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2017/02/26 |
Anthony Simonsen, Danielle McEwan Win World Bowling Tour Men’s, Women’s Finals
Anthony Simonsen of Austin, Texas, capped a year of globetrotting by winning the World Bowling Tour Men’s Finals, presented by the PBA, Sunday at The Orleans Bowling Center, defeating WBT points leader Martin Larsen of Sweden, 243-213, for the $20,000 first prize. Simonsen, a 20-year-old two-handed player who qualified second for the finals after a year-long, world-wide points competition based on performances in PBA International-World Bowling Tour events, eliminated no. 3 qualifier Marshall Kent of Yakima, Wash., in the opening match of the three-man stepladder, 263-253. Women’s top qualifier and defending champion Danielle McEwan of Stony Point, N.Y., successfully defended her WBT Women’s Finals title in unexpected fashion when Liz Johnson of Cheektowaga, N.Y., needing only a mark in the 10th frame to win, left a pocket 7-10 split and opened, handing McEwan a 203-200 victory. Simonsen, the 2016 United States Bowling Congress Masters champion, struck on six of his first seven shots in the title tilt to build a 33-pin lead under WBT’s experimental “Current Frame” scoring system and secured the win on the bench when Larsen did not strike in the 10th frame. Under the “Current Frame” system, players earned 30 pins a frame for each strike; 10 pins plus the total from their first shot of the frame for a spare, and actual pinfall for an open frame. Games consisted of 10 frames with no additional shots in the 10th frame if a player strikes or spares. The maximum score is 300 (30 pins for 10 strikes). For Simonsen, the WBT win was a bit of redemption after falling short in his title defense at the USBC Masters. Simonsen finished the week tied for 17th place. “It’s been a good three-week swing,” said Simonsen, who finished second at the 2017 Barbasol PBA Players Championship. “I made a TV show, all three cuts, so it’s been a good run. You obviously want to win them all, but being able to finish this week with the win makes it all worth it.” McEwan, a 25-year-old right-hander, threw a strike in her 10th frame for a 203, forcing Johnson, a two-time PWBA Player of the Year, to mark in her 10th frame for the win. Johnson ran into a disaster instead. After starting the title match with two strikes, McEwan was unable to strike again until the 10th frame, converting four multiple-pin combinations to remain in contention. Johnson held a 28-pin lead heading into the ninth frame but was unable to mark in her final two frames. “In the moment, I didn’t think that strike would be enough,” said McEwan, who won the 2016 H.H. Emir Cup in Doha, Qatar. “I hadn’t struck on that lane in a while, so I just wanted to get to the pocket. It’s hard to watch that happen on the bench to someone who’s such a good friend and someone I look up to, but sometimes bowling works that way. I need to appreciate being on this side of it, because I know the other side can come just as easily.” In the semifinal match, Johnson bested Colombia’s Anggie Ramirez, 268-220.
BELMONTE WINS RECORD FOURTH USBC MASTERS TITLE
Australia's Jason Belmonte has been a trailblazer in the sport of bowling his entire career, and he added another milestone to his growing list of accomplishments by becoming the first bowler to win the United States Bowling Congress Masters four times. The 33-year-old entered the event's stepladder finals Sunday as the No. 1 seed and started the championship match at The Orleans Bowling Center with seven consecutive strikes, before a 7 pin ended his run at the first perfect game in a USBC Masters final. The 279-212 win over amateur Michael Tang of San Francisco gave Belmonte his eighth major title, and second in three events, tying him with USBC and Professional Bowlers Association Hall of Famers Mike Aulby and Walter Ray Williams Jr. for second all-time behind fellow hall of famers Earl Anthony and Pete Weber, who have 10 apiece. "Honestly, it hasn't sunken in yet, and I'm really speechless," Belmonte said. "I love this tournament and think it really brings out the best in me. To have my name etched on this trophy four times and be the only person to do that is unbelievable. It doesn't seem real." Belmonte, who won the recent Barbasol PBA Players Championship, now has 14 PBA Tour titles in nine seasons. He won the Masters three-consecutive times in 2013, 2014 and 2015. Heading into Sunday, Belmonte knew his game plan would be dependent on who else made the show and how they attacked the lanes in the games leading up to the final. Even as practice ended before the title match, Belmonte was uncertain about his look and made an educated guess. "I struck once in practice and nothing looked like I was going to have that kind of game," said Belmonte, a three-time PBA Player of the Year. "With two shots left, Tim Mack hit the surface with 1,000 grit, and it looked OK. I hadn't thrown it on the other lane, so I had to make a guess on that lane. I told myself just to hit that spot. With urethane, the game Michael bowled easily could have been the game I had. He bowled a great game and didn't give anything away. He's an amazing talent." Tang, the No. 4 seed for Sunday's championship round, was looking to become the first amateur since 2002 to win the Masters. He also would've been the first bowler to win from the fourth spot. Only two times since the Masters went to a stepladder format in 1980 has anyone lower than the second seed won the event. Tang's ticket to the final came with a 227-217 win over amateur Alex Hoskins of Brigham City, Utah. The two were even through five frames, with neither player throwing a double, but both rallying with late strings of three strikes. Tang finished first, giving Hoskins the opportunity to win the game with a strike and nine-spare in his final frame, but Hoskins went light and left a 2 pin on his first offering. Hoskins, who made his first appearance at the Masters, finished third. "The right lane got a little tight downlane," said Tang, the 2015 Intercollegiate Singles champion. "In the match against Hoskins, I rang a couple of 10s, which were worrisome, but I thought I had something figured out. The lanes kind of transitioned differently than through the week, so I had to make some different moves. Belmo is Belmo. It's hard to beat him when he has that kind of look. I feel like I bowled well, so there's nothing to be mad about." In two wins on the way to the semifinal matchup with Hoskins, Tang tossed 18 strikes to get past his brother, Darren, and Sweden's Martin Larsen. Tang's nine-strike performance against Darren ended in a 248-212 victory. The two were separated by just two pins after four frames, but four consecutive strikes from Michael in frames five through eight allowed him to pull away for good. Darren Tang finished fourth. It was the first TV meeting between brothers since the 1994 PBA National Championship, when David Traber defeated his brother Dale in the title match. The last time two brothers met in the stepladder at the Masters was 1980 when Neil Burton defeated his brother, Nelson (Bo), in the semifinal, before topping hall of famer Mark Roth for the title. It was fun," Michael Tang said. "I think he was trying to keep things a little looser, while I tried to stay in my zone and treat it like any other match. But it will be fun to watch back home." In the opening match Sunday, Michael Tang also struck nine times, including the first five frames, to defeat Larsen, 264-229. Larsen, who's still searching for his first PBA Tour title, finished fifth. Competitors in the 395-player field this week bowled 15 games of qualifying, before a cut was made to the top 63, who joined defending champion Anthony Simonsen of Austin, Texas, in the double-elimination match-play bracket. |
2017/02/25 |
BELMONTE TOP SEED FOR TV AT 2017 USBC MASTERS
Australia's Jason Belmonte averaged nearly 240 in three matches Saturday to remain undefeated at the 2017 United States Bowling Congress Masters and now is one win away from becoming the first player to win the event four times. The 33-year-old entered the day as one of eight players remaining in the winners bracket and rolled sets of 722, 711 and 722 at The Orleans Bowling Center, defeating England's Dom Barrett, close friend Bill O'Neill of Langhorne, Pennsylvania, and Alex Hoskins of Brigham City, Utah. The victory over Hoskins earned Belmonte the top seed at the USBC Masters for the second time in his career. He has a perfect record on Masters telecasts, winning the tournament in 2013, 2014 and 2015 from the No. 1, No. 5 and No. 2 seeds, respectively. The 2017 event features a total prize fund of nearly $300,000 and is a major event on the Professional Bowlers Association Tour. The finals will be broadcast live on ESPN on Sunday at 1 p.m. Eastern, with $30,000 and the coveted Masters trophy going to the winner. "Right now, I'm not even thinking about winning again," said Belmonte, who owns 13 PBA Tour titles, including seven majors. "I'm just really happy with today because I was able to execute really well and was able to put up three solid sets. I'll probably start strategizing a little tonight, but most of the decisions will come tomorrow based on who's on the show and where they're playing." Hoskins, a 24-year-old right-hander competing in his first Masters, earned the No. 2 spot in the stepladder after notching wins against Chris Barnes of Double Oak, Texas, reigning Professional Bowlers Association Player of the Year EJ Tackett of Huntington, Indiana, Argentina's Lucas Legnani, USBC and PBA Hall of Famer Pete Weber and Sweden's Martin Larsen, before falling to Belmonte in the match to determine the top seed. "It's a dream come true to even have the opportunity to bowl for a spot on the show," said Hoskins, who is looking to become the first amateur to win the Masters since Arizona's Brett Wolfe in 2002. "I grew up around bowling and bowling centers, always trying to learn and get better as a bowler. My goal was to make the first cut and then apply everything I've learned to get through each round. Then, I was able to stay in the process this week and not let any emotions get in the way." Belmonte and Hoskins will be joined on the show by brothers Darren and Michael Tang of San Francisco and Larsen, who survived the four-player final elimination match that determined the last three seeds. Darren Tang won the shootout, flirting with perfection on the way to a 289 game and 742 series, and he will be the No. 3 seed for the show. Michael Tang's 716 set was enough to take the No. 4 spot, and he'll face Larsen, last year's sixth-place finisher (652), in the show's opening match. O'Neill shot 559 in the shootout and was eliminated, finishing sixth. Both Darren Tang and Larsen have runner-up finishes in PBA Tour events, while Michael Tang won the 2015 Intercollegiate Singles Championships under the TV lights. Sunday will mark the first national TV appearance for Hoskins. The last time brothers met on a PBA Tour telecast was at the 1994 PBA National Championship, when David Traber defeated his brother Dale in the title match. The last time two brothers met in the stepladder finals at the Masters was 1980 when Neil Burton defeated his brother, Nelson (Bo), in the semifinal, before topping hall of famer Mark Roth for the title. Defending champion Anthony Simonsen of Austin, Texas, fell to Mike Dole of Loves Park, Illinois, in the final set of matches in the elimination bracket Friday to end his reign as Masters champion. Competitors in the 395-player field this week bowled 15 games of qualifying, before a cut was made to the top 63, who joined Simonsen in the double-elimination match-play bracket. All rounds of the Masters were covered live on Xtra Frame, the PBA's online bowling channel. For subscription information, visit pba.com. |
2017/02/24 |
INJURED WEBER AMONG UNDEFEATED AT 2017 USBC MASTERS
United States Bowling Congress and Professional Bowlers Association Hall of Famer Pete Weber said that on a scale of one to 10, the pain he was feeling in his hip Friday at the USBC Masters was closer to a 12, but nothing is going to slow his momentum at the one major that has eluded him. The 54-year-old right-hander aggravated a nagging hip injury during the second round of match play at The Orleans Bowling Center but was able win that match and one more to remain undefeated. He is one of eight players left in the winners bracket at the 2017 Masters. The event features a total prize fund of nearly $300,000 and is a major event on the PBA Tour. The finals will be broadcast live on ESPN on Sunday at 1 p.m. Eastern, with $30,000 and the coveted Masters trophy going to the winner. On the way to a 3-0 record Friday, Weber topped Greg Ostrander of Freehold, New Jersey, Chris Loschetter of Avon, Ohio, and Cotie Holbek of Burlington, Wisconsin. "As of right now, I don't care about the pain," said Weber, who has 37 PBA Tour titles, including a record-tying 10 majors. "I am here to win. Period." Weber will face off against Alex Hoskins of Brigham City, Utah, when match play resumes Saturday morning at noon Eastern. Other winners bracket matches scheduled for Saturday are Sweden's Martin Larsen against Craig Nidiffer of Trenton, Michigan, Bill O'Neill of Langhorne, Pennsylvania, against Darren Tang of San Francisco, and England's Dom Barrett taking on three-time Masters winner Jason Belmonte of Australia. Belmonte is looking for his unprecedented fourth Masters title, having won the event three consecutive times in 2013, 2014 and 2015. The 33-year-old closed Friday with an exciting win against Mike Machuga of Erie, Pennsylvania, who has been publicly outspoken against two-handed bowling. The match came down to the final frame after a missed 7 pin from Belmonte in the sixth frame helped Machuga close a 51-pin gap. A strike on the first shot of his final frame would've given Machuga the win, but he left a 10 pin on his first offering, eventually falling 729-722. "I feel like Mike has a gleam in his eye when he has to bowl me, but that makes me step things up, too," said Belmonte, who joins USBC and PBA Hall of Famer Mike Aulby as the only bowlers to win three Masters titles. "He's one of the most versatile players around, so there's really no way to shut him out. Instead, I just tried to bowl my own game and do what I could to help myself score. I did make a careless mistake on that spare, and I have to work on composing myself better in those moments." Eight bowlers remain in the elimination bracket as well, and they also will return to the lanes at The Orleans on Saturday at noon Eastern. The list of competitors in the elimination bracket includes Ronnie Sparks of Redford, Michigan, Mike Dole of Loves Park, Illinois, Holbek, Argentina's Lucas Legnani, Tom Smallwood of Saginaw, Michigan, EJ Tackett of Huntington, Indiana, 16-year-old Jalen Mosley of Indianapolis, and Michael Tang of San Francisco. Defending champion Anthony Simonsen of Austin, Texas, fell to Dole in the final set of matches in the elimination bracket Friday to end his reign as Masters champion. All competitors this week bowled 15 games of qualifying, before a cut was made to the top 63, who joined Simonsen in the double-elimination match-play bracket. All rounds of the Masters are being covered live on Xtra Frame, the PBA's online bowling channel. For subscription information, visit pba.com. 日置秀一 49位タイ $1,900 獲得 |
2017/02/23 |
TOP 64 DETERMINED AT 2017 USBC MASTERS
Saying Australian two-hander Jason Belmonte has been dominant at the United States Bowling Congress Masters would be an understatement, and he is on a tear again this week at The Orleans Bowling Center. The 33-year-old has been around the top of the leaderboard all week, leaving the lanes with the lead in two of the three qualifying rounds, but he'll enter the double-elimination match-play bracket as the No. 2 seed behind Nick Kruml of Downers Grove, Illinois, who ended qualifying Thursday with games of 288 and 266 to secure the top seed. The two are among the 64 bowlers who advanced to match play, which includes defending champion Anthony Simonsen of Austin, Texas, who qualified 59th. Kruml, a 23-year-old right-hander, finished the 15 games of qualifying with a 3,594 total, a 239.6 average, and now has made match play in all three of his USBC Masters appearances. He exited with 1-2 records in both 2015 and 2016, and he has been focused on using those experiences to improve in 2017. Belmonte posted a 3,578 total and was followed by fellow Australian Sam Cooley (3,540), Michael Tang of San Francisco (3,517) and Jesse Buss of Belvidere, Illinois (3,470). Belmonte's career at the Masters has been beyond remarkable. In 10 previous visits, he has finished in the top 10 six times, including three consecutive wins in 2013, 2014 and 2015. He now has advanced to match play for the 10th time in his 11 appearances, and he's looking to become the event's first four-time winner. "Now, it's a new tournament, and it becomes a lot more strategic," Belmonte said. "We'll be following our own transition, so there will be some discussion about how I want to play the lanes and how my opponent is thinking about playing them. I just need to be smart, watch the lanes and bowl the best match I can. If I get beat, I'll know my opponent bowled better and earned it." The final two spots in the bracket were decided by a roll-off after Chad Kloss of Cudahy, Wisconsin, Brandon Novak of Chillicothe, Ohio, and Vernon Peterson of Las Vegas tied for 63rd place at 3,223, a 214.87 average. The three bowled one game to determine which two would advance and who would go home. Peterson led the way with a 201 game and was followed by Novak (200) and Kloss (188). Peterson will enter the bracket at No. 63, while Novak goes in at No. 64, earning him an opening-round match with Kruml. All competitors at The Orleans this week bowled 15 games of qualifying over three days to determine the match-play field. Three-game total pinfall will determine who advances in the bracket. Match play gets underway Friday at noon Eastern and will continue throughout the day Friday and Saturday to determine the five players for the championship round. Those five bowlers will compete in the stepladder finals, live on ESPN at 1 p.m. Eastern on Sunday, Feb. 26. The 2017 Masters features a total prize fund of nearly $300,000 and again is a major event on the PBA Tour. The winner will take home the coveted Masters trophy and $30,000 top prize. All qualifying and match play rounds of the Masters are being covered live on Xtra Frame, the PBA's online bowling channel. For subscription information, visit PBA.com. 46位 日置秀一 Match Play 進出
小池沙紀、優勝！
先日2月19日（日）にボウルアーガスにて開催されました承認大会・第8回佐賀レディースプロアマオープントーナメントにて、小池沙紀が優勝しましたのでご報告致します。 プロは決勝3Gのトータルピンで争われましたが、小池は初出場ながらも2位の阪本 彩に60ピン以上の差をつけてぶっちぎりの優勝。昨年のトップ合格が伊達ではないところを見せつけてくれました。 またアマチュアの部では空閑典子選手が優勝。予選17位からのトップ奪取となりました。 |
2017/02/22 |
KRUML CONSISTENT, TANG LEADS AT 2017 USBC MASTERS
For the second consecutive day, Nick Kruml of Downers Grove, Illinois, is among the leaders at the United States Bowling Congress Masters, and, as has been the case at various points of his bowling career, he's on the cusp of a breakout performance. The 23-year-old right-hander has averaged more than 237 through two days of qualifying at The Orleans Bowling Center, and his 10-game total of 2,378 is third among the 395 competitors at the USBC Masters this week. Kruml also was third after Tuesday's opening round, just two pins short of a share of the lead on this week's 40-foot oil pattern. Michael Tang of San Francisco holds the top spot after two rounds with a 2,479 total, a 247.9 average. He opened the event with a 296 game and found his stride again Wednesday for the highest block of the day, a 1,261 effort. Three-time Masters champion Jason Belmonte of Australia is second with 2,416, England's Stuart Williams is fourth with 2,362 and Steve Pavlinko Jr. of Sewell, New Jersey, rounds out the top five with 2,358. Kruml is in familiar territory, having advanced to the double-elimination match-play portion of the event in 2015 and 2016, but he's looking to improve on those performances, which ended with 1-2 records and early exits. The two-time first-team All-American at Wisconsin-Whitewater keeps putting himself in position for something great to happen, as he did at the 2013 Junior Gold Championships and again at the 2017 USBC Team USA Trials, but he's still waiting for a defining moment on the lanes. In 2013, Kruml was the top qualifier at Junior Gold and earned a spot on Junior Team USA 2014, but he was unable to finish the job, ultimately finishing third in the bracket portion of the tournament. At the Team USA Trials this year, he felt he bowled well, but one disappointing outing in the five-day event took him out of contention for a spot on Team USA. Instead of accepting the close calls as defeats, Kruml is using them as motivation to work harder to get over the proverbial hump. But, now that his collegiate bowling career is over, preparing for competition is a little different. "When you're bowling in college, you're bowling just about every weekend and practicing during the week," said Kruml, who works in a pro shop and plans to spend the next year or two trying to make a career out of bowling. "Now that I'm on my own, I try to bowl as much as I can and then stay sharp by bowling in a lot of tournaments. I also practice on different patterns and focus on being able to play different angles and use a variety of releases." Kruml and the rest of the Masters competitors will have five additional games Thursday to secure their spots in match play, where they'll join defending champion Anthony Simonsen of Austin, Texas. That's where Kruml hopes the experience he gained at the last two Masters will pay off. After two rounds, Simonsen is in a tie for 58th place with a 2,160 total, just inside the cut line. Should he finish outside the top 64, he'll earn the final spot in the bracket, and the top 63 players overall will join him. He still can improve his seeding with a strong final qualifying day. Through 10 games, there is a tie for 64th place with 2,155, a 215.5 average.
Tang's rise to the top of the leaderboard Wednesday included games of 258, 258, 247, 267 and 231. His low game of the event is 220, and he attributes his consistency to being able to play to his strengths. "I've been able to get into a spot with urethane that allows me to have a little bit of miss room right and left," said Tang, a senior at San Jose State University and the 2015 Intercollegiate Singles Championships winner. "As they've developed, it has gotten better for me because I can parallel left and get more aggressive with my hand, which is my strong suit. The lanes have been really coming to me so far, so we'll see how the burn squad goes tomorrow." All competitors at The Orleans this week will bowl 15 games of qualifying over three days to determine the match-play field. Three-game total pinfall will determine who advances in the bracket. Qualifying concludes Thursday, and match play will take place Friday and Saturday to determine the five players for the championship round. The 2017 Masters features a total prize fund of nearly $300,000 and again is a major event on the PBA Tour. The winner will take home the coveted Masters trophy and $30,000 top prize. All qualifying and match play rounds of the Masters are being covered live on Xtra Frame, the PBA's online bowling channel. For subscription information, visit PBA.com. 24位 日置秀一、94位 藤井信人、110位 川添奨太、198位 秋吉夕紀、210位 髙田浩規、 213位 甘糟翔太、307位 藤田麻衣、320位 浅田梨奈 |
2017/02/21 |
YOUNG TALENT EXCELS, SMALLWOOD SETS PACE AT 2017 MASTERS
When Jalen Mosley of Indianapolis finished schooling some of the best bowlers in the world during the first round of qualifying at the 2017 United States Bowling Congress Masters, his demeanor was calm and he remained focused - not on bowling, but on heading off to work on his language arts homework. The 16-year-old high school sophomore is taking the week off of school to see where he ranks among the best around, but staying current on his school work is as important as staying above the cutline at one of the premier events for USBC members. After the first of the week's three qualifying blocks at The Orleans Bowling Center, Mosley is in 74th place with a 1,080 total, and his eyes are on a spot in the event's 64-player double-elimination match-play bracket. His five-game effort Tuesday included a high game of 246 and a clutch finish in the fifth game of the day, in which he struck on five of his final six shots. "This is a really cool experience, and I'm still amazed I bowled as well as I did," said Mosley, who finished tied for third place in the U15 division at the 2015 Junior Gold Championships and was 36th in the same event in 2016. "My entry to the Masters was a birthday gift, now that I feel like I can compete with these guys this week." Mosley is one of three 16-year-olds in the USBC Masters field, and the youngest by about a month. The others are Tristan Butler of Fort Wayne, Indiana, and Cerell Cardines of Las Vegas.
Tom Smallwood of Saginaw, Michigan, holds the lead after five games at the 2017 Masters with a 1,263 total, a 252.6 average. He rolled games of 274, 268, 245, 244 and 232 to pace the 395-player field on this week's 40-foot oil pattern. Momentum seems to be in Smallwood's favor after a fourth-place finish in last week's FireLake Professional Bowlers Association Tournament of Champions. He also had a runner-up performance at the 2016 PBA World Championship. Prior to the recent run, his last TV appearance came at the 2014 Masters, where he finished fourth. "As kids, all of us dreamed of bowling on Sundays, and it's been nice to make two shows in such a short time, especially with both being majors," said Smallwood, a two-time PBA Tour champion. "I'm definitely confident coming into this week. With three majors in a row recently, your body gets a little beat up, but you get sharper bowling this much. Now, I just need to keep it simple and grind for the next two days, hopefully get to match play and have that work out how I want." Smallwood is followed by England's Stuart Williams (1,261), Nick Kruml of Downers Grove, Illinois (1,260), reigning PBA Player of the Year EJ Tackett of Huntington, Indiana (1,223), and collegiate standout Michael Tang of San Francisco (1,218). There is a three-way tie at 1,093 for 61st place, making that the cutline after five games. Defending Masters champion Anthony Simonsen of Austin, Texas, who is guaranteed a spot in the match-play bracket, finished the first round of qualifying tied for 110th place with a 1,063 total. He struggled early but averaged 232 his last three games to make up some ground. All competitors at The Orleans this week will bowl 15 games of qualifying over three days to determine the match-play field. The top 63 players will join Simonsen in the double-elimination bracket, where three-game total pinfall determines who advances. As the defending champion, Simonsen is guaranteed the No. 64 spot in the bracket, but bowling qualifying gives him a chance to improve his seeding, as well as get a feel for the bowling center and oil pattern. Qualifying continues through Thursday, and match play will take place Friday and Saturday to determine the five players for the championship round. The 2017 Masters features a total prize fund of nearly $300,000 and again is a major event on the PBA Tour. The winner will take home the coveted Masters trophy and $30,000 top prize. All qualifying and match play rounds of the Masters are being covered live on Xtra Frame, the PBA's online bowling channel. For subscription information, visit PBA.com. 10位 藤井信人、86位 日置秀一、103位 川添奨太、200位 髙田浩規、 271位 甘糟翔太、290位 秋吉夕紀、312位 藤田麻衣、364位 浅田梨奈
【PBA】 News PBA Announces 2016 QubicaAMF PBA Regional Awards
The PBA announced its 2016 QubicaAMF PBA Regional Award winners Tuesday recognizing Players of the Year, Rookies of the Year, PBA50 Players of the Year and Pat Patterson Award winners in each of its eight regions. Highlights of the season included Jakob Butturff’s record nine PBA Regional titles, which resulted in Northwest and West Player of the Year honors, and PBA Hall of Famer Walter Ray Williams Jr., who was a member of the winning Decker Appraisal Services Baker Trios team in Harrisonburg, Va., to earn his 100th overall title in PBA competition. The PBA’s regional program, founded in 1970, provides bowlers with a proving ground to develop their skills in high-level competition against some of the sport’s established stars. Award winners were announced by the PBA’s regional managers: Russ Mills, East Region; Sam Zurich, South Region; Bob Jakel, Central Region; Rich Weber, Midwest Region; Pete McCordic, Southwest Region; Gary Mage, West and Northwest Regions, and Junia Yoshida, Japan Region. Here’s a summary of 2016 PBA Regional award winners: East – Matt O’Grady of Rahway, N.J., took Player of the Year honors with three top three finishes including one win and two thirds. Rookie of the Year went to Cody Shoemaker of Hanover, Pa., who cashed in five of seven events and had one match play appearance. PBA50 Player of the Year honors went to Ray Edwards of Middle Island, N.Y., who had four top five finishes including one win. The Pat Patterson recipient in the East was PBA50 Tour player Warren Burr of Wilmington, Del. South – Two-time PBA Tour winner Tom Daugherty of Riverview, Fla., took Player of the Year thanks to five top-five finishes including two wins. Rookie of the Year went to Trevor Roberts of Crystal River, Fla., who made match play in six of seven events and had a best finish of third. PBA50 Player of the Year Walter Ray Williams Jr. of Oxford, Fla. with four top three finishes including two wins, a second and third-place finish. The Pat Patterson Award winner was Todd Wilson of Summerville, N.C. Central – Eugene McCune of Munster, Ind. earned Player of the Year honors with seven top-five finishes including one win and four second-place finishes. Graham Fach, who made history as the first Canadian to win a PBA Tour title when he won the 2016 Barbasol PBA Players Championship, earned Rookie of the Year honors with three wins and a fifth-place finish. Brian Kretzer of Kettering, Ohio earned PBA50 Player of the Year with five top-three finishes including two wins. The Pat Patterson Award went to Dick Gran of Hartville, Ohio. Midwest – 2011 USBC Masters champion Tom Hess of Urbandale, Iowa, earned Midwest Player of the Year honors for the third time with five top-three finishes including one win, three runner-up and one third-place finish. Winning PBA50 Player of the Year honors was Dave Williams Jr. of Omaha with four top-five finishes including one win, one runner-up, one fourth and one fifth-place finish. No Rookie of the Year award was voted on in the Midwest. Gerald Marrs of Huntley, Ill. was the Pat Patterson award recipient. Southwest – Player of the Year honors went to Chris Hibbitts of Keller, Texas with five top-finishes including two wins. Rookie of the Year went to 2016 Harry Golden PBA Rookie of the Year and U.S. Open winner Francois Lavoie of Wichita, Kan. The Canadian native had four top-five finishes including one win and one runner-up finish. No PBA50 Player of the Year or Pat Patterson Award was awarded in the Southwest. Northwest – If there was an overall award for Regional Player of the Year it would have to go to Jakob Butturff of Chandler, Ariz., who earned Regional Player of the Year in both the Northwest and West regions by winning a record nine PBA regional titles during the 2016 season, breaking the previous record of eight held by Mike Scroggins of Amarillo, Texas. Other award winners in the Northwest were Darren Tang of San Francisco who earned Rookie of the Year honors with two third-place and one fifth-place finish. Northwest PBA50 Player of the Year went to Rob Rice of Sunnyside, Calif., who won two PBA50 Regionals and also had a third and fifth-place finish. No Pat Patterson award was awarded in the Northwest region. West – Darren Tang also claimed Rookie of the Year honors in the West with one win, a second and fourth-place finish. PBA50 Tour standout Ron Mohr of Las Vegas earned PBA50 Player of the Year thanks to three wins, a second and fourth-place finishes. Jim Gordin, proprietor of Yosemite Lanes in Modesto, Calif., and a PBA50 competitor, won the Pat Paterson award winner in the West. Japan – Bowler of the Year is Takahiro Sato, Rookie of the Year is Masaki Noda, and Japan’s Pat Patterson Award recipient is the Sekiyu Co., Ltd. The PBA conducted approximately 150 regional events during the 2016 season, including standard events, PBA50 and PBA60 events for players 50 and/or 60 years and older, “challenge” events for players who had not previously won PBA titles, and PWBA-PBA Women’s Regional events. The leading players in competition points in standard and PWBA-PBA Women’s events from each region were awarded paid entries into GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling VIII in Reno, Nev., in December, and were invited to compete for berths in the PBA Regional and PWBA-PBA Women’s Regional Challenge finals. |
2017/02/19 |
Unexpected Error Helps Indiana’s EJ Tackett Win FireLake PBA Tournament of Champions
EJ Tackett of Huntington, Ind., had four chances to throw doubles to take the lead, but in the end, he won his second Professional Bowlers Association major title in the 52nd FireLake PBA Tournament of Champions Sunday at FireLake Arena thanks in part to an unexpected error by his opponent. Tackett.EJ_WS_2017 PBA TOC (4)Tackett, at age 24, defeated 18-time PBA Tour champion Tommy Jones of Simpsonville, S.C., 208-203, when Jones left and failed to convert the 1-2-4-10 “washout” in the 10th frame. Tackett, who won the 2016 PBA World Championship in December for his first major, was certain he had lost the TOC title after he failed to double in the 10th frame. “I knew if I doubled in the 10th, I’d force Tommy to strike on the right lane,” Tackett said. “But I never in a million years expected that. Tommy has been so good in situations like that his entire career, I didn’t think I had a chance. I was in total shock.” After winning the DHC PBA Japan Invitational to start the year, the TOC victory gives Tackett a very early edge in defending his 2016 PBA Player of the Year title. But, he said, “it’s not even something to think about. It’s way too early and we have way too many tournaments to go. With seven titles already in his young career, Tackett has demonstrated he has the skill and the confidence to stay at the top of the PBA’s elite. “I do belong out here,” he said. “I feel like I’m going to do it every time I need to make a shot, and you’re going to have to beat me. It’s not arrogance, it’s just a level of confidence I’ve never had.” In the opening match, Tom Smallwood of Saginaw, Mich., ended Pete Weber’s bid for a PBA-record 11th major championship, 223-203. Tied at 163 after eight frames, Smallwood finished the match first, throwing four strikes and forcing Weber to do the same to tie and force a roll-off. But the 54-year-old Weber, from St. Ann, Mo., left the 1-2-4-10 on his opening shot of the 10th frame to end the match. England’s Dom Barrett then eliminated Smallwood, 235-202, striking on seven of his first eight shots to build an insurmountable lead after Smallwood left splits he couldn’t covert in the first and fourth frames. Jones advanced to the title match, defeating Barrett in the semifinal match, 248-216, rolling a late string of six strikes to overcome Barrett’s early eight-pin lead. PBA players begin competition in the United States Bowling Congress Masters, PBA’s third consecutive major championship in February, on Tuesday at The Orleans Bowling Center in Las Vegas. The Masters qualifying rounds will be held Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to determine the 63 players who will join defending champion Anthony Simonsen of Austin, Texas, in the three-game, double-elimination match play rounds Friday and Saturday. The stepladder finals will air live on ESPN on Sunday, Feb. 26, at 1 p.m. ET. All qualifying and match play rounds of the Masters will be live streamed on PBA’s Xtra Frame online bowling channel. Visit xtraframe.tv for subscription information. Sunday’s finals also will be live streamed on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app. |
2017/02/18 |
EJ Tackett Leads Field of Five into Sunday’s FireLake PBA Tournament of Champions Finals
Professional Bowlers Association Player of the Year EJ Tackett of Huntington, Ind., will lead the field of five finalists into the 52nd FireLake Professional Bowlers Association Tournament of Champions stepladder finals live on ESPN Sunday at 1 p.m. ET after an intense final qualifying round Saturday that saw 10 players within reach of the TV show going into the final game. The only thing that was decided going into the final qualifying game was that Tackett, a 24-year-old rising star, had locked up the top berth in Sunday’s finals, and 18-time PBA Tour winner Tommy Jones of Simpsonville, S.C., had safely clinched second place. Tackett averaged 238 for the 39-game qualifying portion of the tournament, finishing with a total of 9,294 pins and a 49-pin lead over Jones. Behind those two, the leader board re-shuffled throughout the round before England’s Dom Barrett locked up the third spot; Tom Smallwood of Saginaw, Mich., rolled a 258 final game to knock Australia’s Jason Belmonte out of the show; and PBA Hall of Famer Pete Weber of St. Ann, Mo., held on by the tips of his fingernails for the fifth berth in the finals, finishing six pins ahead of fellow hall of famer Norm Duke of Clermont, Fla. Tackett, who won the PBA Players Championship in December to crown his Player of the Year performance, came into the Tournament of Champions after a disappointing 58th-place finish in last week’s Barbasol PBA Players Championship. “It was one of those weeks,” Tackett said. “I thought I bowled pretty well, but I didn’t match up. It was just a case of bad ball reaction.” He righted his ship in Shawnee after a modest start. “My score the first day wasn’t a lot but the second day I got the right ball in my hand and started striking,” he said. “I didn’t feel like I did anything different than last week, but I threw a lot of strikes. That’s how this week went.” Tackett made the TOC finals in 2016, but lost in the opening match to Tom Daugherty of Riverview, Fla., 231-221. “I bowled a good game, but I got out-bowled. Not much you can do about that,” Tackett said. “Hopefully it’ll work out better this year. I’ve been able to get on some shows lately, and performed well. I know I can win, so that does a lot for my confidence. Hopefully I can apply that tomorrow and come out with a win.” Sunday’s first match will pit Smallwood, the 2010 PBA World Champion and 2011 TOC runner-up, against Weber, who will be trying for a PBA-record 11th career major title. Weber, the only player ever to complete the PBA Triple Crown twice, won his first TOC in 1987 and became the oldest player ever to win the event when he won again in Indianapolis in 2012 at age 50 years, 222 days. He is tied with the late Earl Anthony for the most PBA major titles. Barrett, a four-time PBA Tour winner, won his only major in the 2013 PBA World Championship. In addition to the live telecast on ESPN Sunday at 1 p.m. ET, the finals also will be live streamed simultaneously on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app. PBA players now head west to The Orleans in Las Vegas for the United States Bowling Congress Masters, the third consecutive major championship on PBA’s “Big February” schedule. Masters gets underway with qualifying rounds Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to determine the 63 players who will join defending champion Anthony Simonsen of Austin, Texas, in the three-game, double-elimination match play rounds Friday and Saturday. The stepladder finals will air live on ESPN on Sunday, Feb. 26, at 1 p.m. ET. All qualifying and match play rounds of the Masters will be live streamed on PBA’s Xtra Frame online bowling channel. Visit xtraframe.tv for subscription information. Sunday’s finals also will be live streamed on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app. |
2017/02/17 |
Come From Behind Finish Gives Chris Paul and Chris Barnes State Farm CP3 PBA Celebrity Invitational Win
In a championship match that was decided in the 10th frame, the doubles team of nine-time Los Angeles Clippers All-Star guard Chris Paul and 18-time PBA Tour champion Chris Barnes won the State Farm CP3 PBA Celebrity Invitational at Lucky Strike LA Live in downtown Los Angeles. Barnes and Paul beat the team of Boston Red Sox All-Star outfielder Mookie Betts and 18-time Tour winner Tommy Jones, 187-179, in the eighth edition of the event which benefits the Chris Paul Family Foundation. The pro/celebrity competition aired Friday night on ESPN. In a back and forth alternate-frame match, Barnes converted a crucial 2-4-10 split in the eighth frame to maintain a four-pin lead. In the ninth, the Paul/Barnes team lost the lead when Paul left the 3-9 and failed to make the spare. That left the door open for Betts who converted a spare in the ninth to regain a five-pin lead heading into the 10th. “That made me nervous,” Paul said about the championship match. “When I missed that spare in the ninth frame I knew that was big; it gave the momentum back to them. I thought that might have ended it right there but when Chris (Barnes) said we still had a chance, I had confidence he could do it.” Jones made a spare and finished with a seven-count on his final ball in his team’s 10th frame, giving Barnes an opportunity to win the match with a double. Barnes took advantage by striking out in his 10th frame to seal the victory. “That match had everything you could imagine,” Barnes said. “Ups and downs, strikes, spares, opens, splits, you name it. Whenever you bowl in a doubles or team format you don’t want to let the other players down. I felt like we had an opportunity. Just like every situation where I need to strike, I just had to tell myself to breathe.” For Paul it was his third win after winning in 2010 and 2011 with Jason Belmonte as his partner. It was Barnes’ second title after winning with television personality Chris Hardwick in 2013. Betts and Jones earned their berth in the final with a 177-153 win over the defending champion team of PBA Hall of Famer Pete Weber and former NFL All-Pro receiver Terrell Owens. “I’ve wanted to bowl in this for a long time and it was everything I expected it to be,” said Betts. “It was a lot of fun. I’m a little disappointed, but you have to hand it to them. They (Paul and Barnes) did what they needed to do to win.” The finals began with Jones and Betts beating the team of Grammy-nominated DJ Khaled and 2016 PBA Player of the Year EJ Tackett, 172-147. The Betts/Jones team then beat the team of Denver Broncos running back CJ Anderson and 11-time Tour winner Sean Rash, 201-183, setting up the semifinal match with Weber and Owens. Preceding the semifinal match was the Celebrity All-Star Clash that also included Paul’s Clippers teammates Austin Rivers and Luc Mbah a Moute as well as Black-ish star Miles Brown and actor JT Jackson. Betts dominated the best-ball competition, where the lowest count on a single shot was eliminated by throwing six consecutive strikes. He outlasted the nine-player field by beating Jackson who left a seven count in the final frame.
Star-Studded Field In Contention for Sunday’s FireLake PBA Tournament of Champions ESPN Finals
Pending the final eight qualifying games in the 52nd FireLake Professional Bowlers Association Tournament of Champions Saturday morning, Sunday’s live ESPN finals are setting up to become an instant classic. After a string of six consecutive major championships won by players 25 or younger, Australian two-handed star Jason Belmonte, 33, ended the streak last week when he won the Barbasol PBA Players Championship for his seven career major title. In Shawnee, players at the head of the pack following Friday’s fourth qualifying round were a group of PBA superstars including emerging star EJ Tackett of Huntington, Ind., 24, PBA’s 2016 GEICO Chris Schenkel PBA Player of the Year and winner of the 2016 PBA World Championship. Tackett averaged ??? for his first 31 games for 7,439 pins and a 58-pin lead over 38-year-old 18-time PBA Tour winner Tommy Jones of Simpsonville, S.C., the 2007 TOC champion. Also in the thick of the race for Sunday’s finalists were 52-year-old Norm Duke, who ranks third on the list of all-time PBA Tour title winners (38): 54-year-old Pete Weber, a 37-time PBA Tour title winner and co-holder of the record for most major titles (10) with the late Earl Anthony and European star Dom Barrett of England. Also in the mix for Sunday’s 1 p.m. ET stepladder finals, which will be held on specially-constructed pair of lanes in FireLake Arena, are 2016 TOC top qualifier Mitch Beasley, 38, a retired U.S. Air Force veteran; 2010 PBA World Champion Tom Smallwood; 2015 PBA Rookie of the Year Marshall Kent, and 11-time Tour titlist Sean Rash, the 2012 TOC winner. The top 16 players after 31 games will bowl a final eight-game qualifying round Saturday at 10 a.m. ET to determine the top five for Sunday’s live ESPN finals at 1 p.m. ET. Fans can follow scoring as it happens on pba.com’s Live Scoring feature. All qualifying rounds also are covered live on PBA’s Xtra Frame online video streaming service. To subscribe, visit xtraframe.tv. The live stepladder finals will air on ESPN Sunday at 1 p.m. ET, and will be live streamed simultaneously on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app. |
2017/02/16 |
Tommy Jones Hopes to End 10-Year “Majors” Dry Spell as FireLake PBA Tournament of Champions Leader
Ten years after winning his second Professional Bowlers Association major title in the 2007 Tournament of Champions, Tommy Jones of Simpsonville, S.C., was in position to end his “majors” dry spell in the 52nd FireLake PBA Tournament of Champions. Jones, a 38-year-old 18-time PBA Tour title winner, averaged 240 for the first 16 qualifying games at FireLake Bowling Center to take the second round lead Thursday by 19 pins over PBA Hall of Famer Pete Weber of St. Ann, Mo., who is trying for a PBA-record 11th major title. Weber missed an opportunity a week ago when he fell four pins short of making the stepladder finals in the Barbasol PBA Players Championship in Columbus, Ohio. Jones, who also won the 2006 U.S. Open, rolled games of 279, 196, 279, 243, 191, 232, 244 and 247 in Thursday’s eight-game round to finish with 3,848 pins. With 23 more qualifying games on tap Friday and Saturday, Jones was in a good position to reach Sunday’s live ESPN stepladder finals, but he wasn’t taking anything for granted. “Scores are pretty high, so early in the round you can play the right side of the lane and depending on which players you follow (as you move across the 24-lane bowling center), you have to change equipment to match up with the conditions as they change,” Jones said. “I had to change balls six times to stay ahead of the moves, but because there are only 12 pairs of lanes at FireLake, you kinda know what to expect because year after year, the characteristics of each pair of lanes don’t change that much. “I threw a lot of strikes, but I had quite a few open frames, too,” he added. “You can’t afford opens when scores are like this, so that’s something I need to work on. “We’re not halfway done yet, so the goal is to stay ahead of the moves and keep striking. At this point, you have to think game to game, pair to pair and not worry about anything else.” After two rounds, the leader board also included 37-time PBA Tour titlist and Hall of Famer Norm Duke of Clermont, Fla., in third place with 3,824 pins; last year’s qualifying leader Mitch Beasley of Clarksville, Tenn., in fourth with 3,804 pins and 2016 GEICO PBA Player of the Year EJ Tackett of Huntington, Ind., in fifth place with 3,799 pins. England’s Dom Barrett was 17 pins behind Tackett, but defending champion Jesper Svensson of Sweden was in danger of missing Friday’s cut, sitting in 60th place. Friday’s schedule includes a seven-game qualifying round for all players, after which the top 24 based on 23-game pinfall totals will advance to a fourth eight-game qualifying round Friday night. The top 16 after 31 games will bowl a final eight-game qualifying round Saturday morning to determine the top five for Sunday’s live ESPN finals at 1 p.m. ET. Fans can follow scoring as it happens on pba.com’s Live Scoring feature. All qualifying rounds also are covered live on PBA’s Xtra Frame online video streaming service. To subscribe, visit xtraframe.tv. The live stepladder finals will air on ESPN Sunday at 1 p.m. ET, and will be live streamed simultaneously on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app. |
2017/02/15 |
Late-Bloomer Mitch Beasley Takes First Round Lead in FireLake PBA Tournament of Champions
Mitch Beasley, who didn’t begin chasing his Professional Bowlers Association dreams seriously until after a 20-year career in the U.S. Air Force, rolled into the first round lead in the 52nd FireLake PBA Tournament of Champions at FireLake Bowling Center Wednesday, averaging 243 to take an early nine-pin lead over 18-time PBA Tour titlist Tommy Jones of Simpsonville, S.C. Beasley, who came within a game of winning the Tournament of Champions a year ago, rolled games of 215, 222, 278, 279, 260, 260, 213, 211 and 268 for a 1,946 pinfall total, taking the lead with a strike in the 10th frame of his final game. “I like it here. I’m always comfortable here,” the 48-year-old Clarksville, Tenn., resident said. “I have a lot of friends around, and I got lucky today. I started with a couple small games and then I switched to the ball I used last year and shot back to back 270 games. I’m a little slow sometimes.” Last year, Beasley came into the Tournament of Champions with a résumé of 18 PBA Regional titles over two decades of bowling part-time while in the military, and he dominated at FireLake Bowling Center, racing away to the top berth for the stepladder finals only to lose to Sweden’s 20-year-old Jesper Svensson in the title match, 226-177. Beasley finally won his first PBA Tour title in the Chameleon Championship presented by HotelPlanner.com during the GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling VIII in Reno in December, but he hasn’t forgotten the 2016 TOC finale, held on a special pair of lanes installed in FireLake Arena, that was watched by a live ESPN audience of one million viewers. “I definitely have some unfinished business here,” he said. “I just hope to make the show. It wasn’t fun watching the train wreck last year. I think guys who bowled before me threw a total of one strike in three games on left lane. I just couldn’t figure out what to do. To have that kind of performance last year after setting the TOC match play record, it was tough. “It’s not like it’s only happened to me,” he added. “That kind of thing has happened to a lot of guys over the years. I Just hope to shore up a couple of the bad shots I made early today and if I can improve just a bit each day, I’ll have a chance to make the TV finals and take care of unfinished business.” Jones sat in second place with 1,937 pins, 17 ahead of Jason Sterner of Rockledge, Fla. PBA Hall of Famer Parker Bohn III of Jackson, N.J., was fourth with 1,894 pins and Sean Lavery-Spahr of Pasadena, Texas, was fifth, 10 pins behind Bohn. The entire field of PBA tournament winners will bowl its second eight-game qualifying round Thursday. After a seven-game qualifying round early Friday, the top 24 after 23 games will advance to a fourth eight-game qualifying round Friday night, with the top 16 then bowling their final eight qualifying games Saturday morning to determine the top five for Sunday’s live ESPN finals at 1 p.m. ET. |
2017/02/13 |
【PBA】 News Mark Gerberich, Three Former PBA Stars Inducted into PBA Hall of Fame
The Professional Bowlers Association’s FireLake PBA Tournament of Champions week got off to a memorable start Monday when a ballroom filled with players and special guests welcomed former PBA Commissioner Mark Gerberich and standout players Bryan Goebel, Steve Hoskins and Mike Scroggins into the PBA Hall of Fame. Also recognized during the dinner were 2016 GEICO Chris Schenkel PBA Player of the Year EJ Tackett of Huntington, Ind.; Harry Golden PBA Rookie of the Year Francois Lavoie of Quebec City, Quebec; Steve Nagy Sportsmanship Award winner Tom Smallwood of Saginaw, Mich., and Tony Reyes Community Service Award winner Rhino Page of Orlando, Fla. PBA Hall of Famer and long-time ABC-TV color analyst Nelson Burton Jr., who emceed the event, noted millions of people have bowled, trying to be good enough just to qualify for PBA competition, and among the thousands who have joined the PBA, only a handful have ever bowled well enough to earn admission to the hall of fame. “This group dwells in rarified air,” Burton said. Gerberich, who served as commissioner from 1995-2000 when the organization was sold to ex-Microsoft executives Chris Peters, Mike Slade and Rob Glaser, rose from an entry-level job as PBA membership services director in 1983 to Commissioner 13 years later, was introduced by his long-time friend and former Deputy Commissioner Kevin Shippy. “This is a long, long overdue induction,” Shippy said. “It was Mark’s commitment to working with the new owners that kept the organization alive.” Shippy noted that Gerberich was at the helm when ABC-TV dramatically reduced its rights fees payments to the PBA, and eventually dropped the PBA from its network lineup, but he kept the organization operating despite the hardships. “Throughout his tenure, no one accomplished more with less than Mark did,” Shippy said. Gerberich, in his response, deflected a lot of credit to the groundwork Shippy did and he noted PBA founder Eddie Elias “was one of the greatest innovators ever.” Speaking of himself, he said, “It’s really, really cool to even be considered.” “I’m proud of what we accomplished,” he added. “In 1991, we got $200,000 a show which went into the prize funds. A year later, we got $50,000. In 1997, we were paying $150,000 to stay on TV, so I understand exactly the difficulties the PBA faces.” The intervention of Peters and his partners, Gerberich said, “was a godsend. Without them there wouldn’t be a PBA today.” Goebel, a 10-time PBA Tour winner with the 1998 Brunswick World Tournament of Champions included in his résumé, had his best season in 1994 when he won three titles. “In 1988, I had been a pro bowler for eight years and I didn’t have a title,” Goebel said. “I quit my job and decided it if I was ever going to be a pro, I had to do it now. I missed a cut and came home whining. My wife Kelly said, ‘well, you quit your job; you’d better go out and bowl better.’” And he did. He jokingly thanked fellow inductee Hoskins for “letting” him win his Tournament of Champions title, and he thanked fellow hall of famer Danny Wiseman for letting him win his 10th title, which made him hall of fame-eligible. “I’m up here by myself, but it took a lot of people to help me get here,” Goebel added. “I have the greatest circle of family and friends a person could possibly have. “I thank the PBA for providing the stage, the playground for me to go out and live out my dream,” Goebel said. “I honestly don’t know if I’m deserving when I think about the great players who are in the hall, but I thank you for putting me in with them.” Hoskins was a colorful, high-backswing power player who rolled onto the scene in 1989, winning PBA Rookie of the Year honors which led into a 12-year, 10-title career that included a pair of major championships in the 1997 and 1999 Bayer/Brunswick Touring Players Championships. He also was the 11th player in PBA history to bowl a nationally-televised 300 game (in the 1997 Ebonite Challenge). “This is a day I’ve looked forward to for quite some time,” Hoskins said. “It’s the greatest honor I ever could have expected. “Most people who are asked if they expect to get into the hall of fame give the politically correct answer. Not me,” Hoskins said. “I had dreams and, damn it, I was going to fulfill them. I tell my kids, it you have dreams, follow them because you might get there. “No one gets here without a great support system and I certainly had one,” he added. “I owe the people who helped me a debt I can never repay.” Scroggins, who has bowled extensively at every level of PBA competition and won at all of them as well, earned his hall of fame nod after winning eight PBA Tour titles including a pair of majors in the 2005 USBC Masters and 2009 U.S. Open. “It’s a dream come true. When I got the phone call from (PBA CEO and Commissioner) Tom Clark, a wave of emotions came over me,” Scroggins said. “I just sat there and cried for about an hour, thinking about my whole career. I went to the website and looked at the list of hall of famers, and it was just amazing to realize the group I’m joining. “I wondered if those guys had a defining moment in my career,” he continued. “I had one in 1992. I had just filled out an application for a job at the post office. I needed a real job to get on with my life, but the post office wasn’t’ hiring for another month. So my father told me to go bowl another month. I didn’t cash the first week, and the second week in Las Vegas I wasn’t bowling well. I called my dad and told him I was going to quit and come home. He told me to not quit for the wrong reason, to go ahead and bowl the last two weeks. “I was in Vegas so I decided to play black jack. I was dealt a black jack…and I beat the dealer, who had 20. I thought ‘this is fate,’ so I went to the next PBA event and won, and the rest is history. So I can thank one hand of black jack for my career.” Scroggins also thanked his travelling roommates for their roles in his career. “You know the saying, ‘If it doesn’t kill you, it’ll make you stronger?’ That applied to my first group of roommates,” Scroggins said. “I’m so proud to be a PBA Hall of Famer,” he concluded. “I never thought I’d be standing up here.” The FireLake PBA Tournament of Champions will get underway Wednesday. The live ESPN-televised finals will be held Sunday at 1 p.m. ET. Xtra Frame, which provided live streaming coverage of the PBA Hall of Fame ceremonies Monday, will continue its Tournament of Champions preliminary-round coverage Wednesday and continue through Saturday’s final qualifying round. For subscription information and the current schedule of broadcast times, visit pba.com and xtraframe.tv |
2017/02/12 |
Belmonte Wins Barbasol PBA Players Championship for Seventh Major Title
Three-time Professional Bowlers Association Player of the Year Jason Belmonte of Australia captured his seventh major title and ended a two-year streak without a Tour win by winning the Barbasol PBA Players Championship Sunday at Wayne Webb’s Columbus Bowl. In a championship match between two players who use the unique two-handed delivery, the top seeded Belmonte defeated Anthony Simonsen of Austin, Texas, 221-204, to notch his second Players Championship win and 13th PBA Tour title overall. The win broke a dry spell that started after he won the USBC Masters and Tournament of Champions back-to-back in February of 2015. Going into the Players Championship he had a string of 16 tournaments in which he made the top five but failed to win. He finished second in five of those events. “It’s a brand new start,” Belmonte said of the new season. “I was successful staying focused the whole tournament from start to finish. I’ve learned that if you look ahead or behind you’re not staying in the moment.” In the title match, Belmonte held a commanding 37-pin lead in the fifth frame that was too much for Simonsen to overcome. “It feels fantastic,” said the 33-year-old Belmonte, who won his first major in the 2011 Players Championship. “Two years is a long time to wait (for a win), especially considering all the times I had made TV. “I’ve always believed in myself but I’ll admit there’s a lot of weight off of my shoulders now after all that time because believe me, people will remind you,” he added. The 20-year-old Simonsen, who qualified second for the finals, was trying to become the youngest player to win two PBA Tour major titles. He won the 2016 USBC Masters at 19 to become the youngest to win a PBA major. “I didn’t make my best shots in that match,” said Simonsen. “There were probably a couple of shots where I should have reset myself. I’ll just use it as a learning experience.” In the semifinal match, Simonsen beat Connor Pickford of Plano, Texas, 204-191, to advance to the title match. Pickford, who was trying for his first Tour singles title teamed with Simonsen to win the 2016 Roth/Holman PBA Doubles for his first title. In the opening stepladder match, Pickford defeated Team USA member and former Wichita State bowling star AJ Chapman, 243-154. Chapman was trying to become only the third player to win a Tour title in his first tournament as a PBA member. In the second match, Pickford defeated Martin Larsen of Sweden 266-182 to advance to the semifinal. With four career runner-up finishes, Larsen was trying for his first Tour win. The PBA Tour moves to Shawnee, Okla., for the FireLake PBA Tournament of Champions Feb. 13-19, the second major of the season. PBA’s Big February on ESPN continues with live finals telecasts of the Tournament of Champions on Feb. 19 at 1 p.m. ET and back-to-back telecasts of the USBC Masters finals and World Bowling Tour Men’s and Women’s Finals presented by the PBA Feb. 26 beginning at 1 p.m. In addition to the lineup of live telecasts, the State Farm CP3 PBA Celebrity Invitational, which was taped on Jan. 17 at Lucky Strike L.A. Live in Los Angeles, will air on Friday, Feb. 17, at 9 p.m. ET as part of the NBA All-Star weekend. |
2017/02/10 |
Seventh Major Title in Sight for Belmonte as Top Qualifier for Barbasol PBA Players Championship Finals
After earning top qualifier honors for the Barbasol PBA Players Championship finals Friday, three-time PBA Player of the Year Jason Belmonte will need to win only one match to capture his seventh major title and first Tour win in two years. After Friday’s fifth round, the Australian two-hander finished with a 9,249 40-game pinfall total (231.2 average) to clinch the top berth for Sunday’s Players Championship finals at Wayne Webb’s Columbus Bowl. After nearly three years of dominance, in 2013, 2014 and 2015, when he won his Player of the Year crowns, Belmonte’s dry spell started after he won the USBC Masters and Tournament of Champions back-to-back in February of 2015. Since then he has finished in the top five in 16 PBA Tour tournaments without a win finishing second in five of those events. “I feel as good as I’ve ever felt bowling in a tournament,” said the 12-time Tour titlist. “I just need to focus on what I need to do and eliminate the distractions. I’ve always had 100 percent belief in myself so whatever happens in the championship match I’ll walk away with my head held high. “After last year the weight is off my shoulders,” Belmonte added. “I didn’t get the wins last year but I was bowling well. “It’s a new season and now I just need to focus on what I need to do in each tournament and let the season unfold.” In addition to winning the 2011 Players Championship for his first major, Belmonte won a record three consecutive USBC Masters (2013, 2014 and 2015) and won back-to-back PBA Tournament of Champions titles in 2014 and 2015. Qualifying second for the finals was another two-hander, Anthony Simonsen of Austin, Texas, just 20 pins behind Belmonte with a 9,229 pinfall total. The 20-year-old two-time Tour winner, who became the youngest to win a major when he won the 2016 USBC Masters at 19, will be trying to become the youngest player to win two majors. Trying for his first PBA Tour title, Martin Larsen of Sweden qualified third with a 9,083 pinfall. He owns four career runnerup Tour finishes and with a win in the Players Championship would become eligible for next week’s FireLake PBA Tournament of Champions in Shawnee, Okla. Sunday’s opening stepladder match will feature No. 4 qualifier, former Wichita State standout and current Team USA member AJ Chapman bowling against No. 5 qualifier one-time Tour winner Connor Pickford of Plano, Texas. Chapman finished with an 8,958 pinfall while Pickford finished with 8,946. Chapman will be trying to become only the third player in Tour history to win a title in his first tournament as a PBA member. The two others were Brian Davis, who won the 1993 Harrisburg (Pa.) Open and Mike McGrath who won the 1965 Portland (Ore.) Open. In addition to ESPN’s coverage, the Players Championship will be simulcast on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN mobile app for those who would like to watch on-line or on mobile devices. |
2017/02/09 |
Belmonte Averages 235 in Third Round to Retain Lead In Barbasol PBA Players Championship
Three-time Professional Bowlers Association Player of the Year Jason Belmonte of Australia averaged 235.6 Thursday to retain his lead after the third round of the Barbasol PBA Players Championship leading a field of 24 players who advanced to Friday’s fourth round. Belmonte, who is trying to end a two-year drought without a Tour win, bowled games of 263, 244, 237, 193, 248, 201, 234 and 265 at Wayne Webb’s Columbus Bowl to bring his combined three-round 24-game pinfall total to 5,624 (234.3) average. “I’m bowling well but at this point in the tournament I’m not concerned with the score,” the 12-time Tour winner said. “I have a strategy to do what I want to do and let the scores fall where they may. “I just need to keep the foot down and get as many pins as possible. I look at the guys who are around me in the standings as giving me that extra mental push to help me do that.” Belmonte, the 2011 Players Championship winner, is trying for his seventh major title. He won a record three consecutive USBC Masters (2013, 2014 and 2015) and won back-to-back PBA Tournament of Champions titles in 2014 and 2015. His 2015 Tournament of Champions victory was his last Tour title. Belmonte holds a 104-pin lead over two-time Tour winner DJ Archer of Friendswood, Texas, in second who finished with a 5,520 pinfall followed by two-time Tour winner Jakob Butturff of Tempe, Ariz., in third with 5,487. Anthony Simonsen of Austin, Texas rocketed to fourth after the third round with a 5,453 pinfall after starting the tournament in 72nd after the first round. Simonsen, who bowled a 300 game in the round, became the youngest player to win a PBA major when he won the 2016 USBC Masters at age 19. PBA Hall of Famer Pete Weber of St. Ann, Mo., who battled through pain caused by arthritis in his back in the GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling VIII in December but still managed to finish sixth in the PBA World Championship, finished the day in 12th with a 5,373 pinfall. The 37-time PBA Tour winner is trying for a record 11th major title. He is currently tied with the late Hall of Famer Earl Anthony with 10 majors. Defending champion Graham Fach of Canada advanced to the fourth round by finishing 14th with a 5,328 pinfall. The top 24 players will bowl another eight-game round Friday morning that will determine the top 16 players who will advance to the final eight-game round Friday afternoon. After Friday’s final round, the top five players will advance to the live stepladder finals Sunday on ESPN at 1 p.m. ET. All qualifying rounds are covered live on PBA’s Xtra Frame online video streaming service. For subscription information, visit pba.com and click on the Xtra Frame link. 川添奨太 30位 |
2017/02/08 |
Solid Second Round Good Enough to Boost Belmonte Into Barbasol PBA Players Championship Lead
Trying to end a two-year drought without a Professional Bowlers Association Tour title, three-time PBA Player of the Year Jason Belmonte of Australia put together a solid second round to move into the Barbasol PBA Players Championship lead Wednesday at Wayne Webb’s Columbus Bowl. Playing an extreme inside line, Belmonte finished the day with a 3,739 16-game overall pinfall total (233.6 average) bowling games of 245, 259, 248, 202, 220, 268, 200 and 257 in Wednesday’s second round. “I was kind of on autopilot today,” said Belmonte. “I was able to migrate pretty far inside, which is where I like to play. Because not that many players play that far left on the lane, for me, it’s kind of like bowling on a fresh condition every time we move to another pair. “I really wanted to get off to a good start because when you bowl the longer format tournaments you can’t always rely on the big game,” the 12-time Tour titlist added. “It was a good consistent round and I avoided the real bad game.” Belmonte’s last title came when he won his second consecutive Tournament of Champions in February 2015. He is trying for his seventh major title having won three consecutive USBC Masters (2013, 2014, 2015) in addition to his 2011 Players Championship title. “I had a lot of expectations last year and because of that I took my focus off the prize,” said Belmonte who earned three consecutive Player of the Year crowns which came in 2013, 2014 and 2015. “I admit I put pressure on myself and I let it get to me. The goal shouldn’t be the award at the end of the season but winning the tournament you’re bowling in.” Former Wichita State standout and Team USA member AJ Chapman retained his position in second just six pins behind Belmonte finishing with a 3,733 pinfall. Four-time Tour winner Ronnie Russell of Marion, Ind., who led after the first round dropped to third with a 3,709 pinfall after finishing with games of 189 and 169 in the second round. Defending champion Graham Fach moved from 10th to seventh after the second round finishing with a 3,623 pinfall with the help of a 300 game in his second round. Fach became the first Canadian to win a PBA Tour title when he won last year’s Players Championship. Competition continues with another eight-game qualifying round Thursday. After Thursday’s round the field will be cut to 24 players who will bowl another eight-game round Friday morning that will determine the top 16 players who will advance to the final eight-game round Friday afternoon. After Friday’s final round, the top five players will advance to the live stepladder finals Sunday on ESPN at 1 p.m. ET. All qualifying rounds are covered live on PBA’s Xtra Frame online video streaming service. For subscription information, visit pba.com and click on the Xtra Frame link. 川添奨太 49位 |
2017/02/07 |
Perfect Game Helps Ronnie Russell Take Barbasol PBA Players Championship First Round Lead
With the help of a 300 game, four-time Professional Bowlers Association Tour winner Ronnie Russell of Marion, Ind., averaged 247.8 to lead the 115-player field Tuesday after the first round of the Barbasol PBA Players Championship at Wayne Webb’s Columbus Bowl. The 37-year-old Russell, who is trying for his first major title, fired a 1,983 eight-game pinfall total with games of 278, 300, 217, 245, 245, 240, 213 and 245. “I made an equipment change recently so I did a lot of practice and felt really good coming in here,” Russell said. “I was in a place where all I had to do was make simple moves and when that’s all you have to do it makes it easy.” Russell’s last individual PBA Tour title came in the 2015 Badger Open. His fourth PBA title came in the PBA Team Challenge last October in Las Vegas. “It wasn’t long ago that I was making shows on a regular basis but then the last few months I’ve kind of flat-lined,” Russell added. “I’ve made some changes to come in fresh and really clear-headed and so far it’s paying off.” Russell held a commanding lead over Wichita State standout and fellow Team USA member AJ Chapman who finished the first round in second with a 1,877 pinfall. The 23-year-old Chapman bowled games of 247, 258, 209, 235, 278, 216, 219 and 215. “It’s great to be in this position but I have confidence in my ability,” Chapman said. “I need to learn a lot out here but I expect to bowl well, too.” Chapman was a member of the Wichita State team that won the 2015 Intercollegiate Team Championships. “I’ve gained a lot of experience bowling in college but going from the team format to individual competition takes some re-programming,” Chapman added. “You’re learning in a whole new environment so there’s definitely an adjustment that needs to be made in your mental game.” Graham Fach, who became the first Canadian to win a PBA Tour title when he won last year’s Players Championship, finished the round in 10th with a 1,824 pinfall. Rounding out the top five were Jakob Butturff, Tempe, Ariz., 1,870; Anthony Pepe, Elmhurst, N.Y., 1,859 and Brad Miller, Maryland Heights, Mo., 1,851. Competition continues with eight-game qualifying rounds Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. After Thursday’s round the field will be cut to 24 players who will bowl another eight-game round Friday morning that will determine the top 16 players who will advance to the final eight-game round Friday afternoon. After Friday’s final round, the top five players will advance to the live stepladder finals Sunday on ESPN at 1 p.m. ET. All qualifying rounds are covered live on PBA’s Xtra Frame online video streaming service. For subscription information, visit pba.com and click on the Xtra Frame link. 川添奨太 71位 |
2017/02/05 |
Parker Bohn III and Quinton Aaron Win Main Event Terrell Owens PBA Super Clash
PBA Hall of Famer Parker Bohn III and actor Quinton Aaron teamed up to win three straight matches to take home the Main Event Terrell Owens PBA Super Clash title Sunday at Main Event in Katy, Texas. NFL stars Terrell Owens, Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson and Devin Hester, along with Aaron, who portrayed NFL star Michael Oher in the hit movie “The Blind Side,” headlined the all-star lineup. PBA stars competing in addition to Bohn were three-time PBA Player of the Year Jason Belmonte, Hall of Famer Norm Duke and eight-time PBA Tour winner Bill O’Neil. In the title match, which aired live on ESPN Sunday afternoon, Aaron and Bohn were never challenged beating the Belmonte/Ochocinco team 204-118. The stepladder seedings for the alternate frame doubles finals were determined by a ‘kickoff round’ where the teams had to bowl as many strikes as possible in 90 seconds. In the opening match, Bohn and Aaron defeated Duke and Owens, 247-211. In the semifinal, Bohn and Aaron beat Hester and O’Neill 230-180 to advance to the title match against top seed Belmonte and Ochocinco. The show also featured a segment with Duke, Bohn, O’Neill and Belmonte performing some of their remarkable trick shots. Announcers Dave LaMont and Randy Pedersen also showed their trick shot prowess. During the telecast PBA Commissioner Tom Clark announced E.J. Tackett as the 2016 GEICO Chris Schenkel PBA Player of the Year. Also announced were Francois Lavoie of Canada as Harry Golden Rookie of the Year, Tom Smallwood as Steve Nagy Sportsmanship Award winner and Rhino Page as the winner of the Tony Reyes Community Service Award. Two rising stars in youth bowling, 2016 Teen Masters U14 Boys’ and Girls’ Division champions, Kirk Mowl of Ormond Beach, Fla., and Mabel Cummins of Elburn, Ill., participated in a special doubles exhibition where they were paired with a pro. Cummins and Belmonte, representing the New England Patriots, defeated Mowl and Tackett, representing the Atlanta Falcons, 19-18, in a four-frame match that used a special ‘football’ scoring system. Earlier in the telecast Cummins substituted for the late-arriving Ochocinco in the kickoff round to help the that team earn the top seed for the Super Clash. PBA’s Big February on ESPN continues with live telecasts of three majors on consecutive Sundays at 1 p.m. ET. The Barbasol PBA Players Championship will air Sunday, Feb. 12; the FireLake PBA Tournament of Champions on Feb. 19, and back-to-back telecasts of the USBC Masters finals and World Bowling Tour Men’s and Women’s Finals presented by the PBA on Feb. 26. In addition to the lineup of live telecasts, the State Farm CP3 PBA Celebrity Invitational which was taped on Jan. 17 at Lucky Strike L.A. Live in Los Angeles will air on Friday, Feb. 17, at 9 p.m. ET as part of the NBA All-Star weekend.
【PBA】 PBA News Tackett Wins GEICO Chris Schenkel PBA Player of the Year Award
Thanks in part to a commanding performance in the end-of-season GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling in Reno, which included his first major title in the PBA World Championship, 24-year-old E.J. Tackett of Huntington, Ind., was the overwhelming choice as the 2016 GEICO Chris Schenkel Professional Bowlers Association Player of the Year. The results of voting by his fellow PBA members and international bowling news media representatives was announced by PBA CEO and Commissioner Tom Clark during Sunday’s Main Event Terrell Owens PBA Super Clash which aired live on ESPN. Clark also announced that 23-year-old Quebec City native Francois Lavoie was selected as the 2016 Harry Golden Rookie of the Year, becoming the first Canadian ever to win that award. The 2016 Steve Nagy Sportsmanship Award, selected by PBA Tour players, went to Tom Smallwood of Saginaw, Mich., and the 2016 Tony Reyes Community Service Award winner for exceptional community or charitable activities was Rhino Page of Orlando, Fla.
Tackett, PBA’s only four-time title winner in 2016, was involved in a highly-competitive Player of the Year race coming into the World Series where he not only won the PBA World Championship for his fourth title of the year and he was one of three players to qualify for the match play finals in all four PBA animal pattern championships (Cheetah, Chameleon, Scorpion and Shark) that are part of the WSOB. He ended the year as the PBA’s earnings leader ($154,900) and finished third in scoring average (224.49 for 490 games). In addition to the PBA World Championship, Tackett won titles in the 2016 Xtra Frame Storm Open, Xtra Frame PBA Team Challenge and the Bear Open during the PBA Fall Swing. At age 24, he became the second-youngest player to win PBA’s top annual individual honor. Only the late Billy Hardwick was younger when he was selected as PBA’s first Player of the Year in 1963 at age 22. “It’s absolutely amazing,” Tackett said. “I switched to 16 pounds at the end of the 2015 season, had some success and just kept doing what I do. I got the ball rolling the right way and kept it going all year. Winning on television gave me a boost in confidence. I always knew I could do that, but to actually win on TV was something else. “One thing I’ve always noted about the (Player of the Year) award is it’s named for Chris Schenkel (the PBA Hall of Fame announced for years on ABC-TV). Most people don’t know he was from my home town.” Tackett also is off to a great start in 2017, winning the PBA Tour’s first event, the DHC PBA Japan Invitational in Osaka, Japan. “I’m going to stay in the same mindset and try to make TV shows and win,” he said. “That’s why I do what I do – try to win.”
Lavoie, who joined the PBA following a successful collegiate bowling career at Wichita State University, made four television finals during his first year, but none was more impressive than the U.S. Open where he not only won his first title – and a major at that – but also bowled the first nationally-televised 300 game in the prestigious tournament’s colorful history. The sport’s oldest major championship began as the BPAA All Star in 1942. Lavoie was involved in a Canadian-dominated Rookie of the Year race with Ontario’s Graham Fach, his Team Canada teammate, who drew first blood when he won the Barbasol PBA Players Championship early in the year to become the first Canadian to win a PBA Tour title (also a major). After winning the U.S. Open, Lavoie broke open the race in the World Series, winning his second title in the PBA Shark Championship and finishing the season fifth among the PBA’s average leaders (222.79 for 330 games) and seventh in earnings ($79,920). “Usually there aren’t multiple rookies who win titles, but I was fortunate to have a strong finish and that’s kind of what sealed the deal,” Lavoie said. “I’m sure Graham had the same goal, but only one of us can win. To finally have it official is great. “(Winning Rookie of the Year) was a goal,” Lavoie said. “Every year on Team Canada our coach tries to help us set goals and that’s one of the goals I set for myself. You try to aim high, but also set a goal that’s feasible. It just justifies all of the hard work I’ve put in. “It’s been a great year for Canadian bowling.”
Smallwood, 39, has been a popular competitor since joining the PBA Tour in 2009. After losing his job with General Motors during the economic downturn, Smallwood decided to pursue his childhood dream of competing on the PBA Tour. He entered the former PBA “exempt tour” qualifier in Allen Park, Mich., and won an exemption to bowl full-time the following season. But he then pulled off a dream victory, winning the PBA World Championship for $50,000 and his first Tour title, resulting in enormous national media attention that included a feature in Sports Illustrated, network television exposure and major national newspaper features. Smallwood won a second title in the 2013 PBA Scorpion Championship and he has made 11 additional championship round appearances, including runner-up finishes in the 2011 PBA Tournament of Champions and the 2016 PBA World Championship. “It’s a really a good deal,” Smallwood said, adding with a grin, “When you don’t say much, people think you’re nice, but it’s nice to be thought of as a good guy. I spend a lot of time with (three-time Nagy award winner) Parker Bohn, and I know what kind of guy he is. To be in the group with him, and the other winners, is pretty cool.” Other nominees for the Nagy award included 2015 winner Josh Blanchard of Mesa, Ariz.; Lavoie; Brad Miller of Raytown, Mo., and Jon Van Hees of Charlestown, R.I.
Page is the fourth recipient of the Tony Reyes Community Service Award, honoring the popular PBA Tour champion who lost his life following a traffic accident in 2012. Joining previous recipients Parker Bohn III, Missy Parkin and Ed Godbout, Page was nominated for his involvement over the past eight years with the Thomas Cacioppo family in New York in raising money to combat Crohns and Colitis. The Rhino Page Strike Out Crohns and Colitis fund-raisers have generated more than $225,000 to help combat the debilitating digestive tract disorders. In March, Page will expand his involvement by hosting the PBA Strike Out Crohns and Colitis South Open at Boardwalk Bowl in his adopted hometown, Orlando, Fla. The 2016 PBA award winners will receive their awards during the PBA Hall of Fame and Awards ceremonies at the Grand Casino in Shawnee, Okla., on Monday, Feb. 13. The hall of fame ceremonies will be live streamed on PBA’s Xtra Frame online bowling channel, beginning at 8 p.m. EST. The public is invited to attend the dinner. Tickets are $100 plus tax, and can be purchased in advance online (visit pba.com/tickets). |
2017/02/02 |
久保田彩花 優勝！
自分への誕生日プレゼントは大舞台での初タイトル！ 男子の激戦冷めやらぬ中、50周年記念大会の最後を華やかな女子決勝シュートアウトが飾ります。 昨年の全日本女子を制覇した姫路 麗、吉田真由美の優勝候補常連やポイントランキング3位の寺下智香などが予選で姿を消すという大番狂わせはあったものの、混戦模様の男子と異なり、大きな順位の変動がない女子部門でしたが、予選1位通過の藤田麻衣が準決勝で順位を落とし、代わりに7位通過の小池沙紀が進出圏内に飛び込んできます。 安定の強さを誇る名和 秋と松永裕美、今年シードプロ入りを果たした新人の久保田彩花と小池という顔合わせで決勝シュートアウト準決勝が行われました。 5連続ストライクでスタートした名和を先頭に、松永・久保田・小池が追いかける展開となりましたが、6フレーム目を名和がオープンにしてほぼ全員横並び状態に。しかし小池が8フレーム目をオープンにして後退してしまいます。 その隙を突いて名和、久保田、松永とストライクを重ねますが、イップスに悩まされ続ける松永はダブル以上に繋げられず、5連続、4連続を決める名和と久保田に届かず終了。257ピンでフィニッシュの久保田と、わずか2ピン差で抜かれた名和。後から振り返ればまるでその後の展開を暗示しているような僅差の戦いを繰り広げた二人による優勝決定戦となりました。 プロ入り16年目を迎え、長いプロ生活を送ってきた名和だけに、この50周年記念の重さはひとしおで、ここで勝ちたいと強く願っていたと語ります。その言葉通り、出だし2フレーム目を不運にも7-10スプリットからオープンとしてからはボールチェンジに挑み、5フレーム目からストライクラッシュの猛追撃を見せましたが、対する久保田も負けてはおらず、中盤に4連続ストライクを決めて僅差ながらも名和にリードを許しません。 しかし名和も心折れることなくストライクを繋げ、とうとう5フレーム目からのオールウェー、8連続ストライクに成功。最後の最後まで諦めないプロの意地を見せてくれました。 9フレーム目からストライクを繋いだ久保田は、10フレーム3投目が9本以上で勝利、8本で同ピンとなる展開に。名和が与えたプレッシャーは軽くはなく、ここまであまり緊張もしなかったという久保田ですら、最後は緊張して足が思うように動かなかったと語ります。 しかし久保田が持っている勢いはそんなプレッシャーをはね除け、勝利を決める一投は8番ピンを残す9本カウント。わずか1ピン差で追ってくる名和をかわし、優勝を決めました。 大会直前の27日に誕生日を迎え、21歳になったばかりの久保田、大きな大きな誕生日プレゼントを自分の力で掴み取りました！
谷合貴志 優勝！
亡き祖父に捧げる4勝目！ 49歳までの若武者達が集う男子レギュラー部門は、ゲーム数が少ない為に一投たりとも気が抜けないハイスコア合戦となり、カットラインも予選ではAVG226.33、準決勝はAVG245.55とうなぎ登り。そんな打っても打っても安心できない厳しい戦いの中、予選から進出圏内を守った斉藤琢哉、小原照之、谷合貴志ら3名、そして最後の一席は7位通過の小林孝至が4位通過の笹田泰裕を引きずり下ろし、決勝シュートアウト進出となりました。 昨年10月の千葉オープンで初優勝を果たし、今大会もパーフェクトと800シリーズを同時達成するなど好調の斉藤、1年ぶりのシード復帰で弾みを付けたい小原、昨年度も開幕戦優勝となった谷合ら3名の優勝経験者に、初優勝を賭けた小林が挑む形となった決勝シュートアウト準決勝は、まさに気迫の鍔迫り合い。谷合が出だしから7連続ストライクを決めてリードを取り、小原、斉藤がダブルやターキーを繋げながら追う展開に。小林は前半にストライクが決まらず、我慢のボウリングでノーミスを守り、最後はパンチアウトで締めましたが先頭集団の背は遠く、初優勝はお預けとなってしまいます。 残る3者の戦いは、谷合が8フレーム目でストライクは途切れたものの10フレーム目でダブルを決めて266ピンで終了。そして後半でスコアを伸ばせなかった斉藤が脱落する一方、小原が7フレーム目からの5連続ストライクで谷合に迫り、谷合VS小原の優勝決定戦に突入します。 シード復帰の年に50周年記念という大きなタイトルで勝利を挙げたい小原。大会初日が昨年亡くなった祖父の一周忌にあたり、祖父の為に、祖父を看護し今は自分も病に伏している祖母の為に、この大きなタイトルを何としても手に入れたい谷合。両者の戦いは、谷合がダブルでスタートを切るも、小原も2フレーム目からのターキーに成功。しかし4・5フレーム目で谷合がダブルを決めてからは両者ともストライクが続かず、ほぼ互角の状態で進みます。 我慢が強いられる状況に、谷合はボールチェンジも考えましたが、小原の投球を冷静に眺め、ボールチェンジのリスクを負わなくても、普段通りの投球ができれば勝てると分析。そして自分の投球に集中し、ひたすらミスのないようカバーを続けます。 そして運命の10フレーム1投目、小原が痛恨のスプリット。これで一気に楽になった谷合は、最後まで自分の投球を貫き、ワンマーク差で逃げ切っての優勝となりました。 子供の頃から見守ってくれた亡き祖父、そして祖母に捧げる大きな勝利に、感涙止まらぬ谷合。2年連続の開幕戦優勝を果たしました！
工藤博充 優勝！
50周年記念で嬉しい初優勝・初タイトル！ 公益社団法人日本プロボウリング協会創立50周年記念大会という、後にも先にもただ一つしか存在しないこのタイトルを巡る、男子シニア・レギュラーと女子、あわせて3部門で繰り広げられた激戦に、本日とうとう幕が引かれました。 パーフェクト7つ、800シリーズも2つ達成されるなど、すべての部門でまさにハイレベルな戦いとなり、50年に一度のタイトルに賭ける選手達の意気込みがどれほどのものであったのか、語らずとも伝わって来るでしょう。 名誉プロボウラーの俳優・村田雄浩 氏も参戦した50歳以上の男子シニア部門は、予選と準決勝で順位が大きく入れ替わる乱戦模様を呈し、準決勝1G目でパーフェクトを達成した水野 成祐が予選17位から首位に登り詰めると、その後に準決勝で800シリーズを達成した工藤博充、さらに8位からジャンプアップした坪井 実が続き、ただ一人予選から進出圏内にいた坂田重徳が最後の一席を守って決勝進出を果たしました。 男女3部門の先頭を切って行われた男子シニア部門決勝シュートアウトは、坂田が1フレーム目、坪井が6フレーム目をオープンフレームとし、これが響いた形で一歩後退。ノーミスを守った水野と工藤が決勝へと駒を進めます。 24期生で同期の水野と工藤は、所属も同じ千葉地区であり、地区で行われる研修会でずっと一緒に投げてきた仲。それだけに、工藤は「勝てるとは思ってなかった」と語ります。 しかし準決勝では「予選と同じ攻め方をしていてはこれ以上順位は上がらない」と考え、ラインを変えて攻めた結果自身初の800シリーズを達成し、シュートアウト準決勝でも5連続ストライクを決めて勝ち上がった工藤。優勝決定戦でも掴んだラインを投げることに集中し、1フレーム目から5連続ストライクに成功します。 対する水野は2フレーム目で10番ピンをミスしてオープンにすると、その後もストライクが繋がらず、7・8フレーム目でようやくダブルが決まりましたが時すでに遅し。7フレーム目から再度ターキーを決めた工藤に追いつくこと叶わず、工藤が水野に50ピン以上の差を付けて勝利を掴み取りました。 同期・同郷対決を制して、プロ入り33年目の嬉しい嬉しい初優勝となりました！
名和 秋
斉藤琢哉
水野成祐 |
2017/02/01 |
谷合貴志
藤田麻衣
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