84 players from 11 States for Nat champions

Bangalore, Aug 5 (UNI) As many as 84 players, including 20 women would vie for top honours in the Allsec Technologies XIXth National Tenpin Bowling Championship, organised by the Karnataka State Tenpin Bowling Association (KSTBA), beginning here tomorrow.

Talking to newspersons, KSTBA General Secretary R Kannan said in all 11 States were participating in the championship. While Kerala has fielded only one player, hosts Karnataka has fielded 18 players, including six women.

Tamil Nadu (12 men and five women), Maharashtra (12 men and one women), Andhra Pradesh (6 men and one women), Pondicherry (two men), West Bengal (six men and one women), Delhi (3 men and one women), Uttar Pradesh (six men), Jammu and Kashmir (two men) and Haryana (two men and four women).

International and national players participating in the championship, includes two gold and one silver winner in the first Commonwealth Games S Abdul Ahmed, former national Champion Harshvardhan Sharada, S Kumar and defending Champion Srinath Pobbathi in men section, defending champion Sabeena Saleem of Tamil Nadu and former national champion Sumati Nalabantu in women section.

He said the championship would be one of the selection trial for picking up the probables for representing India at the second Asian Indoor Games to be held in Macau in Oct-Nov and AMF World Cup to be held at St Petersburg in November 2007.

International coach Yap Kok Wee from Kegel Asia, Phillipines, who is Tournament Director and the Technical consultant of the Championship said ''India has great potential to promote the game.'' While round one for men begins from August six, women first round would commece on August eight.

UNI