PBA Spare Shots

 

EJ TACKETT CLAIMS THIRD BERTH IN 2019 WORLD BOWLING TOUR MEN’S FINALS

Thanks in part to a gold-medal performance in all-events in the World Bowling Men’s Championships in Hong Kong last week, EJ Tackett of Bluffton, Ind., claimed the third berth in the 2019 World Bowling Tour Men’s Finals that will be contested on Sunday, Jan. 6, at the International Research and Training Center in Arlington, Texas, for broadcast on FS1 on March 10.

 

Tackett will join 2018 WBT points leader Anthony Simonsen of Little Elm, Texas, and Stuart Williams of England in the men’s finals. The WBT Women’s Finals, presented by the PBA, will feature Danielle McEwan of Stony Point, N.Y.; Liz Johnson of Palatine, Ill., and Daria Pajak of Poland.

 

On his way to winning the all-events gold medal in Hong Kong, Tackett also won gold in trios with Team USA teammates Andrew Anderson and Kyle Troup, and a silver medal in doubles with Anderson, PBA’s newly-crowned 2018 Chris Schenkel PBA Player of the Year. Anderson was also silver-medalist in all-events.

 

WBT Men’s and Women’s Finalists were determined based on competition points earned in WBT events during calendar year 2018. For a complete summary of World Bowling Men’s Championships results, visit worldbowling.org.

 

INTERNATIONAL BOWLING MUSEUM TO UNVEIL PBA HALL OF FAME EXHIBIT

The International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame in Arlington, Texas, will unveil a new PBA Hall of Fame exhibit featuring items on loan from 2019 PBA Hall of Fame inductees Patrick Allen, Mika Koivuniemi, Bob Johnson and Jim Doty.

 

The PBA Hall of Fame exhibit, which will celebrate the organization’s role as the “major league of bowling in the world,” will hold its premier on Saturday, Jan. 5, in conjunction with the newest inductions. The Arlington-based IBM/HF serves as the home of the PBA Hall of Fame.

 

PBA REGIONAL UPDATE:  MIKE BAILEY WINS BEAUMONT SOUTHWEST OPEN

Mike Bailey from Irving, Texas, defeated Anthony Lavery-Spahr of Pasadena, Texas, 258-202, in the position round final match to win the 17th annual PBA Beaumont Southwest Open at Crossroads Bowling Center in Beaumont, Texas, Sunday. The victory was Bailey’s seventh in PBA Regional competition and his second in 2018.

 

Bailey battled Lavery-Spahr for the lead through most of the match play finals, but trailed Lavery-Spahr by 78 pins before the final game. With the 30 bonus pins awarded for winning the match, Bailey made up the deficit with a 258-202 win to claim the $2,500 first place check.

 

Bailey finished the event 18 pins ahead of Lavery-Spahr’s 4,853. Houston’s David Scardaville finished in third place.

 

● Mike Moore and non-PBA member partner Shawn Naumann, both of Orlando, Fla., defeated Cristian Azcona of Puerto Rico and non-member Justin Dunn of Deland, Fla., 451-335, in a total pinfall match to win the $4,000 first prize in the PBA South Region Member/Non-Member Doubles at Break Point Alley Bowling Center in Tavares, Fla., Sunday.

 

Moore and Naumann won six of their eight matches and finished with a 16-game total of 7,042 pins to qualify first. Azcona and Dunn, who shared $2,000 for second place, eliminated Dave Stouffer of Lehigh Acres, Florida, and Lee Rathjen of Naples, Fla., 446-377, in the first stepladder match.

 

● Harry Sullins of Chesterfield Twp., Mich., defeated top qualifier Mike Steil of Wheeling, Ill., 224-194, to win the PBA50 Victory Lanes Midwest/Central Open at Victory Lanes in Kankakee, Ill., Sunday. The tournament was Rich Weber’s final tournament as PBA Midwest Region tournament manager. Weber will officially retire on December 31.

 

Sullins, who earned $1,500 along with his 36th overall PBA Regional title and his fourth at Victory Lanes, defeated Gary Alstott of Washington, Ill., 267-214, in the semifinal game to advance to the championship match after Alstott eliminated Brian Kretzer of Dayton, Ohio, 234-221, in the first match.

 

● Scott Kinkaid of Elizabethtown, Pa., defeated Steven Kotowski of Clark, N.J., 278-236, to win the PBA MJK Pro Shop/Knob Hill Eastern Challenge presented by Brunswick in Manalapan, N.J., on Saturday.

 

PBA Challenge events are open to any member or non-member who has never won a PBA event.

 

Kinkaid, a 44-year-old non-PBA member, was bowling in his 12th PBA event. He qualified sixth and then dominated the field in the bracket elimination finals. He posted 6-1 record, averaging 262.4 over the seven games. Kotowski, also a non-member who was competing in only his second PBA event, posted a 5-2 record.

 

Kinkaid earned $1,500 for the win, but does not receive credit for a PBA Regional title because he is a non-member.

In the semifinal matches, Kinkaid topped Michael Markis of Tafton, Pa., 269-234, and Kotowski defeated Jeremy Milito of Holbrook, N.Y., 223-214.

 

● The PBA50 Timber Lanes East Open, originally scheduled for the Dec. 7-9 weekend in Oxford, Pa., has been postponed until 2019.

 

● As the PBA heads toward the year-end holidays, a limited schedule of PBA Regional competition is on tap for the Dec. 14-16 weekend, including the Reality Check/CareHawk South Classic at Sawgrass Lanes in Tamarac, Fla., and the Warren Harley-Davidson Central-East Challenge for non-title winners at Freeway Lanes of Warren, Ohio.

 

● Closing out PBA’s 2018 regional calendar will be the PBA50/PBA Houston Emerald Bowl Doubles presented by Bowling Dynamix over the Dec. 21-23 weekend, and the PBA Japan Region’s Scorpion and Women’s Scorpion Open tournaments at Tokyo Hagashiyamato Grand Bowl.

 

● For complete PBA Regional schedules, rules and entry information, visit pba.com, open the “schedules” tab and click on PBA Regional Tours to find the event(s) in your area…and remember, you can follow “live scoring” for all PBA Regional events on pba.com (easily accessible for Apple and Android device users using the PBA app).

 

QUICK NOTES:

● Del Ballard Jr., recipient of the 2017 PBA Tony Reyes Memorial Community Service Award, and wife Carolyn Dorin-Ballard have announced a $72,000 contribution to Cancer Care Services in the wake of their annual “Ballard Vs. The Big C” fund-raiser in Dallas.

 

● Chris Barnes, the 2018 PBA Tony Reyes Memorial Community Service Award recipient, and wife Lynda drew a field of 241 participations for their 14th annual Barnes Thanksgiving Classic tournament at Plano Super Bowl in the Dallas area, awarding a total of $17,750 in scholarships.

 

● Correction: the correct dates for the 20th anniversary Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles tournament in Houston, Texas, are Thursday, July 25 through Sunday, July 28. The tournament will be part of the 2019 USBC Cup points series and will be covered live from start to finish by PBA Xtra Frame on FloBowling.

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