プロボウリング情報


2013/01/31

 

 

呉竹博之
会場:イーグルボウル


 

2013/01/28

 

男子・太田隆昌 女子・宮城鈴菜が優勝!

26日(土)・27日(日)の二日間にわたり神戸ボウリング倶楽部(兵庫)で開催されました承認大会・第4回KOBE・BCオープンにて、男子は太田隆昌、女子は宮城鈴菜が優勝致しました。

男子優勝決定戦ではトップシードのパク・キョンシンと太田が熾烈なストライク合戦を演じ、ワンマーク差で太田が勝利を掴む劇的な展開に。

女子優勝決定戦はシュートアウトを勝ち上がった名和 秋がトップシードの宮城に対しリードを取りましたが、宮城が9フレーム目からのオールウェーを決めて逆転。男子に負けない白熱戦で会場を沸かせました。

熱戦の模様はサンテレビジョンにて放映予定(2/10(日)20:00~20:53)となっております。是非ご覧下さい!  


 

2013/01/25

 

Sean Rash, Scott Norton to Battle for Earl Anthony PBA Players Championship

Reigning Professional Bowlers Association Player of the Year Sean Rash of Montgomery, Ill., will meet two-time PBA Tour champion Scott Norton of Mission Viejo, Calif., for the championship in the Earl Anthony PBA Players Championship, the final event of the Detroit Winter Swing.

Rash will be trying for his sixth career title and first of the 2012-13 season after averaging 238.20 over 32 games of qualifying on four different lane conditions, followed by the nine-game round robin match play final round Friday night at Thunderbowl Lanes. He finished with a 9,976 pinfall total for 41 games to nip Norton for the top qualifying position by two pins.

Norton, the 2010-11 PBA Rookie of the Year, won his second career title in the PBA Chameleon Championship earlier in the season during the GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling.

“I did alright,” Rash said. “I bowl with a lot of confidence, which is why some guys don’t like me, but I’m just trying to stay in the moment and make good shots. I’ve been on a tear since the last World Series was held here (in 2009). My goal is to just keep making TV shows and give myself chances to win.

“I made some mistakes the second day here. I was in the show with two games to go and let some negative thoughts get to me, but I learned from them, and that’s why I made the show today. Unfortunately, you lose more times than you win, but you have to just keep giving yourself chances and that’s what I’m trying to do.”

The Detroit Winter Swing has included a series of four singles tournaments and five PBA League qualifying events, the first five-player team competition in the PBA’s 53-year history, and Rash has been a leader in both types of competition.

Earlier Friday, Rash helped his BROOKLYN STyLES team (Ryan Ciminelli of Cheektowaga, N.Y.; Ryan Shafer of Horseheads, N.Y.; Walter Ray Williams Jr. of Ocala, Fla., and Jason Sterner of McDonough, Ga.) lock up the No. 1 stepladder position for the debut of PBA League competition, live on ESPN Sunday at noon ET. The STyLES posted a combined 160-game total of 36,403 pins after four rounds of qualifying on lane conditioning patterns named after PBA legends Carmen Salvino, Mark Roth, Don Carter and Earl Anthony.

“It feels great,” Rash said. “Our team was extremely consistent all week. All five guys contributed, like I thought they would when I drafted them. Everyone picked up the other guys when they needed to. It’ll be fun to be on TV as a team.”

The BROOKLYN STyLES team is owned by Grey’s Anatomy star Jesse Williams. Also qualifying for Sunday’s PBA League debut on ESPN were the New York City WTT KingPins, owned by women’s sports legend Billie Jean King and captained by PBA Hall of Famer Pete Weber; the Motown Muscle, owned by Detroit native and former Pittsburgh Steelers star Jerome Bettis and captained by Mike Fagan of Dallas; Chris Barnes and his Silver Lake (Calif.) Atom Splitters, owned by comedian Chris Hardwick, and PBA Hall of Famer Norm Duke’s Dallas Strikers, owned by NFL all-pro receiver Terrell Owens.

Duke’s Dallas Strikers rallied to claim the fifth berth by 10 pins over L.A. X, owned by NBA all-star Chris Paul and captained by Australian two-handed star Jason Belmonte, after finishing eighth, seventh and seventh in the first three qualifying rounds.

“After a total of 160 games, the difference between making it or not came down to one open frame, or one spare,” Duke said. “Team-wise, we struggled the first three days, but we ground it out. We knew we had to have a great day today and we did it.”

The Dallas Strikers also led qualifying in Friday’s eight-game Anthony team round by 123 pins over L.A. X (owned by NBA star Chris Paul and captained by Australia’s Jason Belmonte) to earn the top stepladder position for the fifth and final PBA League qualifying telecast prior to the Elias Cup finals on March 31 in Indianapolis. The Motown Muscle earned the third stepladder berth in the Anthony round, which will be conducted Sunday at 3:30 p.m. at Thunderbowl for delayed telecast on ESPN on March 24.


 

2013/01/24

 

Wes Malott, Jason Sterner Earn Berths in PBA Don Carter Classic Title Match

Former Professional Bowlers Association Player of the Year Wes Malott of Pflugerville, Texas, won all nine of his matches Thursday night to run away with the No. 1 position in the Don Carter Classic championship match by 167 pins over his title-match opponent, Jason Sterner of McDonough, Ga.

Malott, a seven-time PBA title winner and the Tour’s 2008-09 Player of the Year, averaged 255.94 for 17 games to finish with a total of 4,621 pins, including a 300 game and 270 bonus pins for nine matches won.

Sterner, who made his PBA television debut in the Bowlers Journal Scorpion Championship during the GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling IV in Las Vegas earlier in the season, was nearly as dominant as Malott in posting a 4,454 pinfall total to win the No. 2 berth in the finals by 130 pins over PBA Hall of Famer Walter Ray Williams Jr. of Ocala, Fla., the winningest player in PBA history with 47 Tour titles.

Sterner finished fourth in the Scorpion Championship for his best career finish. He lost to eventual champion Tom Daugherty, 199-177.

Malott, who is trying for his first singles title since winning the Etonic Marathon Open in March of 2009, said he couldn’t remember having an open frame in his flawless match play round.

“I didn’t shoot at many spares, and the ones I did, I made,” he said. “I honestly don’t think I had an open frame all night.

“It’s always fun to let your arm swing loosen up like that and be aggressive with your shot. I’ve had my struggles for the past two or three years. I tore the meniscus in my left knee, so it takes a while to get loosened up. The past couple of days it’s been pretty good. I’ll probably get it fixed in April when we have a window in the schedule.

“I’ve struggled with my mental game, too, but it’s about as solid as it could be right now. I had a couple of situations tonight where I needed to make shots late, and I did, and that’s why I went 9-0.”

The Don Carter Classic title match and the PBA League Carter round stepladder finals will be contested on Saturday at 7 p.m. ET at Thunderbowl Lanes. The finals will air on ESPN on Sunday, March 3, at 3 p.m. ET.

The final round of qualifying events in the Detroit Winter Swing is set for Friday with the final eight games of Earl Anthony PBA Players Championship qualifying (including the fourth and final round of PBA League qualifying) and the Players Championship match play final round to determine the two players who will bowl for the Anthony title.

Heading into the final round of Players Championship qualifying, two-time PBA Tour titlist Scott Norton of Mission Viejo, Calif., held a 40-pin lead over reigning PBA Player of the Year Sean Rash of Montgomery, Ill. Norton, the 2010-11 PBA Rookie of the Year, won his second title in the PBA Chameleon Championship earlier in the 2012-13 season.

Earlier Thursday, the BROOKLYN STyLES, owned by Grey’s Anatomy star Jesse Williams, finished the PBA League Don Carter round with a five-player, eight-game total of 9,527 pins to earn the No. 1 position in the stepladder finals by 247 pins over the KingPins, a team owned by women’s sports icon Billie Jean King. Comedian Chris Hardwick’s Silver Lake (Calif.) Atom Splitters qualified third in the Carter round.

In the battle for the five positions in Sunday’s Thunderbowl Finals round, which will air live on ESPN at noon ET, the STyLES led with 27,274 pins – a team average of 227.28 for a combined total of 120 games bowled by the five team members. The KingPins were second with 27,246 pins while the previous leader, Jerome Bettis’ Motown Muscle, dropped into third place.

The top five teams for Sunday’s team stepladder finals will be decided after Friday’s final eight-game qualifying round during the Earl Anthony PBA Players Championship.

All preliminary rounds of Winter Swing competition are being covered live, exclusively on PBA’s online bowling channel, Xtra Frame. To subscribe to Xtra Frame, visit pba.com and click on the Xtra Frame link.

 

 

堀江真一
会場:相模原パークレーンズ


 

2013/01/23

 

Haugen Will Try to End Title Slump Against Norton in Detroit Winter Swing’s Mark Roth Classic Final Match

Michael Haugen Jr. of Carefree, Ariz., who won both of his Professional Bowlers Association Tour titles in 2008, will get a chance to end his nearly five-year dry spell when he meets Scott Norton of Mission Viejo, Calif., in the Mark Roth Classic championship match.

Haugen, after qualifying for the Roth Classic match play finals in fifth place earlier Wednesday at Thunderbowl Lanes in Detroit, won seven of his nine match games, tied another, and averaged 241.94 over a span of 17 games to finish with 4,338 total pins, 114 pins ahead of Norton. Norton, who won his second career title earlier this season in the PBA Chameleon Open, overtook reigning PBA Player of the Year Sean Rash of Montgomery, Ill., by 32 pins in the final game.

“It’s been too long. There are two guys on the show and 135 guys who tried to get there, so the odds weren’t too good,” Haugen said. “I didn’t bowl well Tuesday. Today I made some changes, and I did what I needed to do. It’s been too long. You don’t forget how to win, but we’ll see what happens. If (Norton) beats me, it’s not going to be because I gave him the title. He’s going to have to earn it.

“I came out this year as a free agent (without a bowling ball manufacturers’ contract), but to be honest, the most motivation I had was not getting drafted in the PBA League. I had the credentials; I can bowl in this building, but for whatever reason, I got overlooked, so the best way to show them was to get on the television show. That was my plan.

“It’s very difficult to be one of two guys to make it to television, but I’ve gotta tell you, it feels sweet.”

The Mark Roth Classic championship match, along with the Roth PBA League team stepladder finals, will be contested on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET at Thunderbowl Lanes. The finals will air on ESPN on Sunday, Feb. 17, at 3 p.m. ET.

Wednesday afternoon, Michigan native Tom Smallwood, who launched his PBA career at Thunderbowl in 2009, helped his Motown Muscle team claim the top stepladder position in the PBA League Mark Roth round finals.

Smallwood, a Saginaw resident who lost his job at General Motors during the auto industry’s economic downturn in 2009 and turned his unemployed status into a victory in the PBA World Championship later that same season, posted an eight-game total of 1,858 pins to help the Motown Muscle team – owned by Detroit native and former Pittsburgh Steelers star running back Jerome Bettis – to the No. 1 berth in the Mark Roth team qualifying round stepladder finals by 182 pins over Billie Jean King’s New York City WTT KingPins.

Actor Jesse Williams’ BROOKLYN STyLES locked up the third team stepladder berth with 8,991 pins. The other five teams will compete in a one-ball Clash Match eliminator round to determine the fourth team that will bowl in the Baker format television finals. In Baker team competition, each of the five players bowls two frames to complete a game.

The Detroit Winter Swing features a unique combination of PBA individual and team competitions. A field of 135 players is competing for individual titles while eight teams of five players are also using their qualifying scores to help their teams qualify in inaugural PBA League competition. Competition continues Thursday with qualifying and match play rounds in the Don Carter Classic and the third day of PBA League competition.

All preliminary rounds of Winter Swing competition are being covered live, exclusively on PBA’s online bowling channel, Xtra Frame. To subscribe to Xtra Frame, visit pba.com and click on the Xtra Frame link.


 

2013/01/22

 

D.J. Archer of Friendswood, Texas, will bowl defending champion Andres Gomez of Colombia in his quest for his first Professional Bowlers Association Tour title in the Carmen Salvino Classic finals Saturday at Thunderbowl Lanes.

Archer, a 32-year-old former West Texas A&M collegiate star, assured himself of his highest finish in a PBA Tour event when he led the field in the match play finals of the Salvino Classic Tuesday night, posting a 5-1-3 match play record and a 17-game total of 4,381 pins, 76 ahead of Gomez. Gomez, who started match play in eighth place, won his only PBA Tour title in the 2012 Carmen Salvino Classic in Las Vegas.

Earlier Tuesday, in the opening event of the multi-tournament PBA Detroit Winter Swing, Bill O’Neill of Langhorne, Pa., helped his Philadelphia Hitmen team earn the top qualifying position in the inaugural round of PBA League competition.

The Detroit Winter Swing features a unique PBA competition, with the field of 135 players competing for individual titles while eight teams of five players each also are using their qualifying scores to help their teams qualify in PBA League competition.

Archer averaged 246.24 for 17 games Tuesday to earn the top qualifying position in the Salvino Classic finals. His previous best PBA Tour finish was fourth place in the 2004 United States Bowling Congress Masters in his only prior PBA television appearance.

“It’s kind of a monkey off my back, but it’s been so long since my first TV show, I’m just very excited,” Archer said. “Hopefully the outcome will be a lot better than it was before.

“With only two people making a show, the odds are kind of like winning the lottery. It’s something I’ve been working toward. I’d like to win. I absolutely never gave up the dream.

“I’ll keep bowling until it’s no fun anymore,” he added. “I love the game, I love the challenges, I love to compete, so adding a win would be excellent.”

The Salvino Classic title match will conclude the ESPN telecast that will include the Salvino PBA League stepladder finals. The finals will be conducted Saturday at Thunderbowl at noon ET for delayed telecast on ESPN on Sunday, Feb. 10, at 1 p.m. ET.

During Tuesday’s afternoon qualifying round, O’Neill led his balanced five-player Philadelphia Hitmen team – owned by actor/comedian Kevin Hart) – into the top position for the PBA League stepladder finals that will precede the Salvino Classic championship match Saturday. The Hitmen finished with a combined total of 9,094 pins to earn the top berth by 123 pins over the Motown Muscle, owned by Detroit native and former Pittsburgh Steelers star Jerome Bettis. Billie Jean King’s New York City WTT KingPins clinched the No. 3 berth in the stepladder finals. The other five teams will bowl a one-ball “Clash Match” eliminator round to determine the fourth berth in the stepladder finals.

O’Neill, who posted an eight-game total of 1,915 pins, got help from Hitmen teammates Mika Koivuniemi (1,817), Chris Loschetter (1,797), Mike DeVaney (1,845) and Dick Allen (1,720).

“It was way different than bowling other PBA events,” O’Neill said. “I bowled a couple of pairs away from (Hitmen teammates Mike) DeVaney and (Dick) Allen, so I was kind of watching them. We’re bowling against each other for the Salvino title, but I’m still cheering for them. We want to win the team thing. That would be awesome.”

The Salvino Classic finals and PBA League stepladder matches will be contested on Saturday at noon ET at Thunderbowl.

The Detroit Winter Swing continues Wednesday at Thunderbowl Lanes with qualifying and match play rounds in the Mark Roth Classic along with the second day of PBA League competition.

All preliminary rounds of Winter Swing competition are being covered live, exclusively on PBA’s online bowling channel, Xtra Frame. To subscribe to Xtra Frame, visit pba.com and click on the Xtra Frame link.

 

 

山本 勲
会場:品川プリンスホテルボウリングセンター


 

2013/01/19

 

Tommy Jones of Simpsonville, S.C., successfully defended his International Bowling Championships title Saturday at Inazawa Futsal Stadium, defeating fellow Professional Bowlers Association star Sean Rash of Montgomery, Ill., 209-204, for the $75,000 first prize.

The International Bowling Championships 2013 supported by DHC was a World Tenpin Bowling Association-World Bowling Tour “major” championship, and awarded Jones a PBA International Tour title, his 14th career PBA Tour title, and double points in the rolling two-year WBT points standings.

In the women’s division, Singapore’s Shayna Ng defeated PBA Tour champion Kelly Kulick of Union, N.J., 248-201, also earning $75,000 for first place.

Rash and Kulick, as runners-up, each earned an estimated $37,500.

In the men’s title match, Rash led Jones by eight pins going into the ninth frame, but left a 7-10 split and opened. Rash then missed the headpin on his first shot in the 10th frame, converted the spare and struck to finish with 204. Jones, needing a spare and good count to win, converted a 4 pin and struck for a five-pin margin of victory.

The International Bowling Championships finals began with five-player “eliminator” matches where all five players bowled the first game, and the two lowest scores were eliminated. In the men’s division, 16-year-old Malaysian star Rafiq Ismail led the field with a 268. Jones followed with 261 and Rash with 215 while Japan’s Hiroki Suzuki (190) and PBA star Chris Barnes of Double Oak, Texas (180) were eliminated.

In the semifinal round, Rash rolled a 247 game and Jones a 229 to advance to the title match, eliminating Ismail (200).

In the women’s finals, Liz Johnson of Cheektowaga, N.Y., joined Kulick and Ng in advancing out of the opening match, but Johnson was eliminated in the semifinal round.

At the conclusion of the International Bowling championships, Mike Fagan of Dallas held the lead in the men’s World Bowling Tour points list with 464 points. Mika Koivuniemi of Finland dropped out of the lead and into second place with 453. Rash was third with 438 and Jones was fourth with a 401 total. American players dominated the women’s standings, led by Kulick with 524 points, Missy Parkin of Lake Forest, Calif., with 441 and Johnson with 365 in the top three positions.


 

2013/01/18

 

 【PBA】 News

Doug Kent, Danny Wiseman Elected to PBA Hall of Fame

Doug Kent of Newark, N.Y., the winner of 10 Professional Bowlers Association Tour titles including four major championships, and Danny Wiseman of Baltimore, a 12-time Tour winner with one major, have been elected to the PBA Hall of Fame for superior performance, PBA Commissioner Tom Clark announced Friday.

Kent and Wiseman will be inducted during the PBA’s Hall of Fame dinner on Saturday, March 30, in Indianapolis as part of PBA Tournament of Champions week.

No candidate on the Meritorious Service or PBA50 Tour ballots received the required two-thirds majority of votes cast needed for election.

Kent and Wiseman have had remarkably similar careers. Wiseman, 45, joined the PBA in 1987 and has earned just over $1.55 million. Kent, also 45, joined the PBA in 1988 and has earned just over $1.51 million during his career. In the voting for the 50 Greatest Players in PBA History during the organization’s 50th anniversary celebration in 2009, Wiseman was ranked 42nd and Kent 43rd.

Kent, the winner of six standard PBA Tour titles, has the upper hand in major titles. He won the 1991 United States Bowling Congress Masters for his first title, added the 2002 PBA World Championship, and won both the USBC Masters and Denny’s PBA World Championship in 2006 on his way to earning Chris Schenkel PBA Player of the Year honors. He is one of only nine players ever to win two major titles in the same season.

“I got the call from Tom Clark and it was nice. Very good news,” Kent said, who is operating two bowling centers in his retirement from PBA Tour competition. “I’m very satisfied with everything I accomplished. It was a lot more than I ever expected. When you’re a young player, you never know what’s going to happen. You just hope to get better and be competitive.

“Winning the Masters in 1991 was a big confidence booster,” he added. “It kind of proved that you can do it. But the main thing that creates longevity is being a student and keeping pace with the never-ending changes you have to make to get better.”

Kent’s best season was 2006-07, but a season that almost didn’t happen, he said.

“It was kind of a strange thing. When I won the Masters the second time, it was kind of near the end of my career. I was ready to be done. During the second block of qualifying, I got off to a bad start and called my wife, and told her I’d had enough, that I was ready to come home, and I wound up winning the tournament. It was very strange.

“And a very similar conversation took place during the (2006) World Championship, which I won the second time. You never know when things are going to click, but when everything comes together, you feel like you can’t be beat.

“It’s been that way since the start of my career. You always need to improve,” Kent continued. “A lot of guys who have been out there a long time have had a lot of conversations about the changes, the fundamentals, sharing the knowledge. The knowledge you gain on tour you can’t get anywhere else.”

Kent will join his brother-in-law, Parker Bohn III, in the PBA Hall of Fame. Kent’s wife is the former Chrissie Beamish; Bohn’s wife is the former Leslie Beamish. They will be the second set of brothers-in-law in the PBA Hall, joining Mike Aulby and Steve Cook, who also married sisters.

Wiseman, who won the first of his 11 standard titles in the 1990 Fair Lanes Open in his hometown in his first television appearance, won the historic 2004 USBC Miller High Life Masters which was staged on a special lane installation inside Miller Park in Milwaukee – the first time a bowling championship had been conducted inside a major league baseball stadium.

“It’s pretty amazing. I’m pretty happy, and pretty amazed considering my recent years, but I guess there’s history to go by,” Wiseman said. “I got the call from Tom Clark and I started thinking about it, and I’m pretty humbled when you think about all of the elite players in our sport.

“It’s been a long process. It takes a lot of hard work, a lot of dedication, a lot of patience. You have to have an undying love to be one of the best, and I’ve had that. One of my proudest moments was winning my first title with my dad there, and then the 2004 Masters – those, and being selected as one of the PBA’s 50 best, were exceptional moments.”

One of Wiseman’s most unforgettable performances was also one of his biggest disappointments.

“The 1992 Firestone (Tournament of Champions), when my dad was dying, is a memory I’ll never forget,” he said. “It was a major event, one I thought I should have won, but Marc McDowell out-bowled me, and that was the biggest disappointment of my career because I was pretty sure it would be the last time my father would ever see me bowl, and it was.

“But with all of my injuries, I’ve always found a way to step up,” Wiseman continued. “I was close to losing my exemption, but I bowled through the pain and made a TV show. If I missed that exemption, I don’t win the Masters – so it was a defining moment.”

Early in his career, Wiseman defined himself by compiling the winningest television record in PBA history at that time, and by introducing a colorful, flame-enhanced persona that branded him – intentionally – as something of a maverick.

“My legacy was bowling pretty dang-gone good on TV – I think I was 21-5 at one point - and I made my own identity,” he said. “Some of these guys – Earl Anthony, Marshall Holman, guys like that – got their identities because they were on TV every week. I did it a little bit different. I was able to create an identity that tells people who I am, and people remember it.

“But it’s all pretty humbling,” he continued. “I was never a natural. I’ve studied and learned and watched. I learned a skill and was able to adapt to the environment throughout my career. I mostly did it on my own, and I’m pretty proud of that.”

Details concerning the PBA Hall of Fame dinner, including ticket availability, will be announced later.

 

 

Tommy Jones

 

Shayna Ng

 

 

斉藤茂雄

 

Shayna Ng

 

 

Ryan Ciminelli

 

Shayna Ng


 

2013/01/17

 

 

Ryan Ciminelli

 

Shayna Ng


 

2013/01/16

 

向谷美咲 選手&宮田俊輔チーム優勝!

先日1/5(土)・6(日)の二日間にわたり、東京・田町ハイレーンにて第2回新春初夢プロアマミックスダブルストーナメントが開催され、向谷美咲 選手&宮田俊輔チームが優勝致しました。

全国から262名、131組が参加して行われた今大会では、JPBA名誉会長・中山律子とNBF理事長・白石雅俊 氏がタッグを組んだ目玉チームをはじめ、往年の名プロボウラー塚原次雄なども参戦し、大会を盛り上げました。

決勝戦は打ち合いとなりましたが、チームHS・520UP賞も獲得した向谷選手&宮田チームが乱戦を制しました。


 

2013/01/13

 

Parker Bohn III Tops Four Opponents, Wins Second Career Major Title in PBA World Championship

Parker Bohn III of Jackson, N.J., completed one of the most impressive, if unlikely, victories in his hall of fame career, defeating four opponents including top qualifier Jason Belmonte of Australia, 254-227, to win the PBA World Championship at South Point Hotel and Casino.

The concluding event of the GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling IV, and the first major championship of the 2012-13 PBA Tour season, aired Sunday on ESPN.

Bohn, who had not won a title in more than four years, captured his 33rd PBA Tour title – and second major – with a stunning performance that began when he claimed the 24th and final position in match play by only three pins, followed by qualifying for the stepladder finals by only nine pins.

In the championship round, he defeated Canada’s Dan MacLelland, 226-218; Rhino Page of Dade City, Fla., 200-170, and reigning PBA Player of the Year Sean Rash of Montgomery, Ill., 278-231, to advance to the title match where he defeated Belmonte.

In winning the World Championship, Bohn became only the third player ever to win a major championship after qualifying 24th for match play (Mike Aulby won the 1989 U.S. Open and Pete Weber won the 1991 U.S. Open after qualifying 24th), and the 15th overall to accomplish that feat. At age 49 years, 122 days he also became the second-oldest player ever to win the PBA World Championship (Tom Baker was 49 years, 192 days when he won in 2004).

“Dreams do come true if you wait long enough, I guess,” Bohn said. “It was a lot of destiny, a lot of things working in my favor.”

Bohn, who almost cancelled his plans to attend the World Series after Super Storm Sandy devastated his home state, began his miraculous title quest with seven strikes in his first nine frames en route to his victory over MacLelland. In the second match, he got help in overcoming a 10-pin deficit when Page missed a 7 pin spare attempt in the eighth frame and opened again in the ninth.

The veteran left-hander started the semifinal match against Rash with seven strikes and never trailed. In the title match, he struck on eight of his first 10 shots against Belmonte, but didn’t break away until Belmonte left 10 pins in the seventh and ninth frames.

“When I look at everything that’s gone on this week,” Bohn said, hesitating. “I looked at (my wife) Leslie the night before I left and said, you know, it’s a tossup over whether I even go. The only thankful grace at that point was we had our power back a couple of hours before I left.

“When I got here, I missed the first practice session, but lo and behold, I kept going throughout the week. I never made the top 16 in any of the events, but still found myself fortunate enough to sneak in to match play in 24th. I just kept plugging along.

“The only pin I threw away all week was on one fill ball, when I threw a 7 pin away. That’s the only pin I can remember throwing away the entire week. Every pin mattered. I only made the top 24 by three pins, and then I made the TV show by less than 10 pins as well.”

When he got to the ESPN finals, Bohn believes divine intervention came into play.

“I do believe my old friend (the late Tony Reyes) was looking down on me and letting me stand tall. The biggest key was going through the nose in the seventh frame against (Rash). A pin rolls out of nowhere and takes out the 4-7, and I get a strike. Usually whoever wins has one or two breaks and I’m here to tell you, I had my share of breaks today.”

Throughout the World Series, Bohn said he was bowling for more than himself.

“My wife and I have created a Striking Out Sandy fund. We’re trying to raise funds for kids who unfortunately lost everything,” Bohn said. “I know there are families that lost everything, but hopefully there will be other people who can take care of them. We had people who were donating money for every strike during qualifying. All of the money we’re raising is going to buy kids backpacks and things they need for school so they can hopefully put the past behind them.

“My heart always goes out to kids,” he added. “I’ve got five children myself and I want them to be able to live life as normally as they can. I had one guy compute all of the strikes I threw in qualifying and match play – 415 or 420 – and he put up $1 a pin himself. We had another guy who lives in upstate New York near my brother-in-law Doug Kent and his wife Chrissie who had a 25-foot trailer. He saw what we were doing on our website, and filled the trailer with clothes and supplies, and delivered it to our area.”

Information about the Striking Out Sandy program can be found of parkerbohn.com. “It’ll be there for a long time to come, because I can’t tell you how much the people back east have gone through,” Bohn said. “It’s not going to get corrected by tomorrow.”

While the hardships friends and family faced were fresh on his mind, Bohn might have been the happiest he has ever been after winning a PBA title.

“I’m as happy as I can be,” he grinned. “Now I can say that I’m the world champion.”

ESPN’s coverage of the 2012-13 PBA Tour season continues next Sunday with the finals of the Round1 Japan Cup from Tokyo, Japan, at 3 p.m. ET. The all-new PBA League then makes its debut with a live two-hour ESPN telecast from Thunderbowl Lanes in Allen Park, Mich., at noon ET on Sunday, Jan. 27.

Pre- and post-telecast coverage will be webcast on PBA’s online bowling channel, Xtra Frame.


 

2013/01/06

 

Daugherty Finds Redemption with Victory in Bowlers Journal PBA Scorpion Championship for First Title

After bowling a Professional Bowlers Association record-low 100 game in his only previous television appearance, Tom Daugherty of Wesley Chapel, Fla., redeemed himself in the Bowlers Journal Scorpion Championship, winning three consecutive matches including a 200-182 victory over top qualifier Osku Palermaa of Finland, to capture his first PBA Tour title at South Point Hotel and Casino.

The Bowlers Journal Scorpion Championship finals, the fourth of five GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling IV events, aired Sunday on ESPN.

Daugherty, who bowled his record-low game in a 299-100 loss to eventual champion Mika Koivuniemi in the semifinal round of the 2011 PBA Tournament of Champions, used his “thumbless” delivery to mow down an impressive field of high-rev power players in the Scorpion finals, raising his television average by 88 pins in the process.

After sneaking into the stepladder finals in fourth position by four pins over Rhino Page of Dade City, Fla., Daugherty ruined Jason Sterner’s television debut, eliminating the McDonough, Ga., resident, 199-177. He then romped past Australian two-handed star Jason Belmonte, 256-187, and threw a critical double in the fifth and sixth frames of the title match to defeat Palermaa, getting help from the Finnish two-handed star when he had consecutive opens in the sixth and seventh frames.

Ironically, Daugherty put together the best performance of his professional career while glancing at a very large “100” in a graphic above the lanes promoting “Bowlers Journal 100th Anniversary.”

“I want to thank Bowlers Journal for reminding me all day of my 100 game,” Daugherty said with a grin at the conclusion of the match.

While all four finalists use power techniques that allow them to generate significant hooking power, the key was slower ball speed, a result of Daugherty not using his thumb in his delivery.

“The difference between me and the two-handers is my ball speed,” Daugherty said. “They throw it 100 miles per hour, so I can actually do something they can’t and that’s a slow hook. I knew if I could get by Sterner, I’d have a good chance. I knew (Belmonte and Palermaa) weren’t going to bowl anything. They might say they threw some bad shots, but I didn’t think either one of them could shoot 200 because of their ball reactions.

“They couldn’t get inside as far as I was because of their ball speed. Their ball would never hook from there,” Daugherty added. “As soon as Belmo tried to move in just a little, he missed the headpin. It was easy for me to do, too, but on my good shots, I could get the ball to make the turn. They couldn’t do that.”

Daugherty admitted he was nervous in making his second career television appearance.

“There was a lot of nerves going on the first game. The three-bagger kinda calmed me down, but leaving that 3-6-9-10 in the first frame was unnerving. I didn’t want to start with an open,” he said after successfully converting the difficult spare. “That’s all I thought about after making the show: not starting with an open and that’s not the spare you want to shoot at in the first frame.”

Daugherty said he was thrilled to win his first PBA Tour title because it made him eligible to bowl in the 2013 PBA Tournament of Champions under revised eligibility rules that will only allow PBA Tour champions to enter. He had bowled in the TOC previously under rules that allowed PBA Regional title winners to participate.

“I was so disappointed when they changed the TOC criteria,” Daugherty said. “I made a lot of money in that tournament the past two years, but now I’m back.”

The GEICO World Series of Bowling concludes on ESPN next Sunday at 1 p.m. ET with the finals of the PBA World Championship, the first major championship of the 2012-13 PBA Tour season. Finalists will include PBA Hall of Famer and 31-time PBA Tour titlist Parker Bohn III of Jackson, N.J.; Canada’s Dan MacLelland; Rhino Page of Dade City, Fla.; reigning PBA Player of the Year Sean Rash of Montgomery, Ill., and top qualifier Jason Belmonte of Australia, a five-time PBA Tour champion who is trying for his first major title.

Pre- and post-telecast shows for all PBA-ESPN telecasts will be available on Xtra Frame, PBA’s online bowling channel.