FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Monday 6 January 2020

Jason Belmonte named Male of the Decade for the 2010s

The sport’s most prestigious magazine “Bowlers Journal International” has selected Australian tenpin bowling star Jason Belmonte as its Male Bowler of the Decade for the 2010s.

In arguably the most dominant decade by any bowler in the 60-plus year history of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA), Belmonte shattered numerous records, winning 11 major championships including four USBC Masters titles (three of those in a row). He won 21 of his 22 career titles in the 2010s and joined the PBA “Millionaire’s Club” in a record-breaking 131 tournaments. Stellar performances in 2019 saw the 36-year- old cap the decade with a fifth PBA Player of the Year Award. Along the way, Belmonte notched up four coveted ESPY Awards, sharing the spotlight with numerous high-profile sports stars, and collaborated with the crew from Dude Perfect to produce Bowling Trick Shots that has resulted in one of its most popular YouTube segments ever recorded, with over 94 million hits since its release. (www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=CACAmH4r1fw). In 2016 Belmonte launched a unique gaming initiative, billed as the most realistic bowling game ever made - BOWLING by Jason Belmonte, and joined forces late last year with NASCAR star Aric Almirola to throw the world’s fastest strike (www.worldsfasteststrike.com). However, observers regard Belmonte’s most impressive feat as establishing the two- handed delivery as a dominant technique that has been adopted by hundreds of thousands bowlers across the globe. His powerful ‘footy-pass’ technique has achieved stunning success, universal admiration and a legion of young players keen to emulate his revolutionary two-handed style of bowling. Coinciding with this latest accolade, Belmonte has announced he will donate $50 for every strike he throws on televised matches in 2020 - and $100 for strikes in championship matches – to Red Cross to support those affected by the catastrophic bushfires ravaging his home country.

“This PBA season, I will be donating $50 for every strike I roll on TV and $100 for every strike in title matches to the Australian Red Cross bushfire appeal. ”So many people and animals have been affected by this disaster and they need all the help they can get! … I intend to strike a lot,” he added with a grin.

Belmonte returns to the United States mid-January when the 2020 PBA Tour season kicks off with the PBA Hall of Fame Classic in Arlington Texas, the first of the year’s series of events that will include five majors in just seven weeks in the first quarter of the year. In July, Belmonte will showcase his talents on home soil when he takes on 11 of the world’s best male and female bowers from the USA, Europe and Scandinavia, who will travel to Hobart to compete in an exciting new international tournament, the 2020 Devil’s Lair Tasmania.

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For further information or to arrange an interview with Jason before he leaves for the USA please contact Lynne Clay - email: [email protected] or phone 0419 444 280