1965 Bowling World Cup Champion
Lauri Ajanto
Finland
Total inc.bonus
8604
Total
7279
Average
191
High game
Ireland's only bowling center, 12-lane Stillorgan Bowl in Dublin was selected to launch the International Masters. The male champions from 20 nations (women were introduced to the format in 1972) included a variety of talents and occupations ranging from the U.S.'s Tom Hathaway, who was the American Bowling Congress all-events champion that year, to Frank Duffy, Stillorgan's mechanic and winner of the Irish national roll off. (Unfortunately for Mr. Duffy, he overslept the morning of the opening ceremonies, and not only lost his position in the tournament to rival Des Murphy, but his job at Stillorgan, too!)
The tournament's three-day format (later to become weeklong) was modeled loosely after that used by the Professional Bowlers Association. Contestants had to bowl a total of 38 games-including several rounds of medal play just to qualify for the match play semi-finals-in the format, which was based on the complicated and now-obsolete Petersen Points system.
Hathaway, a crew-cut Californian, was the clear-cut favorite of the Irish bookmakers, as well as the European sportswriters that had been assigned to Stillorgan Bowl. Many of these writers continued to follow the tournament for years, even decades. Britain's Barry James, who was then the sports editor of the Birmingham Sunday Mercury, has covered it for Reuters and various other news services for 34 straight years. Mort Luby Jr., editor of Bowlers Journal and Associated Press correspondent, also topped the 30-year mark prior to retiring.
Italy's Vittorio Noveletto and Australia's Richard Hall were also on the short-odds list to capture the first-ever International Masters, but a dental technician from Helsinki, Finland, named Lauri Ajanto surprised everyone at the tape. Ajanto, one of the top four going into the final day of play, backed into the title largely because Hall defeated his buddy Hathaway in a critical match in the final round. At the same time, the Finn struck on his final ball to go over the top. As Federation International des Quilleurs president and fellow Finn Kauko Ahlstrom embraced the champion, Hall sank to the bowlers' bench and wept.
