PBA Announces Remaining Exemptions for
World Series of Bowling and Lumber
Liquidators 2009-10 PBA Tour Season

Two Professional Bowlers Association Hall of Famers and an international star from Korea have been granted exemptions for the 2009 PBA World Series of Bowling and, for one, the 2009-10 Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour season.

PBA Hall of Famer and 24-time Tour titlist Brian Voss of Alpharetta, Ga., has been awarded the Tour’s new “Golden Parachute” exemption, a ticket which will allow the PBA Senior Tour “rookie” the opportunity to bowl for the entire season.

PBA Hall of Famer Amleto Monacelli of Venezuela and Korean Professional Bowlers Association star Tae-Hwa Jeong will join Finnish two-handed star Osku Palermaa—who had already received an international exemption—in the exempt field for the upcoming PBA World Series of Bowling in suburban Detroit.

Voss’ 24 Tour titles ranks 10th all-time. He won at least one title in 12 straight PBA Tour seasons and won the 1988 PBA National Championship for his only major win. The 1988 PBA Player of the Year also was the Harry Smith Point Leader in 1987 and ’88. Now 50, he joined the PBA Senior Tour in 2009 and has recorded a pair of second-place finishes in the Senior U.S. Open and Dayton Classic.

Monacelli is the only foreign-born player in the PBA Hall of Fame and owns 19 PBA Tour titles. He was also the first foreign-born player to win the Player of the Year award, winning in back-to-back seasons in 1989 and ‘90. He finished fifth in the 2009 Lumber Liquidators U.S. Open.

Jeong is a 10-time Korean PBA Tour winner and a five-time Japan PBA Tour titlist. He is one of three players to bowl a televised 300 game on the KPBA Tour.

Palermaa earned his place in the World Series of Bowling earlier in the spring as the European Bowling Tour points leader. His best previous PBA Tour finish was fifth in the 2004 U.S. Open. The 2006 World Bowler of the Year was also the winner of the 2009 World Ranking Masters and the 2006 QubicaAMF World Cup.

With the announcement, all of the exemptions have been filled for the 2009-10 Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour season, which include 41 from the 2008-09 point list, eight from the PBA Tour Trials, seven from the Regional Players Invitational, the 2008-09 Tournament Qualifier Round points leader and one medical deferment. The remaining spots in each standard tournament field (which is comprised of 64 entries) will be filled each week by TQR qualifiers, who will vie for a minimum of five spots.

The inaugural PBA World Series of Bowling, which begins Aug. 2 and runs through Sept. 6, 2009, will be a revolutionary festival of competitive bowling boasting a $2 million prize fund and seven ESPN telecasts. For the 72-player closed-field World Series events, a minimum of 10 non-exempt players can advance through the TQR system.

The PBA Motor City Open will kick off the season at longtime PBA host center Taylor Lanes in Taylor, Mich., from Aug. 2-6. The remainder of the World Series of Bowling, including six exempt PBA Tour events, the return of the PBA Women’s Series presented by USBC and a revamped PBA Senior Tour World Championship will be held at Thunderbowl Lanes in Allen Park, Mich., just outside Detroit. The World Series of Bowling will culminate with the PBA World Championship open field event, the first major championship of the 2009-10 season.

The Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour will pick up its traditional schedule in the second half of the season beginning with the Pepsi Red, White and Blue Open presented by the USBC Dec. 7-13 in Wichita, Kan.

For complete WSOB details, visit the new website, pbaworldseriesofbowling.com.