3rd December, Las Vegas: Eric Tseng, Michael Mak and Wu Siu Hong defied all odds to win Hong Kong's first-ever historical Men's Trios gold medal at the 2017 World Bowling Championships while Team USA clinched the Women's Trios gold medal.

It has already been a great achievement for Hong Kong when Tseng partnered Lau Kwun Ho in picking up a silver medal in the Men's Doubles final three days ago and Chan Shuk Han winning the Women's Singles bronze medal.

And for Hong Kong to go one up by winning their first-ever gold medal in the world championships is beyond expectations.

Tseng, Mak and Wu between them, only had two opened frames as a result of splits while their Taiwanese opponent stumbled to four unwanted splits in the final match. Tseng downed 237, Mak 222 and Wu stuck on well with 200 for a 659 total.

Chinese Taipei's Chen Wu-Chi had a split in his final frame for a score of 221, Xu Zhe-Jia had a split in the fifth frame to finish with 212 as All Events gold medallist, Wu Hao-Ming struggled with two opened frames for 180 and a total of 610 to settle for the silver medal.

Hong Kong had edged third-seed, Finland 616-613 in a thrilling close semi-final encounter earlier while Chinese Taipei swept past topseed, Japan 613-559 in the other semi to set up the finale with Hong Kong in the title match. Finland and Japan took home a braonce medal each.

"We have surpassed all our expectations by winning our first-ever gold medal here in Las Vegas," said anchorman, Wu. "I've to thank my team-mates for their part in returning the help needed in the final match after my better effort in the semi-finals."

In the women's division, Doubles bronze medallist, Shannon O'Keefe, All Events gold medallist, Danielle McEwan and world championships multiple gold medallist, Kelly Kulick defeated second-seed, Germany by the slendest of margin to win the Women's Trios gold medal, 611-610 in the final.

O'Keefe, who has just turned up for the semi-finals from the hospital with a gall-bladder infection, laboured on to shoot 238 and carrying her team-mates, McEwan (182) and Kulick (191) for a well-deserved victory.

Janine Gabel (180), Tuna Hulsch (235) and Patricia Luoto (195) were devasted to have lost by such a small margin and had to settle for the silver. The German trio had earlier edged third-seed, Chinese Taipei, 582-560 in the semi-finals to advance to the final. Team USA ousted fourth-seed, Indonesia 663-610 in the other semi-finals to face Germany.

30th November, Las Vegas: Hong Kong's Wu Siu Hong, Eric Tseng and Michael Mak took over top spot of the Men's Trios Squad 3 after the second block to advance to the semi-finals at the 2017 World Bowling Championships as second-seed.

With Chan Shuk Han winning the Women's Singles bronze medal and Eric Tseng and Lau Kwun Ho adding the Men's Doubles silver medal, the stage is all set for Hong Kong this time to better their best-ever outing at the world championships with an all-elusive gold medal.

Korea's second trio of Choi Bokeum, Hong Haesol and Park Jongwoo got off the second block with 600 in the fourth game to move ahead of overnight Dutch leader, Johnny Spil, Yorick van Deutekom and Jeffrey van de Wakker by 16 pins.

Tseng led his team-mates, Wu Siu Hong and Michael Mak to a stunning 699 effort in the fifth game to add to their 582 fourth game to take over running. The Korean trio shot 597 to trail Hong Kong by a massive margin of 70 pins.

Korea finished second to Hong Kong with 3680, 178 pins off the pace. The Dutch trio took third spot in this squad with 3623.

In the third and final Squad 1, Finland's first trio of Joonas Jahi with Doubles bronze medallist, Petteri Salonen and Niko Oksanen, who was eighth in the first block of Squad 1, 131 pins behind the leader and 19th overall, 192 pins adrift, posted 616, 657 and 685 in the second block to lead the squad with 3784.

Chinese Taipei's Chen Wu-Chi, Xu Zhe-Jia and Singles silver medallist, Wu Hao-Ming finished second to the Finns with 3757 and clinch the fourth and finals semi-final spot. Canada's Zachary Wilkins, Mitch Hupe and Francois Lovioe was the unluckiest trio, missing the cut by only eight pins in fifth position with 3749.

Hong Kong's other trio of Tong Wong, Doubles silver medallist, Lau Kwun Ho and Wicky Yeung ended 11th in this squad with 3507 and 34th position overall. Japan will be matched up against Chinese Taipei and Hong Kong will face Finland in the semi-finals scheduled for December 3.

Meanwhile, Team USA's Danielle McEwan, Kelly Kulick and Shannon O'Keefe topped the women's division and earned topseed for the Semi-finals. The American trio totaled 3820, 35 pins ahead of Germany in second with 3785.

Squad 3 leader and Chinese Taipei second trio of Su Shu-Wen, Pan Yu-Fen ad Chou Chia-Chen secured their place in the semi-finals in third position with 3721 while the fourth and final spot went to overnight leader of Putty Armein, Sharon Limansantoso and Tannya Roumimper with 3704.

Squad 2 leader of Rikke Holm Agerbo, Britt Brondstead and Singles silver medallist, Mai Ginge Jensen missed the cut by 29 pins to finish fifth overall. Hong Kong's Joey Yip, Milki Ng and Chan Shuk Han managed top ten in Squad 2 with 3286 and 38th overall.

Indonesia will face a daunting task of attempting to beat the strongest women trio when they face Team USA while Chinese Taipei will face Germany in the other semi-finals also on December 3. Competition will resume with the Team of 5 in two blocks on December 1 and 2.

28th November, Las Vegas: Lau Kwun Ho and Eric Tseng won Hong Kong's first-ever silver medal at the world championships after finishing second in the Men's Doubles final of the 2017 World Bowling Championships.

After a superb effort in the preliminaries yesterday in which Lau and Tseng finished fourth overall to qualify for today's semi-finals, Lau (211) and Tseng (204) caused an upset when they beat topseed, Takuya Miyazawa (216) and Shota Kouki (189) of Japan, 415-405 to advance to the title match.

In the title match against second-seed Team USA's Chris Barnes and Tommy Jones, Lau had an open frame in the second but recovered with three consecutive strikes from frame four. Tseng boosted their tie with a double in the second and third frames.

Barnes responded with three consecutive strikes from frame four while Jones had a superb start with a double in his first two frames to take a slender lead over Hong Kong. Tseng stumbled to two open frames in the seventh and eighth but struck home for 204. Lau ended with 205 for a 409 total.

Meanwhile, 2015 Women's World Championships Masters gold medallist, Jung Dawun (222) partnered Kim Moonjeong (232) won Korea's first gold medal with victory over topseed, Sin Li Jane (207) and Shalin Zulkifli (190) of Malaysia, 454-397.

Korea, who was seeded third, narrowly bear second-seed Team USA's Danielle McEwan and Kelly Kulick, 427-414 to reach the final while Malaysia ousted another Team USA's pair of Josie Barnes and Shannon O'Keefe, 363-334 in the other semi.

Malaysia, who last won the Team bronze medal in the 2015 World Championships in Henderson and drawn blanks in 2015, picked up the silver medal. Team USA settled for two bronze medals.

Competition now shift to the Trios event for the men and women divisions, split into three squads. They will bowl the first block of three games tomorrow, November 29 and the second block of three games on November 30. The top 4 men and top 4 women Trios will advance to the Semi-finals shootout on December 3.

27th November, Las Vegas: The third pair of Lau Kwun Ho and Eric Tseng assured Hong Kong another medal at the 2017 World Bowling Championships when they qualified for the Men's Doubles Semi-finals after finishing fourth overall in the preliminaries.

With a benchmark of 2558 set by Chinese Taipei's first pair of Xu Zhe-Jia and Chen Wu-Chi in the opening squad and a top 4 cut at 83 over in which the first pair of Michael Mak and Wu Siu Hong had finished third, fifty-three pairs from the second squad took to the lanes in the afternoon to better that.

Team USA's Chris Barnes and Tommy Jones set the early pace with a strong 493 to lead Hong Kong's third pair of Lau Kwun Ho and Eric Tseng by two pins. Chinese Taipei's Hsieh Chin-Liang and Singles silver medallist, Wu Hao-Ming followed in third with 449.

Lau and Tseng took over the lead briefly when the duo added 415 to their second game as Barnes and Jones stumbled to a 398. The Taiwanese pair stayed close behind in third as Finland's third pair of Niko Oksanen and Petteri Salonen joined the leading pack in fourth.

USA bounced back with 459 in the third game to regain the lead. Hong Kong did not do badly themselves with 431 to trail the Americans by 13 pins. Finland moved into third, slightly ahead of Chinese Taipei by 21 pins.

Lau and Tseng posted better fourth game of 432 to the American pair of 389 to once again take over the running and moving 30 pins ahead of USA. The Finns followed in third, a further 40 pins away with the Taiwanese pair fading off.

Japan's Takuya Miyazawa and Shota Kouki was way down the pack but shot a big game of 484 to improve their lowly position. Hong Kong continued to set a consistent pace and remained in the lead after the fifth game but their gap was reduced to 19 pins by the Finland.

All the top five contenders at this stage looked set to overhaul the top four finishers from the first squad. Hong Kong needed 345 or more, Finland 364 or more, USA 377 or more and Japan 421 or more. Miyazawa almost shot the tournament's second 300 but ended with 299.

His partner Kouki added 202 to give the Japanese pair a stunning 501, which propelled them into top spot with a total of 2638. USA knocked down 450 to snatch second spot with 2631 while the third to fifth spots were keenly fought out amongst Hong Kong, Finland and Chinese Taipei.

Chinese Taipei 2 ended first with 516 for a total of 2579 and looked as if they had finished third but Finland hung in with 413 to seal third spot with 2607 and Hong Kong came home with 388 to clinch fourth spot with 2601.

Chinese Taipei 2 missed the cut by 22 pins to finish fifth overall. The leader of the first squad, Chinese Taipei 1 ended up in seventh position with 2558 while Mak and Wu ended up in 13th position. Japan 2 will meet Hong Kong 3 while USA 2 will face Finland 3 in the Semi-finals tomorrow, November 28.

27th November, Las Vegas: Third-seed, Chan Shuk Han ended a 22-year barren run to win the Women's Singles bronze medal for Hong Kong at the 2017 World Bowling Championships as Futaba Imai of Japan won the gold.

In the semi-final match against eventual champion, Futaba Imai, both Chan and the second-seed Japanese spared their first two frames and rolled a strike in the third frame. By the fifth frame, both were locked together with nothing seprating them.

Chan struck twice in frame 5 and 6 so did her opponent. But Imai added two more strikes in the seventh and eighth frames while Chan could only spared both the frames to trail by 17 pins.

Just as all hopes were lost, the Japanese had an open frame in the ninth, giving Chan a slim chance of overturning the tie.

Chan needed to strike in the ninth and tenth frames. She struck in the ninth and was unlucky not to add another in the tenth, leaving a stuborn pin 9 which she subsequently spared. She struck in her bonus frame to end with 207 while Imai finished off the tie with 213 to advance to the final.

The last time Hong Kong won a medal was back at the 1995 Reno World Bowling Championships during which, Catherine Che won the Women's Singles bronze medal.

The Japanese went on to beat fourth-seed, Mai Ginge Jensen of Denmark, 190-163 in the final match to win the gold. Imai's triumph also gave Japan their first gold medal since the 1991 World Championships in Singapore.

Jensen made the finals after edging topseed and 2015 Macau-China International Open champion, Hong Haeni of Korea, 207-198 in the other semi-final match. Hong went home with a bronze while Jensen took the silver.

Meanwhile, topseed Xander van Mazijk of Netherlands won the Men's Singles gold medal by defeating challenger and third-seed, Wu Hao-Ming of Chinese Taipei, 224-190 in the final. Mazijk reached the final after beating fourth-seed, Tobias Boerding of Germany, 204-174 in the first semi-final match.

Wu dispatched second-seed, Israel Hernandez of Puerto Rico, 226-165 in the other semi-final match to face the Dutch in the final. van Mazijk victory gave his country, Netherlands their first gold medal at the world championships since winning three at the 1995 Reno World Championships.

Wu took home the silver medal while Hernandez and Boerding earned a bronze medal each. Competition will resume with the Men's Doubles event divided into two squads in the afternoon.

The top 4 Doubles pairs from the combined squads will advance to the Semi-finals, scheduled for November 28 following the Women's Doubles event.

25th November, Las Vegas: Three-time ABF Tour Tournament of Champions, Chan Shuk Han gave Hong Kong a flying start at the 2017 World Bowling Championships after finishing joint-second in the Women's Singles opening squad.

Maxime De Rooij of the Netherlands set the pace with an opening game of 254 to lead by 16 pins from Cajsa Wegner of Sweden in second and Pamela Cristina Alvarez Aguilera of Mexico in third, a further eight pins away.

Hong Haeni added a superb second game of 246 to her first game of 221 to take over the running. De Rooij and Alvarez Aguilera shared second spot as the Mexican added another good game of 240 for both to trail the Korean by just a single pin.

The 24-year-old Korean National Sports University year-two sports science student was on a roll when she shot 255 in the third game to pull away to a 39-pin lead. Tina Hulsch of Germany took over second spot as Alvarez Aguilera slipped to third.

Despite just knocking down 181 in the fourth game, Hong maintained a healthy lead of 41 pins over her nearest rival. Chan Shuk Han rolled two big games to leapfrog into second position with the Mexican and the Dutch keeping a close third and fourth.

There was simply no stopping the Korean left-hander as she romped home with 221 and 206 to end the squad in the lead with 1330. Denmark's Mai Ginge Jensen stormed home with 244 and 256 in her last two games to tie second spot with Chan on 1312.

2017 ABF Tour Macau leg champion, Putty Armein of Indonesia also ended strongly to snatch fourth spot with 1272. Shannon Pluhowsky of United States completed the top 5 with 1271 as Alvarex Agulera and De Rooij faded off to finish sixth and seventh positions with 1255 and 1252 respectively.

24th November, Las Vegas: Team Hong Kong, China will be eyeing their first-ever medal at the 2017 World Bowling Championships commencing on November 25 at the South Point Bowling Plaza in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States.

The World Bowling Championships, the most prestigious event of the 2017 bowling calendar, returned to Las Vegas which previously hosted in 2013. Hong Kong is one of the 13 Asian Zone (ABF) World Bowling member federations which qualified for the combined men and women championships.

Eleven World Bowling member federations from the American Zone (PABCON) and 18 federations from the European Zone (EBF) made up the 42 countries that will be competiting in the 10 day event.

Other Asian countries are Australia, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Kuwait, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Chinese Taipei and Thailand.

Fans will also be able to watch the action from South Point Bowling Plaza on the final two days of competition during the Trios, Team of Five and the Masters finals, live on Olympic Channel at www.olympicchannel.com as well as on the championships website, http://2017wc.worldbowling.org.

Competition will kick off with the Women's Singles on November 25 and the Men's Singles on November 26 with the Semi-finals and finals on November 27. It will shift to the Doubles event on November 27 and 28 followed by the Semi-finals and Finals.

The Trios event over two blocks of 3 games each will be held on November 29 and 30 with the Team of Five on December 1 and 2. The Semi-finals and Finals of the Trios and Team of Five will be contested on December 3.

The top 16 men and top 16 women based on the All Events standings (total of 24 games) will qualify for the elimination knockout finals which will be held on the final day on December 4. A victory banquet will be held to conclude the championships.