the Bermuda tenpin bowling calendar gets underway today.

The Professional Bowlers' Association Southern Regional at Warwick Lanes bowling alley has attracted 26 pros from the United States, who will battle it out with 15 local qualifiers for a purse of around $25,000.

The field will be cut to the 12 top performers by tonight. And they will go into match-play against each other tomorrow morning, which will boil it down further. The concluding part of the tourney is a top five stepladder.

Despite opposition which includes Bermuda's Commonwealth Games silver medallists Antoine Jones and Conrad Lister, Zurich made it clear that only first place would satisfy him.

"I'm looking for the win and I don't want to be taking any prisoners,'' said Zurich, from Melbourne, Florida. "Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of very talented bowlers in this field, but I'm feeling very good about my game at the moment.'' Zurich's confidence may be well founded. He can boast 32 PBA tournament wins, more than any of his opponents this weekend, and he won the last event in the Southern Regional series, at Lake Charles, Louisiana, two weeks ago.

Zurich has competed in all four previous PBA tournaments in Bermuda and won the event in 1997. He is one of four men looking to be the first to win it twice.

All the other previous winners are here too this year -- defending champion American John May and locals Dean Lightbourne and Jones, who took the honours in 1995 and 1996 respectively.

Lightbourne is expected to be the top local contender, but during practice yesterday his bowling arm was clearly giving him some discomfort.

Lightbourne admitted: "I'm only about 80 percent fit. I got a tricep injury around three weeks ago in Las Vegas and it's still not quite right. But I'm bowling pretty well and I feel that I've got as good a chance as anyone else.'' May, from Lincolnton, North Carolina, is another who has had bad luck with injuries and he seemed hopeful, rather than confident of repeating his 1998 win.

After breaking his left arm, he had to wear a cast for two months, which was removed in December.

"Since then I haven't been bowling as well as I can, because I haven't yet got my timing right,'' said May. "But I hope that will change here.'' Jones and Lister, flushed with confidence by their remarkable success in Kuala Lumpur last year, are sure to give the pros a stern test.

The PBA holds 40 Southern Regional tournaments per year and Bermuda is the only one to be staged outside the United States.