PBA World Series of Bowling
Lives Up to its Name

Among a growing number of international players who travel the world to compete in professional bowling tournaments is second-year Lumber Liquidators Professional Bowlers Association Tour exempt player Stuart Williams of Ellesmere Port, England, who visited 14 countries to compete in tournaments while also bowling full-time on the PBA Tour in 2010. His next stop will be the PBA World Series of Bowling Oct. 24-Nov. 6 at the South Point Bowling Center in Las Vegas to begin the 2010-11 season.

Since the first of this year, the globetrotting Williams has traveled to Finland, France, Germany, Holland, Bahrain, Turkey, Denmark, Malta, Italy, Spain, England, Cyprus, Russia and Austria, racking up more than 85,000 air miles.

The 29-year-old has won titles in nine countries including the 2007 World Tenpin Bowling Association World Ranking Masters conducted at the Kegel Training Center in Florida and the 2010 Bahrain Open. He had three top-10 finishes in his rookie season on the PBA Tour in 2009-10.

Williams says there is a definite difference in the competitive atmosphere between bowling on the PBA Tour and tournaments in other countries. Both Europe and Asia also have professional bowling tours.

“Generally, the formats are more varied in tournaments in other parts of the world,” Williams said. “In Europe, for example, there is less depth in the tournament fields and the atmosphere is a little more friendly because most players aren’t bowling for a living.

“One advantage of a lot of international tournaments that you don’t have on the PBA Tour is that there is often a re-entry option which allows you to get a better feel for the bowling center and the competitive environment.”

Williams began bowling at age 13 and became a fast learner. He started to take the game seriously when he entered college at Leeds Metropolitan University where he attained a degree in accounting. Three years later he became Great Britain’s national champion and soon won his first professional tournament in Spain in 2003. That win gave him the inspiration to travel the world bowling for a living and eventually join the PBA.

“It was about two years ago that I made the serious decision to try and make a living bowling on the PBA Tour,” Williams said. “The PBA Tour has most of the world’s best bowlers competing week in and week out and I wanted to challenge myself by bowling against the best.”

Williams feels his vigorous bowling schedule is probably the best way to prepare for this year’s World Series.

“I’ve bowled a lot of tournaments this year and I’m practicing three or four times a week and will be making a trip to the Kegel Training Center Europe this weekend in Tilburg (Holland) so I’m confident I’ll be ready when I get to Las Vegas.”

During the two week run of the World Series, PBA will conduct six tournaments with the finals of each taped by ESPN Nov. 5-6 for airing beginning Nov. 28.

One of the special features of the World Series will be the first “USA vs. The World” TV event, which will be taped on Nov. 6. The top six United States bowlers after 60 qualifying games will meet the top six international players in a made-for-TV competition.

Bowling fans worldwide will be able to follow World Series action including the USA vs. The World event on pba.com’s Xtra Frame. For information on how to subscribe to Xtra Frame, visit pba.com and click on the Xtra Frame logo.

In addition to Williams, among the more famous international players who have made their mark in PBA Tour competition and will also be competing in the World Series are PBA Hall of Famer Amleto Monacelli of Venezuela; eight-time Tour champion Mika Koivuniemi of Finland, bowling in his 12th season on Tour, and Jason Belmonte of Australia, who gained widespread media attention two seasons ago by becoming the first player to win a PBA Tour event using his unique two-handed delivery. Belmonte, the 2008-09 PBA Rookie of the Year, recently won Korean Professional Bowling Association and Asian Bowling Federation Tour events in South Korea and Indonesia, respectively.

Williams’ fellow countryman Dominic Barrett, named World Bowling Writers Bowler of the Year the last two years, will also be competing in the World Series.

Through the years U.S. players have also made their mark traveling the world in international professional competition. Most recently PBA Tour stars Chris Barnes and Pete Weber went head-to-head in the title match of the European Bowlers Tour’s Vienna Open in Austria on Oct. 3, with Barnes winning a 191-184 battle for the title.

Bowling’s Team USA 2010— a.k.a. “bowling’s dream team” — with PBA Tour stars Patrick Allen, Wes Malott, Rhino Page, Barnes, Tommy Jones and Bill O’Neill, dominated the 2010 WTBA World Men’s Championships in Munich, Germany, winning five of six gold medals, sweeping the podium in the event’s Masters and earning 11 medals overall.

With an entry list featuring a capacity field of 256 of the world’s greatest bowlers representing 14 countries, the 2010 World Series of Bowling truly lives up to its name. The countries represented include Finland, Venezuela, Denmark, Sweden, England, Australia, Norway, Canada, Germany, South Korea, Colombia, Japan, Puerto Rico and the U.S.