Wednesday, May 1, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.
Pauliina Aalto set out from her native Finland to test herself against the best female bowlers in the world. This week in Las Vegas, she got her first set of results.
The 28-year-old native of Helsinki competed in the $80,000 Storm Doubles at Sam's Town, the first stop of a four-week tour of the United States. Aalto and partner Michelle Day missed the cut following the opening 18 games of competition.
Nevertheless, Aalto will move on to play in next week's Sam's Town Ladies Professional Bowlers Tour stop in Omaha, Neb., before competing at the WIBC Queens Tournament in Buffalo two weeks later. She said the experience has proved beneficial so far.
"I call this training camp," Aalto said. "This is the best place for me to learn how to bowl better. If I'd stayed in Europe it would not have been the same. These bowlers here are the best. In Europe we don't have very many women for whom bowling is their life.
"If you compare yourself to the best in the world it's easy to see where you stand. I'd have to say that I've learned a lot. Sunday I played lousy, Monday was better, but it wasn't good enough. My play wasn't bad. I've learned that this is really hard work. I know I wouldn't be ready for this right now."
Aalto, the reigning women's Masters Level European Champion, is no stranger to bowling. She has played in close to 100 tournaments since last August -- bowling approximately 750 games -- and along the way has made stops in Sweden, France, Malaysia and Switzerland, in addition to the United States.
She is able to gain entry into the American tournaments by having a qualifying scoring average and paying a higher entry fee than the touring pro. "And, of course, you have to have guts," Aalto added.
Her homeland is a nation of 5 million people, of which 15,000 are bowlers, Aalto said. There is very little open bowling, and bowlers must be registered with the Finnish Bowling Federation. Every bowling center conducts a tournament each week.
In order for her to receive any publicity and sponsorship back home, Aalto must fill out periodic report sheets and send them to newspapers and the bowling federation. It's a task she happily refers to as her "homework."
"If I do well over here they will write about it, but I have to do my homework," she said. "I must fill it out and send it to the newspapers, and also the sponsors. That's how I get publicity and some money."
What financial aid she does receive is small compared to the costs of her travel and training. Aalto quit her job at a bowling center last year in order to devote herself to the game, and the move has placed her in serious hardship.
"Actually I'm not able to do it full time, but I do it anyway," she said. "I quit working last November so I could concentrate on bowling. I shouldn't have done it, but I did. I have the money I need here, but after I get home I really don't know how I'm going to eat.
"I don't think about it right now. I've still got three weeks before I'll worry about it."
This week is not the first time a member of the Aalto family has bowled in Las Vegas. She said her father, an avid bowler, won a tournament in Finland a couple of years ago and the prize was a trip to compete in a Sam's Town tourney, where he lost in the second round. Aalto herself has competed in a High Roller event here.
"I told everyone if I ever get through the second round in the High Roller I'd buy my father a big (bowling) towel," she said. "When he was here he just bought me a small one."
Aalto said she hopes to succeed at bowling's highest levels not only for personal rewards, but also to show that her country has its share of talented bowlers.
"Everyone knows Finland for skiing, (figure) skating or ice hockey," she said. "In my country people don't see bowling as a sport, they see it as something for recreation. Actually, Finnish bowlers have always done well in world competition -- we always seem to win medals. In the amateur field we've been really good.
"Maybe I can help people see that."
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