their careers.

Steven Riley and Diane Bobby Ingham will represent Bermuda at the prestigious Bowling World Cup, to be held at Hermosillo, Mexico from November 6 to 13.

Their visit marks the first time Bermuda have sent a team to the event since 1982 when Dean Lightbourn and Pat Ming Albuoy carried the country's flag into the competition.

For Riley, 29, the chance to compete represents the realisation of a lifetime dream.

"I know what to expect, I have to be at my best,'' said Riley, who has only been to the World Cup as a spectator. "I can't let up at all.'' Riley hopes to better the bronze medal he brought home as part of Bermuda's team at the 1985 American zone championships in Bogota, Colombia, the first-ever medal for the Island at a major event.

His roots in the sport took hold five years earlier.

"My mom used to work at a store next to the bowling alley in Warwick and she told the owner that she'd send her son down one Saturday,'' he said. "I've never missed one since.'' He has also travelled as a member of the national team to the 1987 world championships in Finland and the 1991 world championships in Singapore.

Bermuda has already clinched a berth in next year's world championships.

A record entry of 60 countries have signed up for the Cup, with Russia sending a competitor for the first time.

Since he was a spectator at the last Cup, Riley said he knows what to expect.

He has been training up to three hours each day.

"Every free moment I've got I'm thinking about what I have to do,'' he said.

"I'm going there to win.'' Lane conditions are expected to be much different from Bermuda, so Riley figures he'll need to compile scores in the range of 200 to 210 in Mexico. His average since the end of July has been 190.

"I think we'll have to depend more on accuracy than power because of the lanes,'' said Riley, who is taking four balls with him, including one he just purchased in Cincinnati.

Ingham is also no stranger to big-time competition, having been a member of Bermuda's national team since 1989. Mexico, however, will represent her first taste of the World Cup.

Steven Riley