Osku Palermaa (born 18 November 1983 in

Espoo Espoo (, ; sv, Esbo) is a city and municipality in the region of Uusimaa in the Republic of Finland. It is located on the northern shore of the Gulf of Finland, bordering the cities of Helsinki, Vantaa, Kirkkonummi, Vihti and Nurmijärvi ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

) is a

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

Ten-pin bowler now living in

Partille Partille () is a former urban area in the county of Västra Götaland in Sweden. It is the seat of Partille Municipality Partille Municipality (''Partille kommun'') is a municipality in Västra Götaland County in western Sweden. Its seat is l ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. He is a competitor on the European Bowling Tour, World Bowling Tour, and

PBA Tour The PBA Tour is the major professional tour for ten-pin bowling, operated by the Professional Bowlers Association. Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, over 3,000 members worldwide make up the PBA. While most of the PBA members are Regional profess ...

Today

Palermaa has 18 professional bowling titles to his name. He has won 13 EBT titles, and 5

titles. He was the EBT ranking champion for three consecutive years from 2007 to 2009, he also won the rankings 2011. Palermaa was also joint runner up in the 2005 EBT rankings, and runner up in the 2006 EBT rankings. Osku made his television debut at the 2004 U.S Open, making him the first two-handed bowler to compete in a televised PBA Tour event. He won his first U.S.

title at the 2010

Geico The Government Employees Insurance Company (GEICO ) is a private American auto insurance company with headquarters in Chevy Chase, Maryland. It is the second largest auto insurer in the United States, after State Farm. GEICO is a wholly owne ...

Shark Championship, which was part of the

PBA World Series of Bowling The PBA World Series of Bowling (WSOB) is an annual multi-tournament ten-pin bowling event held by the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) in North America. Formation The inaugural World Series of Bowling event was held by the PBA at the start ...

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

. Palermaa has since won four more PBA Tour titles, including the 2011

PBA World Championship The PBA World Championship is one of five major PBA (Professional Bowlers Association) bowling events. It is one of three PBA Tour major events that are open only to PBA members. (The U.S. Open and USBC Masters allow qualifying amateurs to enter.) ...

which made him the first two-handed bowler to win a major. Palermaa has to date bowled 78

perfect games Perfect game may refer to: Sports * Perfect game (baseball), a complete-game win by a pitcher allowing no baserunners * Perfect game (bowling), a 300 game, 12 consecutive strikes in the same game * Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League, New York ...

, including five in PBA Tour events. Palermaa was captain of the European team for the

Weber Cup The Weber Cup, named after bowling legend Dick Weber, is a men's ten-pin bowling competition between Team Europe and Team USA. The teams competing over three days in a series of singles, doubles and team (baker) matches. The Weber Cup is equiva ...

from 2008 to 2012.

Achievements

2006

Palermaa won the bronze medal at the

World Ranking Masters The World Ranking Masters was ten-pin bowling's international ranking system, as with professional tennis. It was governed by the World Tenpin Bowling Association (WTBA). The rankings were formulated at the end of the three international tours, th ...

tournament. Palermaa won the

2006 AMF World Cup 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

, defeating Norway's Petter Hansen 2 games to 1 in the final. Palermaa averaged over 250 in the qualifying rounds (24 games), bowling 2

in the process. Palermaa was voted the 'Bowler Of The Year' by the industry writers, and was also voted 'Bowler Of The Year' in his native

, and 'Athlete Of The Year' in his home town,

2007

In April, Palermaa was invited for the first time to participate in the

World Tenpin Masters The World Tenpin Masters (founded in 1998) is an annual Ten-pin bowling tournament. It consists of a single lane surrounded by banked seating on both sides to give the event the kind of high-pressure atmosphere that makes the Masters the world’s ...

tournament, held at the

Barnsley Metrodome The Barnsley Metrodome (Metrodome Leisure Complex) is a sports and leisure facility that was opened in 1989 by Neil Kinnock. The facility is 5 minutes from the Barnsley Interchange and close to Junction 37 off the M1. It is located along Queen ...

. Palermaa beat

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

's Guy Caminsky in the first round (464-438), before losing to the 2006 champion, American PBA bowler Chris Barnes in the quarter-final (490-467). Following this, Palermaa travelled to

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

for the 4th

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

open, and was victorious, defeating fellow two-handed bowler

Jason Belmonte Jason Belmonte (born 29 July 1983) is an Australian professional ten-pin bowler. He plays on the PBA Tour in the United States and in world events. He is known for being one of the first bowlers to gain media attention for using the two hand ...

from

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in the single-game final (258-195). This win, his 5th on the

European Bowling Tour The European Bowling Tour (EBT) is one of three tenpin bowling tours (Europe, Americas, Asia) that form part of the ranking system of the World Tenpin Bowling Association (WTBA). The tour is run by the European Tenpin Bowling Federation The Euro ...

and his 2nd in 2007, put him on top of the 2007 EBT rankings, narrowly ahead of 3-time EBT ranking champion,

Paul Moor Paul Moor (born 3 September 1978), of Kingston-upon-Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England is one of the world's leading ten-pin bowlers. He bowls on the European Bowling Tour (EBT) and has been a member of the Professional Bowlers Association ...

from

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Palermaa participated in the 2007

br>
at the Kegel Training Centre,

Lake Wales Lake Wales is a city in Polk County, Florida. The population was 14,225 at the 2010 census. , the population estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau is 16,759. It is part of the Lakeland– Winter Haven Metropolitan Statistical Area. Lake Wales is ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, and finished the 24 game qualifier as the number 1 seed, with an average of 241.58. He was then defeated in the quarter finals by Thomas Gross of

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

2-0 (196-265, 203-207). Palermaa finished in 5th position. Palermaa has been voted Finnish 'Bowler of the Year' 2006 - 2009.

International tournament titles

2005 Super Series Tour Championships Champion 2008 European Ranking Masters Super Six Gothenburg 2009 World Ranking Masters Super Six Super Star 2010 Dubai International

European Bowling Tour titles

2005 III Catalonia Open - Trofeu Galasa Columbia 300 Vienna Open 2006 Kungsbacka International Tournament 2007 Brunswick Euro Challenge 4th Istanbul Bowling Open 2008 Brunswick Aalborg International Ebonite Lahti Open 2009 Hammer Bronzen Schietspoel Tournament

PBA Tour titles

2010 Won the

Shark Championship at the

(USA) on November 6, 2010. 2011 Won the

in Las Vegas, NV on November 18, 2011.Vint, Bill. "Finland’s Osku Palermaa Becomes First International Player to Win PBA World Championship, First Two-Hander to Win PBA Major Title." Article at www.pba.com on January 15, 2012

/ref> This was his second PBA Tour title and first PBA major. 2013 Won the WBT

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

Open on March 10, 2013 for his third PBA Tour title. 2014 Won the WBT

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

Open on August 28, 2014; his fourth PBA Tour title. 2015 Won the WBT Bowling World Open in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

on July 12, 2015; his fifth PBA Tour title.

Miscellaneous

*Palermaa is one of few bowlers at the professional level to use two different styles in regular play. Although he primarily uses the two handed "shovel" style, which gives him a high RPM (revolutions per minute) rate, he also employs a conventional one-handed style for certain situations. Palermaa is oftentimes regarded as the "world's strongest bowler" given that his ball speed exceeds most pros by nearly 10 miles per hour at times.

References

External links

Industry profile of Osku Palermaa

Osku's Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Palermaa, Osku Living people 1983 births Finnish ten-pin bowling players World Games gold medalists World Games medalists in bowling Competitors at the 2013 World Games Competitors at the 2017 World Games Sportspeople from Espoo