Bowls Canada - FELICIA WONG of Calgary, Alberta, and Montreal, Quebec’s FRANKIE CATANZARITI are packed and ready for their trip to INDONESIA where they will represent Canada in the bowling world’s annual gathering of nations, the Qubica/AMF Bowling World Cup, which runs NOVEMBER 16^th to 24^that Jakabaring Sports City in Palembang.

WONG is no stranger to World Cup competition, with this year’s event marking her fourth performance at the World Cup.  Her first appearance came back in 2010 in Toulon, France, where she placed a respectable 25^th.  Returning to the World’s in 2012 (Wroclaw, Poland), she was disappointed with a 29^th place finish, certainly not representative of her prowess on the lanes at home.  2016 saw her return to the Bowling World Cup, this time travelling to Shanghai China, where she made the cut to the top 24 but fell short of the cut to the round of 8, placing 16^th, her best showing to date.  As the 2018 Canadian Bowler of the Year, and regular member of Team Canada, the Canadian bowling community is watching and betting on an even better result this year as Felicia dons the Red and White once again. 

Competing in the men’s event, CATANZARITI heads to Palembang as a World Cup rookie, though he’s had experience in international competition having competed in Finland as a member of the Canadian Junior Team.  Also serving him well is his considerable experience in Canadian national junior competition.

WONG and CATANZARITI qualified for the World Finals via impressive performances at the Canadian National Finals of the World Cup, which were held this past July (6^th & 7^th) at Classic Bowl in Mississauga, Ontario.  The Nationals see Provincial Representatives and the Defending Champions compete in a 16-game qualifying round, with the top 3 in each division (men and women) advancing to a Stepladder Finals. WONG led the field at the Nationals with 3570 points after 16 games (includes 240 bonus pins for matches won… she won all but 4 matches), and cleared the Stepladder Final in a single match against BC’s Kimberley Green, shooting 200 to Green’s 189.   At the Nationals in Mississauga, CATANZARITI bowled up a storm, with a qualifying score of 3719, a full 237 pins ahead of second place.  Having won all matches but 3 CATANZARITI was firmly placed as #1 seed in the Stepladder Final, as was WONG.  And like Wong, it only took 1 game of a potential double knock-out match up to claim the Canadian title.

Rounding off the team is Bowl Canada’s World Cup coach MICHAEL BOROSKAE of East St. Paul, Manitoba.  BOROSKAE served for several years as a coach for Team Canada, and coached the Canadian contingent at last year’s World Cup in Las Vegas.  This year in Palembang he lends his considerable knowledge and experience once again to Canada’s bowlers on the international stage.

The World Cup Nationals have been conducted annually by Bowl Canada since 1966 (men's division) and 1974 (women's division) as the Canadian qualifier for the Qubica/AMF Bowling World Cup.  8 provincial champions in each of the men's and women's divisions, along with defending champs from the previous year, battle for the Canadian titles and a trip to the Worlds annually.  Results, pictures and general information on the Canadian National Finals can be found at https://canadacups.bowlcanada.ca/.

The 55^th annual edition of this premier world event will be held November 16^th to 24^th at Jakabaring Sports City in Palembang, Indonesia.  Opening Ceremonies take place November 17^th.  The Bowling World Cup is the largest annual international sports competition in the world in terms of number of participating countries, annually reaching approximately 90 participating nations from around the globe.

Canada now has TEN Bowling World Cup titles and claims the second most wins in World Cup history, following the USA who lead all nations with 20 titles.  The Bowling World Cup is fortunate and proud to have the financial support of SPORT CANADA in conducting Canadian qualifying rounds and in sending representatives to the World Finals.  Full details on the Qubica/AMF Bowling World Cup including updates on results, etc. will be available on QUBICA/AMF's website  https://www.qubicaamf.com/qubicaamf-bowling-world-cup

BRIEF HISTORY OF THE

QUBICA/AMF BOWLING WORLD CUP

The first tournament was held in Dublin, Ireland in 1964 but Canada did not have a representative until 1966 when Paul Yoshimasu of Winnipeg, Manitoba competed.  Women were included in the World Cup in 1972 and Canada’s first women’s representative was Terry Quinn, also from Winnipeg, who competed in the 1974 World Final.

Canada has participated in the Bowling World Cup annually ever since and has produced 10 World Champions, with six women’s Titles and four in the men’s division.  Canada ranks 2^nd among nations for most World Cup wins.  USA holds top spot at the World Cup claiming 20 titles to date. 

Graydon "Blondie" Robinson of Toronto won the first title for Canada at the 1969 event held in Tokyo, Japan.  Ray Mitchell, also of Toronto, won the men's title in Hamburg, Germany in 1972.  Cathy Townsend of Montreal was the first Canadian woman to win.  Townsend won her title in the Philippines in 1975.  Rea Rennox, Toronto, won in Tollworth, England in 1977.  Jean Gordon of Vancouver won in 1980 in Jakarta, Indonesia.  Most recently Mississauga, Ontario’s Kerrie Ryan-Ciach won in Tegucigalpa, Honduras in 2003…Winnipeg, Manitoba’s MICHAEL SCHMIDT won his first World Title in 2005 in Ljubljana, Slovenia…Montreal’s CAROLINE LAGRANGE earned her first World Title at the 2009 Worlds in Melaka, Malaysia.  Manitoba’s MICHAEL SCHMIDT recaptured the World Title in Toulon, France in 2010 as did CAROLINE LAGRANGE in Krasnoyarsk, Russia in 2013.

Several Canadians have earned multiple trips to the World Cup.  2-Time World Champion Michael Schmidt of Winnipeg, Manitoba has 8 appearances (2005, ’06, ’07, ’09, ’10, ’11, ‘12 and ’14) and now has two more appearances than Calgary’s Jack Guay (1993, ’94, ’95, ’98, 2004 & 2008).  Karen Collura of Toronto, Ontario has four consecutive appearances (1993-1996), as does Felicia Wong, Calgary, Alta (2010, 2012, 2016 & 2019). Diane Buchanan of Montreal represented Canada in three consecutive appearances (2000-2002) and 2-time world champion Caroline Lagrange has appeared three times as well (2009, 2013 & 2014).  Kerrie Ryan-Ciach of Mississauga, Ontario has three appearances as well (2003, 2004 & 2015) as does Jennifer Park, Nanaimo, B.C. (2008, 2011 & 2018).  Many have bowled in the World Cup on two occasions….In the men's division; Graydon "Blondie" Robinson, Toronto, Ontario (1969 & 1978)…Gerry Duranceau, Montreal, Quebec (1976 & 1977)…Glen Watson, Toronto, Ontario (1973 & 1980)…Rod Hull, Vancouver, BC (1988 & 1996)…Bob Woolley, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario (1991 & 2001)… Merlin Bunnage, Kelowna, BC (2002 & 2003)… and Ryan Reid, Richmond, BC (2017 & 2018).  In the women’s event; Sandra Shott, Vancouver, BC (1986 & 1990)…Anne Saasto, Thunder Bay, Ontario (1991 & 1992)…Veronica Lalande-Lapointe, Ile Perrot, Quebec (2005 & 2006),

Family connections have also been part of Canada's World Cup story with Jim Kramer Sr. of Sault Ste. Marie representing Canada in 1968 and son Jim Kramer Jr. in 1985,  Frank Boehm, Regina, Sask. in 1970 and his daughter Susan Vanderaa competing in 1997.  Gloria Collura, Toronto was the women's representative in 1982 and daughter Karen had successive trips in 1993, 1994, 1995 and 1996.

Canadians have been the leaders in bowling perfect games. Jack Guay bowled the first ever 300 game in World Cup competition at Hermosillo, Mexico in 1994 and followed it with another in Sao Paulo, Brazil in 1995.  Jill Friis, London, Ontario, Diane Buchanan, Brossard, Quebec bowled 300 games in Las Vegas, Nevada and Lisbon, Portugal in 1999 and 2000 respectively and Caroline Lagrange in Krasnoyarsk, Russia, 2013.

Serge Beaulieu, Chomedy, Quebec, Jack Brace, Oshawa, Ont., Alan Tone, Grimsby, Ont. and Diane Buchanan, Brossard, QC have earned the coveted Sportsman/Sportswoman of the Tournament award, which is an honour selected by the players.

In 2004, Jack Guay of Calgary & Kerrie Ryan-Ciach of Mississauga jointly won the Best Country Performance award, placing 5th & 2nd respectively.

BOWL CANADA (formerly Bowling Proprietors Association of Canada) has sponsored the Canadian qualifying of the competition as well as Canada’s World Cup team since 1966.  The event is also supported by SPORT CANADA.   Qualifying events are held in each province and the Canadian final is held in March to qualify the team for the coming Worlds, typically held in November.

For a list of Canada's representatives and how they finished through the event’s history, simply visit us online at:

https://canadacups.bowlcanada.ca/