Australia's two-handed star, Jason Belmonte (pictured left), leads the field of four players in Sunday's Mike Aulby Division finals of the PBA World Championship which will air in high-definition on ESPN Sunday, Jan. 8, at 1 p.m. ET.

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 Aulby Division is the fourth and last eliminator round telecast that will trim the PBA World Championship field of 16 finalists down to four for a Sunday, Jan. 15, TV show for the $50,000 first prize, the Earl Anthony Trophy and the PBA Tour's first major title of the 2011-12 season.

The Aulby Division winner will join Finland's Osku Palermaa, who won the Don Carter Division berth; Ryan Shafer of Horseheads, N.Y., who captured the Billy Hardwick Division title; and Sean Rash of Montgomery, Ill., who topped the Johnny Petraglia Division in the final eliminator round.

Belmonte (left), 28, has won his first PBA title in the 2009 Bowling Foundation Long Island Classic that propelled him to 2009-09 PBA Rookie of the Year honors. During the 40-game qualifying portion of the PBA World Championship, he finished third behind Rash and Tom Smallwood of Saginaw, Mich., averaging 226.18 for five rounds on five different lane conditions.

Belmo will be joined in the Aulby eliminator round by Brian Kretzer (right) of Dayton, Ohio; rookie Josh Blanchard of Gilbert, Ariz., and Mike Fagan of Dallas.

Kretzer won his only PBA Tour title in the 2010 Go RVing Match Play Championship. Fagan (below left) is a two-time title winner. His most recent victory was in the 2010 One A Day Dick Weber Open.

Blanchard (right), a former Wichita State University star, joined the PBA in October and won a PBA West Region Non-Champions tournament in Reno, Nev., in his first appearance as a member. The telecast will be his PBA Tour television debut.

In the Aulby eliminator event, all four players will bowl a one-game match with the lowest scoring player eliminated. The three survivors will bowl a second game, again with the low man knocked out. The two finalists will bowl a final game to determine who will advance to the World Championship finals.

The four World Championship divisional finals have been named for PBA superstars who excelled in the event during their careers. The championship trophy is named in honor of Earl Anthony, the only player ever to win the event six times.

A preview of the Aulby Division finals will be webcast on pba.com's Xtra Frame beginning Wednesday, and a post-game show will be presented on Xtra Frame immediately following Sunday's ESPN finals.

 

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