PBA SPARE SHOTS

FREE HOLIDAY TREAT: REVOLUTIONARY PBA CHEETAH CHAMPIONSHIP IS ON PBA.COM
As a holiday gift to bowling fans around the world, the Professional Bowlers Association is posting a re-broadcast of the ground-breaking PBA Cheetah Championship on pba.com. The online broadcast of the 90-minute PBA World Series of Bowling event will give thousands of bowling fans an opportunity to sample what pba.com Xtra Frame subscribers get to see on a regular basis.

The PBA Cheetah Championship, won by PBA Hall of Famer Norm Duke in a thrilling battle with newcomer Ryan Ciminelli of Cheektowaga, N.Y., was taped in a unique documentary format, providing PBA fans insight into the many layers of a professional tournament from start to finish, including unique insights from players regarding strategies, equipment choices and more.

THREE PBA EXEMPT PLAYERS MISS RED, WHITE AND BLUE OPEN
Three 2009-10 exempt players missed the Pepsi Red, White and Blue Open presented by USBC. Jason Belmonte remained home in Australia, awaiting the birth of his first child. Brian Voss, Alpharetta, Ga., came down with the flu just before he planned to leave for Wichita. Doug Kent took the week off and admitted he is pondering retirement from full-time PBA Tour life.

“I think I’m pretty much done as a full-time touring player,” said the 42-year-old Kent, a bowling center owner from Newark, N.Y. “I’ve done some soul searching. I like my normal family life. I like being able to go watch my oldest son bowl in collegiate matches. I’m not at the top of my game any longer. So I think I may bowl the majors and maybe the open entry events, but not much else.”

RECORDS FALL IN PEPSI RED, WHITE AND BLUE OPEN
The Pepsi Red, White and Blue Open presented by USBC, bowled on three different lane conditioning patterns USBC plans to introduce on an optional basis to league bowlers next season, resulted in a raft of PBA scoring records at Northrock Lanes in Wichita.

There were 31 300 games bowled, shattering the previous record for most perfect games in a single event (24). Of the perfect games, 14 were bowled on the Red pattern, eight on the White and nine on the Blue pattern.

Cassidy Schaub, Polk, Ohio, broke the 16-game record with a 4,116 total (257.25 average), Michael Machuga, Erie, Pa., broke the 32-game records for actual pinfall with an 8,016 total (250.5 average) and 8,166 pins including match play bonus pins; Machuga established records for 48 games (records didn’t previously exist) with 10,081 actual pins (252 average) and 10,411 including bonus. Patrick Allen, Wesley Chapel, Fla., established 48-game records with 11,888 actual pins (247.66 average) and 12,308 pins including bonus.

Walter Ray Williams Jr., Ocala, Fla., upped his own record for most PBA TV appearances to 172 by making the Red, White and Blue TV finals (which air Sunday, Jan. 10, at 1 p.m. Eastern on ESPN).

NEWLY-EXEMPT REGIONAL PLAYERS REPRESENT FOUR REGIONS
The seven newly-qualified members of the 2010-11 Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour represent four of the seven PBA regions. Sands Regency Regional Players Invitational winner Scott Norton, San Francisco, hails from the PBA West Region.

Runner-up Bobby Hall II, Landover, Md.; Ryan Ciminelli, Cheektowaga, N.Y., and Jeff Zaffino, Warren, Pa., will represent the East Region. Dave Beres, Waukesha, Wis., and Lennie Boresch Jr., Kenosha, Wis., qualified out of the Midwest Region. Chris Warren, Grants Pass, Ore., is from the Northwest Region.

Zaffino, who is 50 and also eligible for the PBA Senior Tour, won the seventh spot by 45 pins over South Region qualifier and PBA Senior Tour titlist Roger Kossert of Riverview, Fla.

COLLEGIATE BOWLER PULLS OFF STUNNING UPSET IN CHRIS BARNES CHALLENGE

Newman University collegiate All-American Derek Hartnell overcame a 77-pin deficit to defeat PBA star Chris Barnes, 719-698, in the first Chris Barnes Challenge presented by Columbia 300 at Northrock Lanes in Wichita, Kan.


Hartnell, a 22-year-old senior from Kenosha, Wis., finished his third game with five strikes as Barnes lost the pocket after throwing a near-perfect 289 in game two of the three-game, total pinfall match. Hartnell won the $3,200 pot, 719-698.

"I just threw shots," Hartnell said. "In the 10th, I had nerves going up and down, but I just tried to concentrate and I did it. Who would have thought?"

Barnes rolled games of 248, 289 and a split-filled 161 for his 698. Hartnell had games of 232, 229 and 258 for his 719. The match aired exclusively on pba.com’s Xtra Frame bowling channel.

MOTOR CITY OPEN RE-BROADCAST FILLS JANUARY 3 ESPN DATE
The Sunday, Jan. 3, PBA telecast slot vacated by the cancellation of the Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour’s planned event in Medford, Ore., will be filled by a re-broadcast of Walter Ray Williams Jr.’s historic victory in the Motor City Open in Detroit.

The show will air at 1 p.m. Eastern, with the Pepsi Red, White and Blue Open presented by USBC moving into the Jan. 10 1 p.m. Eastern time slot.

PBA/UBSC YOUTH INSIDERS’ TOUR VISITS WICHITA
The PBA, in cooperation with the United States Bowling Congress, is continuing its PBA/USBC Youth Insiders’ Tour program during the 2009-10 season, allowing five randomly-selected USBC Youth bowlers in each tournament market a chance to visit Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour events where they are given a special “insiders” look at the PBA Tour. Included are seats to watch the ESPN television finals.

The lucky youth bowlers selected to attend the Pepsi Red, White and Blue Open presented by USBC in Wichita, Kan., were Cory Johnson, 10; Kylee Cowden, 12; Cassie Edgar, 12; Tanner Schiesser, 14, and Michael Gruver, 15.

LUMBER LIQUIDATORS PBA TOUR STATISTICAL LEADERS (thru PBA World Championship)

EARNINGS
1, Tom Smallwood, Saginaw, Mich. $69,100
2, Rhino Page, Wesley Chapel, Fla., $53,900
3, Bill O'Neill, Southampton, Pa., $52,800
4, Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, $45,900
5, Chris Barnes Double Oak, Texas, $45,000
6, Walter Ray Williams Jr., Ocala, Fla., $43,300
7, Mike DeVaney, San Diego, $40,900
8, Jack Jurek, Lackawanna, N.Y., $40,200
9, Norm Duke, Clermont, Fla., $37,900
10, Jason Belmonte, Australia, $29,000

PBA PLAYER OF THE YEAR POINTS
(Based on championship round finishes only: Standard five-player events = 16, 8, 4, 2, 1 points; Major four-player events = 24, 12, 8, 4)
1, Bill O’Neill, Southampton, Pa., 28
Tom Smallwood, Saginaw, Mich., 28
3, Rhino Page, Wesley Chapel, Fla., 20
4, Norm Duke, Clermont, Fla., 16
Walter Ray Williams Jr., Ocala, Fla., 16
Ryan Ciminelli, Cheektowaga, N.Y., 16
Mike DeVaney, San Diego, 16
Jack Jurek, Lackawanna, N.Y., 16
9, Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, 16
10, Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, 8
Ronnie Russell, Camby, Ind., 8
Jason Belmonte, Australia, 8
Mike Fagan, Patchogue, N.Y., 8

PBA WORLD RANKING POINTS
1, Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, 91,935
2, Rhino Page, Wesley Chapel, Fla., 87,358
3, Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, 86,331
4, Tom Smallwood, Saginaw, Mich., 85,166
5, Bill O'Neill, Southampton, Pa., 82,305
6, Sean Rash, Wichita, Kan., 79,848
7, Walter Ray Williams Jr., Ocala, Fla., 76,470
8, Jack Jurek, Lackawanna, N.Y., 73,572
9, Mike DeVaney, San Diego, 66,981
10, Jason Belmonte, Australia, 66,575