11.   Bettman, less enthusiastic, is still smarting from criticism for not letting all players participate in the preliminary round.

12.   Belarus and Kazakhstan qualified for this round by winning their brackets in the preliminary round.

13.   After that preliminary round, the top three finishers go on to the second preliminary round and will play the three teams in Group D who advanced.

14.   After the preliminary rounds are finished Friday indoors in Coram County Lanes, the final four go outside to play at Bryant Park in midtown Manhattan.

15.   All that did was deplete our credit further by the purchase of more tickets to an even more preliminary round of yet another minor sport.

16.   But after a preliminary round of balloting on Tuesday and some backroom deal-making, they found themselves more divided than before.

17.   But after a preliminary round of balloting Tuesday and some backroom deal-making, they were more divided than before.

18.   But Engquist, still competing as Narozhilenko, strained a hamstring in the preliminary rounds and withdrew from the semifinals.

19.   By contrast, the following night, a preliminary round of an Elvis impersonator contest drew a packed house to the New Daisy Theatre on Beale Street.

20.   Competition begins today at the Kiel Center with preliminary rounds in the all-around competition, which concludes Saturday night.