Osku Palermaa facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Osku Palermaa

Medal record
Men's bowling
Representing  Finland
World Games
Gold	2013 Cali	Singles

Osku Palermaa (born on November 18, 1983, in Espoo, Finland) is a famous Finnish bowler. He currently lives in Partille, Sweden. Osku competes in major bowling events like the European Bowling Tour, World Bowling Tour, and the PBA Tour.

Osku Palermaa's Bowling Career

Osku Palermaa is a very successful professional bowler. He has won many titles throughout his career. He has earned 18 professional bowling titles in total. This includes 13 wins on the EBT and 5 wins on the PBA Tour.

Osku was the top-ranked bowler on the EBT for three years in a row, from 2007 to 2009. He also won the EBT rankings again in 2011. Before that, he was a runner-up in the EBT rankings in both 2005 and 2006.

Making History in Bowling

Osku Palermaa made his first TV appearance in a major bowling event at the 2004 U.S. Open. This was a big moment because he was the first bowler to use a "two-handed" style on TV in a PBA Tour event.

He won his first U.S. PBA Tour title in 2010. This win happened at the Geico Shark Championship, which was part of the PBA World Series of Bowling in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Osku has won four more PBA Tour titles since then. In 2011, he won the PBA World Championship. This made him the first two-handed bowler to win a major championship in professional bowling.

Perfect Games and Team Captaincy

Osku Palermaa has bowled an amazing 78 perfect games in his career. A perfect game means knocking down all the pins in every frame, scoring 300 points. Five of these perfect games happened during PBA Tour events.

He was also the captain of the European team for the Weber Cup from 2008 to 2012. This shows his leadership skills in the sport.

Major Achievements and Awards

Osku Palermaa has achieved many important milestones and won several awards.

2006 Highlights

In 2006, Osku won a bronze medal at the World Ranking Masters tournament. He also won the 2006 AMF World Cup. In the final, he beat Norway's Petter Hansen. During the qualifying rounds, Osku averaged over 250 points per game and bowled two perfect games.

Because of his great performance, Osku was named 'Bowler Of The Year' by bowling writers. He also received the 'Bowler Of The Year' award in his home country, Finland. His hometown, Espoo, also named him 'Athlete Of The Year'.

2007 Highlights

In April 2007, Osku was invited to the World Tenpin Masters tournament for the first time. He won his first match but later lost to the 2006 champion, Chris Barnes.

After that, Osku traveled to Turkey and won the 4th Istanbul Open. He defeated fellow two-handed bowler Jason Belmonte from Australia in the final. This win was his fifth on the European Bowling Tour and put him at the top of the 2007 EBT rankings.

Osku also competed in the 2007 World Ranking Masters in Lake Wales, Florida, U.S.. He was the top qualifier but was defeated in the quarter-finals. He finished the tournament in fifth place.

Osku Palermaa was voted Finnish 'Bowler of the Year' again in 2008 and 2009.

International Tournament Wins

Osku Palermaa has won several international tournaments:

• 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 Wins

Here are some of Osku's wins on the European Bowling Tour:

• 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 Wins

Osku Palermaa has won five titles on the PBA Tour:

• 2010
  • Won the Geico Shark Championship in Las Vegas, Nevada (USA) on November 6, 2010.
• 2011
  • Won the PBA World Championship in Las Vegas, NV on November 18, 2011. This was his second PBA Tour title and his first major win.
• 2013
  • Won the WBT Bahrain Open on March 10, 2013, which was his third PBA Tour title.
• 2014
  • Won the WBT Thailand Open on August 28, 2014; his fourth PBA Tour title.
• 2015
  • Won the WBT Bowling World Open in Tokyo on July 12, 2015; his fifth PBA Tour title.

Bowling Style

Osku Palermaa is known for using two different bowling styles. He mostly uses the two-handed "shovel" style. This style helps him make the ball spin very fast. Sometimes, he also uses a regular one-handed style for certain shots. Many people consider Osku to be one of the "world's strongest bowlers" because his ball speed can be much faster than most other professional bowlers.