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Precision

Ten-pin Bowling

Ten-pin Bowling is a precision sport listed on SportSupport. · 1 athlete profiles on SportSupport

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Reviewed profileAchievements, tournaments, coaches and FAQs on this page are compiled by hand from federation, government and press reporting, drawing on Wikipedia — Tenpin Bowling Federation (India), Bowling in India, Shaik Abdul Hameed, Shabbir Dhankot, Sportskeeda — 'Are we sportspersons yet?' Asian Games snub coverage, Tenpin Bowling Federation India (tbfi.org.in). These are not cited to individual documents: we hold no per-claim source for them, so treat dates, counts and career records here as a summary rather than a reference. Sections we hold nothing for are left empty. Sport pages last reviewed as a set: September 2026.

Overview

Origin
Ancient Egypt / modern Germany
Category
Precision
Olympic discipline
No
Paralympic discipline
No
Central pathway
Federation and state pathway
Athlete profiles on SportSupport
1

Governance and status

Each field below is shown only where we hold a source for it; anything else reads “Not currently verified” rather than a guess. Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports recognition is granted year by year, so it is only ever shown with the year it applies to. Last reviewed: September 2026.

Indian governing/organising body
Ten-Pin Bowling Federation of India
Ministry recognition
Not currently verified
International federation
Not currently verified
Khelo India inclusion
Not currently verified
TOPS eligibility
Not currently verified
Olympic status
Not on the Olympic programme
Paralympic status
Not a Paralympic discipline

Ten-pin Bowling is listed on SportSupport in the precision category. Its recorded origin is Ancient Egypt / modern Germany. It is not on the Olympic programme. We list Ten-Pin Bowling Federation of India as the Indian governing/organising body for the sport.

Ten-pin Bowling has a federation and state-level pathway in India, and athletes selected through Ten-Pin Bowling Federation of India may be eligible for state sports-quota employment and state cash awards where their state notifies the discipline. TOPS does not apply, as the discipline is outside the Olympic programme.

Scholarships & Funding

Central, state and private scholarships available for ten-pin bowling athletes in India.

  • Khelo India Talent Identification & Development (KITID)

    Stipend, boarding, coaching and kit at accredited centres for talent identified through the Khelo India selection process (Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports). Applies only to disciplines on the official Khelo India Games list, and only to athletes it selects.

  • National Sports Development Fund (NSDF)

    Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports fund used to sponsor elite athletes' training, foreign coaches and equipment. Allocations are made case by case; we hold no record of NSDF support specific to ten-pin bowling.

  • Pension for Meritorious Sportspersons

    Lifetime monthly pension for retired internationals who meet the scheme's medal criteria at Asian, Commonwealth or World Championship level — Government of India. Whether a given ten-pin bowling event counts depends on the scheme's notified list.

  • State sports quota and government employment

    Many states reserve government and public-sector posts for national-level medallists. Which ten-pin bowling events and which certifying bodies a state accepts varies by state, so check your state's current notification.

Explore all government schemes →

Indian Players

1 profiles
Browse the full athlete directory →

Rules

Ten-pin bowling is played on a 60ft lane (foul line to headpin) with ten pins set in a triangle. A game has ten frames; the bowler gets two deliveries per frame to knock down all ten pins. All ten on the first ball is a strike (10 plus the next two balls); clearing them across two balls is a spare (10 plus the next ball). The tenth frame allows up to three deliveries, giving a maximum score of 300. Crossing the foul line, or a ball entering the gutter, scores nothing for that delivery. Competition formats include Singles, Doubles, Trios, Teams, All Events and Masters step-ladder finals.

Authoritative rulebook: Ten-Pin Bowling Federation of India. Age-group and school-level variations are published by SGFI and the state associations each season.

Positions

Typical roles across precision sports. These are category-level descriptions, not a sourced ten-pin bowling squad list.

  • Rifle / pistol events
    10m air, 25m and 50m disciplines shot to an electronic target.
  • Shotgun events
    Trap and skeet — moving clay targets scored on hits.
  • Archery — recurve & compound
    Ranking round and head-to-head elimination matches.
  • Team events
    Three-athlete team formats contested at Asian, Commonwealth, World and Olympic level.

Equipment

Standard kit and infrastructure required to train and compete in ten-pin bowling at a federation-recognised event.

  • Drilled bowling ball (reactive resin or urethane, up to 16 lb)
  • Bowling shoes with sliding and braking soles
  • Wrist support/brace and finger tape
  • Rosin bag and ball towel
  • Oiled 60ft lane with ten pins and automatic pinsetter

Governing/organising body

Body listed on SportSupport

Ten-Pin Bowling Federation of India is the body we list as the Indian governing/organising body for Ten-pin Bowling. We hold no confirmed Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports recognition record for it, so nothing here states that it is currently recognised.

Origin
Ancient Egypt / modern Germany
Olympic
No
Paralympic
No
Category
Precision

Major Indian Events

Domestic competitions we hold a source for in ten-pin bowling.

  • National Tenpin Bowling Championships

    Organized by the Tenpin Bowling Federation (India) (TBFI, founded 1975 as the Bowling Federation of India, renamed in 2007, recognized by MYAS in 1998), now in its 33rd+ edition (2024, Bangalore), with Centralized Qualifying Trials feeding the national squad.

International Events

Continental and world-level competitions we hold a source for in ten-pin bowling.

  • Commonwealth Tenpin Bowling Championships

    India's historical record stands at 2 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze. Shaik Abdul Hameed won India's first-ever medals in the sport at the 2002 edition — gold in Singles and Masters, silver in All Events.

  • Asian Tenpin Bowling Championship

    Shabbir Dhankot won India's first-ever medal at any Asian Championship (silver, 2015).

  • Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games

    India's bowling team won its first-ever medal at a multi-sport Games event (bronze, defeating the Philippines 418-406) — a result the team explicitly framed as a reply to the Sports Ministry after being left off that year's Asian Games squad.

Leagues

No dedicated professional league is currently catalogued for ten-pin bowling. The national championship under Ten-Pin Bowling Federation of India remains the top domestic competition.

All leagues →

International Players

Globally recognised ten-pin bowling athletes to know outside India.

The international federation for ten-pin bowling maintains the current world ranking — check the federation site for the up-to-date top names.

Career Options

Ways to build a career in ten-pin bowling — on the field, on the sidelines and behind the scenes.

  • Shaik Abdul Hameed, India's pioneering medallist, went to the Delhi High Court in 2015 seeking direction for the government to consider him for the Arjuna Award — reflecting the sport's real struggle for official recognition even after producing India's first international medals
  • TBFI athletes have described receiving no government salary but full federation support for travel and competition costs, a distinction athletes have drawn explicit attention to
  • TBFI is building a youth pyramid, including India's first-ever entry into the Asian Junior Tenpin Bowling Championship
  • Playing pathway through TBFI's state associations and national qualifying trials; coaching and pro-shop/centre management are additional career routes given the sport's growing presence in Indian malls and multiplexes

Related academies

0 listed

No ten-pin bowling academies are catalogued in the directory yet. Browse the full academy list or list your academy to appear here.

FAQs

Common questions about ten-pin bowling in India.

Who governs Ten-pin Bowling in India?▾

We list Ten-Pin Bowling Federation of India as the Indian governing/organising body for Ten-pin Bowling, and state associations affiliated to it run age-group and state-level competition. We hold no current-year Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports recognition record for it, so this is not a statement that it is currently a recognised national sports federation — recognition is granted year by year.

Is Ten-pin Bowling an Olympic sport?▾

No, Ten-pin Bowling is not on the Olympic programme.

How do I start playing Ten-pin Bowling in India?▾

The usual routes are a school team under the School Games Federation of India (SGFI), a college team under the Association of Indian Universities (AIU), or a private academy affiliated to your state association under Ten-Pin Bowling Federation of India. Age-group state championships follow from there.

What government schemes support Ten-pin Bowling athletes?▾

TOPS does not apply, as Ten-pin Bowling is outside the Olympic programme. State-government cash awards or sports-quota employment can apply where a state notifies the discipline, which varies by state. Ten-pin Bowling does not appear on the official Khelo India Games discipline list, so we make no Khelo India claim for it.

Ten-pin Bowling in every state & UT

Dedicated pages for Ten-pin Bowling in each Indian state and Union Territory — academies, schemes, athletes and how to start.