European Number One Injured in Quad-bike Accident

European Number One Dominic Barrett has been injured in a quad-biking accident in Saudi Arabia. The incident occured during the desert party of the 5th Kingdom International Open in Riyadh last night.

Two other people were injured in a similar incident at the party. Kuwaiti bowlers Mohammed Al-Rajeebah and Fahad Al-Regeeb were injured in a seperate quad-bike incident.

All three men were conscious when they were brought back from the areas where the incidents occured, and they were all taken to Kingdom Hospital. According to John Egan, in an article for bowling website TalkTenpin, Barrett was the first of the three injured men to arrive back, after Tim Mack had gone out as head of the rescue. Barrett had a blood-splattered forehead and a swollen face, and looked very frail.

Mack and English bowler Stuart Williams went to the hospital in the early hours of this morning to see Barrett, and Williams told John Egan that Barrett had broken seven ribs and fractured his left collar-bone. He will remain in Riyadh for around ten days. His partner and mother are to fly out at the expense of Prince Hakim to be with the injured Englishman.

Mohammed Al-Rajeebah has suffered a crushed thigh bone and will need surgery to repair the injury. Fahad Al-Regeeb suffered a dislocated shoulder.

I wish all three a speedy and complication-free recovery.

FeatureTalk-When will sense prevail on the issue of Tenpin Bowling becoming an Olympic sport?

Tenpin bowling is played by over 100 million people worldwide. Over 10 million people worldwide compete at either amateur or professional level. The number of bowling lanes worldwide is now up to 250,000. Petitions have been posted and signed by huge numbers on the internet, including a petition page on Facebook which currently has over 9,000 members. Yet somehow it continues to be snubbed by the Olympic Games.

Tenpin bowling is now probably the biggest sport in the world which is not yet part of the Olympic Games. The Bowling World Cup, which is held annually in destinations around the world, has proven extremely successful. Amateurs love the opportunity to travel the world, to represent their country, to walk out at the opening ceremony with their nation’s flag, to wear the colours of their nation proudly. To do this at the Olympic Games would be a high-point in any bowler’s career, and a moment which they would never forget.

And the tournament has become even more appealing since professionals of the game were allowed to take part. For every amateur, and I know this through personal experience, playing alongside the best players in the world is the most exciting experience you can be involved in, not just in bowling, but in any sport. The Olympics is, admittedly, considered an amateur showcase. However, this should not be a sticking point. Even professional footballers can now take part in the Olympics, with teams allowed to field a certain number of professionals in their side. So this is a non-argument before it is even begun.

Bowling has also seen huge growth in Western Europe over the past two decades, especially in Britain and France. It also has a massive base in Asia now, with one of the American Professional Bowlers Tour events now taking place in Japan, and one of the events of this year’s World Bowling Tour to take place in Thailand. It has a growing popularity base in Eastern Europe, and added to its ever-strong popularity in the Americas, the base for the sport to be included is almost unavoidable now. It simply is too big a sport to ignore.

 In 1979, the International Olympic Committee officially recognised the Fédération Internationale des Qulleurs as the governing body of bowling. The FIQ has been tirelessly lobbying for the sport to be included in the Olympics ever since, but illogically the sport has remained on the sidelines. The closest the sport has come to Olympic status was as a demonstration sport at the Seoul Olympics in 1988.

Tenpin bowling appeals greatly to such a large proportion of the population worldwide. It has also become extremely popular as a disability sport. There is one key reason why its popularity is so widespread: despite subtleties of skill in the professional game it is, in essence, a very simple game. It can essentially be played and enjoyed by anyone, anywhere; a point which is proven by the number of people who play it today.

The sport is also officially recognised as a Paralympic discipline, and it features at numerous disability games throughout the world. However, as with the Olympics, ten pin bowling has never featured at Paralympic Games level. This simply does not make sense. The reasoning behind it has been rationalised by Steffi Klein, from the International Paralympic Association: “Sports or disciplines which are not on the Olympic programme, will not be considered for inclusion on the Paralympic programme, unless it is considered to be a special or distinctive sport for athletes with a disability.”

Apparently ten pin bowling does not fall under the category of “a special or distinctive sport for athletes with a disability”. However, I do not agree with this in the slightest. The introduction of physical aids such as ball-ramps, lane barriers and computerised scoring have made the sport much more competitive, enjoyable and easy to play for bowlers with a range of disabilities. There is also, I believe, enough of a distinction between the sport at able-bodied and disable-bodied level to be considered distinctive for athletes with a disability.

In the all-too-ignored third member of the Olympic family, the Special Olympics, tenpin bowling has a long and illustrious history. It has become one of the biggest sports in the Special Olympics today. So just how long must we wait for the able and disable-bodied alike to get the chance to perform on the world stage?

It is quite clear that the case which is being put forward by such a large number of people involved in tenpin bowling for Olympic status cannot be ignored. 100 million people simply cannot be wrong. It is surely time, then, for the International Olympic Committee to sit up and take notice of the sport, and to give it the respect it deserves.

Rocks Tour-Event 5 Preview

Stop five of this year's inaugural Rocks Tour sees the second event in Leisureplex Stillorgan.

The tour was in Stillorgan for event four, where Dave English claimed his second victory of the tour. English qualified second for the scratch finals last time out, with Jason Byrnes taking the top qualifying spot and his first ever top spot. However, English's experience paid off in the final game, beating Byrnes 213 to 198.

English is currently top of both the scractch and handicap sections of the tour going into Sunday's event. Graham Turner and Alan Bride are close behind in the scratch section, with John Wilson and Jason Byrnes completing the current top five. In the handicap section, Carol Catchpole sits second, with Byrnes close behind in third. The handicap section top five is completed by John Wilson and Elaine Lawlor.

The penultimate event of the tour is a chance for those who missed any of the first four events to add to what will end up being their total points tally for their best four events in the six-stop tour. The final event will take place in Tallaght in April, after which the competitors will be decided for the Finals in May.

The standings after event six will also decide how many ranking points competitors earn for Team Ireland selection, so Sunday's event in Stillorgan will be important to those who do not wish to put pressure on themselves going into the final event.

Check-in for the event opens at 8.30 am Sunday March 20th, with bowling begining at 9. Bowlers play five games, moving lanes after 3 games. Entry on the day is €40 including breakfast after bowling and a €5 raffle ticket.

All current standings can be found on the itba website, http://www.tenpin-ireland.com/.  

Junior National Championships Review-Under 19's Section

Simon English once again became junior national champion this past weekend. The Stillorgan-based bowler took control of the tournament early on and never looked like being caught, taking gold in all three events to claim the top spot for the Round Robin final by 145 pins.

English exploded into the tournament, shooting a 236 in game one of the first event, the singles. He followed this up with a 288 in game two, the high game of the entire tournament. English went front ten before leaving a harsh ten-pin with his eleventh ball of the game.

Throwing the newest ball from Siesmic, the Euphoria, English looked streets ahead of the rest as he continued to pepper the pocket. He would eventually shoot 1164 for his five games, which saw him take the gold by a staggering 187 pins (Ciara McDunphy finished second, the singles section being mixed this year). Craig Grattan, Keith Rynhart and Taylor Nally were the nearest challengers, a sign of things to come in the tournament.

The Doubles event saw English and Rynhart team up dominate despite a slow start. A combined 366 score in game one saw them almost 100 pins down on Nally and his partner Aidan Byrne, who shot 451 to take the early lead. However, consistent scoring from then in from English and Rynhart saw them eventually take the gold by 88 pins from Nally and Byrne. The team of Christopher Sloan and Emily Goode took the bronze medal.

English's 208 average in the doubles, coupled with his 232 average in the singles, meant that the race for the top spot was all-but-over. However, there was still three spots in the Round Robin final up for grabs, as well as some players fighting for the ranking points in order to make the final panel for this year's Junior Triple Crown.

English secured his clean-sweep of gold medals in the trios, with his partners Rynhart and Grattan. They secured a 54-pin victory over Sarah Finlay, Christopher Sloan and Aidan Byrne. The bronze medal went to the team of Carl McDermott, Emily Goode and Nicholas King.

The line-up for the Round Robin Final was completed. Joining English was Rynhart, Grattan and Nally. Each player would play each other (three games each) in the final. In the end there was little fireworks in the final, with the final positions not changing from the positions in which the players came into the final.

In the girls section Ciara McDunphy dominated the small field to defend her junior championship crown. In total only six players competed in the under 19's section, forcing the under 19's events to be mixed this year.

In the singles McDunphy took the silver medal away from the chasing pack of both boys and girls. In the doubles Emily Goode secured a bronze medal with her partner Christopher Sloan. In the trios, Sarah Finlay took silver with her team, and Goode took another bronze with hers.

In the Girls All Events, McDunphy went into the Round Robin final with a comfortable 150-pin lead over Goode. Sarah Finlay and Laura Curran took the other two spots in the final. Finlay was the big performer of the final, shooting 217 and 225 in the second and third games to take second place away from Goode.

Congratulations to Simon English and Ciara McDunphy, Junior National Champions for 2011.

Review of the Under 16 sections will be posted soon. All the standings and scores are available on the ITBA website, http://www.tenpin-ireland.com/.

Junior National Championships Preview

This year's Junior National Championships get underway tonight in Leisureplex Stillorgan.

In the boys sections, Simon English and Mathew Kestell will return to defend their 2010 crowns, while in the girls sections Amanda Larkin and Ciara McDunphy will be looking for victory again this year.

The tournament gets underway with the singles event tonight, kicking off at 7.30. The weekend will also see the Doubles event and the Trios event, before the All Events and Round Robin finals.

Bowltalk will be reviewing all the events as well as the finals, so keep an eye out over the course of the weekend for updates.

I would also like to wish all competitors the best of the luck in the event.

National Championships Photos-Second Weekend

Thanks to Mick Roe for all the photographs over the two weekends.