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 Knockout Finals 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. Source: 1976, 1979–1980, 1982, 1985–1989, 1991–1996, 2009 1982-1983, 1985, 1988, 1992, 1994-1996, 1998-2000, 2002–2006, 2008 1979–1980, 1985, 1989, 1995, 2005, 2014 1976, 1980, 1986, 1989, 1991–1993, 1995–1996  1996–1998, 2000–2001, 2003–2004