# WTBA World Tenpin Bowling Championships

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.
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.
| Number | Year | City | Country | Women | Men | Total | Events |
| 1 | 1954 | Helsinki | Finland | - | 58 | 58 | 4 |
| 2 | 1955 | Essen | West Germany | - | 64 | 64 | 4 |
| 3 | 1958 | Helsingborg | Sweden | - | 99 | 99 | 4 |
| 4 | 1960 | Hamburg | West Germany | - | 102 | 102 | 4 |
| 5 | 1963 | Mexico City | Mexico | 45 | 132 | 177 | 8 |
| 6 | 1967 | Malmö | Sweden | 84 | 161 | 225 | 8 |
| 7 | 1971 | Milwaukee | United States | 103 | 268 | 371 | 8 |
| 8 | 1975 | London | England | 152 | 271 | 423 | 8 |
| 9 | 1979 | Manila | Philippines | 146 | 175 | 321 | 12 |
| 10 | 1983 | Caracas | Venezuela | 175 | 206 | 381 | 12 |
| 11 | 1987 | Helsinki | Finland | 196 | 230 | 426 | 12 |
| 12 | 1991 | Singapore | Singapore | 196 | 280 | 476 | 12 |
| 13 | 1995 | Reno | United States | 253 | 358 | 611 | 12 |
| 14 | 1999 | Abu Dhabi | United Arab Emirates | 255 | 345 | 600 | 12 |
| 15 | 2003 | Kuala Lumpur | Malaysia | 234 | 348 | 582 | 12 |
| 16 | 2005 | Aalborg | Denmark | 216 | - | 216 | 6 |
| 17 | 2006 | Busan | South Korea | - | 247 | 247 | 6 |
| 18 | 2007 | Monterrey | Mexico | 227 | - | 227 | 6 |
| 19 | 2008 | Bangkok | Thailand | - | 333 | 333 | 6 |
| 20 | 2009 | Las Vegas | United States | 228 | - | 228 | 6 |
| Number | Year | City | Country | Women | Men | Total | Events |
| 21 | 2010 | Munich | Germany | - | 356 | 356 | 6 |
| 22 | 2011 | Hong Kong | Hong Kong | 171 | - | 171 | 6 |
| 23 | 2013 | Henderson | United States | 212 | 216 | 428 | 12 |
| 24 | 2014 | Abu Dhabi | United Arab Emirates | - | 272 | 272 | 6 |
| 25 | 2015 | Abu Dhabi | United Arab Emirates | 147 | - | 147 | 6 |
| 26 | 2017 | Las Vegas | United States | 176 | 213 | 389 | 12 |
| 27 | 2018 | Hong Kong | Hong Kong | | 265 | 265 | 6 |
| 28 | 2019 | Las Vegas | United States | 178 | | 178 | 6 |
| 29 | 2021 | Dubai | UAE | - | - | | |

## Medals history
### Total medal table

As of 2019.
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | United States | 61 | 52 | 51 | 164 |
| 2 | Sweden | 26 | 26 | 21 | 73 |
| 3 | South Korea | 24 | 16 | 31 | 71 |
| 4 | Finland | 15 | 23 | 22 | 60 |
| 5 | Australia | 9 | 7 | 14 | 30 |
| 6 | Chinese Taipei | 9 | 7 | 6 | 22 |
| 7 | Malaysia | 8 | 10 | 5 | 23 |
| 8 | Canada | 8 | 7 | 6 | 21 |
| 9 | Philippines | 8 | 6 | 3 | 17 |
| 10 | England | 8 | 3 | 9 | 20 |
| 11 | Mexico | 7 | 11 | 13 | 31 |
| 12 | Germany | 6 | 12 | 15 | 33 |
| 13 | Japan | 5 | 10 | 9 | 24 |
| 14 | Colombia | 5 | 5 | 10 | 20 |
| 15 | Singapore | 4 | 10 | 8 | 22 |
| 16 | Denmark | 4 | 3 | 12 | 19 |
| 17 | Netherlands | 4 | 2 | 5 | 11 |
| 18 | Belgium | 2 | 3 | 1 | 6 |
| 19 | Puerto Rico | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| 20 | Venezuela | 1 | 3 | 10 | 14 |
| 21 | Norway | 1 | 3 | 4 | 8 |
| 22 | France | 1 | 1 | 5 | 7 |
| 23 | Hong Kong | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 24 | China | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 25 | Italy | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 25 | Qatar | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 25 | Thailand | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 28 | United Arab Emirates | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 29 | Indonesia | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 30 | Austria | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 30 | Guam | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 30 | Ireland | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 30 | Kuwait | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 30 | Latvia | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 30 | South Africa | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (35 entries) | Totals (35 entries) | 223 | 225 | 279 | 727 |

## World Championship Records
### Men

| Category | Record | Player | Country | Event | Year/Venue |
| Individual Records ||||||
| Individual Game | 300 | Rick Steelsmith | United States | Trios | 1987, Helsinki, Finland |
| Individual Game | 300 | Rolando Sebelen Sr. | Dominican Republic | Doubles | 1999, Abu Dhabi, UAE |
| Individual Game | 300 | Steve Thornton | England | Doubles | 1999, Abu Dhabi, UAE |
| Individual Game | 300 | Andrés Gomez | Colombia | Doubles | 1999, Abu Dhabi, UAE |
| Individual Game | 300 | Ahmed Shaheen | Qatar | Trios | 1999, Abu Dhabi, UAE |
| Individual Game | 300 | Amedeo Spada | Italy | Singles | 2003, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
| Individual Game | 300 | Anders Öhman | Sweden | Doubles | 2003, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
| Individual Game | 300 | Darren Cundy | England | Team | 2003, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
| Individual Game | 300 | Kimmo Lehtonen | Finland | (Make-up) Team | 2003, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
| Individual Game | 300 | Martin Larsen | Sweden | Round Robin | 2003, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
| Individual Game | 300 | Antonis Evaggelidis | Greece | Trios | 2006, Busan, South Korea |
| Individual Game | 300 | Bill Hoffman | United States | Team | 2006, Busan, South Korea |
| Individual Game | 300 | Biboy Rivera | Philippines | Masters Final | 2006, Busan, South Korea |
| Individual Game | 300 | Pasi Uotila | Finland | Singles | 2010, Munich, Germany |
| Individual Game | 300 | Chris Barnes | United States | Singles | 2010, Munich, Germany |
| Individual Game | 300 | Bodo Konieczny | Germany | Singles | 2013, Henderson, United States |
| Individual Game | 300 | Luis Eduardo Rovaina | Venezuela | Singles | 2013, Henderson, United States |
| Individual Game | 300 | Bill O'Neill | United States | Singles | 2013, Henderson, United States |
| Individual Game | 300 | Chris Barnes | United States | Doubles | 2013, Henderson, United States |
| Individual Game | 300 | Park Jong-Woo | South Korea | Doubles | 2013, Henderson, United States |
| Individual Game | 300 | Tore Torgersen | Norway | Trios | 2013, Henderson, United States |
| Individual Game | 300 | Achim Grabowski | Germany | Team | 2013, Henderson, United States |
| Individual Game | 300 | Hareb Al-Mansoori | UAE | Team | 2013, Henderson, United States |
| Individual Game | 300 | Ricardo Lecuona | Mexico | Team | 2013, Henderson, United States |
| Individual Game | 300 | Wu Hao-Ming | Chinese Taipei | Singles | 2017, Las Vegas, United States |
| Individual Game | 300 | Andrew Anderson | United States | Singles | 2018, Hong Kong, China |
| Individual Game | 300 | Fabian Kloos | Germany | Doubles | 2018, Hong Kong, China |
| Individual 3 Game Series | 826 | Kimmo Lehtonen | Finland | Singles | 1999, Abu Dhabi, UAE |
| Individual 6 Game Series | 1541 | Jason Belmonte | Australia | Doubles | 2006, Busan, South Korea |
| Individual 24 Game All-Events | 5635 | Tore Torgersen | Norway | | 1999, Abu Dhabi, UAE |
| Singles Records ||||||
| Singles - 1 Game | 300 | Amedeo Spada | Italy | | 2003, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
| Singles - 1 Game | 300 | Pasi Uotila | Finland | | 2010, Munich, Germany |
| Singles - 1 Game | 300 | Chris Barnes | United States | | 2010, Munich, Germany |
| Singles - 1 Game | 300 | Bodo Konieczny | Germany | | 2013, Henderson, Nevada, United States |
| Singles - 1 Game | 300 | Luis Eduardo Rovaina | Venezuela | | 2013, Henderson, Nevada, United States |
| Singles - 1 Game | 300 | Bill O'Neill | United States | | 2013, Henderson, Nevada, United States |
| Singles - 1 Game | 300 | Wu Hao-Ming | Chinese Taipei | | 2017, Las Vegas, United States |
| Singles - 1 Game | 300 | Andrew Anderson | United States | | 2018, Hong Kong, China |
| Singles - 3 Games | 826 | Kimmo Lehtonen | Finland | | 1999, Abu Dhabi, UAE |
| Singles - 6 Games | 1524 | Remy Ong | Singapore | | 2006, Busan, South Korea |
| Doubles Records ||||||
| Doubles - 1 Game | 599 | Jaime Monroy Andrés Gomez | Colombia | | 1999, Abu Dhabi, UAE |
| Doubles - 3 Games | 1514 | Tomas Leandersson Anders Öhman | Sweden | | 2003, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
| Doubles - 6 Games | 2906 | Tomas Leandersson Anders Öhman | Sweden | | 2003, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
| Trios Records ||||||
| Trios - 1 Game | 778 | Antti-Pekka Lax Lasse Lintilä Ari Halme | Finland | | 1999, Abu Dhabi, UAE |
| Trios - 3 Games | 2196 | Bill O'Neill Chris Barnes Tommy Jones | United States | | 2010, Munich, Germany |
| Trios - 6 Games | 4144 | Mike Fagan Sean Rash Marshall Kent | United States | | 2014, Abu Dhabi, UAE |
| Team Records ||||||
| Team - 1 Game | 1309 | Mario Quintero Luis Kassian Ricardo Lecuona Roberto Silva Alejandro Cruz | Mexico | | 2013, Henderson, Nevada, United States |
| Team - 3 Games | 3563 | Park Jong-Woo Choi Bok-Eum Hong Hae-Sol Shin Seungh-Yeon Kim Kyung-Min | South Korea | | 2014, Abu Dhabi, UAE |
| Team - 6 Games | 6917 | Park Jong-Woo Kang Hee-Won Choi Bok-Eum Hong Hae-Sol Shin Seungh-Yeon Kim Kyung-Min | South Korea | | 2014, Abu Dhabi, UAE |

### Women

| Category | Record | Player | Country | Event | Year/Venue |
| Individual Records ||||||
| Individual Game | 300 | Cha Mi-Jung | South Korea | Trios | 1999, Abu Dhabi, UAE |
| Individual Game | 300 | Kim Yeau-Jin | South Korea | Doubles | 2007, Monterrey, Mexico |
| Individual Game | 300 | Kirsten Penny | England | Team | 2007, Monterrey, Mexico |
| Individual Game | 300 | María Rodríguez | Colombia | Doubles | 2009, Las Vegas, United States |
| Individual Game | 300 | Kelly Kulick | United States | Singles | 2011, Hong Kong, China |
| Individual Game | 300 | Caroline Lagrange | Canada | Trios | 2011, Hong Kong, China |
| Individual Game | 300 | Shannon O'Keefe | United States | Trios | 2011, Hong Kong, China |
| Individual Game | 300 | Britt Brøndsted | Denmark | Team | 2011, Hong Kong, China |
| Individual Game | 300 | Shayna Ng | Singapore | Masters 1st Round | 2011, Hong Kong, China |
| Individual Game | 300 | Shannon Pluhowsky | United States | Masters Finals | 2011, Hong Kong, China |
| Individual Game | 300 | Kelly Kulick | United States | Doubles Semifinals | 2013, Henderson, United States |
| Individual Game | 300 | Joan Gonzalez | Venezuela | Doubles | 2015, Abu Dhabi, UAE |
| Individual Game | 300 | Karen Marcano | Venezuela | Team | 2015, Abu Dhabi, UAE |
| Individual Game | 300 | Liz Johnson | United States | Team Finals | 2015, Abu Dhabi, UAE |
| Individual Game | 300 | Liz Johnson | United States | Masters Step 2 | 2015, Abu Dhabi, UAE |
| Individual Game | 300 | Danielle McEwan | United States | Masters Step 2 | 2015, Abu Dhabi, UAE |
| Individual 3 Game Series | 812 | Jacqueline Sijore | Malaysia | Singles | 2011, Hong Kong, China |
| Individual 6 Game Series | 1601 | Shayna Ng | Singapore | Singles | 2011, Hong Kong, China |
| Individual 24 Game All-Events | 5744 | Mai Ginge Jensen | Denmark | | 2011, Hong Kong, China |
| Singles Records ||||||
| Singles - 1 Game | 300 | Kelly Kulick | United States | | 2011, Hong Kong, China |
| Singles - 3 Games | 812 | Jacqueline Sijore | Malaysia | | 2011, Hong Kong, China |
| Singles - 6 Games | 1601 | Shayna Ng | Singapore | | 2011, Hong Kong, China |
| Doubles Records ||||||
| Doubles - 1 Game | 556 | Carolyn Dorin-Ballard Kelly Kulick | United States | | 2011, Hong Kong, China |
| Doubles - 3 Games | 1536 | Carolyn Dorin-Ballard Kelly Kulick | United States | | 2011, Hong Kong, China |
| Doubles - 6 Games | 2901 | Carolyn Dorin-Ballard Kelly Kulick | United States | | 2011, Hong Kong, China |
| Trios Records ||||||
| Trios - 1 Game | 802 | Stefanie Nation Shannon Pluhowsky Shannon O'Keefe | United States | | 2011, Hong Kong, China |
| Trios - 3 Games | 2165 | Esther Cheah Zandra Aziela Jacqueline Sijore | Malaysia | | 2011, Hong Kong, China |
| Trios - 6 Games | 4232 | Hwang Sun-Ok Jeon Eun-Hee Son Yun-Hee | South Korea | | 2011, Hong Kong, China |
| Team Records ||||||
| Team - 1 Game | 1262 | Nadine Geisler Vanessa Timter Juliane Rieger Birgit Pöppler Patricia Luoto | Germany | | 2011, Hong Kong, China |
| Team - 3 Games | 3491 | Stefanie Nation Missy Parkin Shannon O'Keefe Kelly Kulick Liz Johnson | United States | | 2013, Henderson, United States |
| Team - 3 Games | 3491 | Jeon Eun-Hee Son Hye-Rin Kim Jin-Sun Jung Da-Wun Baek Seung-Ja | South Korea | | 2015, Abu Dhabi, UAE |
| Team - 6 Games | 6750 | Nadine Geisler Vanessa Timter Juliane Rieger Janine Ribguth Birgit Pöppler Patricia Luoto | Germany | | 2011, Hong Kong, China |
| Team - 6 Games | 6750 | Missy Parkin Liz Kuhlkin Jordan Richard Stefanie Johnson Danielle McEwan Shannon O'Keefe | United States | | 2019, Las Vegas, United States |