PBA SPARE SHOTS

PBA Spare Shots

RACE FOR PBA REGIONAL, PWBA/PBA WOMEN’S REGIONAL CHALLENGE BERTHS HEATS UP

Competition to earn berths in the QubicaAMF Regional Tour’s  Regional and PWBA/PBA Women’s Regional Challenge events which will be held as part of PBA’s World Series of Bowling VIII in Reno are heating up along with the summer temperatures.

In each of the seven domestic PBA regions, players are accumulating points between Jan. 1 and the Sept. 30 cutoff date to not only earn berths in the eight-player PBA Challenge events, but also win paid entries into WSOB VIII worth $1,000. Seven qualifiers from the PBA’s East, South, Central, Midwest, Southwest, West and Northwest Regions will join players from the PBA Japan Region in eight-game round-robin match play events on Monday, Nov. 28 at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno. The PBA Challenge finals will be covered live, exclusively on PBA’s Xtra Frame online bowling channel.

In the event a player is points leader in more than one region, the determining factor(s) for awarding the PBA Challenge berth and WSOB entry involve, in order: first, the player’s home region; secondly, the region in which the player bowled the most events and third, if necessary, to the next highest player in points within the region in question.

The PBA50 Tour Challenge, which also is part of the WSOB program, will include the eight leading points earners as of the conclusion of the 2016 PBA50 Tour schedule.

As of Sunday, June 13, the following players ranked one-two in points in their respective regions:

PBA East Region: 1, Matt O’Grady, South Amboy, N.J., 58,885. 2, Ryan Shafer, Horseheads, N.Y., 47,178. Women: 1, Diana Zavjalova, Latvia, 17,332. 2, Kerry Smith, New Holland, Pa., 3,677.

PBA South Region: 1, Kyle Troup, Taylorsville, N.C., 32,768. 2, Gary Faulkner Jr., Memphis, Tenn., 27,708. Women: 1, Summer Jasmin, Beckley, W.Va., 6,145. 2, Elise Bolton, Merritt Island, Fla., 4,225.

PBA Central Region: 1, Eugene McCune, Munster, Ind., 102,226. 2, Dave Wodka, Beavercreek, Ohio, 83,296. Women: 1, Diana Zavjalova, Latvia, 50,179. 2, Rocio Restropo, Colombia, 12,212.

PBA Midwest Region: 1, Tom Hess, Urbandale, Iowa, 58,164. 2, E.J. Tackett, Huntington, Ind., 49,712. Women: 1, Diana Zavjalova, Latvia, 6,385. 2, Liz Kuhlkin, Rotterdam, N.Y., 3,277.

PBA Southwest Region: 1, Francois Lavoie, Canada/Wichita, Kan., 67,414. 2, Shawn Maldonado, Houston, 64,515. Women: 1, Clara Guerrero, Pflugerville, Texas/Colombia, 28,721. 2, Maria Rodriguez, Pflugerville, Texas/Colombia, 13097.

PBA West Region: 1, Jakob Butturff, Chandler, Ariz., 111,121. 2, Greg Thompson Jr., Dublin, Calif., 94,511. Women: 1, Missy Parkin, Lake Forrest, Calif., 9822. 2, Catherine Rawsthorne, Federal Way, Wash., 9,096.

PBA Northwest Region: 1, Jakob Butturff, Chandler, Ariz., 93,789. 2, Cameron Weier, Federal Way, Wash., 76,317. Women: 1, April Lord Wittig, Steilacoom, Wash., 11,341. 2, Catherine Rawsthorne, Federal Way, Wash., 9,096.

ENTRIES OPEN FROM PBA FALL SWING IN DETROIT

Entries are now being accepted for the multi-event PBA Fall Swing at Thunderbowl in suburban Detroit, Sept. 4-11. The Fall Swing will include four PBA Tour-title events and the King of the Swing special event resulting in five CBS Sports Network television finals and a project payout of nearly $240,000 in prize money.

The Fall Swing, a PBA-members only event (except for non-members who may qualify through a one-day pre-tournament qualifier on Aug. 27 at Thunderbowl Lanes), will award PBA Tour titles in the Wolf, Bear, Badger and Detroit Opens, and conclude with the King of the Swing special event. The all-included entry fee is $750. PBA members should email Mary von Krueger at maryvk@pba.com or call 206-332-9688 to enter.  Entries are being accepted on a first come, first serve basis.

Detroit area bowling fans are invited to attend all of the competition, including the stepladder finals in each event which will be conducted on Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 10-11, for delayed broadcast on CBS Sports Network. The Wolf, Bear and Badger Opens will be contested on Sept. 10 at 11 a.m., 2:30 p.m. and 5:15 p.m., respectively. The Detroit Open and King of the Swing will be contest on Sept. 11 at noon and 3:30 p.m., respectively. The finals will air in that order on five consecutive Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET beginning Sept. 21. All times are Eastern.

For more detailed information about the PBA Fall Swing, click here: (http://www.pba.com/articles/PBAe28099s-Multi-Event-Detroit-Fall-Swing-Returns-to-Historic-Thunderbowl-Lanes-Sept-4-11

THIS WEEK ON XTRA FRAME: PWBA VISITS DETROIT, LUBBOCK OPEN COMING SOON

While the PBA50 Tour takes a three-week hiatus following the USBC Super Senior Classic and Senior Masters in Las Vegas, Xtra Frame turns its attention to the PWBA Tour Friday and Saturday with coverage of the Greater Detroit Open from Canton, Mich., followed by the Go Bowling PWBA Players Championship from Green Bay, Wis., June 24-25. Xtra Frame provides exclusive live coverage of all preliminary rounds to determine PWBA’s CBS Sports Network stepladder finalists.

PBA’s senior players will complete their western swing with the USBC Super Senior Classic and Senior Masters, June 19-25. USBC Senior Masters coverage will be provided by BowlTV on bowl.com.

Also coming soon to Xtra Frame will be start-to-finish coverage of the Xtra Frame PBA Lubbock Sports Open from South Plains Lanes in Lubbock, Texas, June 25-26, and the Xtra Frame PBA-PWBA Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles from Bowl on Bellaire in Houston, Texas, July 29-31.

Following the USBC Senior Masters, PBA50 players will take a break before returning to action as the 2016 PBA50 Tour season begins its six-event home stretch run on Xtra Frame beginning July 17-23 with a new major event for senior players, the PBA50 Treasure Island Resort & Casino World Championship presented by Storm from Island Xtreme Bowl in Welch, Minn.

Three-day ($3.99), 30-day ($7.99) and full year ($64.99) Xtra Frame subscriptions are available by clicking on the Xtra Frame link on pba.com.

QUBICA AMF PBA REGIONAL UPDATE: LOPEZ, BROWN BECOME TOC-ELIGIBLE IN MODESTO

Abraham Lopez of Chula Vista, Calif., defeated Greg Thompson Jr. of Dublin, Calif., 203-191, to win the PBA Vanessa Brown Homes West Open, presented by Hammer, at Yosemite Lanes in Modesto, Calif., on Sunday.

In the companion PBA50 Vanessa Brown Homes West Open, Robert Brown of Cody, Wyo., defeated Brian Kretzer of Dayton, Ohio, 279-265, for his first PBA50 regional title and a $1,700 first prize.

With their first QubicaAMF PBA Regional wins, Lopez (bowling in only his second regional as member) and Brown also became eligible to enter the 2017 PBA Tournament of Champions.

Lopez defeated Jakob Butturff of Chandler, Ariz., 245-236, in the semifinal round while Thompson advanced to the title match by defeating Will Garber of Modesto, 249-183. In the PBA50 semifinal round, Brown eliminated Dave Arnold of Elk Grove, Calif., 244-236, and Kretzer defeated Ron Mohr of Las Vegas, 258-195.

● Billy Asbury of Odenton, Md., edged Isaac Kim of Lebanon, Pa., 225-224, to win the PBA Homefield Bowl Eastern Open presented by MOTIV at Homefield Bowl in Yonkers, N.Y., Sunday.

Asbury threw four clutch strikes to end the championship match, forcing Kim to strike on his first shot in the 10th frame, but Kim hit the pocket light and left the 2 pin. Along with his second career QubicaAMF PBA Regional title, Asbury earned a $3,000 first prize.

In the opening stepladder match, Asbury defeated Rob Hoffman of Freehold, N.J., 205-200, and he then eliminated Matt O’Grady of South Amboy, N.J., 242-237.

● QubicaAMF PBA Regional events scheduled for the June 17-19 weekend include the Timmy See Memorial South Open at Nassau Bowling Center in Yulee, Fla.; the PWBA, PBA and PBA50 Secoma Lanes West/Northwest Opens presented by Storm in Federal Way, Wash.; the Rackbusters Pro Shop East Challenge at Bowlerama in New Castle, Del., and the Strike n Spare II Adrenaline Midwest Classic in Lockport, Ill. PBA Challenge events are open to players who have not won a PBA title.

● Closing out the June schedule of QubicaAMF PBA Regional events over the June 24-26 weekend will be the Battle at Black Oak Casino West Open at Black Oak Lanes in Tuolumne, Calif.; the Pro Bowl West Center/Midwest Challenge presented by Columbia 300 in Fort Wayne, Ind., and the PBA/PBA50 AMF Fredericksburg Over/Under 50 Doubles presented by Radical in Fredericksburg, Va. The June 24-26 weekend also will include the Xtra Frame Lubbock Sports PBA Open in Lubbock, Texas.

● For complete QubicaAMF PBA Regional schedules, rules and entry information, visit pba.com, open the “schedules” tab and click on QubicaAMF Regional Tours to find the event(s) in your area. For more information about QubicaAMF, visit www.qubicaamf.com or, for social media posts, visit http://bit.ly/QAMFSponsorship1.