PBA Spare Shots
PBA REGIONAL POINTS LEADERS FOCUS ON OCTOBER 15 DEADLINE FOR WSOB IX BERTHS
Regional points leaders as of August 6 have an eye on the October 15 deadline when the PBA’s regional points competitions for 2017 will be finalized, and the leaders in each region will be announced for the PBA Regional Challenge to be held on November 7 to kick off the GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling IX, presented by Eldorado Reno Properties Inc., at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nev.
The regional points leaders will meet in a head-to-head match play competition in Reno, at the same time the eight points leaders from the 2017 PBA50 Tour season bowl the PBA50 Challenge. All regional and PBA50 Tour qualifiers also will receive paid entries into the World Series, and both Challenge events will air live on PBA’s Xtra Frame online bowling channel.
The current leaders in the PBA Regional points races are:
● East Region – Matt O’Grady, 105,277 points (second place, Greg Ostrander, 66,763).
● South Region – Dick Allen, 90,674 (Cristian Azcona, 81,781).
● Central Region – Graham Fach, 92,839 (Kyle Mayberry, 87,6715).
● Midwest Region – AJ Johnson, 83,392 (Tom Hess, 66,202).
● Southwest Region – Francois Lavoie, 137,678 (Mike Bailey, 89,040).
● West Region – David Haynes, 116,934 (Darren Tang, 109,137).
● Northwest Region – Darren Tang, 117,603 (Cameron Weier, 112,156).
Finishing in the top eight in PBA50 points were Brian LeClair, Norm Duke, Parker Bohn III, Bob Learn Jr., Michael Haugen Jr., Walter Ray Williams Jr., Amleto Monacelli and Ron Mohr.
Williams is the defending PBA50 Challenge winner; O’Grady is the defending PBA Regional Challenge winner.
XTRA FRAME OFFERS LIMITED TIME THREE-DAY SUBSCRIPTION DISCOUNT
For a limited time, Xtra Frame is offering a special $2.99 three-day subscription rate, a $1 savings over its normal rate. The special offer, good now through August 27, will make it possible for PBA fans to watch all three remaining PBA Xtra Frame Storm Cup Series tournaments at the special rate.
This weekend’s PBA Xtra Frame Chesapeake Open will air Saturday and Sunday, followed by the Xtra Frame Gene Carter’s Pro Shop Classic from Mid-County Bowling and Entertainment in Middletown, Del., Aug. 19-20, and the Storm Cup series finale, the Xtra Frame Kenn-Feld Group Classic from Pla-Mor Lanes in Coldwater, Ohio, Aug. 26-27. The special $2.99 rate can be used multiple times, so it can be applied to all three weekend events. To sign up, visit xtraframe.tv.
PBA fans also are reminded they can follow real-time results for PBA50, PBA Xtra Frame Tour and all PBA Regional events by visiting the “live scoring” feature on pba.com or by downloading the new PBA app on Apple devices.
WBT RESULTS WITH MARTIN LARSEN-JESPER SVENSSON INSPIRED EVENT IN MALMO
The World Bowling Tour Malmo, also known as the “Storm Lucky Larsen Masters,” begins Sunday in Malmo, Sweden, and concludes on Sunday, Aug. 27, as bowlers from around the world descend on Malmo for Sweden’s first PBA International/World Bowling Tour event.
The tournament had a preliminary entry of 465 players from 25 countries including a number of PBA stars, prompting Competition Manager Daniel Rönnbäck to note, “Judging by the huge number of entries and that the tickets to the finals are completely sold out well before the start date, this is obviously a competition that Sweden has been waiting for.”
According to a World Bowling news release, the tournament was cofounded by Swedish Bowling proprietors Rönnbäck and Hampus Torstensson who were inspired by Jesper Svensson’s Swedish Rookie Sportsman of The Year award, which they hope will encourage young Swedes to to become more active in the sport. Rönnbäck also recruited Swedish national star Martin Larsento join the organizing committee to provide input into the athletic sides of the event.
The tournament will use a format common among European events. Multiple six-game qualifying rounds will result in a finals field of 44 players, with all scores dropped at the end of qualifying. Qualifiers 1-8 will advance to Step 2; qualifiers 9-44 will bowl the six-game Step 1 round. The top 16 from Step 1 plus the top eight qualifiers will advance to Step 2 for an eight-game round. The top eight players after Step 2 advance to Step 3 for a four-game round. The top four players based on combined 12-game Step 2 and 3 pinfall totals advance to the stepladder finals for one-game matches. A PBA Tour title will be awarded if the winner is a PBA member.
The World Bowling Tour Malmo will be live streamed Aug. 13-25 via www.luckylarsenmasters.com and Aug. 26-27 via http://www.worldbowling.org/events-results/world-bowling-tour/. The World Bowling Tour Men’s and Women’s Finals, presented by the PBA and featuring the top three in points in each division, will be conducted during the GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling IX in Reno in November.
How did the organizers come up with the “Lucky Larsen” name? Well, this link explains: http://luckylarsenmasters.com/about-lucky-larsen/
AS THE CURTAIN FALLS ON THE 2017 PBA50 TOUR SEASON…
● With his win in the season-ending PBA50 DeHayes Insurance Group Championship, Pete Weber not only recorded his 100th overall PBA title, but joined Walter Ray Williams Jr. and Gene Stus in a tie for fifth place on the all-time PBA50 Tour titles list with 11. John Handegard is the leader in PBA50 Tour titles with 14. Tom Baker, Gary Dickinson and Dale Eagle are tied for second place with 12 titles each.
● Throughout his colorful career as a PBA Tour competitor, winning 38 titles to rank third on the all-time list behind Walter Ray Williams Jr. (47) and Earl Anthony (43), Norm Duke has never had a year with as many close calls as he had during the 2017 PBA50 Tour season. In addition to his lone title in Mooresville, N.C., in May, Duke had three second-place finishes (New Port Richey, Fla.; Anderson, Ind., and Fort Wayne, Ind.), a third-place finish in Hammond, Ind., and a fourth-place finish in the USBC Senior Masters.
● Former Major League Baseball pitcher John Burkett of Southlake, Fla., was in contention to make his second career championship round appearance in Fort Wayne until the end of the final match play round, eventually finishing ninth for his best finish of the season. Burkett’s best career finish was fourth in the 2015 Northern California Classic in his rookie season as a PBA50 Tour player.
● With his 300 game near the end of the second qualifying round in Fort Wayne, Parker Bohn III improved his record for most 300 games bowled in PBA competition to 112, six more thanWalter Ray Williams Jr.
PBA REGIONAL UPDATE: AJ JOHNSON WINS BACK-TO-BACK PBA MIDWEST TITLES
AJ Johnson of Oswego, Ill, defeated top qualifier Steven Taylor of Deer Creek, Ill., 219-194, to win the PBA Poplar Creek Bowl Midwest Open at Poplar Creek Bowl in Hoffman Estates, Ill., Sunday for his second straight PBA Midwest Region title.
Johnson, who won the St. Charles Lanes Midwest Open on July 16 in Missouri, picked up his fourth career regional title and the $2,000 first prize.
Amateur Mike Dole of Loves Park, Ill. defeated Steve Jaros of Yorkville, Ill., 235-200, in the first match of the four-man stepladder finals and Johnson then defeated Dole, 258-216, to advance to the title match.
● Anthony Pepe of Elmhurst, N.Y., defeated B.J. Moore of Greensburg, Pa., 198-178, to win the PBA Bowlers Supply/Storm Open presented by Roto Grip at Colony Park Lanes North in York, Pa., Sunday for $2,5000 plus his third career regional title and his second in this event.
Neither bowler was able to post a double in the title match, but the only open frame was by Moore, who split in the eighth frame while trailing by only four pins. When Moore failed to double in the ninth frame, Pepe needed only a mark in his final frame to secure the win.
Pepe dominated qualifying, including bowling the tournament’s only 300 game. He then defeated Matt Taylor of Youngsville, N.C., 2-1, in the best-of-three-game Round of 8 and Andrew Suscreba of Clifton, N.J., 247-183, in the semifinals. Moore defeated Jon Van Hees of Charlestown, R.I., 200-194, in the other semifinal match.
● Matt Staninger of Highland, Ind. defeated Matt Sanders of Evansville, Ind., in a three-game total pins match, 731-649, to win his first PBA Regional title in the Boss Snow Plows/Ebonite Central Open at PinHeads in Fishers, Ind., Sunday.
Staninger, who earned $2,000, downed non-member and defending champion Steve Novak of Louisville, Ky., 705-632, while Sanders eliminated Josh Conner of Columbus, Ohio, 783-663, in the semifinal round to set up the championship match.
● In a pair of PBA50 Regionals held in proximity to the PBA50 Tour’s DeHayes Insurance Group Open and PBA60 Dick Weber Super Senior Classic in Fort Wayne, Ind., Tom Baker of King, N.C., defeated Mike Scroggins of Amarillo, Texas, 245-212, to win the 20th annual PBA50 Progressive/Gerdeman Insurance/Al Smith Jeep Central/Midwest Classic at Al-Mar Lanes in Bowling Green, Ohio, on Saturday, and Tony Johnson of Canton, Ohio defeated Brian Kretzer of Dayton, Ohio, 222-169, to win the PBA50 Pro Bowl West Central/Midwest Shootout during the PBA50 Tour’s one-day break in Fort Wayne on Wednesday.
The Bowling Green title was Baker’s 35th overall PBA Regional title. He also earned $3,500.
Scroggins defeated Brian LeClair of Athens, N.Y., 245-223, to advance to the championship match. In the first stepladder match, LeClair downed Billy Froberg of St. Joseph, Mich., 239-235.
In Fort Wayne, Johnson downed Joe Scarborough of Charlotte, N.C., 213-172, while Kretzer topped Harry Sullins of Chesterfield Twp., Mich., 257-228, in the semifinal round. The one-day, reduced entry fee event drew a field of 58 bowlers.
● The Greater Richmond Central Open at Richmond 40 Bowl in Richmond, Ind., a one-day event on Aug. 13, is the lone regional event over the Aug. 11-13 weekend.
● The Aug. 18-20 PBA Regional calendar includes the Emerald Bowl Houston Southwest Challenge for non-title winners plus the PBA-PWBA Emerald Bowl Southwest Open in Houston, Texas, for women, and the Dave Husted Northwest Open presented by 900 Global at Husted’s Milwaukie Bowl in Milwaukie, Ore.
● Closing out the August schedule will be the PBA60 Wilson & Sons Super Senior Open presented by the Mooresville Convention and Visitors Bureau Aug. 31-Sept. 2 at George Pappas’ Victory Lanes in Mooresville, N.C., followed immediately by the PBA50 Samuel Adams South Open presented by the Mooresville Convention and Visitors Bureau at George Pappas’ Victory Lanes in Mooresville, N.C.
● The Labor Day weekend calendar of PBA Regional action includes the PBA50 Strike Zone Open presented by Track in Pottsville, Pa.; the Tony Reyes Memorial Member/Non-Member Doubles at Fourth Street Bowl in San Jose, Calif.; the Illinois Valley Midwest Open at IV Super Bowl in Peru, Ill., and the DHC Japan PBA Doubles Open, Japan Cheetah Masters and Japan Cheetah Queens at Nagoya Grand Bowl in Nagoya, Japan.
● 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 device users using the new PBA app).
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