Top 20 seeded players eliminated; Allen, Kent, Ciminelli, Kretzer advance to Saturday's semifinal round
Upsets are no surprise when "March Madness" sweeps the nation, but the NCAA basketball realm has never seen anything like the parade of upsets that hit the PBA Go RVing Match Play Championship Thursday and Friday at Norwich Bowling and Entertainment Center. Not a single player seeded among the top 20 made the show as No. 21 seed Patrick Allen (l.), No. 27 Brian Kretzer (r.), No. 50 Doug Kent, and No. 57 Ryan Ciminelli advanced to the finals on Sunday.
No. 1 Williams, defending champ Barnes, reigning Player of the Year Malott eliminated in opening round
Top-seeded Walter Ray Williams Jr. (l.), defending champion Chris Barnes and reigning Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour Player of the Year Wes Malott were upset victims as the Go RVing Match Play Championship got underway Thursday at Norwich Bowling and Entertainment Center. Among the top four seeds in the PBA Tour's version of "March Madness," only No. 2 Bill O'Neill (right) of Southampton, Pa., survived the opening round.
Fans have until 11 a.m. Eastern on Thursday to enter PBA Bracket Battle on pba.com
Ryan Ciminelli (pictured left) of Cheektowaga, N.Y., led a field eight players who advanced out of the Professional Bowlers Association’s Tour Qualifying Round Wednesday and completed the field of 64 for the Go RVing Match Play Championship which gets underway Thursday at Norwich Bowling and Entertainment Center. Ciminelli, who has already advanced to the television finals three times during the 2009-10 Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour season, averaged 226.57 to finish the seven-game qualifying round with a 1,586 pinfall total.
PBA superstar plans to attend GEICO Mark Roth Plastic Ball Championship in West Babylon, N.Y.
Over the past few weeks, the intensity and desire that carried Mark Roth to 34 PBA Tour titles has started to return. The 58-year-old hall of famer has been working harder than he has in years, trying to get ready for his next tournament. But when Mark Roth makes his appearance at the GEICO Mark Roth Plastic Ball Championship at AMF Babylon Lanes in West Babylon, N.Y., March 24-28, it will be dramatically different than any he has ever made before. He will arrive at the Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour event named in his honor in a wheelchair.
What if the PGA Tour required players to use persimmon woods or the USTA required its players to use wood-framed tennis rackets instead of today's equipment that incorporates high-tech titanium and graphite technology? The PBA GEICO Mark Roth Plastic Ball Championship March 24-28 at AMF Babylon Lanes in West Babylon, N.Y., is the one event on the Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour that turns back the clock on bowling ball technology so that players will have less reliance on today's high-powered equipment.
Go RVing Match Play Championship lineup is set, online "pick the winners" contest now available
Let the games begin: the PBA's first "PBA Bracket Battle" is online and ready to go, giving bowling fans an opportunity to pick all of the winners in the Go RVing Match Play Championship which gets underway Wednesday, March 17, at Norwich Bowling and Entertainment Center in Norwich, Conn. The PBA Bracket Battle will seed the top 58 PBA Tour players and 8 players who emerge from the Tour Qualifying Round on March 17 in a 64-player single-elimination bracket competition.
Home-state favorite Kretzer fails to capitalize on gift opportunity in 10th frame
Mike Scroggins (l.) of Amarillo, Texas, won his eighth career title and second of the 2009-10 season in the PBA Etonic Don Johnson Eliminator finals at Sequoia Pro Bowl Sunday, surviving a 10th-frame error to edge home-state favorite Brian Kretzer (r.) of Dayton, Ohio, 206-195, in the championship match. The PBA Tour will take a week off before returning to action in ithe Go RVing Match Play Championship March 17-21 in Norwich, Conn.
Ohio native Brian Kretzer (l.) will take on a diverse field in the PBA Etonic Don Johnson Eliminator finals
at Sequoia Pro Bowl in Columbus, Ohio, Sunday, including reigning PBA
Player of the Year Wes Malott, U.S. Open runner-up Mike Scroggins and Finland's two-handed star, Osku Palermaa (r.). The finals will air at 12:30 p.m. Eastern on ESPN. The four emerged as survivors
of three rounds of elimination games by dominating their respective
four-player groups.
Barnes' bid for third consecutive title in Columbus falls short
Sean Rash (l.) of Wichita, Kan., charged out of sixth place to earn the top seeding position for Eliminator Rounds in the Professional Bowlers Association's Etonic Don Johnson Eliminator at Sequoia Pro Bowl Friday, averaging 229.5 over 28 qualifying games including a 300 game. Rash topped the field of 30 with a total of 6,426 pins, holding off Tommy Jones (r.) of Simpsonville, S.C., for the top qualifying position by 14 pins. Jones had a 6,412 total.
Despite closing with two sub-par games, Steve Harman (l.) of Indianapolis held onto the third round lead in the Professional Bowlers Association's Etonic Don Johnson Eliminator Friday at Sequoia Pro Bowl, averaging 230.1 over 21 qualifying games. Harman, a 36-year-old non-title winner, finished Friday's morning round with a 4,832 pinfall total and a 30-pin lead over Sean Rash (r.) of Wichita, Kan., who finished with games of 300 and 254 to advance from sixth to second.
First-round leader Haugen slips into second place; U.S. Open champ O’Neill is third
Third-year touring player Steve Harman (l.) jumped from 14th place into the lead in the Etonic Don Johnson Eliminator Thursday, averaging 240.86 over 14 qualifying games to take a 45–pin lead over first-round leader Michael Haugen Jr. (r.). Harman averaged 255 during the second round, finishing with a 3,372 pinfall total. The top 30 will bowl two more seven-game qualifying rounds Friday to
narrow the field to the 16 players for Saturday’s Eliminator Rounds.
U.S. Open champ O’Neill four pins behind heading into Thursday night’s second round
After battling injuries the past three seasons, Michael Haugen Jr. (l.) charged into the first round lead in the Etonic Don Johnson Eliminator Thursday at Sequoia Pro Bowl. Haugen averaged 247.43 for seven games to take a four-pin lead over 2010 U.S. Open champion Bill O’Neill (r.). The 43-year-old two-time Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour title winner posted a seven-game total of 1,732 pins in his bid for his first title since winning the 2008 PBA Tournament of Champions.
Liz Johnson advances to face men's field for the ninth time since 2004
2006-07 Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour Rookie of the Year Billy Oatman (l.) led a field of nine players who advanced out of the PBA Tour Qualifying Round Tuesday and will join the field of 64 for the Etonic Don Johnson Eliminator which gets underway Thursday at Sequoia Pro Bowl. Liz Johnson (r.), Cheektowaga, N.Y., advanced for the ninth time out of the TQR into the tournament proper since the PBA opened its membership to women in 2004.Â
Free online PBA Bracket Battle offers fans a chance to pick the winners
PBA fans will have an opportunity to play a new PBA Bracket Battle, bowling's version of "March Madness," during the Go RVing Match Play Championship March 17-21 in Norwich, Conn. Borrowing from the same tradition millions of Americans follow in filling out their annual NCAA basketball brackets in March, the PBA is creating its own 64-player "pick the winners" contest that will allow bowling fans to try to pick winners of matches from start to finish. It's free to enter and there will be prizes to win.
Former PBA Rookie of the Year dethrons defending champion Scroggins
Bill O'Neill (l.) of Southampton, Pa., who earned a "can't miss" tag after his 2005-06 Professional Bowlers Association Rookie of the Year season, cruised past defending champion Mike Scroggins (r.) of Amarillo, Texas, 267-207, to win his first major title in the 67th Lumber Liquidators U.S. Open at Woodland Bowl Sunday. Along with his title, O'Neill earned $60,000 and a three-year PBA Tour exemption. Scroggins was consoled with $30,000.
Jason Couch jumps from seventh to fourth in position round
Defending champion Mike Scroggins (l.) methodically worked his way through the field Saturday, rolling a key 300 game on the way to clinching the top qualifying position for Sunday's finals in the 67th Lumber Liquidators U.S. Open at Woodland Bowl. Jason Couch (r.) bowled the biggest 214 game of his life in a pressured-packed final position round match to join Scroggins, Bill O'Neill and Tommy Jones in the Sunday's finals live on ESPN at 12:30 p.m. Eastern.Â
Tommy Jones (l.) overtook Australia's Jason Belmonte (r.) and Bill O'Neill to take the lead in the 67th Lumber Liquidators U.S. Open heading into Saturday night's final eight games of match play at Woodland Bowl. Jones, the 2006 U.S. Open champion, won seven of his eight matches Saturday afternoon to jump from third place into a 98-pin lead over O'Neill and a 136-pin margin over fifth-round leader Belmonte.
Australian two-hander player clings to 27–pin lead after first match play round
Jason Belmonte (l.), the two-hander from Down-under barely held onto the lead after the opening round of match play in the 67th Lumber Liquidators U.S. Open at Woodland Bowl Friday, fending off challengers Bill O'Neill (r.) of Southampton, Pa., and Tommy Jones of Simpsonville, S.C. Belmonte, who led by 178 pins heading into Friday's competition, finished the day with a 5-3 match play record, 7,871 total pins for 35 games and a 27-pin edge over O'Neill.
Four-time U.S. Open champ Pete Weber wins one-game roll-off to advance
Australia's Jason Belmonte (l.) slowed his torrid scoring pace, but still led the field of 24 top qualifiers into the match play portion of the 67th Lumber Liquidators U.S. Open. Belmonte finished the final qualifying round with a 27-game total of 6,051 pins, an overall average of 224.1, and held an 87-pin lead over Colombia's Andres Gomez (r.). The top 24 players after 27 qualifying games will begin the first of three eight-game match play rounds Friday night.
Two-handed star makes difficult scoring conditions look easy in Indianapolis
Jason Belmonte (l.), Australia’s two-handed star, made one of the most difficult scoring conditions in bowling look easy Thursday as he raced into the third round lead in the 67th Lumber Liquidators U.S. Open at Woodland Bowl. Belmonte, who sat in sixth place after the first 12 qualifying games, averaged a blistering 248.33 for his six qualifying games Thursday to finish with an 18-game total of 4,117 pins and a 178-pin lead over Dave Beres of Waukesha, Wis. The top 88 in the field of 352 advance to a nine-game cashers’ round Friday morning.
Upsets are no surprise when "March Madness" sweeps the nation, but the NCAA basketball realm has never seen anything like the parade of upsets that hit the PBA Go RVing Match Play Championship Thursday and Friday at Norwich Bowling and Entertainment Center. Not a single player seeded among the top 20 made the show as No. 21 seed Patrick Allen (l.), No. 27 Brian Kretzer (r.), No. 50 Doug Kent, and No. 57 Ryan Ciminelli advanced to the finals on Sunday.
Top-seeded Walter Ray Williams Jr. (l.), defending champion Chris Barnes and reigning Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour Player of the Year Wes Malott were upset victims as the Go RVing Match Play Championship got underway Thursday at Norwich Bowling and Entertainment Center. Among the top four seeds in the PBA Tour's version of "March Madness," only No. 2 Bill O'Neill (right) of Southampton, Pa., survived the opening round.
Ryan Ciminelli (pictured left) of Cheektowaga, N.Y., led a field eight players who advanced out of the Professional Bowlers Association’s Tour Qualifying Round Wednesday and completed the field of 64 for the Go RVing Match Play Championship which gets underway Thursday at Norwich Bowling and Entertainment Center. Ciminelli, who has already advanced to the television finals three times during the 2009-10 Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour season, averaged 226.57 to finish the seven-game qualifying round with a 1,586 pinfall total.
Over the past few weeks, the intensity and desire that carried Mark Roth to 34 PBA Tour titles has started to return. The 58-year-old hall of famer has been working harder than he has in years, trying to get ready for his next tournament. But when Mark Roth makes his appearance at the GEICO Mark Roth Plastic Ball Championship at AMF Babylon Lanes in West Babylon, N.Y., March 24-28, it will be dramatically different than any he has ever made before. He will arrive at the Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour event named in his honor in a wheelchair.
What if the PGA Tour required players to use persimmon woods or the USTA required its players to use wood-framed tennis rackets instead of today's equipment that incorporates high-tech titanium and graphite technology? The PBA GEICO Mark Roth Plastic Ball Championship March 24-28 at AMF Babylon Lanes in West Babylon, N.Y., is the one event on the Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour that turns back the clock on bowling ball technology so that players will have less reliance on today's high-powered equipment.
Let the games begin: the PBA's first "PBA Bracket Battle" is online and ready to go, giving bowling fans an opportunity to pick all of the winners in the Go RVing Match Play Championship which gets underway Wednesday, March 17, at Norwich Bowling and Entertainment Center in Norwich, Conn. The PBA Bracket Battle will seed the top 58 PBA Tour players and 8 players who emerge from the Tour Qualifying Round on March 17 in a 64-player single-elimination bracket competition. 
Ohio native Brian Kretzer (l.) will take on a diverse field in the PBA Etonic Don Johnson Eliminator finals
at Sequoia Pro Bowl in Columbus, Ohio, Sunday, including reigning PBA
Player of the Year Wes Malott, U.S. Open runner-up Mike Scroggins and Finland's two-handed star, Osku Palermaa (r.). The finals will air at 12:30 p.m. Eastern on ESPN. The four emerged as survivors
of three rounds of elimination games by dominating their respective
four-player groups.
Sean Rash (l.) of Wichita, Kan., charged out of sixth place to earn the top seeding position for Eliminator Rounds in the Professional Bowlers Association's Etonic Don Johnson Eliminator at Sequoia Pro Bowl Friday, averaging 229.5 over 28 qualifying games including a 300 game. Rash topped the field of 30 with a total of 6,426 pins, holding off Tommy Jones (r.) of Simpsonville, S.C., for the top qualifying position by 14 pins. Jones had a 6,412 total.
Third-year touring player Steve Harman (l.) jumped from 14th place into the lead in the Etonic Don Johnson Eliminator Thursday, averaging 240.86 over 14 qualifying games to take a 45–pin lead over first-round leader Michael Haugen Jr. (r.). Harman averaged 255 during the second round, finishing with a 3,372 pinfall total. The top 30 will bowl two more seven-game qualifying rounds Friday to
narrow the field to the 16 players for Saturday’s Eliminator Rounds.
2006-07 Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour Rookie of the Year Billy Oatman (l.) led a field of nine players who advanced out of the PBA Tour Qualifying Round Tuesday and will join the field of 64 for the Etonic Don Johnson Eliminator which gets underway Thursday at Sequoia Pro Bowl. Liz Johnson (r.), Cheektowaga, N.Y., advanced for the ninth time out of the TQR into the tournament proper since the PBA opened its membership to women in 2004. 
Defending champion Mike Scroggins (l.) methodically worked his way through the field Saturday, rolling a key 300 game on the way to clinching the top qualifying position for Sunday's finals in the 67th Lumber Liquidators U.S. Open at Woodland Bowl. Jason Couch (r.) bowled the biggest 214 game of his life in a pressured-packed final position round match to join Scroggins, Bill O'Neill and Tommy Jones in the Sunday's finals live on ESPN at 12:30 p.m. Eastern. 
ommy Jones (l.) overtook Australia's Jason Belmonte (r.) and Bill O'Neill to take the lead in the 67th Lumber Liquidators U.S. Open heading into Saturday night's final eight games of match play at Woodland Bowl. Jones, the 2006 U.S. Open champion, won seven of his eight matches Saturday afternoon to jump from third place into a 98-pin lead over O'Neill and a 136-pin margin over fifth-round leader Belmonte.
Australia's Jason Belmonte (l.) slowed his torrid scoring pace, but still led the field of 24 top qualifiers into the match play portion of the 67th Lumber Liquidators U.S. Open. Belmonte finished the final qualifying round with a 27-game total of 6,051 pins, an overall average of 224.1, and held an 87-pin lead over Colombia's Andres Gomez (r.). The top 24 players after 27 qualifying games will begin the first of three eight-game match play rounds Friday night. 
Jason Belmonte (l.), Australia’s two-handed star, made one of the most difficult scoring conditions in bowling look easy Thursday as he raced into the third round lead in the 67th Lumber Liquidators U.S. Open at Woodland Bowl. Belmonte, who sat in sixth place after the first 12 qualifying games, averaged a blistering 248.33 for his six qualifying games Thursday to finish with an 18-game total of 4,117 pins and a 178-pin lead over Dave Beres of Waukesha, Wis. The top 88 in the field of 352 advance to a nine-game cashers’ round Friday morning. 