After they have taken turns to be the bowler of the year in recent years, this year Jesper Svensson and James Blomgren will share the award. For Jesper Svensson, it is the sixth time that he has been named bowler of the year. It was ten years since he received the award the first time.
– It is an honor to receive the award. There is tough competition and many in Swedish bowling are successful, so it’s nice that my year has been good enough to get the award, says Jesper Svensson.
Jesper Svensson had a fantastic spring on the PBA tour. On Easter Sunday, he won the PBA Tournament of Champions after defeating Jakob Butturff in the finals. Svensson became the youngest player ever to win the Tournament of Champions when, as a 20-year-old, he won the major competition in 2016. Nine years later, he got to lift the trophy in the competition for the second time.
– I had such a good start to my tour career and then you have quite high expectations of yourself. There have certainly been a few years where you have made it to a few TV finals but where you haven’t quite managed to tie the knot. So this victory meant a lot to me and maybe more than when I won the competition the first time. Then I had no expectations of myself, I just went out and drove, says Jesper Svensson and continues:
– All tour competitions are tough, but in major competitions in particular, it’s like all players get a couple of notches better. But I had a good feeling all week at the Tournament of Champions and it was like nothing could stop me. It was a bit like being 20 years old again. Great that it went the way it did and it felt like revenge after several losses in televised finals in recent years. I guess that was what it took to get a real confidence boost and I was able to continue riding that wave for the remainder of the tour season.
Jesper Svensson won his second straight title on the PBA tour when he ended the season in the best way by taking home the PBA Playoffs. In the final he defeated EJ Tackett.
– It wasn’t a great game in the playoffs, but I won my matches. Then it was a bit special that the final was played later, so first I went home for the SC final. It was tough mentally to recharge after that and there was a certain emptiness after a whole tour season and an SM playoff at that. Facing EJ in the best of five series in the final is probably also the toughest challenge you can have in bowling at the moment. But I’m glad I found the drive and believed in it all the way. It is a sign that I was in a good place in my bowling then.
At the recently concluded WC in Hong Kong, Jesper Svensson won gold with the team in All Events and took silver in 5-man.
– There are somewhat mixed feelings about the WC. I am very pleased with the team’s performance and proud that we became the best nation. For myself, I think I play well and do everything I can to perform. But there are things beyond my control that make it no better than it is. The last day was a rollercoaster emotionally with first the silver in 5-man but then the gold in All Events. You never get tired of hearing the Swedish national anthem and it was good that it was on repeat there. The All Events gold in teams shows that everyone was very stable and had a high minimum level. It felt like we had a shot at even more medals.
James Blomgren won three golds at the WC in Hong Kong and a silver. A magnificent end to the national team career when Bomgren announced after the championship that he is now grateful for being in the national team, which you can read more about in a longer article on swebowl.se. Blomgren is now named bowler of the year and shares the award with Jesper Svensson.
– I am very happy and proud of the award. We have so many talented bowlers in the country so it is an honor to be selected for this award, says James Blomgren.
This is the third time that James Blomgren has been named bowler of the year.
– It is a dream to receive an award like this once, so it is very cool to have now received the award three times. I have been spoiled to have some nice championships in the last few years where things flowed well for both me and my teammates.
Blomgren’s gold at the WC in Hong Kong came in 3-man, All Events team, All Events individually and then there was silver with the 5-man team.
– There are many fantastic memories and experiences. It will really be a real discharge with two very intense weeks where you live and breathe bowling. Everything is starting to sink in now, says Blomgren and continues:
– We had a very good cohesion in the team and a good focus the whole time. At the WC in Dubai four years ago, everything flowed so well from the start and you hardly had to think. At this championship, there were several times during the week that we encountered problems and found ourselves at a disadvantage. But you still didn’t feel any major anxiety or frustration, our mindset was all the time to stay here and now and stick to the plan. It’s cool when it also works in practice and we managed to turn around several disadvantages.
From having been outside the national team for many years, the last few years have been filled with international championships and medals for James Blomgren. Between 2021-2025, Blomgren has played two WCs and as many ECs. At those championships, he has managed to collect eight WC medals, four of which are gold, and eight European Championship medals, of which four were also gold.
– When I was selected in 2021, I never thought that it would result in 4-5 such fantastic years in the national team and that there would be 16 medals. It wasn’t on the map. I am enormously grateful and proud. I have to take my hat off to the leaders who believed in me and to the teammates who helped me win these medals.
One of the teammates who has shared all these successful championships is Jesper Svensson and now the two stars also share the bowler of the year 2025.
– It is an honor to be able to share the award with what is perhaps already Sweden’s best bowler of all time. Jesper had a fantastic end to the tour where he beats the world’s best bowlers a couple of times. It shows how good the bowling is in Sweden. That we have a player who dominates the pro tour and one at the other end who wins three WC gold medals. Very cool with all these successes in the same year, says James Blomgren.
Svensson and James Blomgren debuted in the national team together at the WC 2013 in Las Vegas and Jesper Svensson believes that it is now special to receive the award together with James.
– It’s fun to share the award with James and it’s also a bit like the circle is closing now that he chooses to thank himself in the national team. James makes another great championship. Since the WC 2021, it has really rattled with medals for him and he has been responsible for incredible performances. Three golds and a silver this time are very impressive. His national team journey has been inspiring and impressive. It feels sad that it is ending now. I think he would have had much more to give in a Swedish national team, but I respect the decision. It feels good that he gets to end this way and that he got to make this decision on his own. You can appreciate the years he has done for Swedish bowling, says Jesper Svensson.
Bowler of the Year, Men 2025
Jesper Svensson
Age: 30 years
Club: Team Pergamon BC, Partille
From: Vimmerby
Parent club: Vimmerby BK
Game technique: Two-handed game
Bowler of the Year, Men 2025
James Blomgren
Age: 38 years
Club: Team Alingsås
From: Helsingborg
Mother club: Young Bowlers, Helsingborg
Motivation:
Jesper Svensson had a great spring on the American pro tour. In April, he won the Tournament of Champions and took his second major title. In May, he ended the PBA season in the best way by winning the PBA Playoffs. In the finals of the PBA playoffs, he defeated EJ Tackett. Jesper Svensson thus took his 14th PBA title. At the WC in Hong Kong he won gold with the team in All Events and took silver in 5-man.
James Blomgren was responsible for a successful WC in Hong Kong and won three golds and one silver. The gold came in 3-man, All Events team and All Events individually. He took the silver with the 5-man team. Blomgren is the third Swedish bowler of all time to win triple gold at a WC.
Jesper Svensson’s main achievements in 2025
PBA Tournament of Champions victory – second major title
PBA Playoffs – 14:e PBA titles
VM-guld All Events lag
VM-silver 5-manna
Femma i PBA Nevada Classic
Sexa i PBA World Championship
SM-silver 8-manna
James Blomgren’s main merits in 2025
WC gold All Events individually
VM-guld All Events lag
WC gold 3-man
VM-silver 5-manna
SM-brons Elit-SM
SM bronze 8-man
Listen to the Swedish Bowling podcast where this year’s bowlers are interviewed: Nora Johansson, James Blomgren and Jesper Svensson.
Bowler of the Year for the last ten years:
2025 Nora Johansson, Queen of Spades/James Blomgren, Team Alingsås and Jesper Svensson, Team Pergamon
2024 Nora Johansson, Spades Dam/Jesper Svensson, Team Pergamon BC
2023 Anna Andersson, Spades Dam/ James Blomgren, Team Alingsås BC
2022 World Cup team Anna Andersson, Josefin Hermansson, Cajsa Wegner, Jenny Wegner/Jesper Svensson, Team Pergamon BC
2021 Joline Persson Planefors, Team X-Calibur, Partille / James Blomgren Team Alingsås
2020 Not appointed. Due to the pandemic, there was a lack of sufficient documentation.
2019 Josefin Hermansson, Team X-Calibur, Partille / Jenny Wegner, BK Femtionian, Hässleholm / William Svensson, BK Kaskad, Norrköping
2018 – Nina Flack, Team X-Calibur, Partille / Mattias Wetterberg, Team Pergamon, Partille
2017 – Jenny Wegner, BK Femtionian, Hässleholm / Jesper Svensson, Team Pergamon Partille
2016 – Jenny Wegner, BK Femtionian, Hässleholm / Jesper Svensson, Team Pergamon Partille
2015 – Jesper Svensson, Team Pergamon, Partille
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