Ten-Pin Bowling - Champions
In case of ten-pin bowling, there are two world organizations who govern the sport and its rules. These organizations are BTBA (British Tenpin Bowling Association) and USBC (United States Bowling Congress). In England, all ten-pin bowling events are sanctioned and governed by BTBA where as USBC works as the governing body in United States.
Some of the ten-pin bowling tournaments that are played worldwide are −
- World Tenpin Bowling Championships
- PBA World Championship
- European Bowling Tour
- BTBA National Championships
- WTBA World Championships
- Commonwealth Tenpin Bowling Championships
Ten-Pin bowling is a sport where the bowler has to hit all the ten pins in order to get good scores. Let us now discuss some of the champions of ten-pin bowling and their careers.
Chris Barnes
Chris Barnes is an American bowler who has won the PBA Rookie of the year in 1998 and PBA Player of the Year in 2007-2008 season. He is also the winner of Triple Crown by winning US Open, PBA World Championship, and Tournament of Champions.
In his full career, he has won 18 PBA Tour Titles. In 2005 and 2006, he won Motel 6 Roll to Riches Tournament. In the later years, he performed in many tournaments but either got the second or third rank. In 2014, he won Qubica AMF World Cup.
Bill O’Neil
Bill O’Neil is a ten-pin bowler from North America. He has won gold medals in World Championships in 2010 and 2013. In 2005-06 season, he won PBA Rookie of the Year. In 2009, he won first PBA tour title by winning PBA Chameleon Championship in which he defeated Ronnie Russel. In the same year, he won second PBA title by winning Lumber Liquidators US Open.
In 2010, he won his third PBA title by winning Pepsi Viper Championship. In 2012, he was the winner of Aka Seltzer Plus Cold Cheetah Championship. In 2014, he won his fifth PBA Title by winning Lucas Oil PBA Badger Open. In 2015 h won his sixth PBA title by winning PBA Oklahoma Open.
Jason Belmonte
Jason Belmonte is a ten-pin bowler from Australia who uses two-handed shovel style to shoot the pins. He has won PBA Player of the Year three times and is also winner of 12 PBA titles. He started taking part in the competition at the age of three and won the first event at the age four.
As far as titles are concerned, he has won European Bowling Tour, World Tenpin Masters Championships in 2007. In 2010, he won Korea Cup. In 2009, he won his first PBA title and in the season of 20112012, he won three PBA Titles. Along with this, he has also taken part in Commonwealth games in which he won one gold, one silver, and two bronzes.
Tommy Jones
Tommy Jones is a ten-pin bowler from America who has won PBA Rookie of the Year in 2001-02 season. He joined PBA in 2000 and till now he is the owner of 16 PBA titles. In 2004-2005 season, he won 20 out of 21 events but could not win Player of the Year.
In 2005-06 season, he won 20 out of 21 events, won TV finals six times and four titles. He won two PBA titles in 2006-07 season. In the seasons further, he won PBA titles and in 2012-13 season, he won WBT International title. In 2015, he won the PBA title 16th time.
Mike Fagan
Mike Fagan is a ten-pin bowler from America who takes part in PBA, WBT, and EBT events. He has also taken part in many international events while being a part of USA team. His PBA career was started in 2002 and till now he has won five PBA titles of which two are major.
He got his first PBA title in 2007 when he won PBA Exempt Doubles Classic. In 2010, he won his first singles title in One-a-Day Dick Weber Open. In 2012, he won Brunswick Euro Challenge which was his third PBA title. He won his fifth PBA Title in PBA World Championships.
Kelly Kulick
Kelly Kulick is an American ten-pin bowler who is the winner of professional women’s bowling titles three times, and a PBA title. She has the honour of being the first woman to win Professional Bowlers Associations title. She started her career in 2001 and won Rookie of the Year award.
In 2003, she won US Women’s Open. PBA women membership was started in 2004 and in 2006, Kulick won PBA Tour Exemption due to which she was able to participate in 2006-07 PBA season. Kulick has won many other competitions like PBA Senior Ladies and Legends in 2008, PBA Women’s World Championships in 2009, USBC Queens in 2010 and many others.
Shannon O’Keefe
Shannon O’Keefe is a ten-pin bowler from US who has become world champion five times. She became a member of Team USA for the first time in 2005 and has won many gold, silver, and bronze medals in international competitions.
She has won New York State Queens Title two times and Rochester New York Queens Title three times. In 2011, 2012, and 2014, she won Texas Bluebonnet Queens Title. In 2007, she participated in US Women’s Open and was the runner-up and in 2012 she earned a third place in US Women’s Open.
Liz Johnson
Liz Johnson is a professional ten-pin bowler from America who has won Professional Women’s Bowling Association tour 11 times. In 2004, she became a member of Professional Bowlers Association (PBA). She became the first woman to qualify for PBA tour event. In 2005, she got the PBA title by winning East Region Kingpin Lanes Open. In 2007, she won US Women’s Open.
She won her first PBA title in Don and Paula Mixed Doubles event. Her first Singles title came in 2009 when she won PBA Women’s Series. In 2011, she won gold medal in WTBA World Women’s Championship by being a part of USA team. In 2015, she won USBC Queens Tournament.
Danielle McEwan
Danielle McEwan is a ten-pin bowler from America who became the member of team USA in 2012. In 2015, she became a part of Professional Women’s Bowling Association and won Smithfield PWBA Tour Championship. In the same year, she was the winner of South Point PBA West Challenge.
She also won gold medal with her partner Kelly Kulick in Women’s World Bowling Championships She was a part of USA team that won gold medal in WBC Team Competition. In Masters Competition, she won a bronze medal. In March 2016, she won PBA WBT H.H. Emir Cup.
