Bowling appears alive and well in Bermuda as a near record entry of 103 players turned out for the third week of the American Airlines Spectacular at Warwick Lanes on Tuesday evening.

The event brought out the game's heavy artillery as Maurice Caines, a fast rising star in the sport with a season's average of 215, made his presence felt in both the scratch and handicap divisions.

Because of his high average, Caines didn't receive any handicap allowance but his three scratch games of 243, 279 and 216 for a series of 738 was not only sufficient to clinch the top prize in scratch, but also good enough to top all of the handicap bowlers as well.

Practice and consistency has been Caines' main weapon during the past season and it paid off this week as his cash rewards amounted to $423 for the night, surpassing that of Anthony Smith who dominated the awards during the previous two weeks.

Caines also won top prize for second scratch game (279) while Gladwin Harvey and Steven Harvey won the first and third games respectively. Gladwin Harvey also placed second in high series (726) while Wayne Raynor placed third with 711.

Caines' 738 series was good enough for high series in the handicap division and he was piggybacked by Harvey (726), Raynor (711), Brian Estes (699), Peter Wimsby (688), Kenneth Simmons (687), Antoine Jones (681), Lisa Saints (676), Maryann Wilson (671), Joshua Bento (671) and Vernette Ferguson (668). High games in this division went to Caines (279), Estes (279) and Raynor (278).

Some $1,210 was paid out on the night, bringing the total prize fund for the past three weeks to $3,346, indicating the tournament could be heading for a record fund of an estimated $15,000.

The winners in the two divisions will receive round-trip airline tickets to London while the runners-up will receive tickets to any city within continental USA, Canada, Mexico or the Caribbean. Other finalists will receive attractive cash prizes.

Six more weeks remain in the qualifying rounds with the finals taking place on August 12.

To be eligible for the finals in the handicap division, players must bowl in a minimum of six of the nine weekly tournaments and place in the top 15 in any one of them.

So far 36 bowlers have met the first requirement of having placed in the top 15. To qualify for the finals in the scratch division, players have to bowl in a minimum of six of the nine weekly tournaments in that division.