One-On-One with Thomas Larsen: 2021 Masters Champion
I had the privilege of catching up with Thomas Larsen, Danish professional bowler competing on the PBA Tour, World Bowling Tour and Europeon Bowling Tour. Thomas has won three titles on the PBA Tour including one major championship (2021 Masters) and five titles on the EBT. He also represented Europe at the 2020 and 2021 Weber Cup events. While he makes his home in Denmark, he’s currently in Portland, Maine, USA preparing for battle in the PBA League which begins this weekend at Bayside Bowl. He was kind enough to find time for a chat with Bowling One-On-One and I asked him about his bowling journey.
In 1999 at the age of 9 years old, you bowled for the first time in Assens, Denmark. Bowling would become your passion and six years later in 2005, you won the European Youth Championship and you were on your way to fulfilling your dream. What was it specifically that inspired you early on and that helped develop your passion for bowling? Did it just come easy to you? Was it just incredibly fun? Was it the challenge? Was it the competitiveness inside you? Talk a bit about the essence of what got you hooked early on.
..I found something I was good at.
-Thomas Larsen
“I was never into the big sports in Denmark (soccer and handball). I tried bowling and it was just fun and none of my friends or family were bowlers, so I wasn’t ‘the bad one’ from the beginning like I was in all the other sports. And I think the social aspect of being welcomed and making friends quickly in bowling really got me interested early on. Then I just enjoyed bowling and had some success early on (probably mostly due to bowling being so small in Denmark that there is very little competition in the youngest age groups), but I think that really motivated me to get better and keep enjoying to practice. But I think the biggest part was that I found something I was good at.”
In addition to several European titles, you have three PBA/WBT titles. The most recent being a PBA Major title in 2021, the USBC Masters (Reno, Nevada, USA). You took down the ‘Iceman’, Jesper Svensson of Sweden, winning 197-176 in the final match. Talk about the impact of winning that title and how it has changed your life and bowling career.
“Winning the Masters was huge. It was at a time when I was doubting if I should keep bowling at a professional level and I didn’t really think I was going to make a show again let alone win a major. It definitely gave me the will and some confidence to keep going. And it opened the door to some new opportunities with EMAX Bowling as we struck up a deal after doing a live stream with them. So now I make videos for them and it’s difficult, but very fun.”
You’re very active on Facebook and Instagram interacting with bowling fans all over the world. You share tournament scores and updates, practice sessions, tips and you also work with bowlers to help improve their game. I’ve personally found your channels very thoughtful, insightful, useful and you can be humorous too. Talk about your efforts and importance of connecting with your fans and the bowling community overall.
“My social media and my videos with EMAX Bowling is definitely a new venture for me. I have never been very extroverted, so being in front of a camera or sharing my personal things has never come very natural to me. But I do think it has become something fun for me and I get a lot of positive feedback (and some negative) through social media, which also makes it cool to do. And it allows me to show some of my humour and personality without being the center of attention in a big crowd. Now I am trying to have fun, grow my channels and hopefully be able to make a little extra income from them.”
Not only is your bowling career continuing to grow, but also your family with a newborn child earlier this year. How has the new addition impacted your life in terms of balancing family and bowling?
“We had a pretty rough start with baby Milton. I had to cut my trip on the PBA Tour short due to some complications with the pregnancy. Then he ended up being born 6 weeks early and we had to spend 3 weeks in the hospital with him, because he needed help breathing and eating. At that point my wife had already been in the hospital for a couple of weeks, so it was obviously a very stressful situation. Luckily Milton and our family are doing great now. It is a big change and it certainly makes it harder to leave home to go practice. But my wife is very supportive and I think I am learning how to make it work. It definitely also becomes a case of quality over quantity.”
Congratulations for being drafted into the PBA League. Team manager of Bowlero L.A. X, Andrew Cain, drafted you this summer and you joined their roster. Now it’s time to compete. You look around at the teams in the league and they’re stacked with talent. But team L.A. X’s roster is absolutely insane: Jason Belmonte, Stuart Williams, Jakob Butturff, Kevin McCune and yourself. Are you kidding me?! The PBA Elite League Elias Cup begins this Sunday September 24th and runs through Wednesday September 27th. Talk about your excitement about joining this team and your preparations and expectations before the event begins in just a few days.
“When we got towards the end of the draft I honestly didn’t think I was going to get picked. And then to go to LAX? It was absolutely insane! I am super excited about our team and getting to experience the League again alongside those guys. I am excited and nervous and really trying to prepare really well to make sure I perform as good as possible for my teammates. Obviously I think we are looking at making a run at the top of the standings and we definitely have the team to do it. I think it’s really going to come down to how we communicate and work together in the round robin and then hope things go our way on TV. It would be a pretty awesome thing to win the Elias Cup. Having won Weber Cup, European Championships, World Champion, the PBA League would really be the cherry in my team bowling career.”
Thank you for taking some time out of your crazy schedule right now and sharing your passion and journey with us. It has been quite the journey for you so far and the bowling world thanks you for staying with it, you’re fun to watch. Good luck this weekend in PBA League. I know I’ll be watching!
“I just want to thank you and your readers for this interview. I like having good discussions about bowling, which is also one of my favorite things to answer when someone comments on my posts or videos. It’s pretty amazing to connect with people all over the world, so thank you for reaching out and I hope everyone enjoyed this and hopefully you all enjoy the content I share and the strikes and weak 10’s I throw 😅.”
*Images courtesy of USBC, Storm Bowling and Thomas Larsen
Titles
- 2021 USBC Masters (Watch Finals Match on YouTube)
- 2 PBA/WBT Titles
- 5 EBT Titles
- World Champion Trios 2014
- 6-time European Champion
- 1 PBA Regional Title
Social Media | Instructional | Tips-Coaching
- EMAX Bowling
- Thomas Larsen Bowling – YouTube
- Thomas Larsen Bowling – Instagram
- Thomas Larsen Bowling – Facebook
PBA League Schedule – Starts this weekend (All Times Eastern Standard)
Friday, Sept. 22
PBA League Practice: 4:30 – 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 23
PBA League Seeding Round: 11 a.m.
BoPo Pro-Am Dinner: 5 p.m.
BoPo Pro-Am: 6 p.m.
PBA LBC National Championships Clash Practice: 6 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 24
2023 PBA LBC National Championships Clash FS1 TV Finals (taped; to air Oct. 1): Noon
PBA League Practice (Open): 2 p.m.
PBA League Quarterfinals presented by Pabst Blue Ribbon (Live on FS1): 5 p.m.
Monday, Sept. 25
PBA League Practice (Open): 4 p.m.
PBA League Quarterfinals presented by Pabst Blue Ribbon (Live on FS1): 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Sept. 26
PBA League Practice (Open): 1 p.m.
PBA League Semifinals presented by Pabst Blue Ribbon (taped; to air 8 p.m. ET on FS1): 4 p.m.
PBA Strike Derby Practice: TBD
PBA Strike Derby (taped; to air TBD): 8 p.m.
Wednesday, Sept. 27
PBA League Elias Cup Practice (Open): 5 p.m.
PBA League Elias Cup Finals presented by Pabst Blue Ribbon (Live on FS1): 8 p.m.
