UAE to host two WTBA World Championships

BANGKOK, Thailand - Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, will host the 2014 World Tenpin Bowling Association World Men's Championships and the 2015 WTBA World Women's Championships, the WTBA announced Wednesday.

The UAE last hosted the WTBA World Championships in 1999, which also took place in Abu Dhabi. The 2014 and 2015 events will take place in late August or early September each year at the Khalifa International Bowling Centre. The hosts of the events will be Zayed Sports City and the Bid Committee of Abu Dhabi.

"We are very pleased to announce that Abu Dhabi will host back-to-back World Championships," WTBA President and CEO Kevin Dornberger said. "A lot of people have fond memories of when the UAE hosted the World Championships in 1999, and we look forward to two more great events."

Abu Dhabi is the capital and second largest city in the UAE and has a population of nearly 1 million. The city is located on the shores of the Persian Gulf and shares a border with Saudi Arabia and Oman.

"We are very honored and excited to have been selected as the host city for these fantastic championships which have global appeal," said Barry Bremner, executive member of the Local Organising Committee in Abu Dhabi of the championships. "Bowling is one of the most popular sports in Abu Dhabi and the Khalifa International Bowling Centre at Zayed Sports City is the perfect place to host world championships. With 40 international standard lanes and 1,000 retractable seats, this is a world-class bowling facility."

In addition to the World Championships events, the WTBA Executive Board will meet in Abu Dhabi both years with the WTBA and Federation Internationale des Quilleurs each having a Congress in 2015.

With the announcement of the 2014 and 2015 events, the schedule for the next four World Championships is set.  Later this year, the WTBA World Singles Championships will make it's debut in Cyprus, while the 2013 WTBA Men's and Women's World Championships will be conducted in Henderson, Nev.

In 2016, the rotation of events will begin again with the 2016 World Singles Championships, a location for which will be announced at a later date.

The World Tenpin Bowling Association, which is made up of 115 bowling federations, governs the sport throughout the world. For more information on WTBA, visit WorldTenpinBowling.com.