Johnson, Barnes, Williams Jr. to bowl for the WTBA International Open title in Paris

    02/06/12

    2012 World Bowling Tour #3

    Stepladder finals to be held in conjunction with the Brunswick Euro Challenge in March

    Liz Johnson, Chris Barnes and Walter Ray Williams Jr. advanced to the stepladder finals of the WTBA International Open, which will be held in conjunction with the Brunswick Euro Challenge in suburban Paris in March.

    L-R Christer Jonsson, World Tenpin Bowling Association Secretary General; Kevin Dornberger, WTBA and FIQ President; Chris Barnes (No. 2 seed), tournament leader Liz Johnson, Walter Ray Williams Jr. (No. 3 seed) and David Garber, Station Casino Lanes Director of Bowling. Click on the image to enlarge it.

    2012WTBAOpenLizJohnson.jpgJohnson (pictured right) of Cheektowaga, N.Y., a multiple PWBA champion and two´-time WTBA World Champion, led the Round of 16 on Sunday evening at Sunset Station's Strike Zone Bowling Center in Las Vegas to earn the No. 1 seed the finals.

    Johnson, who has won the 2006 Viernheim Open, a major on the European Bowling Tour, had the field-best 1382 pinfall, a 230.33 average, and added six pins handicap each game for 1418 total.

    2012WTBAOpenChrisBarnes.jpgBarnes (left) of Double Oak, Texas, who owns 13 PBA Tour titles including the PBA Triple Crown, was in ninth place heading into the final game. The PBA Player of the Year 2007-08 fired the third 300 game of the tournament to shoot into second place with 1367 (227.83).

    Barnes has won the European Bowling Tour's Vienna Open in 2010 and finished second last year. As a part of the World Bowling Tour, the 2012 Vienna Open winner will be awarded a PBA title. if the champion is a PBA member.

    2012WTBAOpenWalterRayWilliams.jpgPBA and USBC Hall of Famer Williams (right), who owns record 47-time PBA titles plus another 30 PBA Regional titles, was four pins behind Barnes with 1363 (227.17) to take the third and last spot for the finals.

    The inaugural 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.

    A total of 48 players - 46 men and two women - survived the qualifying on the WTBA Atlanta lane conditioning pattern. 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 finals started with a one-game roll-off between Alex Aguiar, of N Dartmouth, Md., and 2010 USBC Open Championships All Events winner Matt McNiel of Prior Lake, Minn., to break the tie for eighth place.

    Aguiar defeated McNiel, 219-188, en route to earn two byes for the finals. McNiel, who was seeded ninth, gets one bye.

    Qualifiers 17 to 48 bowled 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 bowled another six-game block. The top 8 met the top 8 qualifiers in Round 3.

    Those 16 bowled a final six-game block to cut to the top 3, who advanced to the stepladder finals to be held in St. Maximin near Paris, France, in March.

    Johnson, Barnes, and Williams earned expenses-paid trips 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 featured 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.

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

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

    BowlingdigitalBanner.gif Bowlingdigital covered the WTBA International Open and The International Mini live from Sunset Station's Strike Zone Bowling Center in Las Vegas.

     


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    WTBA Open - Final Standings (Places 4-48)


    Players with position, country and earnings

    4. Mika Koivuniemi, Finland, $6.000
    5. Pete Weber, United States, $4.500
    6. Eugene McCune, United States, $3.000
    7. Alex Aguiar, United States, $2.500
    8. Stuart Williams, England, $2.000
    9. Mike Fagan, United States, $1.500
    10. Scott Newell, United States, $1.500
    11. Lee Vanderhoef, United States, $1.500
    12. D.J. Archer, United States, $1.500
    13. Jonathan Van Hees, United States, $1.500
    14. Parker Bohn III, United States, $1.500
    15. Dave Wodka, United States, $1.500
    16. Mike Danielson, United States, $1.500
    17. Wes Mallot, United States, $1.000
    18. Brad Angelo, United States, $1.000
    19. Shannon Pluhowsky, United States, $1.000
    20. Adam Barta, United States, $1.000
    21. Lonnie Waliczek, United States, $1.000
    22. Siu Hong Wu, Hong Kong, $1.000
    23. Rhino Page, United States, $1.000
    24. Martin Larsen, Sweden, $1.000
    25. Jason Sterner, United States, $1.000
    26. Tom Hess, United States, $1.000
    27. Dan MacLelland, Canada, $1.000
    28. Dominic Barrett, England, $1.000
    29. Ryan Shafer, United States, $1.000
    30. Matt McNiel, United States, $1.000
    31. Kurt Pilon, United States, $1.000
    32. Bill O'Neill, United States, $1.000
    33. Ryan Ciminelli, United States, $1.000
    34. Ildemaro Ruiz, Venezuela, $1.000
    35. Tommy Jones, United States, $1.000
    36. Mike Wolfe, United States, $1.000
    37. Ronnie Russell, United States, $1.000
    38. Amleto Monacelli, Venezuela, $1.000
    39. Rob Gotchall, United States, $1.000
    40. Michael Haugen, United States, $1.000
    (tie) Mike DeVaney, United States, $1.000
    (tie) Dino Castillo, United States, $1.000
    43. Nathan Bohr, United States, $1.000
    44. Mike Scroggins, United States, $1.000
    45. Sean Rash, United States, $1.000
    46. J.C. Zuniga, United States, $1.000
    47. Bob Belmont, United States, $1.000
    48. Lucas Legnani, Argentina, $1.000

     


    WTBA Open - Final Round Three


    The top 3 advance to the stepladder finals to be held in conjunction with the Brunswick Euro Challenge in suburban Paris in March.

     


    WTBA Open - Final Round Two


    The top 8 advance to the second round.

     


    WTBA Open - Final Round One


    The top 16 advance to the second round.

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