Tenpin bowling’s illustrious rise to fame continues as the prestigious PartyCasino.com World Tenpin Masters competition returns to the Barnsley Metrodome for the third consecutive year this weekend.

The South Yorkshire public will again be able to witness 16 of the best male and female bowlers from 12 countries going head-to-head in a straight knockout format.

Each match is held on one custom-made bowling alley, with 500 spectators housed in main stands along the side. Bowlers play two games, with the highest total pin-fall over the two games determining the winner and advancing them to the next stage of the competition.

'There has only been one English winner since the competition began in 1998'


In what is the sports biggest televised tournament, each match will be filmed for television and Matchroom Sport will produce the footage into 15 one-hour programmes, which will be shown in the UK on Sky Sports, as well as broadcast around the world.

There has only been one English winner since the competition began in 1998. Female bowler Nikki Harvey won the 2003 final, beating Australian Andrew Frawley in the final.

UK hopes are again centred on three-times Masters finalist Paul Moor. Also representing the UK will be 2007 World Ranking Masters Champion Stuart Williams, debutant Kirsten Penny, a $50,000 winner at the recent Qatar International Open, Commonwealth Games All Events champion Dominic Barrett and Premier Tenpin Bowling Club (PTBC) Masters winner James Tidd. 

Moor, one of only a few professional players in the UK, has gone on to become a leading figure for Team Europe, taking part in the annual PartyPoker.com Weber Cup and representing England on numerous occasions at the QubicaAMF Tenpin Bowling World Cup.

Moor also has three European Bowling Tour (EBT) titles and 24 English national titles to his name as well as being the first bowler to roll a ‘perfect 300 game’ live on television in the UK.

Last year's winner Jason Belmonte, who beat Moor in the final, said: “Paul is a great bowler with a great career ahead of him. To come second in this tournament three years in a row shows the quality of bowler he is. When you need to strike you have to and he keeps on doing it. He will win it one of these years.”