International Superstars to take on the World’s Best in Tasmania

The World’s best Professional Bowlers to come to Hobart to compete in the Devil’s Lair against the undisputed Number 1 Player in the World.

When we think of current Australian sporting superstars, the majority of Australians would never have heard of Jason Belmonte (`Belmo’) – arguably our greatest and most successful international sporting star!

Belmonte is an icon in the world of professional tenpin bowling – he has over 117,000 Facebook followers, 102,000 Instagram followers and has his own line of merchandise.

He is the first non-American since 1990 to be ranked #1 in the World, a ranking he has held for the last five years straight, and he hails from the NSW country town of Orange (population 37,000), where he started bowling at just 18-months-of-age.

Newly formed Hobart based event company, Strike 3 Bowling Pty Ltd, with the support of the Tasmanian Government through Events Tasmania, today announced that they will deliver an exciting professional tenpin bowling event in Hobart for the next three years, to give Belmonte an opportunity to play against the world’s best in his home country.

The first of these events will be held from 31st July to 2nd August 2020.

The unique `first for Australia’ event also has a unique name; Devil’s Lair Tasmania! It will see Belmo take on 11 of the world’s best, including both male and female top 10 players from the USA, Europe and Scandinavia, who will all travel to Hobart to try and beat Belmo in his own Devil’s Lair.

Strike 3 Bowling Managing Director, Ashlee Carroll said “We are so excited to see this vision come to life. Jason truly deserves to showcase his talents on home soil. Americans always associate the Tassie Devil with Tasmania, and this event is all about promoting Tasmania into the United States, where millions of people watch bowling and follow Jason and the other pro players every week on TV. Hence the event name, and the subtle devil’s stripe on the bowling ball, this is all about the players coming to take Jason on in his own Devil’s Lair at Zone Bowling in Moonah”.

Aside from Belmonte, Strike 3 have signed up the best-of-the-best in the world today; “We literally flew into Las Vegas and within a few hours at Bowl Expo, we had most of the top ten men and two of the top five women signed up to come to Tasmania. They are so excited about coming `Down Under’ and even more excited to be having a chance to beat Jason. We can’t wait to announce the full line-up in the near future”, Carroll added.

Belmo has been destroying his opposition on the Professional Bowlers Association Tour (PBA) in the USA with his revolutionary, and now trademark, two-handed shot for the best part of ten years, racking up an all-time record of 11 Majors along the way. Due to his hectic schedule, Jason has not had a chance to display his `once in a generation’ skills in Australia for a very long time. “I still live in Orange today and love coming home. I have dreamt for a long time about what it would be like to play against the world’s best in my own country, and this time next year my dream will come true thanks to the amazing people of Tasmania. I will be ensuring that all of our sports fans in the USA know all about Tasmania in the months and years ahead”, Belmonte said.

Australian Adult Championships

Whilst the Devil’s Lair Tasmania event will deliver bowling excitement never seen before in Australia, another major coup for Strike 3 Bowling, as part of their close association with the sport’s governing body, Tenpin Bowling Australia (TBA), is the securing of the promotional rights to run the 59th Annual Australian Adult Championships, including the prestigious Australian Masters.

This event will see elite players come from across the country, New Zealand and Asia; the event has only been held in Tasmania three times since its inception back in 1962.

The CEO of Tenpin Bowling Australia, Cara Honeychurch, is excited about what lies ahead for the sport of tenpin bowling in Australia following today’s announcement.

“Tenpin Bowling Australia is delighted to partner with Strike 3 Bowling on this exciting carnival of events”, Ms Honeychurch said. Following a recent review of our National Championships, the appetite for innovation and modernisation of our major events has never been stronger – a view not only held by TBA but shared by athletes and other key stakeholders. Having the best athletes in the world compete in Australia is important to not only raise the profile of the sport, but provides a rare opportunity for our bowlers to compete against the best of the best in their own backyard. We are thrilled that this will be hosted in Tasmania which is not only a breathtaking destination but where participation in our sport is so strong. Headlined by our very own Jason Belmonte this will be an event not to be missed!”

Zone Bowling, owners of Hobart’s only bowling centre at Moonah, are very excited by the prospect of a major international bowling event being held at its 24-lane centre, a centre that was one of the first in the country when it opened back in the early 60’s.

“We are thrilled to support and partner with TBA and Strike3 Bowling to host a world-class tournament” said State Operations Manager Vic/Tas, Renee Woolley. “The Devil’s Lair event is a game changer that will ignite the sport of bowling and bring expertise and challenging competition to the Hobart community, it is an event not to be missed” Woolley added.

The Devil’s Lair Tasmania will be broadcast around the world to over 140 countries, and it is sure to be a packed house at Zone Bowling Moonah, for what promises to be an amazing show of professional bowling in July 2020.

MORE DETAILS TO COME.

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