ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates - The 2015 World Bowling Women's Championships officially kicked off Sunday at Zayed Sports City's Khalifa International Bowling Centre with special appearances from local performers and dignitaries.

Guests included Sheikh Nahyan Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Sports Council, who signed a bowling ball to commemorate the occasion, and Emirates Bowling Federation President Mohammed Khalifa Al Qubaisi.

The traditional parade of teams included nearly 150 bowlers from 30 countries, all ready to compete for medals in six events - singles, doubles, trios, team, all-events and Masters match play.

The seven-day event begins with singles Monday at 12 a.m. Eastern. There will be two six-game squads of singles qualifying before the field is cut to the top four for the semifinals. Each event at the World Championships will follow a similar format.

The tournament will feature two different lane conditions - a short oil pattern (Los Angeles, 36 feet) and a long pattern (Tokyo, 43 feet) - with the team event including three games on each before the cut to the semifinals.

All rounds of the event will be broadcast live on BOWL.com's BowlTV. For a complete schedule, visit BOWL.com/LiveStream.

The last time the best women bowlers in the world were in Abu Dhabi was the 1999 World Championships, and the last time they met on the global stage was at the 2013 combined World Championships at Strike Zone Bowling Center inside Sunset Station in Henderson, Nevada, a suburb of Las Vegas.

At the 2013 tournament, Korea claimed the coveted team title, giving the United States its fourth second-place finish in five World Championships. Team USA did win the team gold medal at the 2011 event in Hong Kong. Korea topped the medal table at the 2013 World Championships with four gold medals, two silver and a bronze.

In 1999, Korea outdistanced Colombia to win the team event, while the United States finished third. Korea also won trios. Team USA's Kelly Kulick, who will be participating again in 2015, earned the singles gold medal, and the doubles, all-events and Masters titles all went to Australia.

Participating countries this year include: Australia, Bahamas, Canada, China, Chinese Taipei, Colombia, Denmark, Dominican Republic, England, Finland, Germany, Hong Kong, Iceland, Indonesia, Iran, Korea, Latvia, Malaysia, Mexico, Panama, Philippines, Poland, Singapore, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine, United States, Venezuela and the host country United Arab Emirates.

For more information on the World Women's Championships, visit the official website of the event at 2015wwc.worldbowling.org.