The women's singles Top 32 is set at the 2026 IBF World Cup in Munich, as qualification finished on Saturday, and the top four bowlers from each of the eight pools advanced to the knockout bracket, which starts on Sunday morning.
Qualification was played in four groups. Each group had two pools of 12 or 13 bowlers, with 25 federations in the field. Every bowler played 13 one-game matches, with 3 points for a win and 1 for a tie. A bye counted as a win. The top four in each pool advanced, which gives 32 women.
Karen Kaergaard Nielsen of Denmark finished Group D, Pool 1 with 36 points, the most of any woman in Round 1. Ten other women finished on 33 points, including pool winners Manon Clément and Emma Friant of France, Shayna Ng of Singapore, Gianna Brandolino of the United States, Sweeden's Anna Andersson and Li Jane Sin of Malaysia.
Nora Johansson of Sweden had the highest average and the most pinfall of any woman, 214.6 (2,790 pins), and finished third in Group D, Pool 2 on 30 points. New Hui Fen of Singapore averaged 210.2 (2,732 pins) to win Group B, Pool 2. Brandolino bowled the highest single game of Round 1 among the women, 267, in Group B, Pool 1.
Who advanced from each pool
Women's Pool Standings
Top 4 finishers across Groups A through D:
Qualification leaders, Karen Kaergaard Nielsen and New Hui Fen, both spoke to BowlingLife during qualifying, before their final games.
Kaergaard Nielsen said what worked for her was "staying focused on my own lane/game, keeping my line safe and not taking too many risks." She added that "spares could get me far because we all struggle at times."
Looking ahead to her last qualifying games, she said the priority was "not to chase the strikes but to focus on making good shots."
New told BowlingLife she had "managed to try a few game plans and thankfully it worked out."
15 federations in the Top 32
Singapore, Sweden and Malaysia each have four women in the bracket. France and China have three each. Australia, Denmark, the Philippines and the United States have two each. Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Spain have one each.
What happens next
The women's singles knockout stages are scheduled for Sunday, October 18. The Top 32 is a best-of-three-games knockout. Times are Munich local time (CEST, UTC+2).
Women's Finals Schedule
Sunday, October 18 timetable:
The men's Top 32 follows at 11:00 the same day. Women's team Round 2 starts on Monday, October 19 and continues on Tuesday.
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