Go Bowling! PBA Tour Makes 2019 Debut with PBA Hall of Fame Classic

All-star field begins quest for PBA Playoffs berth at International Training and Research Center Jan. 2-6

 

ARLINGTON, Texas (Dec. 27, 2018) – The Go Bowling! Professional Bowlers Association Tour makes its 2019 debut with the $100,000 PBA Hall of Fame Classic from the International Training and Research Center Jan. 2-6. The finals will air live on FS1 on Sunday, Jan. 6, at 10 a.m. (CST).

 

The new season begins with the first PBA Tour event ever held in the International Bowling Campus’ research and U.S. Olympic training facility. It gets underway on Thursday, Jan. 2, when a field of 70 of the PBA Tour’s top players from around the world start qualifying in the PBA Hall of Fame Classic. Qualifying rounds will be live-streamed in their entirety by PBA’s online video streaming partner, FloBowling, continuing Friday and Saturday to determine the five players who will advance to Sunday’s stepladder finals telecast.

 

The Hall of Fame Classic will be the first competition points event in a 13-tournament series as players begin pursuit of 24 berths in the PBA Playoffs that will be held in April in Portland, Maine. The unique total pinfall, no match play format will be contested on the PBA’s 44-foot Carmen Salvino lane conditioning pattern.

 

The PBA Hall of Fame Classic weekend also will include the first Hall of Fame inductions ever held in the International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame on Saturday, Jan. 5, when PBA Tour stars Patrick Allen of South Salem, N.Y., and Mika Koivuniemi of Finland; long-time PBA tournament host Jim Doty of Indianapolis, and veteran bowling journalist Bob Johnson of Las Vegas will be enshrined. The induction ceremonies will be live-streamed by FloBowling.

 

The PBA Hall of Fame Classic will include an all-star field of PBA Tour champions including four-time PBA Tour Player of the Year Jason Belmonte, reigning PBA Tour Finals champion EJ Tackett, PBA Clash winner Marshall Kent, 2018 Player of the Year Andrew Anderson, 2018 Rookie of the Year Kamron Doyle, PBA Hall of Famers Chris Barnes, Parker Bohn III, Norm Duke and Walter Ray Williams Jr., and players from Australia, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, England, Finland, Ireland, Mexico, Poland and Sweden including the PBA’s emerging stars.

 

PBA fans are invited to attend the Hall of Fame Classic in person (tickets to all PBA events can be ordered on pba.com (https://www.pba.com/Tickets). Fans also can follow the tournament as it happens on the PBA.com Live Scoring feature (download the free PBA.com app through iTunes or the Google Play stores), or by accessing the PBA’s extensive array of social media outlets through the PBA Network.

 

Following the Hall of Fame Classic, the Go Bowling! PBA Tour’s January schedule includes the PBA Oklahoma Open and Mark Roth-Marshall Holman PBA Doubles Championship at FireLake Bowling Center in Shawnee, Okla., Jan. 8-13; and the Lubbock Sports Open at South Plaines Lanes in Lubbock, Texas, Jan. 22-27. The finals of all January events will air on FS1.

 

PBA HALL OF FAME CLASSIC SCHEDULE

International Training and Research Center, International Bowling Campus, Arlington, Texas

(All times are Central Standard)

 

PBA Lane Oiling Pattern: Carmen Salvino 44

 

Wednesday, Jan. 2

9 a.m. – Pro Tour Qualifier (PTQ), 6 games

2 p.m. – Squad A practice session

4 p.m. – Squad B practice session

 

Thursday, Jan. 3

10 a.m. – Squad A, 7 qualifying games

5 p.m. – Squad B, 7 qualifying games

 

Friday, Jan. 4

10 a.m. – Squad B, 7 qualifying games

5 p.m. – Squad A, 7 qualifying games

      Top 18 after 14 games advance to Round 3

 

Saturday, Jan. 5

10 a.m. – Top 18, 7 qualifying games

     Top 5 after 21 games advance to stepladder finals

6 p.m. – PBA Hall of Fame dinner, International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame

 

Sunday, Jan. 6

10 a.m. – Top 5 stepladder finals, live on FS1

1:30 p.m. – World Bowling Tour Men’s and Women’s Finals (WBT current frame scoring system), taped to air on FS1 on Sunday, March 10, 9 p.m.