The Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) announced today the return of the PBA Skills Challenge, a special event which features PBA stars attempting difficult spare conversions and trick shots.

The 2008 PBA Skills Challenge will be taped following the live-ESPN televised finals of the 2008 Pepsi Championship at Thunder-Alley in Omaha, Neb., Sunday, Feb. 17, and after the finals of the 2008 Go RVing Classic at Norwich Bowling and Entertainment Center in Norwich, Conn., Sunday, March 9.

The event will air as two back-to-back half-hour shows on ESPN on Sunday, April 13 from 3-3:30 p.m. EST and 3:30-4 p.m.

Eight bowlers – Chris Barnes, Parker Bohn III, Norm Duke, Doug Kent, Mike Machuga, Sean Rash, Robert Smith and Walter Ray Williams Jr. – will battle it out for the $10,000 top-prize. Former champions in the field include Barnes, Duke and Kent.

The first round features all eight bowlers attempting a series of 10 shots from a pre-determined list. The list starts with a strike attempt and ends with a 10th-frame equivalent in which bowlers have the opportunity to strike three consecutives times with increasing points for each strike. If the bowler does not strike on the first shot he does not continue with further strike attempts.

In between the first and 10th frames, bowlers will attempt a range of increasingly difficult spare attempts. Each player will have two attempts at each spare conversion, with each shot having a point value pre-determined based on the difficulty of the attempt. Should a player complete the conversion on the first attempt, he will be awarded full points. Should he convert the attempt on his second shot, he will be awarded half the value of the shot. As the only left-handed bowler in the event, Bohn will attempt the left-handed equivalent of each attempt.

A perfect score in the elimination round – with four strikes and eight spare conversions all on the first try – is 300. The players with the four highest point totals will advance to the semifinals. Should a tie occur, a randomly selected spare-attempt will be used for the tiebreaker.

The final four players will be placed into a bracket, based on point totals from the elimination round, for head-to-head semifinal matches. From there, the event takes on a similar format as previous PBA Skills Challenge events, with bowlers creating individual shot lists, with "trick shots" allowed, such as Barnes' infamous "Flying Eagle" shot and Duke's strike-from-a-towel shot.

Bowlers will then be required to alternate between their shot list and the same list of spare attempts created for the elimination round with their opponent having to match successful attempts. Should a bowler fail to match the shot, their opponent will receive a strike. The first bowler to earn three strikes advances.

Barnes won the inaugural PBA Skills Challenge in 2004-05 while Duke won the 2005-06 PBA Skills Challenge. Last season, Kent and Danny Wiseman teamed up to win the 2006-07 event, which featured a doubles format.

See below for a complete list of shot attempts.