David Maycock is optimistic about his chances of progressing to the round of 32 at the International Bowling Federation World Cup in Hong Kong.

Having watched as compatriots Levinc Samuels and Lamar Richardson got Bermuda’s campaign under way in positive fashion on the opening day of the men’s singles competition on Tuesday, Maycock and Davon Tucker took to the lanes in groups D1 and B1 respectively on Wednesday.

For Maycock it proved a promising outing, picking up three wins from six matches to leave him in joint-sixth place on nine points, just adrift of the required top-four finish to move on to the next stage of the competition.

While disappointed not to have picked up more points, the 40-year-old was content with his efforts, such is the high level of competition on show.

“I’m a little disappointed how I threw in the first game [168-158 defeat by America’s Packy Hanrahan] but I’m not disappointed with how I threw overall,” said Maycock, who recovered from his opening loss to win three on the spin against Puerto Rico’s Jorge Rodriguez, Ahmad Muaz, of Malaysia, and Peru’s Daiki Eda before concluding with back-to-back defeats by Ahmed Abualreesh, of Saudi Arabia, and Hong Kong’s Keith Mark.

“I was disappointed not to have taken advantage of some small mistakes in the first match because you have to do that against a player like him. However, across all of the other games, I bowled really well.

“I had some really tight matches against some big opponents. All of these guys can throw the big shots when they need to and there are no gimmes here.

“In all of my games I needed to score over 200 to have a chance of winning, so you can see the level here. One mistake, one bad game and it costs you. The main thing is I’m still in the hunt. All I can do is come out firing on all cylinders tomorrow and focus fully on what I need to do.

“I know I belong on the world stage among these guys, so hopefully I can come out and get the required points I need to progress.”

Tucker endured a slightly tougher first day, with four defeats in his six matches leaving him with six points, seven places adrift of the top four.

Tucker faces the most daunting task among the four-man singles contingent to reach the next round of the competition, with captain Richardson joint sixth on nine points in group A2 and Samuels sitting in joint-fourth place with 12 points in group C2.

After seeing all four players in action, team manager Steven Riley remains optimistic all four can progress ahead of the final set of qualification matches on Thursday.

“Overall, I’ve been really impressed with everyone,” Riley said. “Levinc, Lamar and David all stand a really strong chance of making the round of 32 with the points they have, and even though Davon had a bit of an off day, right now all of them can still make the cut.

“They are up against some of the best players in the world, for whom this is all they do; this is their career.

“That shows you what we are up against and although we have a lot going against us compared to a lot of the other teams here, we know we can compete against the best and we’re showing that.”