PBA Snubs Tri-State
Bowlers
The
Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) has been super-sized but once again the
PBA has snubbed the many Tri-State bowlers who over many years have enjoyed the
PBA Tour stops in Cheektowaga, NY, Latham, NY, Long Island and Norwich,
Conn.
The only PBA stop on the East Coast will
be the United States Bowling Congress Masters on February 18-24 at the Brunswick
Zone Carolier in North Brunswick, NJ This event is one of the PBA's Major
Championships and offers an open field.
The upcoming 55th annual
PBA Tour season will be longer. The number of titles up for grabs will be
greater. The fields will be larger. Even the length of many TV shows will be
increased.
PBA
Commissioner Tom Clark made the announcement Tuesday that the PBA’s historic
2012-13 campaign will run from November's PBA World Series of Bowling IV at
South Point Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas through December 2013 and include up
to 40 opportunities for players to win PBA Tour titles.
"This
season will be big," Clark said. "Every year the greatest players in the world
produce unforgettable moments in their quest for PBA titles, but the PBA and its
fans wanted more. The stage is now set."
The PBA
schedule will include two World Series of Bowling, five major championships, new
Winter and Summer Swing open events with multiple titles at stake, and an
estimated 15 World Bowling Tour stops that will award PBA Tour titles if won by
PBA members and PBA International members.
Approximately 50 hours of action will be televised nationally during the
season. Additionally, the PBA's online bowling channel Xtra Frame plans more
than 200 hours of live coverage.
Clark
said the 14-month season will also mean a move towards a regular calendar-year
PBA season starting in January, 2014.
Significant highlights from the 2012-13 schedule include:
The United States Bowling Congress Masters will be held at Brunswick Zone
Carolier Lanes in North Brunswick, N.J., in February, the PBA Tournament of
Champions will be hosted by long-time PBA host Woodland Bowl in Indianapolis in
March, and the 70th U.S. Open will be held at a site to be announced soon. The
U.S. Open was formerly held at North Brunswick, NJ.
The new PBA Winter Swing will be contested in January at Thunderbowl Lanes in
Allen Park, Mich., host of WSOB I. In addition to four national titles including
a revamped PBA Players Championship, the Winter Swing will introduce a
significant new format to be announced.
Ten of the scheduled nationally-televised shows have been increased from 90
minutes to two hours, which means the USBC Masters and PBA Tournament of
Champions, among others, will feature five-player stepladder finals instead of
four.
All World Series event
finals will return to stepladder formats.
The PBA Tournament of Champions will return to a traditional limited-field
invitational event.
The World Tenpin Bowling Association’s World Bowling Tour points list – based on
cumulative totals over a span of two years - will determine the finalists for
the men's and women's WBT Finals presented by the PBA which will be held at both
WSOB IV and WSOB V.
Also to
be announced will be the annual PBA Chris Paul Celebrity
Invitational.
Future
announcements will also detail the full ESPN and Xtra Frame coverage slates.
Additional updates will be posted on pba.com. Also follow the PBA on
Twitter @pbatour and on its Facebook page Professional Bowlers Association
(PBA).
To
subscribe to Xtra Frame, visit pba.com.
2012-13 PBA TOUR
SCHEDULE
(Tentative:
certain elements subject to change; PBA Tour and PBA International members only
are eligible to win PBA Tour titles in World Bowling Tour events. Additional WBT
events are expected to be added later.)
Nov. 2-11 - PBA
World Series of Bowling IV, South Point Bowling Center, Las
Vegas
Men’s and
Women’s World Bowling Tour Finals presented by the PBA; Cheetah
Championship; Viper Championship; Chameleon Championship; Scorpion
Championship; PBA World Championship (major). WBT Women’s Final also will be
included, but is not a PBA Tour title event. (Open to all PBA
members).
Nov. 29-Dec.
1 - Round One's
International Japan Cup, Japan (invitational).
Dec. 4-8
- WBT Dubai Open, Dubai,
United Arab Emirates (open field).
Dec. 9-15
- WBT Qatar Open, Doha,
Qatar (open field).
Jan.
4-13 – WBT Brunswick
BallMaster Open, Helsinki, Finland (open field).
Jan.
15-19 - WBT International
Bowling Championship, Nagoya, Japan (open field).
Jan. 19-28 - PBA
Winter Swing, Thunderbowl, Allen Park, Mich.
Carmen
Salvino Classic; Mark Roth Classic; Don Carter Classic; PBA Players Championship
(open to all PBA members).
Feb.
18-24 - United States Bowling
Congress Masters, Brunswick Zone Carolier, North Brunswick, N.J. (major
championship; open field).
March
3-9 - WBT Bahrain Open,
Oman, Bahrain (open field).
March
13-17 - WBT Kuwait Open,
Kuwait City, Kuwait (open field).
March
15-24 - WBT Brunswick
EuroChallenge, St. Maximim, France (open field).
March 26-31
- PBA Tournament of
Champions, Woodland Bowl, Indianapolis (major championship;
invitational).
May 20-27 – PBA
Summer Swing, site to be announced
Four PBA
Tour titles to be announced (open to all PBA members).
July 21-28
- 70th U.S. Open, to be
announced (major championship; open field).
Aug. 31-Sept.
4 - WBT Las Vegas
International Open, site to be announced, Las Vegas (open field; follows WTBA
World Championships).
Sept.
24-30 - WBT Thailand Open,
Bangkok, Thailand (open field).
TBA
- WBT Vienna Open,
Vienna, Austria (open field).
Oct. 21-26
- WBT Australian
Masters, Sydney, Australia (open field).
Nov. 1-10, 2013 -
PBA World Series of Bowling V, Las Vegas
Men’s and
Women’s World Bowling Tour Finals presented by the PBA; four PBA “pattern
championships”; PBA World Championship (major). WBT Women’s Final also will be
included, but is not a PBA Tour title event. (Open to all PBA
members).
Nov. 27-30, 2013
- Round One's
International Japan Cup, Japan (invitational).
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