BREWER – Craig Holbrook of Scituate, Mass., won the singles knockout tourney and $2,500 at the World Team Candlepin Bowling Championships at the Bangor-Brewer Bowling Lanes Monday.

Holbrook defeated John Marriott of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, in the final match 140-115, with Mariott collecting $1,500.

The bowlers use the knockout event to warm up for the team competition which begins today at 9 a.m. and runs through to Saturday with the finals at noon.

A total of 99 bowlers attempted to qualify for the 32 spots in the singles knockout with Holbrook qualifying in 25th with a five-string total of 637.

The cutoff for the knockout was a 616 total.

Nate Nealey of Gorham was the top qualifier with a five-string total of 695, and advanced through two rounds of the knockout before being eliminated in the third by David Richards of Plaistow, N.H., 143-139.

Other Maine bowlers in the knockout included:

. Shawn Morrison of Bangor, 622 in the qualifier, defeated in first round of knockout by Jeff Surrette of Tewksbury, Mass., 148-144.

. James Milan of Brewer, 659 in the qualifier (7th place), but lost in first round of knockout to Mike Poulin of Newington, N.H., 157-143.

. Chip Carson of Bangor, 642 in the qualifier, defeated in first round of knockout by Serge Babin of Campbellton, New Brunswick, 135-104.

Morrison, Milan and Carson are all members of the Maine Heat, which won the team title in 2001.

Team bowling begins this morning featuring defending champion MacLaughin Truck and Trailer of Halifax, Nova Scotia, which has won three of the last four tourneys. Leading the team are Rob Henderson, Chris Hollett, Sean O’Flaherty, Pat Burchill, Tim Carrigan, Dave Sommerton, and Tony MacLaughlin.

There are 24 teams in the tourney seeking the first-place prize of $10,000. There are 13 teams from the New England states and 11 from the Canadian provinces.

The tourney format will consist of two, 12-team divisions, Holiday Inn and Varney’s. The divisions are decided by draw. A team receives two points for each string it wins and two more for winning the match. The two top teams in each division receive a bye in Friday’s first round of playoffs.