Monacelli, Newell, Barta advance through the final qualifying squad at WTBA International Open

    02/05/12

    2012 World Bowling Tour #3

    Page, Zuniga take last places to advance with 1370 (228.33); roll-off to break a tie for 8th place between Aguiar, McNiel to start the finals on Super Bowl Sunday at Noon Pacific

    201112PBAAmletoMonacelli.jpg2009PBARPIScottNewell.jpgPBA Hall of Famer Amleto Monacelli (pictured left) of Venezuela, Scott Newell (right) of Deland, Fla. and Adam Barta of Girard, Ohio, saved their best for the 19th and last qualifying squad to advance to the finals on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 5, starting at Noon Pacific (3 p.m. EST / 9 p.m. CET).

    The 19-time PBA champion and two-time PBA Player of the Year (1989 and 1999) had games of 267, 222, 219, 246, 238 and 207 on the WTBA Atlanta oil pattern to jump from 59th to 20th place with 1399 six-game total and an average of 233.17.

    Newell closed out his series with 258 and 243 to jump from 67th to 29th place with 1386. Barta, who was just outside the cut in 44th place with 1361 improved by 24 pins to tie four-time PBA champion Ryan Shafer of Horseheads, N.Y., for 39th place with 1385.

    201112PBAEugeneMcCune.jpg201112PBAMikeFagan.jpgThree-time PBA champion Eugene McCune (left) of Munster, Ind., led the field of 132 players - 123 men and nine women - with 1505 total and an average of 250.83.

    USBC Masters champion Mike Fagan (right) of Grapevine, Texas, remained in second place with 1503 and was followed by former PBA exempt player DJ Archer of Pt Arthur, Texas, in third place with 1485.

    PBA and USBC Hall of Famer Pete Weber of St Ann, Mo., who has 35 career PBA Tour titles and record 46 PBA Regional titles, was fourth with 1450. Reigning PBA Player of the Year and current World Bowling Tour men's point ranking leader Mika Koivuniemi of Finland, a nine-time PBA champion and six-time European Bowling Tour champion, was fifth with 1448.

    2012IntlOpenShannonPluhowsky.jpg2011USWOLizJohnson.jpgPlaces six and seven belonged to Lee Vanderhoef of Greenville, S.C. and Mike Danielson of Portland, Ore. with 1443 and 1431, respectively.

    Alex Aguiar, of N Dartmouth, Md., and 2010 USBC Open Championships All Events winner Matt McNiel of Prior Lake, Minn., are tied for eighth place at 1429. They will break the tie in a one-game roll-off at the beginning of the finals as the No. 8 seed will receive two byes for the finals, while the No. 9 seed will only get one.

    Four-time Women's World Champion Shannon Pluhowsky (above left) of Dayton, Ohio (T11th; 1421), and fellow Team USA member Liz Johnson (above right) of Cheektowaga, N.Y. (1416), a two´-time World Champion, were the only women who survived the first cut.

    201112PBARhinoPage.jpg2012IntlOpenDaveWodka.jpgWes Malott of Pflugerville, Texas, who owns seven PBA Tour titles including three in the 2008-09 season on his way to PBA Player of the Year honors, hit the cutoff number for 16th place with 1412 (235.33). Qualifiers 9-16 will bypass the first round of the finals.

    Three-time PBA champion Rhino Page (left) of Clovis, Calif., and J. C. Zuniga of Tulsa, Okla., took the last places to advance to the finals as they were tied for 42nd place at 1370 or an average of 228.33.

    44th place was reserved for one-time PBA champion Dave Wodka (above right) of Henderson, Nev., qualified for the finals by virtue of winning Squad 5.

    35 players including seven PBA champions entered the one-game Desperado Squad to bowl for the remaining four spots in the finals. Two-time PBA champion Lonnie Waliczek of Wichita, Kan., had the front nine and finished with 289 to win the Desperado Squad.

    11 PBA Regional titlist Nathan Bohr, also of Wichita, Kan., was second with 268 and was followed by PBA champion Brad Angelo of Lockport, N.Y., in third place with 259. Rounding out the top 4 was Rob Gotchall of Lincoln, Neb., with 257.

    2012LVInternationalOpenLogo2_small.jpg The WTBA International Open, the first World Tenpin Bowling Association owned and operated event, is the third stop of the 2012 World Bowling Tour and runs concurrently with The International Mini from Jan. 28 through Feb. 5.

    BowlingdigitalBanner.gif Bowlingdigital covers the WTBA International Open and The International Mini live from Sunset Station's Strike Zone Bowling Center in Las Vegas all the way through to the finals on Feb. 5.

    The third event, the USBC Masters, concluded on Sunday morning. Jan. 29. All three events, which offer a total combined prize fund of approximately $500,000, have a special additional prize fund of $30,000 available to those who compete in all three events.

    The WTBA International Open featured a European-style re-entry format and drew 132 players - 123 men and nine women. 36 out of 50 exempt players of the 2011-12 PBA Tour participated in the WTBA Open including five PBA Hall of Famers eight PBA Player of the Year and ten PBA Rookie of the Year.

    After the conclusion of the qualifying, total 48 players qualified for the finals on Sunday, February 5 starting at Noon - the top 44 qualifiers including the squad leaders from all Monday and Tuesday squads along with four bowlers from the one-game Desperado Squad. Women receive six pins handicap per game.

    Qualifiers in positions 1-8 got two byes, while qualifiers 9-16 bypass the first round of the finals. All qualifying pinfall was dropped.

    The remaining 32 players (qualifiers 17-48) bowl 6 games scratch across 12 lanes with the top 16 based on total pinfall advancing to Round 2. The top 16 high qualifiers from Round 1 plus qualifiers 9-16 bowl another six-game block. The top 8 meet the top 8 qualifiers in Round 3.

    Those 16 bowl a final six-game block to cut to the top 3, who will advance to the stepladder finals to be held in St. Maximin near Paris, France, on March 25, 2012.

    The three finalists earn an expenses-paid trip to suburban Paris for the stepladder finals, which will be held in conjunction with the Brunswick Euro Challenge, the seventh stop of the 2012 World Bowling Tour, which takes place at Plaza Saint Maximin from March 16-25. Bowlingdigital will cover the BEC live from Plaza Bowl.

    The WTBA International Open features a guaranteed prize fund of $100,000 with $20,000 going to the winner and $10,000 and $8,000 to the second and third place finishers, resp.

     


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    Standings after Qualifying and Desperado Squad


    The top 44 including the leaders of squad 5-8 and the top 4 of the Desperado Squad (places 45-48) advance to the finals. Qualifiers 1-8 get two byes, qualifiers 9-16 get one bye. * indicates leaders of squads 5-8 (there was tie in Squad 7)

     

    300 Games (2) - Johnathan Bower, Jason Sterner

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