World Ranking Masters - A Brief Report

As far as national or international tournaments are concerned, the World Ranking Masters is still relatively new having only been contested six times thus far. So, for those who don’t know what it is or how it works, here is what it’s all about.

The World Ranking Masters is an amateur level singles tournament. The world is divided into three zones by the World Tenpin Bowling Association (WTBA). These zones are the American Zone, the European Zone and the Asian Zone. Throughout the year, bowlers compete in various tournaments to earn “ranking” points. At the end of the year, the top eight men and top eight women in each of the three zones are invited to participate in the World Ranking Masters.

During the World Ranking Masters, bowlers compete on varying lane conditions designed to challenge the bowlers. One day of competition will be on a long pattern, one day of competition will be on a short pattern and during the final day of qualifying competition, bowlers will face both patterns; each pair will have one lane conditioned using the long pattern and one lane conditioned using the short pattern. In order to advance, bowlers must conquer both conditions.

After the three rounds of qualifying, the top eight bowlers in each division advance to a step-ladder style bracket where an eventual winner will emerge.

The first annual World Ranking Masters Tournament was held in 2001 and was hosted by Abu Dhabi, UAE. Jesmine Ho of Singapore claimed the women’s title while Sunny Hui of Hong Kong claimed the men’s title.

In 2002, the World Ranking Masters was hosted by Aalborg, Denmark. Jennifer Tan Bee Leng of Singapore claimed top honors in the women’s division. In the men’s division, Gery Verbruggen of Belguim claimed the top spot.

The Kegel Training and laceName w:st="on">TournamentlaceName> laceType w:st="on">CenterlaceType> in laceType w:st="on">LakelaceType> laceName w:st="on">WaleslaceName>, Florida USA hosted the 2003 event. The women’s champion was Britt Broendsted of Denmark. The men’s champion was Anders Ohman of Sweden.

The fourth annual even in 2004 was held in Moscow, Russia. Diandra Asbaty of the USA claimed the women’s title while Mohd Khalifa Al-Qubaisi of the UAE claimed the men’s title.

In 2005, the tournament once again traveled to laceType w:st="on">LakelaceType> laceName w:st="on">WaleslaceName>, Florida. The women’s champion was Clara Guerro of Colombia and the men’s champion was Kimmo Lehtonen of Finland.

Kuwait City, Kuwait hosted the sixth annual tournament in 2006. ersonName w:st="on">Sara VargasersonName> of Colombia claimed the women’s championship while Khalid Al Dubyan of Kuwait claimed the men’s championship.

The 2007 was originally to be hosted by the Qatar Bowling Federation (QBF) but they withdrew as host. Three countries wanted to step in and sent an application to the WTBA; the United States, Finland and Indonesia. The WTBA decided in favor of the Kegel/USBC bid.

 PRIZE LIST

World Ranking Masters Prize Fund

(NOTE: Men's and Women's Prize List are exactly the same).

  1st  Place:   $10,000

  2nd Place:   $  5,000

  3rd Place:    $  3,000

  4th Place:    $  3,000
  5th Place:    $  1,500
  6th Place:    $  1,500
  7th Place:    $  1,500

  8th Place:    $  1,500

  9th Place:  (1st not in final)  $1,000

10th Place:  (2nd not in final) $   500

Winner of Squad 1 = $1,000.

Winner of Squad 2 = $1,000.

Winner of Squad 3 = $1,000.

Winner of the Qualification = $1,000.

 Check back often for further details as they become available.