Tenpin World Championships 1987 at Helsinki, Finland

Thank you Merja, for this FDC which commemorates the XI F.I.Q World Tenpin Bowling Championships 1987 for Ladies and Men which were held from June 3rd to 13th at Helsinki, Finland. 230 Men competed in the disciplines: Singles, Doubles, Trio, 5-Player-Team, All-Event and Masters.

Now, what exactly is Tenpin Bowling? The uninitiated would ask. To put it simply it is just "bowling". In the United States and the United Kingdom) it is a competitive sport in which a player (the "bowler") rolls a bowling ball down a wooden or synthetic (polyurethane) lane with the objective of scoring points by knocking down as many pins as possible. The bowler is allowed 10 frames in which to knock down pins, with frames one (1) through nine (9) being composed of up to two rolls. The tenth frame may be composed of up to three rolls: the bonus roll(s) following a strike or spare in the tenth (sometimes referred to as the eleventh and twelfth frames) are fill ball(s) used only to calculate the score of the mark rolled in the tenth.

Bowling has a unique scoring system which keeps track not only of the current score but also strikes and spares, which give multiple marks. Effectively, there are three kinds of marks given in a score; a strike (all ten down in the first ball), a spare (all ten down by the second ball), and an open (missed pins still standing when the turn ends). A strike earns ten points plus the points for the next two balls thrown (for example, if a player got a strike then followed with a 7 then 2, their value for the strike would be 10+7+2, or 19). A spare earns ten points plus the points for the next ball thrown (again, if a player gets a spare then follow it with 7 pins down, their value for the spare would be 10+7, or 17). Open frames are added normally (example: if a player knocks down 5 on their first ball and 3 on their second the first open frame would be worth 8 points). The maximum score in tenpin bowling is 300. This consists of getting 12 strikes in a row in one game (one strike each in frames 1–9, and all three possible strikes in the tenth frame), and is also known as a perfect game.