Malott, Mohr, Pluhowsky Pace PBA
World Championships Qualifiers

ALLEN PARK, Mich. Reigning Professional Bowlers Association Player of the Year Wes Malott of Pflugerville, Texas, led the field of 40 PBA World Championship finalists who moved into match play at Thunderbowl Lanes Sept. 3 by sitting on the sidelines, resting until Friday.

Malott, Ron Mohr of Eagle River, Alaska, and Shannon Pluhowsky of Phoenix were the top qualifiers in the PBA, PBA Women’s and PBA Senior World Championships, respectively, which earned each of them – and a handful of others – byes for the first two rounds of best-of-seven-game, single-elimination match play.

Also earning byes in the PBA World Championship field were Mike Scroggins, Amarillo, Texas; Sean Rash, Wichita, Kan.; Mika Koivuniemi, Hartland, Mich.; Mike DeVaney, San Diego; Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas; Walter Ray Williams Jr., Ocala, Fla., and Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C.

Senior World Championship players earning two bye rounds along with Mohr were Kent Wagner, Palmetto, Fla.; Harry Sullins, Chester Township, Mich., and Dave Patchen, Oregon, Ohio. Joining Pluhowsky in the women’s bye pool were Kelly Kulick, Union, N.J.; Michelle Feldman, Auburn, N.Y., and Liz Johnson, Cheektowaga, N.Y.

During Thursday’s afternoon opening PBA World Championship Round of 32, Michigan residents Thomas Smallwood, Saginaw; Brian Waliczek, Birch Run, and Dan MacLelland, Saginaw, advanced to Friday’s Round of 16 while PBA Hall of Famers Pete Weber of St. Ann, Mo., and Brian Voss of Alpharetta, Ga., along with Australian two-handed star Jason Belmonte were among the 16 players eliminated.

In the opening Senior match play round, PBA Hall of Famers Tom Baker, King, N.C.; Mark Williams, Beaumont, Texas, and Wayne Webb, Sacramento, Calif., were among the eight Round of 16 survivors. In the women’s Round of 16, hall of famer Carolyn Dorin-Ballard of Keller, Texas, advanced while a pair of fellow hall of famers – Wendy Macpherson of Henderson, Nev., and Cheryl Daniels of West Bloomfield, Mich., were eliminated.

The final three rounds of matches for all players on Friday will reduce the fields to four men, two seniors and two women for the ESPN finals.

“My concern was staying in the top four,” Malott said. “Scroggins has a great look on fresh lane conditions. He has been bowling some big games, so I figured if I could stay in the top four, the first time I’ll have to bowl against him would be on TV. That was on my mind. Now I can get some rest, which is always a good thing.

“But I will be in the center watching to see how the guys break down the lane condition on the pairs I’ll be on tomorrow.”

“I’m tired,” Mohr admitted. “When you’re trying to bowl at this level, every shot is important. It’s draining. It’ll be nice to have a couple of rounds to rest.

“The lanes today played the hardest they have all week,” the three-time 2009 PBA Senior Tour titlist said. “There was no mistake room. When that happens, you become afraid of making a shot too fast or too slow. You just can’t relax.”

Pluhowsky overtook Kulick for the first time, but being the top women’s qualifier didn’t excite her.

“All pins are dropped now and we’re moving into a different section of the bowling center for match play, so there’s no advantage to being No. 1 other than having fewer matches to bowl and the guarantee of a bigger check,” Pluhowsky said. “So far I’m very pleased with the way I have been bowling. Everything’s good. It’s going to be a busy weekend (she has already qualified for two television finals over the weekend), but that’s much better than watching.”

The Women’s and Senior World Championship title matches will be contested Saturday at noon for delayed telecast on ESPN. The men’s finals will be contested live on ESPN on Dec. 13 at Northrock Lanes in Wichita, Kan.

PBA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Thunderbowl Lanes, Allen Park, Mich., Sept. 3

Round of 40 (best of 7 games, losers eliminated and earned $2,000)
Brian Himmler, Cincinnati, def. Michael Haugen Jr., Carefree, Ariz., 4-2
Bill O'Neill, Southampton, Pa., def. PJ Haggerty, Clovis, Calif., 4-1
Thomas Smallwood, Saginaw, Mich., def. Andres Gomez, Colombia, 4-1
Jason Couch, Clermont, Fla., def. Ken Simard, Greenville, S.C., 4-1
Rhino Page, Wesley Chapel, Fla., def. Jeffrey Roche, Dearborn, Mich., 4-1
Dave D'Entremont, Middleburg Heights, Ohio, def. Brian Voss, Alpharetta, Ga., 4-2
Jay Futrell, Derby, Kan., def. Chad Kloss, Greenfield, Wis., 4-0
Brian Waliczek, Birch Run, Mich., def. Anthony LaCaze, Melrose Park, Ill., 4-1
Martin Larsen, Sweden, def. Michael Fagan, Patchogue, N.Y., 4-1
Steve Rogers, Bourbonnais, Ill., def. Mike Wolfe, New Albany, Ind., 4-0
Doug Kent, Newark, N.Y., def. Nathan Bohr, Wichita, Kan., 4-0
Chris Johnson, Garland, Texas, def. Pete Weber, St. Ann, Mo., 4-0
Jesse Buss, Wichita, Kan., def. Mitch Beasley, Puyallup, Wash., 4-2
Dan MacLelland, Saginaw, Mich., def. Robert Lawrence, Austin, Texas, 4-2
Eugene McCune, Munster, Ind., def. Jason Belmonte, Australia, 4-1
Jeff Carter, Springfield, Ill., def. Lonnie Waliczek, Wichita, Kan., 4-1

PBA SENIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Thunderbowl Lanes, Allen Park, Mich., Sept. 3

Round of 16 (best of 7 games, losers eliminated and earned $1,800)
Henry Gonzalez, Colorado Springs, Colo., def. John Bennett, Clarkston, Mich., 4-1
Kerry Painter, Henderson, Nev., def. Ted Hannahs, Zanesville, Ohio, 4-1
Wayne Webb, Sacramento, Calif., def. Steve Neff, Homosassa Springs, Fla., 4-2
Tom Baker, King, N.C., def. Dale Traber, Cedarburg, Wis., 4-1
Carl Kinyon, Lockport, N.Y., def. Roy Buckley, Westerville, Ohio, 4-3
Brian Brazeau, Ocala, Fla., def. Michael Henry, Brunswick, Ohio, 4-0
Mark Williams, Beaumont, Texas, def. Dale Csuhta, Wadsworth, Ohio, 4-3
Hugh Miller, Mercer Island, Wash., def. Robert Harvey, Boise, Idaho, 4-1

PBA WOMEN’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Thunderbowl Lanes, Allen Park, Mich., Sept. 2

Round of 16 (best of 7 games, losers eliminated and earned $1,500)
Tammy Boomershine, North Ogden, Utah, def. Paola Gomez, Colombia, 4-1
Lindsay Baker, Waterford, Mich., def. Cheryl Daniels, West Bloomfield, Mich., 4-1
Diandra Asbaty, Chicago, def. Shalin Zulkifli, Malaysia, 3-3
Amanda Fagan, Patchogue, N.Y., def. Robin Orlikowski, Grand Rapids, Mich., 4-2
Carolyn Dorin-Ballard, Keller, Texas, def. Adrienne Miller, Albuquerque, N.M., 4-0
Jodi Woessner, Oregon, Ohio, def. Elysia Current, Ephrata, Pa., 4-1
Missy Bellinder, Fullerton, Calif., def. Wendy Macpherson, Henderson, Nev., 4-1
Shannon O'Keefe, Arlington, Texas, def. Joy Esterson, Annapolis, Md., 4-3

About the PBA
The Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) features the best bowlers in the world competing in National, Regional and Senior Tour events and awarded over $4.3 million in prize money during the 2008-09 Lumber Liquidators PBA National Tour. The organization has more than 4,000 members spanning 13 countries, and nearly one million viewers tune-in to watch the Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour every Sunday on ESPN throughout the season. PBA sponsors include Bayer, Brunswick, CLR, Denny's, Etonic, Flomax, GEICO, Go RVing, H&R Block, Lumber Liquidators, Pepsi-Cola and the USBC, among others.