COLUMBIA 300, HAMMER
PRODUCTS HELP PLAYERS
MAKE HISTORY IN PBA
WSOB SCORPION MATCH PLAY


Two-time Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour titlist and defending U.S. Open Champion Bill O’Neill, Jun-Yung Kim of South Korea and Canadian standout Dan MacLelland became part of PBA Tour history by qualifying for the stepladder finals of the PBA World Series of Bowling Scorpion Championship using equipment from the Ebonite family of bowling balls Tuesday at the South Point Bowling Center.O’Neill qualified third for his second WSOB stepladder final using a Hammer Taboo. On Monday, he also qualified for the Viper Championship stepladder final.Kim, an eight-year member of the Korean national bowling team, used a Columbia Outburst, Pure Physics and Pure Swing to qualify first for the Scorpion stepladder while MacLelland used a Pure Physics and an Outburst to qualify fifth for the stepladder. In addition to O’Neill, Kim and MacLelland, also making the finals were Australian two-hander Jason Belmonte and Yong-Jin Gu of South Korea, making Scorpion stepladder finals field the first in PBA history with four international and one U.S. player. It also will be the first PBA Tour event in the U.S. to include two Korean qualifiers. O’Neill had a 6-2-1 match play record, 2,013 pinfall and 223.6 average for the round. “I started with the Taboo because I wanted something with a strong cover that rolled early,” O’Neill said. “The conditions changed enough by game six that I had to switch because the Taboo is such a hook monster.”Kim, an amateur bowling in his first PBA Tour event, had a 7-2 match play record and 1,990 pinfall for a 221.1 average. Kim had bowled with his Pure Physics in Korea, but experienced the Outburst for the first time when he arrived in Las Vegas. “The Columbia balls matched up well with the lane condition,” said Kim, a high-rev power player. “They were very easy to control and gave me excellent pin carry.” MacLelland battled through the round with a 4-4-1 match play record and 1,954 pinfall for a 217.1 average. “They were the right choices for the right time during the block,” MacLelland said of the Pure Physics and Outburst. “I started with the Outburst because I wanted a strong ball on the fresh oil and then it was just a matter of switching at the right time to the Pure Physics in the fourth game which enabled me to get the ball through the front part of the lane but still have the reaction I needed on the backend.” The Scorpion Championship stepladder finals will be conducted at 11 a.m. Pacific on Saturday at South Point Bowling Center for delayed airing on ESPN on Sunday, Dec. 19, at 1 p.m. Eastern.About Ebonite International Ebonite International is a privately-owned company that services bowling centers, distributors and retail outlets domestically and internationally. The company’s consumer product brands include Ebonite,Hammer,Robby’s,Columbia 300,Track and Powerhouse™; its commercial product brand is Ebonite Bowling Center Direct.