on Dean after late rally By Adrian Robson Sports Editor in Winnipeg Bermuda's ten pin bowlers were on the brink of early Pan-Am elimination last night, continuing to suffer an inexplicable loss of form which left their team hopes in tatters earlier this week.

Only a brave finish from Dean Lightbourn who conjured up games of 225, 225 and 214 salvaged what had been until then another disappointing day on La Verendrye lanes. But even Lightbourn has his work cut out today to make the final cut.

Less than a year after Antoine Jones and Conrad Lister were feted on their return from Malaysia with Commonwealth Games silver medals which lifted the sport onto a new plateau of popularity, there remains a real danger that the Island's eight-strong squad could leave Winnipeg without so much as contesting a men's or women's final round.

Having finished a dismal second and third from last in the respective men's and women's team events on Wednesday, Bermuda continued to struggle in individual play.

Of the 24 men and 24 women gunning for individual medals, only the top 16 from each group will advance to the final round of match play this afternoon and tomorrow.

But after the first 12 of 18 games yesterday, only Lightbourn from the four Bermudians competing figured in that top bracket.

L ightbourn, after nine games, had slumped to 21st but his late rally enabled him to climb up to 14th, although several bowlers are within striking distance with six games still remaining in the qualifying round today. And he will likely need to maintain a 195-200 average in order to advance.

Team-mate Steve Riley faces an almost impossible task. He's languishing in 23rd place, 147 pins behind the Venezuelan who currently holds down the 16th and final qualifying spot.

Bermuda's ladies also need a huge improvement this morning, although their situation isn't as desperate as Riley's.

Dianne (Bobbie) Ingham lies in 19th position on 2,106 and Dill in 21st on 2,098. In a tightly bunched pack at the bottom of the qualifying round, less than 60 pins separate 16th from 21st.

"It's not easy out there. It's gruelling,'' said Ingham during a break yesterday afternoon. "I've been very inconsistent. I've just got to stay down and follow through with the shot, something I haven't been doing.

"There's still a way to go and we've just got to keep plugging away.

"If we get into the match-play (final round), everybody starts afresh, these scores aren't carried over. So that's what we're aiming for.'' Watching the action yesterday were both Jones and Lister, neither of whom were selected by coach Oliver Franks for individual play after floundering in the team event.

Jones averaged only 180.39 per game in the 18 frames and Lister 182.11 compared to Riley's 183.94 and Lightbourn's 188.44 -- all those scores well short of their average in league play in Bermuda.

"We were disappointed not even to be in the hunt for a medal this time around but I guess that makes you appreciate the silver that much more,'' said Lister.

` `In this tournament, getting off to a good start was important. After the first day we continued to struggle and it was very hard to pull pins back. We couldn't make up any ground.

"But in the individual, we felt Dean had a great shot and Stevie had a better chance than myself or Antoine.

"I would have liked to have played but I'm a team player and I'm going to be behind these guys 100 percent.'' Lister hinted, however, that he may soon retire from international competition.

"Hopefully I can play in the world championships in the United Arab Emirates in November but after that I think I'll call it a day.'' The women's team competition wound up late on Wednesday night with Bermuda finishing in 10th place overall, with a total pinfall of 12,758 for 18 games.

Ingham, who led the overall averages after seven games, struggled towards the end, failing to go over 200 in her last 11 games and finishing with an average of 181.56. Dill was next best with 180.28 followed by Darnell Raynor (173.50) and Pat Price (173.44).

Elsewhere, across town in the Pan-Am pool last night, Bermuda's swimmers took centre stage in the main event of the evening, the 4x100 metre freestyle relay. And while they couldn't threaten the national record, they did knock more than two seconds off their own previous best.

In a race which saw gold medallists Brazil break the Games record (3:17:18), upsetting the US team, Stephen Fahy got Bermuda off to a flying start with an opening leg of 53.27. Ronald Cowen, swimming in his only event of these Games, followed in 54.43, Matthew Hammond took the third leg in 54.81 and Stephen Troake raced home in 53.54 for a combined time of 3:36.05.

Lightbourn fights on They finished sixth, more than five seconds behind fifth-placed Bahamas but over three seconds clear of Peru and last-placed US Virgin Islands. The quartet's previous best time was 3:38.26 This morning Troake goes in the 50m freestyle heats and Hammond in the 100m backstroke while Fahy ends Bermuda's campaign tomorrow in his favourite event, the 200m individual medley, hoping to repeat his success of earlier this week when he smashed his own national 100m butterfly record and qualified for Sydney 2000.

Dean Lightbourne: Faces tense struggle today after a late fightback put him in 14th position BIG MONTH FOR WOMEN SOC Big month for women Bermuda's female footballers face a demanding month of August with four US college teams arriving for a total of 12 matches against local teams.

Millersville University, John Carroll University and Elizabethhown College will be in Bermuda from August 11-16, all scheduled to play three matches. And Williams College will be here for a week soon after that (August 18-25) for three more matches against local teams. The college teams will play are Rude Girls, PHC Zebras, BAA Royals and the women's under-21 national and senior national teams.