Blind bowling is a relatively new but definitely popular sport. It originated in

1960 in Germany and the former Yugoslavia, and began to set up separate

teams for blind and visually impaired athletes since 1980s.

Form of Competition:

There are men’s and women’s team events. Each member of the team should deliver 30 balls on each of the 4 lanes.

A men’s team has 6 members, 2 from each of the B1, B2, and B3 classes, whereas a women’s team 3 members, one from each of the 3 classes. Bowlers in the B1 and B2 classes have a guide handing them the balls and offering them directions. Bowlers in the B3 class can be assisted by the coach, but they have to lift the ball all by themselves.

The team with the highest total of individual scores wins in the event. In addition, the 8 male bowlers who have the highest individual scores in each of the three classes and their 4 female counterparts compete in an individual final. Scores in the final are added to team scores, thus yielding final scores. The team with the highest final score eventually wins.  

Classification of Athletes:

All classes (B1, B2, B3) of visually impaired athletes participate in the event together.

(Class 1) B1

An athlete in this class either have no light perception at all in either eye or may have some light perception but an inability to recognise the shape of a hand at any distance or in any direction

(Class 2) B2

Athletes in this class have the ability to recognise the shape of a hand or have vision of below 0.03 and/or visual field of less than 5 degrees;

(Class 3) B3

Athletes in this class have vision of above 0.03 to 0.1 and/or visual field of 5 to 20 degrees.