat the following year in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and remains the only person to roll two perfect games among the 19 recorded to date.

Joining Guay are Paul Moor of England, the reigning points leader on the men's European Bowling Tour; Arturo Hernandez of Venezuela, singles gold medallist at the 2004 Tournament of the Americas; 2001 AMF World Cup Sportsman of the Year Bashar Kalaji of Syria; and Yahav Rabin of Israel, the first Israeli bowler ever to advance to the match play round of the World Cup.

Rabin finished tied for fifth place in Pattaya, Thailand in 2002. The 40th annual AMF Bowling World Cup, the world's largest annual international sports championship in terms of number of participating nations, will be staged at the new 34-lane SuperBowl bowling center under construction at the SAFRA Mount Faber (formerly known as the SAFRA club in Telok Blangah).

Tournament manager Anne-Marie Board reports that 95 countries have requested registration and entry forms for the 2004 tournament, including newcomers Slovakia and Nigeria. Bowlers from 77 nations competed in the 2003 AMF Bowling World Cup in Honduras. Each nation is entitled to send one male and one female bowler.

Additional information on the AMF Bowling World Cup, including archives and bulletins for this year's tournament, is available at www.amfbowlingworldcup.com.

SuperBowl Management Pte Ltd is part of the SuperBowl Group. More information about the company can be accessed at www.superbowl.com.sg.

The AMF Bowling World Cup is the world's largest annual international sports championship in terms of number of participating nations. AMF Bowling Worldwide Inc., the founder and principal sponsor of the Bowling World Cup, is the world's largest owner and operator of bowling centers. AMF is also a leader in the manufacturing and marketing of bowling and billiards products. More information about AMF is available on the Internet at www.amf.com.

Media released by Lydia Rypcinski, AMF Media Bureau/Chicago via e-mail at l.rypcinski@att.net. For further information, please contact: Anne-Marie Board at aboard@amf.com