# QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup

The QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup, previously known as the International Masters and AMF Bowling World Cup, is an annual Ten-pin bowling championship sponsored by QubicaAMF Worldwide, and the largest in bowling in terms of number of participating nations. Each nation chooses one male and/or one female bowler to represent them in the tournament, and in the majority of cases, this is done by running a qualifying tournament, the winners of which (male and/or female) are chosen.

## History

The Bowling World Cup was created by AMF's European Promotions Director at the time, Victor Kalman, and Gordon Caie, AMF's Promotions Manager in the UK at the time. Dublin, Ireland in 1965 hosted the first-ever Bowling World Cup, then called the International Masters. 20 bowlers, all men, participated. Lauri Ajanto became the first-ever winner of the BWC. Women first competed in 1972, the 8th edition of the AMF Bowling World Cup in Hamburg, West Germany where Irma Urrea became the first-ever woman to win the BWC.
13 countries have participated in every Bowling World Cup since its inception: Australia, Belgium, England (as Great Britain from 1965 to 1995), Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland and United States.
As of 2019, the Bowling World Cup has visited 42 different cities in 31 different countries.
Currently the men's champion is Francois Louw and the women's champion is Rebecca Whiting. On March 9, 2020, World Bowling and QubicaAMF announced a merger of the World Bowling Singles Championships and the QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup into one annual event, that will continue to be called the QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup from 2020 onwards. The 56th QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup was to be held in Salmiya, Kuwait at the Kuwait Bowling Sporting Club in November 2020, but was postponed to March 2021 and then further postponed to October 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and then canceled all together.

## Format

Qualifying Rounds
* Stage 1: Qualifying Round of 24 Games, total pinfall. Top 24 Men, Top 24 Women advance to Stage 2, total pinfall carries over.
* Stage 2: Top 24 Men, Top 24 women bowls 8 games. Top 8 Men, Top 8 Women based on total pinfall after 32 games advance to Stage 3.
* Stage 3: Top 8 Men, Top 8 women bowls another 8 games in a round robin format, 30 bonus pins for a win, 15 bonus pins for a tie. Top 4 Men, Top 4 Women after 40 games (total pinfall + bonus pins) advance to the knockout finals.
Knockout Finals
* Semifinals: First seeded bowler vs Fourth seeded bowler; Second seeded bowler vs Third seeded bowler, winners (Men and women) advance to the finals.
* Finals: Semifinal winners bowl for the title. (Men and women)

### Lane Pattern

For the 2019 BWC, all games are bowled on one pattern, typically a 41 foot pattern unless lane topography at the host site dictates that the pattern be adjusted one foot less or one foot more.

## Previous winners
### Single

| Year | Location | Men | Women |
| 1965 | Dublin, Ireland | Lauri Ajanto | Women did not participate from 1965-1971 |
| 1966 | London, England | John Wilcox | Women did not participate from 1965-1971 |
| 1967 | Paris, France | Jack Connaughton | Women did not participate from 1965-1971 |
| 1968 | Guadalajara, Mexico | Fritz Blum | Women did not participate from 1965-1971 |
| 1969 | Tokyo, Japan | Graydon Robinson | Women did not participate from 1965-1971 |
| 1970 | Copenhagen, Denmark | Klaus Müller | Women did not participate from 1965-1971 |
| 1971 | Hong Kong | Roger Dalkin | Women did not participate from 1965-1971 |
| 1972 | Hamburg, West Germany | Ray Mitchell | Irma Urrea |
| 1973 | Singapore | Bernie Caterer | Kesinee Srivises |
| 1974 | Caracas, Venezuela | Jairo Ocampo | Birgitte Lund |
| 1975 | Makati, Philippines | Lorenzo Monti | Cathy Townsend |
| 1976 | Tehran, Iran | Paeng Nepomuceno | Lucy Giovinco |
| 1977 | Tolworth, England | Arne Svein Ström | Rea Rennox |
| 1978 | Bogotá, Colombia | Samran Banyen | Lita dela Rosa |
| 1979 | Bangkok, Thailand | Philippe Dubois | Bong Coo |
| 1980 | Jakarta, Indonesia | Paeng Nepomuceno | Jean Gordon |
| 1981 | New York City, United States | Bob Worrall | Pauline Smith |
| 1982 | Scheveningen, Netherlands | Arne Svein Ström | Jeanette Baker |
| 1983 | Mexico City, Mexico | Chu You-tien | Jeanette Baker |
| 1984 | Sydney, Australia | Jack Jurek | Eliana Rigato |
| 1985 | Seoul, South Korea | Alfonso Rodríguez | Marjorie McEntee |
| 1986 | Copenhagen, Denmark | Peter Ljung | Annette Hagre |
| 1987 | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | Remo Fornasari | Irene Gronert |
| 1988 | Guadalajara, Mexico | Mohammed Khalifa Al-Qubaisi | Linda Kelly |
| 1989 | Dublin, Ireland | Salem Al-Monsuri | Patty Ann |
| 1990 | Pattaya, Thailand | Tom Hahl | Linda Graham |
| 1991 | Beijing, China | Jon Juneau | Åsa Larsson |
| 1992 | Le Mans, France | Paeng Nepomuceno | Martina Beckel |
| 1993 | Johannesburg, South Africa | Rainer Puisis | Pauline Smith |
| 1994 | Hermosillo, Mexico | Tore Torgersen | Anne Jacobs |
| 1995 | São Paulo, Brazil | Patrick Healey Jr. | Gemma Burden |
| 1996 | Belfast, Northern Ireland | Paeng Nepomuceno | Cara Honeychurch |
| 1997 | Cairo, Egypt | Christian Nokel | Tseng Su-fen |
| 1998 | Kobe, Japan | Yang Cheng-ming | Maxine Nable |
| 1999 | Las Vegas, United States | Ahmed Shaheen | Amanda Bradley |
| 2000 | Lisbon, Portugal | Tomas Leandersson | Mel Issac |
| 2001 | Pattaya, Thailand | Kim Haugen | Nachimi Itakura |
| 2002 | Riga, Latvia | Mika Luoto | Shannon Pluhowsky |
| 2003 | Tegucigalpa, Honduras | Christian Jan Suarez | Kerrie Ryan-Ciach |
| 2004 | Singapore | Kai Virtanen | Shannon Pluhowsky |
| 2005 | Ljubljana, Slovenia | Michael Schmidt | Lynda Barnes |
| 2006 | Caracas, Venezuela | Osku Palermaa | Diandra Asbaty |
| 2007 | Saint Petersburg, Russia | Bill Hoffman | Ann-Maree Putney |
| 2008 | Hermosillo, Mexico | Derek Eoff | Jasmine Yeong-Nathan |
| 2009 | Malacca Town, Malaysia | Choi Yong-kyu | Caroline Lagrange |
| 2010 | Toulon, France | Michael Schmidt | Aumi Guerra |
| 2011 | Johannesburg, South Africa | Jason Belmonte | Aumi Guerra |
| 2012 | Wrocław, Poland | Syafiq Ridhwan | Shayna Ng |
| 2013 | Krasnoyarsk, Russia | Or Aviram | Caroline Lagrange |
| 2014 | Wrocław, Poland | Chris Barnes | Clara Guerrero |
| 2015 | Las Vegas, United States | Wu Siu Hong | Clara Guerrero |
| 2016 | Shanghai, China | Wang Hongbo | Jenny Wegner |
| 2017 | Hermosillo, Mexico | Jakob Butturff | Krizziah Tabora |
| 2018 | Las Vegas, United States | Sam Cooley | Shannon O'Keefe |
| 2019 | Palembang, Indonesia | Francois Louw | Rebecca Whiting |
| 2021 | Dubai, United Arab Emirates | Tom Daugherty | Shayna Ng |
| 2022 | Queensland, Australia | Carl Eklund | Colleen Pee |
| 2023 | Salmiya, Kuwait | Xiang Yi Zhang | Shannon O'Keefe |
| 2024 | Lima, Peru | Robin Ilhammar | Jenna Stretch |
| 2025 | Kowloon, Hong Kong | Du Jianchao | Natasha Roslan |
Source:

#### Number of titles by country/territory

Men :
| Country/Territory | Titles | Years |
| United States | 12 | 1966, 1967, 1971, 1981, 1984, 1991, 1995, 2007, 2008, 2014, 2017, 2021 |
| Finland | 5 | 1965, 1990, 2002, 2004, 2006 |
| Philippines | 5 | 1976, 1980, 1992, 1996, 2003 |
| Canada | 4 | 1969, 1972, 2005, 2010 |
| Norway | 4 | 1977, 1982, 1994, 2001 |
| Sweden | 4 | 1986, 2000, 2022, 2024 |
| Germany | 4 | 1968, 1970, 1993, 1997 |
| China | 3 | 2016, 2023, 2025 |
| Australia | 2 | 2011, 2018 |
| Qatar | 2 | 1989, 1999 |
| Chinese Taipei | 2 | 1983, 1998 |
| Italy | 2 | 1975, 1987 |
| South Africa | 1 | 2019 |
| Hong Kong | 1 | 2015 |
| Israel | 1 | 2013 |
| Malaysia | 1 | 2012 |
| South Korea | 1 | 2009 |
| United Arab Emirates | 1 | 1988 |
| Mexico | 1 | 1985 |
| France | 1 | 1979 |
| Thailand | 1 | 1978 |
| Colombia | 1 | 1974 |
| Great Britain | 1 | 1973 |
Women :
| Country/Territory | Titles | Years |
| United States | 11 | 1976, 1988, 1989, 1990, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2018, 2023, 2024 |
| Australia | 7 | 1982, 1983, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2007, 2019 |
| Canada | 6 | 1975, 1977, 1980, 2003, 2009, 2013 |
| Singapore | 4 | 2008, 2012, 2021, 2022 |
| Philippines | 3 | 1978, 1979, 2017 |
| Sweden | 3 | 1986, 1991, 2016 |
| Great Britain | 3 | 1981, 1993, 1995 |
| Colombia | 2 | 2014, 2015 |
| Dominican Republic | 2 | 2010, 2011 |
| Malaysia | 1 | 2025 |
| Japan | 1 | 2001 |
| Wales | 1 | 2000 |
| Chinese Taipei | 1 | 1997 |
| South Africa | 1 | 1994 |
| Germany | 1 | 1992 |
| Netherlands | 1 | 1987 |
| Ireland | 1 | 1985 |
| Italy | 1 | 1984 |
| Denmark | 1 | 1974 |
| Thailand | 1 | 1973 |
| Mexico | 1 | 1972 |
* 1 2 As West Germany.

### Team

| Year | Location | Men | Women |
| 2022 | Queensland, Australia | United States | Sweden |
| 2025 | Kowloon, Hong Kong | Malaysia | United States |

#### Number of titles by country/territory

Men :
| Country/Territory | Titles | Years |
| United States | 1 | 2022 |
| Malaysia | 1 | 2025 |
Women :
| Country/Territory | Titles | Years |
| Sweden | 1 | 2022 |
| United States | 1 | 2025 |

## Records
### Winners

* Paeng Nepomuceno holds two Guinness World Records from his victories in the QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup. His four victories (1976, 1980, 1992, 1996) came in a record three different decades. He also holds the record for the youngest men's champion, 19, when he won his first of four titles in 1976. Incidentally, Nepomuceno won his titles in Olympic years.
* The oldest champions are Remo Fornasari, 51, when he won in 1987; and Irma Urrea, 45, when she won the very first women's title in 1972.
* Gemma Burden holds a Guinness World Record as the youngest Bowling World Cup Champion, 17, when she won in 1995.
* Two other men besides Nepomuceno has won multiple Bowling World Cup titles, Arne Svein Ström (1977 and 1982) and Michael Schmidt (2005 and 2010).
* Six women have each won two times, Pauline Smith (1981 and 1993), Jeanette Baker (1982 and 1983), Shannon Pluhowsky (2002 and 2004), Aumi Guerra (2010 and 2011), Caroline Lagrange (2009 and 2013) and Clara Guerrero (2014 and 2015).
* Baker, Guerra, and Guerrero are the only bowlers in QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup history to win consecutive titles.
* Only once has a country swept the men's and women's titles in the same year. This occurred in 1986 when Sweden incidentally defeated Philippines in both the men's and women's finals.
* A host representative has won the QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup three times. Bob Worrall won in New York City in 1981, Wang Hongbo won in Shanghai in 2016, and Shannon O'Keefe won in Las Vegas in 2018.
* Chris Barnes (2014 men's champion) and Lynda Barnes (2005 women's champion) is the only husband-wife duo to win the QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup.
* United States is the most successful nation in the QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup, winning a combined 23 titles (12 men's titles, 11 women's titles)

### Scoring

| Category | Record | Player | Year/Venue |
| Qualifying Rounds ||||
| Men's Individual Game | 300 | 59 300s have been bowled in the qualifying rounds. | 59 300s have been bowled in the qualifying rounds. |
| Women's Individual Game | 300 | 15 300s have been bowled in the qualifying rounds. | 15 300s have been bowled in the qualifying rounds. |
| Men's 3 Game Series | 896 | Paul Trotter | 2002, Riga, Latvia |
| Women's 3 Game Series | 803 | Aumi Guerra | 2011, Johannesburg, South Africa |
| Men's 5 Game Block | 1307 | Ahmed Shaheen | 2002, Riga, Latvia |
| Women's 5 Game Block | 1304 | Aumi Guerra | 2011, Johannesburg, South Africa |
| Men's 6 Game Block | 1599 | Mats Maggi | 2013, Krasnoyarsk, Russia |
| Women's 6 Game Block | 1531 | Lynda Barnes | 2005, Ljubljana, Slovenia |
| Men's 8 Game Block | 2088 | Tommy Jones | 2011, Johannesburg, South Africa |
| Women's 8 Game Block | 1948 | Clara Guerrero | 2014, Wrocław, Poland |
| Men's High Average | 246.22 | Osku Palermaa | 2006, Caracas, Venezuela |
| Women's High Average | 244.03 | Caroline Lagrange | 2013, Krasnoyarsk, Russia |
| Finals - Arena "Knockout" Rounds (2000-2005), (2016-) and Stepladder ||||
| Men's Individual Game | 300 | Kai Virtanen | 2004, Singapore |
| Men's Individual Game | 300 | Chris Barnes | 2014, Wrocław, Poland |
| Women's Individual Game | 298 | Jasmine Yeong-Nathan | 2008, Hermosillo, Mexico |
| Men's 2 Game Series | 536 | Petter Hansen | 2004, Singapore |
| Women's 2 Game Series | 561 | Jasmine Yeong-Nathan | 2008, Hermosillo, Mexico |
| Men's 3 Game Series | 778 | Derek Eoff | 2008, Hermosillo, Mexico |
| Women's 3 Game Series | 747 | Clara Guerrero | 2014, Wrocław, Poland |
* ↑ Qualifying rounds consists of three or four days of qualifying, eight games in the Top 24 round, and round-robin match play.
* ↑ Jason Belmonte and Tore Torgersen has bowled the most 300s, each with three. In 2013, Torgersen became the first in QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup history to bowl consecutive 300s.
* ↑ No women has bowled multiple 300s as of 2019.
* ↑ Qualifying Day 2: Games 6, 7, 8: 244, 280, 279
* 1 2 32 Games
* ↑ From 2000-2005, Arena Knockout Rounds was a format of three rounds of single elimination, best-of-three-games. From 2016 till present, Arena Knockout rounds is a format of two rounds of single elimination, one game matches.

### Appearances and Participation

* Most Appearances, Men - 16, Paeng Nepomuceno
1976, 1979–1980, 1982, 1985–1989, 1991–1996, 2009
* Most Appearances, Women - 17, Aida Granillo
1982-1983, 1985, 1988, 1992, 1994-1996, 1998-2000, 2002–2006, 2008
* Erik Kok has participated in the Bowling World Cup in five different decades.
1979–1980, 1985, 1989, 1995, 2005, 2014
* Most Championship Appearances, Stepladder and Arena, Men - 9, Paeng Nepomuceno
1976, 1980, 1986, 1989, 1991–1993, 1995–1996
* Most Championship Appearances, Stepladder and Arena, Women - 7, Shalin Zulkifli
1996–1998, 2000–2001, 2003–2004
* Most Countries - 95 in 2004
* Most Bowlers, Men and Women Combined - 167 in 2010
* Most Bowlers, Men - 93 in 2004
* Most Bowlers, Women - 76 in 2010

## Awards

* The Bent Petersen Country Award is awarded to the country with the best combined finishes in the men's and women's divisions. It is named after Bent Petersen, who ran AMF’s international operations for 36 years before retiring in 1998. Originally known as the Country Champion Award, it has been awarded at the BWC since 1984. The first winner of the award was Thailand. Australia are the most recent winners. In 2000, the award was renamed in honor of Petersen. Petersen died on November 21, 2014.
* Highest Game Award is awarded in both the men's and women's division to the bowlers who had the highest one game score during the tournament. There have been 76 300s bowled at the QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup (61 by men, 15 by women). Jack Guay bowled the first-ever 300 game in 1994, the 30th year of the AMF Bowling World Cup; while Shalin Zulkifli was the first woman to bowl a 300 in 1997. United States has the most 300s by a country, seven.
* The Barry James Sportsman Award and Jacky Felsenstein Sportswoman Award, awarded to one male bowler and one female bowler, is voted for by the participating bowlers. Representatives from Canada and Mexico have each won this award more times than any country, seven times each.