Many bowlers spend their entire lives chasing the elusive perfect game.
Rolling strike, after strike, battling the nerves and focusing to achieve perfection.
One perfect game is a bowler’s bragging rights for years, so you could argue that Abbotsford’s Adrian Kiss has the next three lifetimes to bask in his glory.
Kiss recently completed a 2017-18 five-pin bowling season that saw him bowl a remarkable three perfect games, the final one at a nationals event that saw him earn a cool $6,000.
The Abbotsford Senior grad had a season to remember, and it all began on May 4, 2017 when he reached perfection in a league playoff game at Abbotsford’s Galaxy Bowl. He rolled a strike on all 12 balls he played to score the flawless 450 points.
“Everything seemed to fall that day,” Kiss recalled.
He said he tried his best to remain calm as the game got deeper.
“Around the eighth frame you start thinking about it a bit,” he said, noting he had never rolled a perfect game prior. “But when you get into the 10th, you start shaking a lot and sweating a bit. Muscle memory is a lot of it, and you have no idea what you’re doing differently but it just keeps on working.”
He said watching the final pins fall was a memorable feeling.
“It didn’t seem real at first,” he said. “I was pretty excited because it’s not a common thing in five-pin bowling. I was happy and people that were watching were cheering.”
There were only 14 perfect games in the province recorded by Bowl BC this decade, and the perfect game by Kiss in May of 2017 was the first perfect game in Abbotsford since Darryl Wood achieved the feat back on March 15, 2008.
Lightning struck again for Kiss on Nov. 20, 2017, as he rolled another perfect game during league competition at Galaxy Bowl.
“It was a little easier but you’re still shaking,” he said. “But it definitely wasn’t as difficult as the first one.”
The third perfect game occurred on the grandest stage of all, the Canadian Open National Championships in Gaitneau, Que. on June 1. Kiss qualified for the event in the men’s team division on Team B.C., and helped lead the team to a championship. His perfect game earned him $6,000.
“For me personally that was such a big deal,” he said.
The 20-year-old, who also works at Galaxy Bowl, said he wants to continue his strong play next season. He said he’s been a bowler since the age of four after his parents got him into the sport. Kiss said he still has goals to achieve in the bowling world.
“I hopefully want to win a singles title,” he said, noting he failed to qualify as a singles competitor last season. “And maybe some more perfect games, that would be cool.”
