Sparked by a perfect game from veteran Bill Hoffman of Columbus, Ohio, Team USA won the top medal at Asiad Bowling Center by more than 100 pins. The team totaled 6,618, an average of 220.6 per game.

The victory ended a drought that spanned eight World Championships and dated back to 1971. In the past two World Championships (1999 and 2003), Team USA settled for the silver medal.

Hoffman led Team USA with a 1,440 six-game total, including a 300 in Game 5. Scott Pohl of Minneapolis had 1,325, David Haynes of Las Vegas had 1,309, Rhino Page of Fresno, Calif., shot 1,278 and Ronnie Sparks Jr. of Wayne, Mich., added 1,266.

"In 1999 and 2003, I experienced this same day where we bowled real well during the first block, and then things happened and we simply didn't win the gold," said Hoffman, a two-time U.S. Amateur champion. "You never know how many opportunities you are going to get to win this event. It's an unbelievable feeling, but I felt very calm the whole day just knowing what was ahead."

The United States entered Tuesday's final three games on the short-oil pattern ahead of two-time defending champion Sweden by 88 pins. In the end, Sweden fell back to fourth while Malaysia claimed silver and Finland took bronze.

Malaysia posted the score to beat on the first squad Tuesday, finishing with 6,518 and forcing the Americans to average about 1,050 per game to move into the lead.

Team USA got off to a shaky start with a 1,024 opener but came back strong behind Hoffman's perfect game for 1,167 to put the team ahead by a comfortable margin. The United States closed with 1,032.

In all-events, which combines individual totals in doubles, trios, team and singles, Hoffman moved to the top of the standings. His 18-game total of 4,138, a 229.89 average, leads Australian two-handed bowler Jason Belmonte by 21 pins.

The top 16 bowlers in all-events will advance to the Masters, which is the tournament's final event. Page currently is the only other U.S. player among that group as he is 12th with 3,971.

Pohl is 23rd with 3,887 and is followed by Haynes in 59th with 3,754, Sparks in 105th with 3,663 and Dan Patterson of Buffalo, N.Y., in 117th with 3,637. Patterson did not compete in team event but bowled on the same squad as the rest of the team to contribute to his all-events total.

Action shifts to the singles event Wednesday and Thursday. Pohl and Patterson will compete on the first squad of the six-game event, which will be contested on the short-oil pattern.

Sparks and Page will bowl the second shift Wednesday, while Hoffman and Haynes will compete on the first squad Thursday. The United States has never won the gold medal in singles.

The 2006 Men's World Championships features 44 countries and consists of competition in six disciplines - doubles, trios, team, singles, all-events and Masters.

For complete coverage of the Men's World Championships, including photos, stories, standings and player blogs, visit bowl.com

2006 WTBA MEN'S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
(at Asiad Bowling Center, Busan, South Korea)
Tuesday's Results

TEAM
(6 games)
Top 10

1, United States, 6,618. 2, Malaysia, 6,518. 3, Finland, 6,394. 4, Sweden, 6,380. 5, Qatar, 6,330. 6, Canada, 6,293. 7, Germany, 6,283. 8, Norway, 6,277. 9, Korea, 6,250. 10, Australia, 6,238.

ALL-EVENTS
(18 of 24 games; combines individual scores in doubles, trios, team and singles)
Top 10

1, Bill Hoffman, United States, 4,138. 2, Jason Belmonte, Australia, 4,117. 3, Petri Mannonen, Finland, 4,073. 4, Choi Bok-Eum, Korea, 4,065. 5, Martin Larsen, Sweden, 4,063. 6, Biboy Rivera, Philippines, 4,043. 7, Remy Ong, Singapore, 4,042. 8, Jason Walsh, Australia, 4,033. 9, Yoan Alix, France, 4,014. 10, Achim Grabowski, Germany, 3,998.