We've consulted the TBA rankings, Wikipedia, Bowlapedia (AKA bowling legend Carol Gianotti) and a host of other resources to bring you our Australia Day Top 10 Australian Bowlers of all time list. If you disagree or feel we've missed anyone off, or if you think you should be on the list then let us know in the comments below.
1) Shane Warne - According to many Google searches Shane is Australia's best bowler ever! We're not sure what he's like down at his local bowl but there's no doubt his got some serious skill and his ability to spin the ball must be transferable to a pretty mean hook.
2) Jason Belmonte - Arguably Australia's most successful bowler on the world stage. According to Wikipedia "Belmonte has won one European Bowling Tour title, the Brunswick Euro Challenge, held in Greece. He also won the World Tenpin Masters championship in 2007. In September 2010, he defeated American Sean Rash in the finals to earn the 2010 Korea Cup title. On the PBA Tour, Belmonte owns ten titles, including his first title at the Bowling Foundation Long Island Classic (2009), and three titles in the 2011-12 season (GEICO Shark Open, World Series of Bowling Chameleon Open, and the Pepsi PBA Elite Players Championship). After making the televised finals in five of six PBA majors without winning, he defeated Wes Malott to capture his first PBA major title: the 2012-13 USBC Masters. He captured his second major at the 2014 Barbasol Tournament of Champions, again defeating Malott in the title match." Not a bad effort really. Good on ya Belmo.
3) Carol Gianotti - With 16 USBC titles and her first in 1989 at the tender age of just 21 years old, Carol blazed a trail inspiring young Aussies to believe they could make it big over in the bowling capital of the world, America. Carol also represented Australia at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Carol was the first Australian woman to be inducted into the United States Bowling Congress (USBC) Hall of Fame in 2011. Anybody, looking at joining a bowling league can learn a lot from her lightning-quick style and fierce competitiveness.
4) Cara Honeychurch - Cara had an amazing career, first as an amateur and then as a professional bowler. Cara won numerous gold medals in FIQ/WTBA Championships such as World Championships, World Youth Championships, Asian Zone Championships as well as in the 1998 Commonwealth Games, where she swept all three titles. She made history in bowling when she won the 1996 FIQ Atlanta Bowling Challenge at the Olympic Games (Atlanta, GA). In the same year, Cara won the AMF World Cup and added a silver medal in the 1997 World Games Mixed Doubles with Andrew Frawley. Cara was elected Asian Bowler of the Year (1994, 1995) and World Bowling Writers Bowler of the Year (1996, 1998). In 1998 she was inducted to the WBW International Hall of Fame. Before the 1999 World Championships, Cara turned professional and gave an unbelievable debut on PWBA Tour. Her record for the three tournaments she bowled was: Two television appearances, one title, one televised 300-game worth $50,000 in bonus, another 300-game the following week and total earnings of over $110,000! In 2000 Cara won another two titles en route to win the PWBA Rookie of the Year award. She added four titles in 2001 and the last of her 8 titles in 2002. Courtesy of http://www.bowlingdigital.com/
5) George Frilingos - World record holder (2,132 pins knocked over in one hour on one lane), top 10 ranked bowler in Australia for the last 5 plus years and he represented Australia at all levels including the Asian and World Championships and the QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup. Not a bad resume for our number 5 ranked bowler.
6) Ann-Maree Putney - In her own words Ann-Maree's career highlights were "winning two world championships, winning ten Gold Medals, winning two Lake Macquarie Sportsperson's Awards and being inducted into the World Bowling Writers Hall of Fame." We think these are some pretty impressive highlights and definitely deserved of a top 6 listing.
7) Jeanette Baker - According to Wikipedia Jeanette was the first Australian to win a World Tenpin Championship. She Won the AMF World Cup in 1982 in Scheveningen in the Netherlands and for a second time in 1983 in Mexico City, making her the only athlete to win back-to-back AMF World Cup titles ever. She won both titles from top seed. Way to go Jeanette welcome to our top 10 list.
8) Chris Batson - What a career! He represented Australia in the World Cup an incredible five times: 1974, 1979 where he finished in 3rd place, 1981, 1985 and 1987. Chris won the South Pacific Classic three times - in 1974, 1979 and 1987, the Australian Masters 1980, and the Melbourne Tenpin Cup 1993. Chris also represented Australia in the first World Games where he won both a Gold and Silver medal. He went on to represent Australia on fifteen occasions and has spent nearly 10 years overseas coaching. He was part of the NSW Rachuig winning men's team in 1972, 1973 and 1976, making the All Star Team on three occasions - 1973, 1974 and 1976. He has bowled 22 x 300 games and Brunswick even produced a bowling ball in the eighties with his name on it for the Australian market. He was elected to the TBA Hall of Fame in 2000.
9) Sam Cooley - A young up and comer who was ranked number 1 bowler in Australia last year according to TBA rankings. Sam recently won a Bronze medal in the Singles event at the 2014 World Bowling Men's Championships. Sam was also crowned 2010 AMF Australian Masters Champion! Keep an eye out for Sam on the podium in the future.
10) Andrew Frawley - Let's be honest if you are the TBA appointed National Coach then you're going to be pretty handy on the lanes. Andrew has won his fair share of competitions including the Open Masters titles in the 36th MWA Thailand International Open, the 2012 Asian Bowling Federation Tour #1, the DIBC Open Bowling Tournament 2013 and more recently the Bathurst Real Estate Pitstop tournament. Andrew will hopefully be passing on these winning ways to his pupils and we can look forward to more titles coming our way!
