Four-time Professional Bowlers Association title winner Ryan Shafer (pictured left) of Horseheads, N.Y., earned another chance to win his first major title after advancing to the finals of the PBA World Championship in the Billy Hardwick Division finals that aired on tape delay on Sunday on ESPN.

The finals of the PBA's first "major" tournament of the 2011-12 Tour have been contested November 20 on a pair of lanes specially installed in an exhibit hall at South Point Hotel and Casino in suburban Las Vegas.

The Hardwick Division was the second of four eliminator round telecasts that trimmed the PBA World Championship field of 16 finalists down to four for a Sunday, Jan. 15, tape-delay telecast at 1 p.m. ET for the $50,000 first prize, the Earl Anthony Trophy and the PBA Tour's first major title of the 2011-12 season.

Shafer, who has made a PBA-record 12 championship round appearances in major tournaments without a title, defeated Andres Gomez (right) of Colombia, 191-177, to win the second of four divisional finals, which consisted of three one-game rounds, starting with four players, and eliminating the lowest-scoring player after each game.

Shafer will join Finland's Osku Palermaa, winner of the Don Carter Division, and the winners of the Johnny Petraglia and Mike Aulby Division finals in the World Championship finals that will air on tape delay on ESPN on Sunday, Jan. 15, at 1 p.m. ET.

Shafer, who is celebrating his 25th season as a PBA Tour competitor, established command in the opening game, recovering from a missed split conversion in the second frame to reel off nine consecutive strikes for a 267 game.

Venezuela's Ildemaro Ruiz (left), making his PBA television debut, was second with a 258 followed by Gomez with a 222. The group's top qualifier, 2009 PBA World Champion Tom Smallwood (right) of Saginaw, Mich., was eliminated with a 194 game after failing to convert 4-7-9 and 4-9 splits in the sixth and eighth frames, respectively.

Gomez led the group in game two, starting with five strikes on his way to a 219. Shafer was next with a 207 and Ruiz was eliminated after posting a 180.

Shafer (right) jumped out to a 29-pin lead after four frames in the final game, but failed to convert the 3-6-10 in the fifth frame and the 3-6-7-10 split in the ninth. While Gomez (left) had his own problems as the lane conditions deteriorated, he still had a chance to win after Shafer opened in the ninth frame. Needing two strikes and eight pins in the 10th frame to lock Shafer out, he left the 2-8-10 split. Needing only seven pins to clinch the win, Shafer struck on his next shot.

"I threw that shot in the ninth frame as good as I could possibly throw it," Shafer said, "but I just didn't move far enough right.

"I thought I had blown another one. I've had some bad breaks in majors when I bowled pretty good and guys I bowled against bowled better, but I've blown a few, too. You just don't want to make that your history, your reputation.

"I usually don't get excited and show up my opponent," Shafer said of his emotional display after his 10th frame strike, "but that one meant a lot to me. Andres is a great guy, and he made a great shot in the 10th, too. I know he can make a great shot when he needs to make one, but it just didn't work. I definitely got a second life, but I got to the finals and now we'll see what happens next."

The Hardwick finals were conducted on the PBA's Scorpion lane condition, selected by Smallwood as the highest qualifier in the Hardwick field.

The Johnny Petraglia Division finalists will be the next group to bowl, on New Year's Day at 1 p.m. ET on ESPN. Sean Rash of Montgomery, Ill., who led all World Championship qualifiers by 296 pins, has selected the Scorpion pattern as the lane condition for this elimination round.

Other Petraglia Division players will be PBA Hall of Famer Pete Weber of St. Ann, Mo.; left-hander Ryan Ciminelli of Cheektowaga, N.Y., and Nathan Bohr of Wichita, Kan.

Weber, who has won 35 PBA Tour titles including eight majors, has won more titles and more majors than the rest of the 15 World Championship finalists combined (17 titles, two majors). Bohr, the only non-titlist in the group, will make his PBA television debut.

The Petraglia Division finals will air on Sunday, New Year's Day, at 1 p.m. ET on ESPN. The Mike Aulby Division finals, completing the preliminary elimination rounds, will air on Jan. 8, also at 1 p.m. ET.

Special pre-game shows will be webcast beginning on the Wednesday preceding the ESPN finals on pba.com's Xtra Frame and a post-game Xtra Frame interview with the winners will immediately follow the Sunday telecasts.

 

PBA World Championship - Billy Hardwick Division Finals

South Point Exhibition Hall, Las Vegas, Nov. 20, 2011 (aired on tape delay on Dec. 18, 2011)

Round One (lowest score eliminated):
Ryan Shafer, Horseheads, N.Y., 267; Ildemaro Ruiz, Venezuela, 258; Andres Gomez, Colombia, 222; Tom Smallwood, Saginaw, Mich., 194 ($4,000).

Round Two (lowest score eliminated):
Gomez 219, Shafer 207, Ruiz 180 ($4,500).

Championship (winner advances to PBA World Championship finals):
Shafer def. Gomez ($5,000), 191-177.

 

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