Bryanna Caldwell, Cassandra Leuthold achieve perfection in the semi-finals
Tish Johnson of Colorado Springs, CO won the first National Women's Bowling Alliance (WBA) event hosted by the Amateur Bowlers Tour (ABT) Winter Nationals at South Point Lanes in Las Vegas by topping 90 entries of the best women bowlers in the U.S. for a $10,000 payday. Johnson, a 25-time PWBA champion and two-time Player of the Year, averaged 247 in the semi-finals and match play finals with a record of 3-1 for the title.
Mike Fagan (pictured) of Dallas, Texas, has been unanimously named the January 2012 Kegel Bowler of the Month by the Bowling Writers Association of America. Fagan won the Alka Seltzer Plus Liquid Gels United States Bowling Congress Masters defeating top-seeded Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, 246-213. After no strikes and a 30-pin deficit in the first four frames, Fagan threw seven straight strikes to wrap up his third career and first major PBA title.
Darrin Remiticado, Willie Wells finish second and third at Sunset Station's Strike Zone Bowling Center
PBA exempt player Dan MacLelland (center), a native Canadian who lives in Saginaw, Mich., won The International Mini Sunday morning, Feb. 5, at Sunset Station's Strike Zone Bowling Center in Las Vegas, Nev., and received the $30,000 first-place check. In the one-game championship match, the Canadian Bowler of the Year 2011 defeated Bronze Division champion Darrin Remiticado of Stockton, Calif.,, and Silver Division champion Willie Wells of Herriman, Utah, 203-187-182.Â
Mike Machuga hits jackpot at Sunset Station's Strike Zone Bowling Center
Former PBA exempt player D.J. Archer (l.) of Pt Arthur, Texas averaged over 240 in the qualifying of the USBC Masters, WTBA International Open and The International Mini en route to win $10,000 first prize in All Events with 4813 20-game total. Two-time PBA champion Mike Machuga (r.) of Erie, Pa., matched Archer's earnings when hit the jackpot at one of the Keno machines in Strike Zone Bowling Center.
Finals start at 8 a.m. at Sunset Station's Strike Zone Bowling Center in Las Vegas
A total of 56 players advanced to the divisional finals of the 2012 International Mini starting at 8 a.m. Pacific on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 5. Alex Aguiar of N. Dartmouth, Mass. set the tone in Saturday's qualifying in the Gold Division with 993 four game total. Julio Blancas of Mexico City, Mexico rolled the highest series of the day in the Silver Division (1000) and Courtney Harris of New York City totaled 871 including handicap to lead the Bronze Division. .
Total 42 players have qualified for the finals Sunday, Feb. 5 starting at 8 a.m. Pacific
A total of 14 players - seven in the Gold Division including five PBA champion (Chris Barnes, lef,t, and Sean Rash, right), four in the Silver Division and three in the Bronze Division - advanced to the divisional finals of the 2012 International Mini Friday at Sunset Station's Strike Zone Bowling Center in Las Vegas. With the final qualifying day to go, 42 players have qualified for the finals on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 5 starting at 8 a.m. Pacific.
Total 28 players have qualified for the finals Sunday, Feb. 5 starting at 8 a.m. Pacific
Another nine players qualified for the divisional finals of the 2012 International Mini through Thursday's qualifying at Sunset Station's Strike Zone Bowling Center in Las Vegas, which brought the total number of finalists to 28. Among the players, who advanced from te to the finals on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 5 starting at 8 a.m. Pacific were Candian Bowler of the Year Dan MacLelland (l.), and four-time PBA champion Ryan Shafer (r.) of Horseheads, N.Y.
Total 19 players have qualified for the finals Sunday, Feb. 5 starting at 8 a.m. Pacific
Reigning PBA Player of the Year Mika Koivuniemi (l.) rolled the second 300 game of The International Mini Wednesday at Sunset Station's Strike Zone Bowling Center in Las Vegas en route to advance to the finals of the Gold Division on Super Bowl Sunday. Also advancing from to the Gold Division finals were 13-time PBA champion Tommy Jones (r.) of Simpsonville, S.C. and PBA Regional champion PJ Haggerty of Roseville, Calif.
Argentina's Lucas Legnani wins $1,000 in Tuesday's six-game Sweeper
Willie Wells of Herriman, Utah, rolled the first 300 game of The International Mini in Tuesday's qualifying en route to advance to the finals of the Silver Division on Feb. 5 at 8 a.m. Pacific. Also advancing to the finals was Sara Rash of Montgomery, Ill., in the Bronze Division and national team members Lucas Legnani (l.) of Argentina and Martin Larsen (r.) of Sweden in the Gold Division. Legnani went on to win the second six-game sweeper worth $1,000.
Shannon Pluhowsky wins $1,000 in Monday's six-game Sweeper
PBA champions Rhino Page (l.) and Jason Couch (r.) led the Gold Division of The International Mini in Monday's qualifying at Sunset Station's Strike Zone Bowling Center in Las Vegas.
Page posted the high four-game series of all players with 1015, a 253.75 average, to advance to the finals on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 5 starting at 8 a.m. Pacific. Shannon Pluhowsky rolled a 1370 series to win the first six-game sweeper worth $1,000.
By Hazel McLeary, CTF Public Relations Coordinator
The CTF has announced the 2011 Bowlers of the Year awards. Caroline Lagrange (l.), Montreal, Quebec and Dan MacLelland (r.), Windsor, Ontario are the adult awardees. In the Senior division, Debbie Ip, Edmonton, Alberta and Jack Brace, Toronto, ON are the winners. Youth Bowlers of the Year are Zachary Wilkins, Barrie, ON and Andreanne Blouin, Charlesbourgh, Quebec. This is Lagrange's sixth women Bowler of the Year award.
Two players in each division earn berths into the finals on Super Bowl Sunday
PBA champions Mike Scroggins (pictured left) and Scott Norton (right) were among the six players who advanced to the finals of The International Mini on the first two days of the qualifying currently underway at Strike Zone Bowling Center inside Sunset Station Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Scroggins toppled 1058 pins, an average of 264.50 over four games, to lead the tournament's Gold Division on Saturday. Norton qualified in the same division on Sunday with 963.
The Canadian Tenpin Federation has named Kerrie Ryan-Ciach, Mississauga, Ontario and Jack Brace, Hampton, ON recipient of the 2011 Hall of Fame awards. Ryan-Ciach (pictured), the 2002 Bowling World Cup winner, is a multi-year member of Team Canada and has earned numerous medals at Pan American and World Championships. In 2003. Brace was a member of Team Canada Men's team from 1988-1994 and a member of the Senior Team in 2011 and has earned many medals.
The Bowling Writers Association of America has elected Ron Mohr (l.), Eagle River, Alaska, and Paula Vidad (r.), Sun City, Calif. as Senior Bowlers of the Year for 2011. Mohr won four PBA Senior titles, including the Senior US Open and finished in the top five in all but one of the 10 events in which he competed. Vidad (right) was the 2011 Senior Queens champion and had an outstanding showing in the USBC Women's Championships.
Jason Belmonte of Orange, New South Wales, Australia, has been named the December 2011 Kegel Bowler of the Month by the Bowling Writers Association of America. Belmonte captured the men's 47th QubicaAMF World Cup in Johannesburg, South Africa, defeating top-seeded Tommy Jones, United States, in the best-of-three final, 2-1. Perhaps the most well-known of the two-handed bowlers in the world, his
lengthy list of worldwide tournament wins did not include the QubicaAMF
World Cup.
Sunset Station's Strike Zone Bowling Center in Las Vegas, Nev. (Jan. 28 - Feb. 5, 2012)
Pinacle Events, organizer of "The International Mini" has announced that Kegel will be putting down the WTBA "Athens" pattern for the upcoming event. The tournament, immediately following the USBC Masters and running concurrently with the WTBA International Open, is a scratch and handicap competition from January 28 through February 5. All three events will hosted by Sunset Station Strike Zone bowling center in suburban Las Vegas.
PBA champion Andres Gomez (l.) of Bogota and collegiate standout Maria Rodriguez (r.) of Tolima won the 2012 Colombian Team Trials which concluded Dec. 17 at Andres Escobar Bowling Complex in Medellin. All players - men and women - had to bowl a total of 48 games, eight games per day on six different World Tenpin Bowling Association oil patterns. The top six men and the top six women earned automatic berths into Team Colombia.
Jason Belmonte (pictured) of New South Wales, Australia, has been named the November 2011 Kegel Bowler of the Month by the Bowling Writers Association of America. The two-hander from Down Under showed the best performance by any bowler in the three-year history of the Professional Bowlers Association's World Series of Bowling (WSOB) in Las Vegas. In the span of 16 days, the 2011 Bowling ESPY award winner captured his second, third, and fourth PBA titles.
Inaugural event features two different age divisions for both men and women
Las Vegas will host a new tournament for men and women senior bowlers. The 2012 International Senior Open will be staged inside the beautiful Red Rock Lanes, a 60-laner within Red Rock Casino, Resort and Spa from Dec. 2-8. The inaugural event features Singles, Doubles, Team and Masters competition in four divisions - Men 50-60, Men 61 and older, Women 45-55 and Women 56 and older.
Long time BWAA member Gudrun Gerda (GG) Wright, 69, of Killeen, Texas passed away Monday afternoon, November 21. After many years of battling various complications after surgery to remove a brain tumor, GG was an accomplished photographer who often accompanied her writer husband Don to BWAA and other bowling functions and events. In her native Germany before marrying American G.I. Don and moving to the United States, she was a world-class swimmer, winning the German Championships with her Mainz Swim Team in 1958.
Tish Johnson of Colorado Springs, CO won the first National Women's Bowling Alliance (WBA) event hosted by the Amateur Bowlers Tour (ABT) Winter Nationals at South Point Lanes in Las Vegas by topping 90 entries of the best women bowlers in the U.S. for a $10,000 payday. Johnson, a 25-time PWBA champion and two-time Player of the Year, averaged 247 in the semi-finals and match play finals with a record of 3-1 for the title.
PBA exempt player Dan MacLelland (center), a native Canadian who lives in Saginaw, Mich., won The International Mini Sunday morning, Feb. 5, at Sunset Station's Strike Zone Bowling Center in Las Vegas, Nev., and received the $30,000 first-place check. In the one-game championship match, the Canadian Bowler of the Year 2011 defeated Bronze Division champion Darrin Remiticado of Stockton, Calif.,, and Silver Division champion Willie Wells of Herriman, Utah, 203-187-182. 
Former PBA exempt player D.J. Archer (l.) of Pt Arthur, Texas averaged over 240 in the qualifying of the USBC Masters, WTBA International Open and The International Mini en route to win $10,000 first prize in All Events with 4813 20-game total. Two-time PBA champion Mike Machuga (r.) of Erie, Pa., matched Archer's earnings when hit the jackpot at one of the Keno machines in Strike Zone Bowling Center.
A total of 56 players advanced to the divisional finals of the 2012 International Mini starting at 8 a.m. Pacific on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 5. Alex Aguiar of N. Dartmouth, Mass. set the tone in Saturday's qualifying in the Gold Division with 993 four game total. Julio Blancas of Mexico City, Mexico rolled the highest series of the day in the Silver Division (1000) and Courtney Harris of New York City totaled 871 including handicap to lead the Bronze Division. . 
A total of 14 players - seven in the Gold Division including five PBA champion (Chris Barnes, lef,t, and Sean Rash, right), four in the Silver Division and three in the Bronze Division - advanced to the divisional finals of the 2012 International Mini Friday at Sunset Station's Strike Zone Bowling Center in Las Vegas. With the final qualifying day to go, 42 players have qualified for the finals on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 5 starting at 8 a.m. Pacific. 
Another nine players qualified for the divisional finals of the 2012 International Mini through Thursday's qualifying at Sunset Station's Strike Zone Bowling Center in Las Vegas, which brought the total number of finalists to 28. Among the players, who advanced from te to the finals on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 5 starting at 8 a.m. Pacific were Candian Bowler of the Year Dan MacLelland (l.), and four-time PBA champion Ryan Shafer (r.) of Horseheads, N.Y.
Reigning PBA Player of the Year Mika Koivuniemi (l.) rolled the second 300 game of The International Mini Wednesday at Sunset Station's Strike Zone Bowling Center in Las Vegas en route to advance to the finals of the Gold Division on Super Bowl Sunday. Also advancing from to the Gold Division finals were 13-time PBA champion Tommy Jones (r.) of Simpsonville, S.C. and PBA Regional champion PJ Haggerty of Roseville, Calif.
Willie Wells of Herriman, Utah, rolled the first 300 game of The International Mini in Tuesday's qualifying en route to advance to the finals of the Silver Division on Feb. 5 at 8 a.m. Pacific. Also advancing to the finals was Sara Rash of Montgomery, Ill., in the Bronze Division and national team members Lucas Legnani (l.) of Argentina and Martin Larsen (r.) of Sweden in the Gold Division. Legnani went on to win the second six-game sweeper worth $1,000. 
PBA champions Rhino Page (l.) and Jason Couch (r.) led the Gold Division of The International Mini in Monday's qualifying at Sunset Station's Strike Zone Bowling Center in Las Vegas.
Page posted the high four-game series of all players with 1015, a 253.75 average, to advance to the finals on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 5 starting at 8 a.m. Pacific. Shannon Pluhowsky rolled a 1370 series to win the first six-game sweeper worth $1,000. 
The CTF has announced the 2011 Bowlers of the Year awards. Caroline Lagrange (l.), Montreal, Quebec and Dan MacLelland (r.), Windsor, Ontario are the adult awardees. In the Senior division, Debbie Ip, Edmonton, Alberta and Jack Brace, Toronto, ON are the winners. Youth Bowlers of the Year are Zachary Wilkins, Barrie, ON and Andreanne Blouin, Charlesbourgh, Quebec. This is Lagrange's sixth women Bowler of the Year award. 
PBA champions Mike Scroggins (pictured left) and Scott Norton (right) were among the six players who advanced to the finals of The International Mini on the first two days of the qualifying currently underway at Strike Zone Bowling Center inside Sunset Station Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Scroggins toppled 1058 pins, an average of 264.50 over four games, to lead the tournament's Gold Division on Saturday. Norton qualified in the same division on Sunday with 963.
The Canadian Tenpin Federation has named Kerrie Ryan-Ciach, Mississauga, Ontario and Jack Brace, Hampton, ON recipient of the 2011 Hall of Fame awards. Ryan-Ciach (pictured), the 2002 Bowling World Cup winner, is a multi-year member of Team Canada and has earned numerous medals at Pan American and World Championships. In 2003. Brace was a member of Team Canada Men's team from 1988-1994 and a member of the Senior Team in 2011 and has earned many medals.
The Bowling Writers Association of America has elected Ron Mohr (l.), Eagle River, Alaska, and Paula Vidad (r.), Sun City, Calif. as Senior Bowlers of the Year for 2011. Mohr won four PBA Senior titles, including the Senior US Open and finished in the top five in all but one of the 10 events in which he competed. Vidad (right) was the 2011 Senior Queens champion and had an outstanding showing in the USBC Women's Championships.
Jason Belmonte of Orange, New South Wales, Australia, has been named the December 2011 Kegel Bowler of the Month by the Bowling Writers Association of America. Belmonte captured the men's 47th QubicaAMF World Cup in Johannesburg, South Africa, defeating top-seeded Tommy Jones, United States, in the best-of-three final, 2-1. Perhaps the most well-known of the two-handed bowlers in the world, his
lengthy list of worldwide tournament wins did not include the QubicaAMF
World Cup.
PBA champion Andres Gomez (l.) of Bogota and collegiate standout Maria Rodriguez (r.) of Tolima won the 2012 Colombian Team Trials which concluded Dec. 17 at Andres Escobar Bowling Complex in Medellin. All players - men and women - had to bowl a total of 48 games, eight games per day on six different World Tenpin Bowling Association oil patterns. The top six men and the top six women earned automatic berths into Team Colombia.
Jason Belmonte (pictured) of New South Wales, Australia, has been named the November 2011 Kegel Bowler of the Month by the Bowling Writers Association of America. The two-hander from Down Under showed the best performance by any bowler in the three-year history of the Professional Bowlers Association's World Series of Bowling (WSOB) in Las Vegas. In the span of 16 days, the 2011 Bowling ESPY award winner captured his second, third, and fourth PBA titles.
Las Vegas will host a new tournament for men and women senior bowlers. The 2012 International Senior Open will be staged inside the beautiful Red Rock Lanes, a 60-laner within Red Rock Casino, Resort and Spa from Dec. 2-8. The inaugural event features Singles, Doubles, Team and Masters competition in four divisions - Men 50-60, Men 61 and older, Women 45-55 and Women 56 and older.
Long time BWAA member Gudrun Gerda (GG) Wright, 69, of Killeen, Texas passed away Monday afternoon, November 21. After many years of battling various complications after surgery to remove a brain tumor, GG was an accomplished photographer who often accompanied her writer husband Don to BWAA and other bowling functions and events. In her native Germany before marrying American G.I. Don and moving to the United States, she was a world-class swimmer, winning the German Championships with her Mainz Swim Team in 1958.