Bill Hoffman (bowling)

Bill Hoffman (born 1971), also widely referred to as ''The Joker'', of

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

, United States, is a Ten-pin bowler. Hoffman, 29, finished 17th in his

Bowling World Cup The QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup, previously known as the International Masters and AMF Bowling World Cup, is an annual Ten-pin bowling championship sponsored by QubicaAMF Worldwide, and the largest in bowling in terms of number of participating n ...

debut in

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, in 200

Hoffman qualified for his second

in 2003 in

Tegucigalpa Tegucigalpa (, , ), formally Tegucigalpa, Municipality of the Central District ( es, Tegucigalpa, Municipio del Distrito Central or ''Tegucigalpa, M.D.C.''), and colloquially referred to as ''Tegus'' or ''Teguz'', is the capital and largest city ...

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, where he rolled the only

300 __NOTOC__ Year 300 (Roman numerals, CCC) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Constantius and Valerius (or, less frequently, ...

in the tournament on his way to earning the top seed for the knockout elimination rounds. He eventually was eliminated in the semifinal

Hoffman won the 2007

on his third try. Held in

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, Russia, Hoffman never was out of the top 5 throughout qualifying, eventually qualifying as the second seed for the stepladder finals. He went on to defeat Andres Gomez (2-0) and Jason Belmonte (2-1) to win the title. With his victory, he ended a 12-year winless streak of U.S. men in the

He is a graduate of

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

, where he majored in

international relations International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such as ...

and

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

. He has rolled several 300 games and has a personal-best mark of 857 for three games. Hoffman is averaging 225 in league and tournament play. Bill Hoffman is a five time World-Champion, and has been inducted into the

International Bowling Hall of Fame The World Bowling Writers (WBW) International Bowling Hall of Fame was established in 1993 and is located in the International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame, on the International Bowling Campus in Arlington, Texas. History The International B ...

. 1971 births Living people Sportspeople from Columbus, Ohio American ten-pin bowling players Ohio State University College of Arts and Sciences alumni Pan American Games medalists in bowling Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States Bowlers at the 2003 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2003 Pan American Games {{US-tenpin-bowling-bio-stub