The World Tenpin Bowling Championships is a global event that invites all countries that are members of International Bowling Federation to participate.
Event details and history The first World Championships was in 1954, held in Helsinki where 58 men from 7 federations took part. The next three World Championships (1955, 1958, and 1960) only had men participating. Women first participated in the 1963 World Championships in Mexico City. From 1963 to 2003, the World Championships were conducted every fourth year.
Current Championships As a result of the expanding number of federations competing, it was agreed in 2001 to divide the two genders in World Championships beginning in 2005. This affected the schedules for the following two 4 years cycles as follows: World Women Championships was conducted in 2005, 2007, 2009 and 2011. World Men Championships was conducted in 2006, 2008 and 2010 (2012 was moved to 2013).
World Championships for both genders were reintroduced in 2009 after a World Congress resolved to hold them every fourth year. In 2013, the inaugural edition of these so-called Combined World Championships took place. The number of teams allowed to compete in the Combined World Championships is limited to 36 teams per gender, one of which is the host federation's team, and the other 35 federations are chosen from the Zones based on the number of federations in each zone as of the qualifying date. The following are the most recent four-year World Championship cycles: 2018: World Men Championships 2019: World Women Championships 2021: Combined World Championships The above-mentioned four-year cycles will be repeated for the 2022-2025 cycles, and so on.
Format of the games and disciplines through the years from 1954 The format for the championships has changed many times throughout its history. In the early years of the championships, men competed in four different categories: Doubles, 4-man team, 8-man team and masters. Up until 1963 women did not participate in the event. The first year that women did take part, they competed in 4 different categories, doubles, four-person team (European Style), four-person team (American Style) and masters. This is the only time the "European Style" has been used in the championships. In the following championships the European style four-person team was replaced with the five-person team event (American Style) and was used until 1979.
Current format and disciplines Singles, Doubles, Trios, Team of Five, All Events, and Masters have been the disciplines for both genders since 1979, with 6 women and 6 men on each team. The medalists for these events except the Masters from 1979 to 2007 were determined by total pinfall.
After the conclusion of singles, doubles, trios, and five-person team events, the All Events medals are presented to the top three bowlers of both genders who have accumulated the most pinfall over the 24 games.
Addition of Match-Play in the finals Beginning in 2008, a medal round was introduced for singles, doubles, trios, and 5 five person team event. The Medal round consisted of the top four qualifiers playing a knockout format to determine the medalists (1 vs 4 and 2 vs 3, winners of those matches face each other in the final).
The masters event has only recently changed with the onset of the championships splitting into 2 different events. Up until 2005 the top 16 would bowl a 16-game Round Robin with the top 3 bowlers after the 16 games advancing through to a stepladder final. From 2005 to 2011, the masters was played using the matchplay style, best of 5 format.
From 2013-2015, the top 24 men and women in All-Events advanced to the Masters event. All players will bowl six games with the All-Events total carried forward. The top 8 after 30 games advance to seven games of round robin match play, where 20 bonus points are awarded for a won match and 10 bonus points for a tied match. The top 4 advance to the semifinals, which is a one-game match, 1 vs 4 and 2 vs 3. The semifinal losers will earn a bronze medal. The semifinal winners advance to a one-game final match to determine gold and silver medals. In 2017, the masters format (still consisting of top 24 men and women) reverted to matchplay style, best of 3.
Modification in Team Event Beginning in 2017, the five-person team event was modified. Qualifying was still all five players bowl ten frames each with their scores added together to determine the overall score. In the medal round, the five players bowl a best of 3 baker format, where players bowl in order one frame each (frames 1-5) and repeat the order from frames 6-10.
Dual pattern lane condition format In 2005 the World Championships adopted the "dual pattern format" lane conditions. The two patterns are chosen from a bank of oil patterns certified by World Bowling. These oil patterns are classified as "short", "medium", and "long". Each bowler at the championships will bowl an equal number of games on the two patterns. In the masters, each match is played on alternating lane patterns with the highest seed having the choice of which pattern to start on.
The concept of having two different lane patterns is to force the bowlers to be more versatile in the championships. The two different lane patterns force the bowlers to attack each pattern from different angles, using different styles of play, such as ball speed, hand position and ball choice. It has been argued that in previous championships around the world, using one pattern for the whole event would suit certain bowlers over others, which was deemed as being unfair. It was agreed that having two different lane conditions would be a fairer way of determining the best bowlers at the championships. Many other championships around the world have also adopted this format, such as the Men's and Women's European Championships, the Asian Games, the World Ranking Masters, The Commonwealth Championships and the Asian Championships. World Bowling announced in December 2015 only one lane pattern will be used for the entirety of future World Championships, ending the dual pattern format.
Championships World Bowling Executive Board have awarded the 2021 Combined World Championships hosting rights to Kuwait. Hong Kong will host the Men's World Championships in 2018, and Las Vegas will host the Women's World Championships in 2019.Upcoming World Bowling Events, etbf.eu; accessed September 14, 2017.
A new event, WTBA World Singles Championships for men and women, was held for the first time in Limassol, Cyprus from September 18–26, 2012, and will be held subsequently every four years. With this new event, WTBA will stage a World Championship event every year. NumberYearCityCountryWomenMenTotalEvents11954Helsinki - 5858421955Essen -6464431958Helsingborg -9999441960Hamburg -102102451963Mexico City45 132177861967Malmö84 161225871971Milwaukee103 268371881975London152271423891979Manila14617532112101983Caracas17520638112111987Helsinki196 23042612121991Singapore196 28047612131995Reno25335861112141999Abu Dhabi25534560012152003Kuala Lumpur23434858212162005Aalborg216 -2166172006Busan - 2472476182007Monterrey227 -2276192008Bangkok - 3333336202009Las Vegas 228 -2286NumberYearCityCountryWomenMenTotalEvents212010Munich - 3563566222011Hong Kong 171 -1716232013Henderson 212 21642812242014Abu Dhabi - 272 2726252015Abu Dhabi 147 - 1476262017Las Vegas 176 213 38912272018Hong Kong 265 2656282019Las Vegas 178 1786292021Dubai 92 133 2259
Medals history
Women's medal table As of 2019.
Men's medal table As of 2018.
Total medal table As of 2021.
World Championship Records Men CategoryRecordPlayerCountryEventYear/Venue Individual RecordsIndividual Game300Rick SteelsmithTrios1987, Helsinki, Finland Rolando Sebelen Sr.Doubles1999, Abu Dhabi, UAE Steve Thornton DoublesAndrés GómezDoublesAhmed ShaheenTriosAmedeo SpadaSingles2003, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Anders ÖhmanDoublesDarren CundyTeamKimmo Lehtonen(Make-up) TeamMartin LarsenRound RobinAntonis EvaggelidisTrios2006, Busan, South Korea Bill HoffmanTeamBiboy RiveraMasters FinalPasi Uotila Singles2010, Munich, Germany Chris BarnesSinglesBodo KoniecznySingles2013, Henderson, United States Luis Eduardo RovainaSinglesBill O'NeillSinglesChris BarnesDoublesPark Jong-Woo DoublesTore TorgersenTriosAchim GrabowskiTeamHareb Al-MansooriTeamRicardo LecuonaTeamWu Hao-MingSingles2017, Las Vegas, United States Andrew AndersonSingles2018, Hong Kong, ChinaFabian KloosDoublesIndividual 3 Game Series826 Kimmo LehtonenSingles1999, Abu Dhabi, UAE Individual 6 Game Series1541Jason BelmonteDoubles2006, Busan, South Korea Individual 24 Game All-Events5635Tore Torgersen1999, Abu Dhabi, UAE Singles RecordsSingles - 1 Game300 Amedeo Spada2003, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Pasi Uotila2010, Munich, Germany Chris BarnesBodo Konieczny2013, Henderson, Nevada, United States Luis Eduardo RovainaBill O'NeillWu Hao-Ming2017, Las Vegas, United States Andrew Anderson2018, Hong Kong, ChinaSingles - 3 Games826 Kimmo Lehtonen1999, Abu Dhabi, UAE Singles - 6 Games1524Remy Ong2006, Busan, South Korea Doubles RecordsDoubles - 1 Game599Jaime MonroyAndrés Gómez1999, Abu Dhabi, UAE Doubles - 3 Games1514Tomas LeanderssonAnders Öhman2003, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Doubles - 6 Games2906Tomas LeanderssonAnders Öhman2003, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Trios RecordsTrios - 1 Game778Antti-Pekka LaxLasse LintiläAri Halme1999, Abu Dhabi, UAE Trios - 3 Games2196Bill O'NeillChris BarnesTommy Jones2010, Munich, Germany Trios - 6 Games4144Mike FaganSean RashMarshall Kent2014, Abu Dhabi, UAE Team RecordsTeam - 1 Game1309Mario QuinteroLuis KassianRicardo LecuonaRoberto SilvaAlejandro Cruz2013, Henderson, Nevada, United States Team - 3 Games3563Park Jong-WooChoi Bok-EumHong Hae-SolShin Seungh-YeonKim Kyung-Min2014, Abu Dhabi, UAE Team - 6 Games6917Park Jong-WooKang Hee-WonChoi Bok-EumHong Hae-SolShin Seungh-YeonKim Kyung-Min2014, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Women
CategoryRecordPlayerCountryEventYear/Venue Individual RecordsIndividual Game300Cha Mi-JungTrios1999, Abu Dhabi, UAE Kim Yeau-JinDoubles2007, Monterrey, Mexico Kirsten PennyTeamMaría RodríguezDoubles2009, Las Vegas, United States Kelly KulickSingles2011, Hong Kong, China Caroline LagrangeTriosShannon O'KeefeTriosBritt BrøndstedTeamShayna NgMasters 1st RoundShannon PluhowskyMasters FinalsKelly KulickDoubles Semifinals2013, Henderson, United States Joan GonzalezDoubles2015, Abu Dhabi, UAE Karen MarcanoTeamLiz JohnsonTeam FinalsMasters Step 2Danielle McEwanMasters Step 2Individual 3 Game Series812Jacqueline SijoreSingles2011, Hong Kong, China Individual 6 Game Series1601Shayna NgSingles2011, Hong Kong, China Individual 24 Game All-Events5744Mai Ginge Jensen2011, Hong Kong, China Singles RecordsSingles - 1 Game300Kelly Kulick2011, Hong Kong, China Singles - 3 Games812Jacqueline Sijore2011, Hong Kong, China Singles - 6 Games1601Shayna Ng2011, Hong Kong, China Doubles RecordsDoubles - 1 Game556Carolyn Dorin-BallardKelly Kulick2011, Hong Kong, ChinaDoubles - 3 Games1536Carolyn Dorin-BallardKelly Kulick2011, Hong Kong, China Doubles - 6 Games2901Carolyn Dorin-BallardKelly Kulick2011, Hong Kong, China Trios RecordsTrios - 1 Game802Stefanie NationShannon PluhowskyShannon O'Keefe2011, Hong Kong, China Trios - 3 Games2165Esther CheahZandra AzielaJacqueline Sijore2011, Hong Kong, China Trios - 6 Games4232Hwang Sun-OkJeon Eun-HeeSon Yun-Hee2011, Hong Kong, China Team RecordsTeam - 1 Game1262Nadine GeislerVanessa TimterJuliane RiegerBirgit PöpplerPatricia Luoto2011, Hong Kong, China Team - 3 Games3491Stefanie NationMissy ParkinShannon O'KeefeKelly KulickLiz Johnson2013, Henderson, United States Jeon Eun-HeeSon Hye-RinKim Jin-SunJung Da-WunBaek Seung-Ja2015, Abu Dhabi, UAE Team - 6 Games6750Nadine GeislerVanessa TimterJuliane RiegerJanine RibguthBirgit PöpplerPatricia Luoto2011, Hong Kong, ChinaMissy ParkinLiz KuhlkinJordan RichardStefanie JohnsonDanielle McEwanShannon O'Keefe 2019, Las Vegas, United States
See also World Bowling Singles Championships