More Than a Numbers Game: The Reality of Women in Open European Bowling

There are not many sports that allow men and women to compete in the same tournaments. You can count them on the fingers of both hands and that really makes 10-pin bowling very unique.

But on the other side of the story are the women who are struggling to be competitive enough in the men’s field and get to the top ranking positions in those tournaments.

To be able to give a base to this article, we should answer a question how much the bowling itself evolved technically in the last years.

From the late 80s - with heavy urethane play on traditional wood lanes - through the shift to synthetic surfaces and reactive balls, to the introduction of category patterns, two-handed styles, massive rev rates and modern surface manipulation, followed by the huge impact of the Purple Hammer, the recent transition to 78D urethane rules, and significantly improved coaching, European scoring averages have risen from 204 to 222 pins in the men’s field, and from 192 to 211 pins in the women’s field.

Technical Evolution of 10-Pin Bowling (1985-Present)

A comparative overview of equipment, biomechanics, and European Open tournament scoring environments

Technical Progression Summary

The shift from wood surfaces and low-friction urethane balls to modern synthetic lanes and asymmetric coverstocks transformed bowling into a high-torque sport. The widespread emergence of two-handed rev-dominant styles has allowed players to create steep entry angles even on heavy, high-volume Sport oil patterns, leading to an average scoring increase of ~20 to 25 pins on European Open conditions since 1985.

But if we see that the average numbers are higher even in the women’s field, what are the main reasons that we still don’t see them in the final cuts that often, not mentioning in the winning positions?

Total number of women participants in mixed gender tournaments

If we look at the numbers of women participants in European tournaments in general, there is no need to explain further why only a small percentage of women are winning. But why is the situation not getting any better? Why can’t we get more competitive women into bowling?

First of all, getting to a higher level of bowling is maybe far more difficult for women. Not to mention that under the current situation, where we don’t have enough "role models" in some countries to push them or motivate them to go further, the situation is getting worse. And even women with good technique and the potential to be very good at the sport are staying active in local leagues and small tournaments only, without trying to step up.

Some federations are not trying to open a women’s program anymore as they don’t see the point of it and because of this, we can see that some countries are not able to send a team of 4 women to IBF and EBF championships.

Lower numbers are also seen in youth championships, where the share of girls has dropped from 42% down to 35% since 1990. Here we can see the strong dominance of a few countries with very good national programs that have stayed stable throughout the years, alongside poor or non-existent attendance from some Central and Eastern European countries in general.

The question is still the same - how can national federations, or even the EBF itself, help to improve the situation?

EBF president Valgeir Guðbjartsson acknowledged the situation and in the article for BowlingLife (EBF President on EBT Rule Changes: "EBF Is Trying To Gain Back the Situation That Was 10-15 Years Ago"), admitted that the situation in women’s bowling is getting serious. "The participation of women has been going down very rapidly over the last 2-4 years, particularly post-COVID," Guðbjartsson explained. "There has been pressure from organizers to offer women a higher handicap to get them back into the game."

Two years later, we have not seen many improvements made, but as will be mentioned in the last part of this article, some tournaments are supporting women’s attendance and we can only hope it will increase the numbers over the coming years.

Technique abilities

There is no recent significant researches about the main differences between men’s and women’s technique abilities to rely on. Throughout the searching we have found one from 1996, where the situation was slightly different technique wise:

Thomas, Schlinker and Over (1996) - Psychological and psychomotor skills associated with prowess at ten-pin bowling. This study included 172 bowlers (87 men, 85 women): One particularly interesting finding was that men and women of comparable bowling standards had similar psychological and psychomotor skill profiles. The researchers concluded that ten-pin bowling was a gender-neutral sport in this respect.

But since then, the bowling environment changed dramatically. There is a genuine research gap in ten-pin bowling. We have some evidence of sex-related differences in delivery mechanics and ball speed, but surprisingly little rigorous research comparing the complete performance profiles of elite male and female bowlers.

But what we know from coaching perspective? This question was answered by EBF Level 3 coach Panagiotis Vardakis:

When comparing men's and women's bowling, we must look beyond physical strength and scoring averages. At the elite level, differences in physical characteristics can influence ball speed, rev rate, power generation and the ability to create entry angles.

Men may, on average, have a physical advantage in generating higher speed and power, while women may face different physical demands when developing the same modern game. However, these are tendencies, not rules. The growing use of two-handed deliveries, particularly among younger athletes, is changing the competitive landscape.

This is where the comparison becomes particularly interesting. A powerful game can create greater angle, pin action and recovery potential, but it can also demand more precise speed control, lane-reading skills and physical management. A more controlled, lower-rev or traditional one-handed game may offer advantages in repeatability, accuracy and managing certain lane conditions, although it can sometimes limit the options available when the pattern demands greater ball motion. Neither approach is inherently superior, and neither belongs exclusively to one gender.

The coach's responsibility is not to make female athletes imitate male professionals, or to place limits on their potential, but to identify the most effective combination of technique, physical development, equipment and tactical intelligence for each individual.

Men and women may arrive at the pocket through different physical routes, but the essential requirements remain the same: accuracy, repeatability, spare conversion, adaptability and decision-making under pressure. The future of bowling will not belong to the gender that generates the most power, but to the athletes who learn to use their individual strengths most intelligently.

Mental advantage in the men’s field?

No, no, and again no. There is no huge advantage on the mental side of performance between the two genders.

Yes, women maybe have different "hormones" compared to men, but it’s still something that can be worked around and it doesn’t make them less "mentally stable" or "mentally weaker."

However, the confidence to compete in the women’s field is a little bit lower, which is mainly caused by the general environment. In the study "When do we observe a gender gap in competition entry?" by Eva Markowsky and Miriam Beblo (2022), it is mentioned that expectations about their chances to win increase the gap.

But still, more research needs to be done on this topic too as I wasn’t able to find more recent research that would go deeper. From my point of view it makes complete sense, especially in 10-pin bowling as the chances to win in mixed-gender tournaments for women are still very low, and if you consider the amount of time, money and energy involved, it can cause an even lower number of women participants.

How we can improve it?

1. Build the future of women’s bowling

Long story short - we need more youth in Europe!!! This is no news, and we need to create a whole different environment for the next generation to join. Starting from local clubs, federations, EBF, and sponsors - we should all work towards this goal.

We need more marketing, we need more social content about youth bowling, we need to create role models to follow in Europe, and we need to make bowling popular among kids to make it attractive for them. There are so many people involved in bowling from so many different fields (only a few have bowling as their main job), and I’m sure if everybody can do their bit in this huge task, we can move at least a bit forward.

Cooperation between coaches and the countries themselves is everything at the moment, so instead of avoiding the problem, we need to look at the solutions together.

Tough task, but not impossible!

2. International tournaments and their support

And here I’m proud to say that there is a light at the end somewhere...

International tournaments in Europe are a big part of bowling, and I’m very glad to see some changes in their formats and prize structures in general towards the women’s field. Usually, handicaps are not getting higher and organizers keep them at the standard 8 pins per game, but they are getting more women into the final cuts via "lucky loser / wildcard" options or by adding extra prizes for the women’s ranking.

The Kivelos Open Tournament in Athens, Greece, has even been organizing separate women’s finals for the second year in a row. Over the last 6 years, they have increased the total number of female participants from 10 to over 25 in 2026! It’s still only 12% of the whole field, but we can see that even small changes can make a small difference with a bigger future impact.

I can’t forget to mention the recent IBIBO 2026 tournament in Bucharest. Tough conditions! The organizers laid down the 2026 U.S. Open Pattern 1 with a low oil ratio of 1.84:1 and heavy volume of oil, creating an environment where lack of speed control among with higher rev rates, offered almost zero "miss room." If a high-rev player tried to force the ball motion to create pin carry, the flat pattern punished them immediately with severe splits or unpredictable backend reaction.

When higher rev players tried to open up the lanes on that pattern, they created erratic depletion in the heads and uneven carry down on the backends. Women who kept their lines tighter and straighter in front of them, didn’t hit those chaotic transition spots, maintaining a high percentage of clean frames and manageable spare shooting over long blocks.

Historic Result in Bucharest

The performance curve directly impacted the leaderboard: 21-year-old Chrysanna Avgerinou from Greece made history by becoming the first female champion of IBIBO, and Sue Abela from Malta secured 3rd place!

The Bucharest tournament is well known for its tough conditions and has seen an increase in the women’s field comparable to the Kivelos Open throughout the years.

From these few examples, we can see that change is possible even in countries that do not have a strong traditional women’s attendance. We can also see a few more women-only tournaments over recent years, though it’s still predominantly in the Scandinavian region where the base is very strong.

There is still a challenge in this direction, as organizers struggle to hit financially viable participant counts (150-250+ entries) in women-only open fields.

3. Conclusion a.k.a. What we can do for the whole bowling community

Finding answers to tough topics is not simple, but my suggestion is this: if we can start behaving as one community and support each other for the sake of bowling, things can change radically. Instead of only looking at our own plates, try to share your knowledge, your ideas and your time to make small steps forward.

We need every player - from beginners all the way up to professionals - to feel supported in what they are doing for the sport and to feel welcome in our bowling world. It’s not just about winners and losers at the moment; we are in a situation where the future of bowling depends on our actions today.

Help spread a word or two about the positive outcomes of playing - maybe that one person will listen to you and start playing actively. Maybe that one person will bring another person and we will be surprised at how simply changing our behavior towards each other can make a huge impact.

I would also like to appeal to well-known female players in Europe: use your position in bowling! Talk with your sponsors about how they could help, engage with your fans and share your "secret recipes" of success to inspire and motivate others.

And my final message to federations around Europe and the EBF: please don’t give up and keep looking for ways to support and expand the women’s field. Involve more experts who can help address the situation and foster even better communication with the broader bowling community.

As a community, we are hungry to hear more about the vision and future plans for Europe. When big changes happen - such as extending the period between women’s championships to three years - having open communication and clear explanations would make a world of difference. This is not meant to criticize anyone; it’s about acknowledging the reality from the outside and offering sincere, valuable feedback in the hope that it will be heard.

Everybody belongs here 😊