2005 World Cup Fast Facts

• The AMF World Cup is the largest annual sports championship in the world, in terms of number of nations that participate. A record 95 countries were represented in Singapore last year.



• This is the first time the AMF World Cup has been held in Slovenia. It was in another new European country in 2002 when the event was held in Riga, Latvia.



• The first AMF World Cup, then called the International Masters Championship, was held in Dublin, Ireland, in 1965. The name was changed to the AMF World Cup in 1969 and to the QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup to recognize the new partnership this year.



• The country that has won the most AMF World Cup championships is the United States of America, with seven menÂ’s championships and five womenÂ’s championships, for a total of 12. The Philippines is second, with seven total victories (five menÂ’s and two womenÂ’s).



• The individual who has won the most AMF World Cup championships is Paeng Nepomuceno of the Philippines (1976, 1980, 1992 and 1996). Nepomuceno has also made the most appearances in the stepladder and/or arena finals of the World Cup through 2003, with nine. His achievements in the AMF World Cup have earned him a place in the Guinness Book of World Records.



• Three women share the honor of having won the most womenÂ’s AMF World Cup titles: Pauline (Smith) Buck of England (1981, 1993), Jeanette Baker of Australia (1982, 1983) and Shannon Pluhowsky of the USA (2002 and 2004). Women first competed in the AMF World Cup in 1972, in Hamburg, Germany.



• AustraliaÂ’s Jeanette Baker is the only athlete, male or female, ever to win back-to-back World Cup titles.



• Slovenian bowlers first competed in the event in 2000. Last year Uros Kus achieved the best ever placing when he came 63rd, averaging 194 with a high game of 245.



• The youngest bowler to win the AMF World Cup was Gemma Burden of England (age 17, 1995). The youngest male to win the AMF World Cup was Paeng Nepomuceno of the Philippines (age 19, 1976).



• Twenty-seven perfect games (a 300 score) have been rolled in World Cup history. The first came in 1994, in Hermosillo, Mexico, by Jack Guay of Canada. Guay rolled a second 300 game one year later, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, as did the U.S.Â’s Patrick Healey Jr.
           In 1997 in Cairo, Egypt, Ahmed Al-Meraikhi of Qatar rolled the fourth World Cup 300 game. A few days later, Shalin Zulkifli of Malaysia made history by becoming the first woman ever to roll a perfect game in the AMF World Cup. EnglandÂ’s Paul Boyle carded the sixth 300 in Kobe, Japan, in 1998.
           Four bowlers rolled perfect games in Las Vegas, USA, in 1999: Shigeo Saito of Japan, Kenny Ang of Malaysia, Mohammed Al-Qubaisi of the United Arab Emirates, and Jill Friis of Canada,
           Tomas Leandersson of Sweden, Tore Torgersen of Norway and Diane Buchanan of Canada each recorded a 300 game in Lisbon, Portugal, in 2000.
           The USAÂ’s Scott Norton rolled the only perfect game of the tournament in 2001 in Pattaya, Thailand.
           Four bowlers connected for 12 strikes in a row in Riga, Latvia two years ago: Paul Trotter of Australia, Kai Guenther of Germany, Wayne Greenall of England and Lisa Paluzzi of South Africa .
           Bill Hoffman of the USA posted the only 300 game of the 2003 tournament in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
           Last year in Singapore we witnessed eight perfect games: Matthieu Bergen (Switzerland), Pawel Bielski (Poland), Petter Hansen (Norway), Chester King (Philippines), Andrejus Puskariovas (Lithuania), Yahav Rabin (Israel), Kai Virtanen (Finland) and Wendy Bergen (Belgium).
• Women have rolled five of the 27 perfect games recorded thus far.



• Paul Trotter of Australia shot the highest three-game series ever rolled in the World Cup in Latvia in 2002. He began his first qualifying round of the tournament with games of 300-298-298 for a series of 896.

• More peoples of the world play bowling than any other sport, with the possible exception of soccer football.



• Bowling has more registered dues-paying participants than any other sport.



• More than 100,000 million people in 90 countries bowl at least once a year.



• More than 12 million people in the world compete in organized bowling leagues.



• There are more than 260,000 bowling lanes in over 16,000 centers worldwide.



• More than 10 million games are played every day.



• The bowling industry spends significantly more money each year than any other sport on airlines, restaurants, hotels and rental cars.



• Bowlers exceed national averages in income.



• The median age for bowlers is 28.2 years.



• 38.0% of bowlers are in the 18-34 age group.



• 59.6% of bowlers are in the 18-49 age group.



• 46.9% of bowlers are in the 25-49 age group.



• 47% of adult bowlers are men, 53% are women.