Ayrshire schoolboy hailed future ten-pin bowling star after narrowly missing ‘perfect’ 300 score
A TEN-PIN bowling prodigy was hailed a star of the future after he just missed out on a “perfect” game - aged 11.
Ben Wallace was only a single pin away from bagging the sport’s coveted 300 score.
It came after the youngster, from Ayr, bowled 11 strikes in one game, just one short of the 12 needed to claim a place in record books.
His dad Hugh hailed his performance as “unbelievable” while coach James Guthrie, 29, said: “He is absolutely brilliant.”
Ben, who is in P6 at the town’s Forehill Primary School, took up the game at eight.
Retired hotelier Hugh said: “I took him to play one night and there were a coach and a couple of Scotland players in.
“Ben sat there and watched them and has been playing ever since.”
The youngster now practises up to five times a week at his local LA Bowl rink.
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And he showed his incredible talent with an astonishing score of 267 in a mixed-age competition at Murrayfield Indoor Sports Club in Edinburgh.
Ben collected £130 in prize money for his near-perfect display.
His sole blip came in the sixth frame when he knocked down nine pins with his first bowl instead of ten.
'MY AMBITION IS TO PLAY FOR SCOTLAND'
The odds of an adult scoring 300 are 11,500-to-1 while it is 460-to-1 for even top pros.
And the youngest Brit to achieve it was Elliot Crosby in London in 2006 when he was 12 years and two months.
Ben said: “My ambition is to play for Scotland, be No1, travel round Europe, then get on to the professional tour in America and be world champion.
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“I really enjoy playing and I hope that I can inspire everyone to come to the bowling alley and give it a try.”
His proud dad has had three customised £400 balls delivered from the US so Ben can sharpen up his game.
Hugh added: “A player in America who heard about his amazing score said, ‘Well done - now get yourself over to the States to make big bucks’.”
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