14th Octobber, Arlington, Texas: In just a few months, Sunset Station Hotel and Casino in Henderson, Nevada, USA, will become a hotbed for bowling, and competitors will have the chance to strike it rich with three big tournaments, the USBC Masters, International Mini and WTBA International Open 2012.

In addition to the lucrative prizes up for grabs at each tournament, there will be a special US$30,000 prize fund available to those who compete in all three events. There is no additional fee to be eligible for a share of the jackpot, and the bowler with the highest 20-game pinfall will take home a top prize of US$10,000.

The 20-game pinfall total will include:

The latter two tournaments will allow re-entries, and the bowler's highest qualifying efforts will be used in the 20-game total.

"All three tournaments have pulled together to provide the ultimate opportunity for the bowlers, and we're looking forward to celebrating an exciting couple of weeks in Las Vegas," said Brian Lewis, USBC Managing Director of Tournaments.

"Not only is there a lot of money to be won, there also are three entertaining formats that are sure to appeal to many bowlers."

The Masters, which features a double-elimination match-play bracket for the top 64 qualifiers, will be contested from January 22-29, 2012. Qualifying rounds for the International Mini and the WTBA event will be held from January 28-February 5, with both events leading to unique finals on the last day of competition.

The top prize at the 2012 Masters will be US$50,000, while the International Mini and WTBA International Open champions will take home US$30,000 and US$20,000, respectively. All bowlers are eligible to compete in these events, including international competitors and bowlers who are exempt on the Professional Bowlers Association Tour.

For more information, please visit www.worldtenpinbowling.com.

Photos courtesy of Sunset Station Hotel & Casino.

13th September, Hong Kong: The Federation Internationale des Quilleurs (FIQ) Congress approved a major reorganization Tuesday, paving the way for World Tenpin Bowling Association and World Ninepin Bowling Association to have complete control over every aspect of their respective sports.

The reorganization streamlines the governance of international bowling by FIQ, which is recognized by the International Olympic Committee as the sport's world governing body.

Under the reorganization, the FIQ Executive Board shrinks from 11 members to seven, five of whom will be elected by the WTBA and two by the WNBA. The president of FIQ must also now be either the president of WTBA or WNBA, and as a result, WTBA President Kevin Dornberger was elected Tuesday as the new president of FIQ for a four-year term.

"Today is a remarkable and almost unprecedented day for the sport of bowling," said Dornberger, who was re-elected to a second four-year term as president of WTBA on Monday.

"This reorganization allows tenpin bowling to decide its matters, while ninepin bowling can make its own decisions instead of outsiders having influence."

The reorganization proposal, which passed nearly unanimously, was a joint effort by the WTBA and WNBA. The president of WNBA, Ludwig Kocsis of Austria, said the decision will help both organizations.

"I am pleased by the decision today because it allows our organizations to be more integrated, which will help us get more international recognition," said Kocsis, who also is now vice president of FIQ. "There are advantages for both parties by working together to make things better."

The World Tenpin Bowling Association is made up of more than 100 federations, while the World Ninepin Bowling Association is made up of nearly 30 federations. Both organizations govern their respective sports throughout the world.

12th September, Hong Kong: Incumbent Mr Kevin Dornberger was re-elected President of the World Tenpin Bowling Association for another four-year term during the WTBA Congress 2011 at the the Kowloon International Trade and Exhibition Center on Monday.

Dornberger, who was first elected president at the WTBA Congress during the World Women Championships 2005 in Aalborg, was challenged by Mr Jaon Ricart of Catalonia Skittles and Bowling Federation and Vice President of FIQ.

Both the contenders presented their case in a 10-minute address to the delegates who attended the meeting before the votes were casted. Dornberger received 49 votes against Ricart's 35 to win the elections to retain the presidency for another four-year term.

"I'm glad that the elections is over and that the delegates has confidence in me in carrying out all the proposals put in placed over the years," said the newly-relected WTBA President, Mr Kevin Dorngerber after successfully retaining the position.

"Now is the time to move forward and we are hopeful that we can achieve more to put our sport back on track."

Four nominations were received for the post of Vice Presidents. They were Mr Pekka Korpi of Finland, Ms Sonja Jaine of Sweden, Mr Michael Seymour of Australia and Mr Alessandro Sattanino of Italy.

All the four candidates also gave a 10-minute address each before the votes were casted. In the first round. Korpi had the most votes (35), Seymour (31), Sattanino (12) and Jaine (9). In the second round of casting, The Finn topped with 40 votes, Seymour second with 34 and Sattanino received 12 votes.

In the third round between the Finn and the Australian, Korpi edged Seymour by one vote and was subsequently elected as the 1st Vice President. Before the fourth round, Sattanino withdrew his challenge which saw Seymour winning by 67 votes against Jaine's 16 to become the 2nd Vice President.

Mr Marti Koedjik of the Neterlands and Ms Cathy Innes of Canada were retained as honorary auditors of WTBA for another four-year term.

Before the elections took place, the meeting went through the minutes of the last congress and several items were discussed before it was finally approved. The meeting also heard reports from both the president and the secretary, Mr Christer Johnsson.

Reports were also presented by the Zone presidents before going through some of the unfurnished business left from the previous congress. After that the balance sheets, profit & loss statements were also presented together with the auditors' report and was duly approved.

Mr Dornberger also confirmed through a decision made by the presidium meeting held three days ago on September 9, approved Thai Tenpin Bowling Association to host the 2012 World Youth Championships in Bangkok.

The president also announced that a contract has been finalised between WTBA and the host of the 2013 World Championships (combined men and women) at Sunset Bowl at the Sunset Station and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.

The congress, who had earlier approved the establishment of a new WTBA Singles Championships commencing in 2012, also announced the Limassol, Cyprus was awarded the host after five other bids from Buffalo, New York, Lincoln, Nebraska, Wichita, Kansas, Madisson, Wisconsin and Rio Rancho, Alburqurque, New Mexico were received.

At the start of the congress meeting, Mr Bill Supper of IPBSIA gave a talk on the role of his organization in the development of bowling through its partnership with WTBA.

Mr Lars Haue-Pederson, Managing Director of TSE Consulting, appointed by WTBA to promote the bidding process of future world championship, also gave his presentation on the primary role of his organization in helping the bidding processes.

Bids has yet to be received for the hosting of the 2014 World Men Championships and the 2015 World Women Championships and was therefore adjourned until bids are received by cities of the member federations.

The delegates will return tomorrow for the FIQ Congress in which a major proposal has been put forward to re-organize the Federation International des Quilleurs (FIQ). Details of which will be made available after that.

Photos by Terence Yaw in Hong Kong.