It's down to 64 finalists at Round1 Japan Cup in Tokyo

    11/29/13

    2012-13 PBA Tour #23

    Top 32 players of A and B Squad qualifying advance to single-elimination best-of-five games finals in bracket system

    201213PBAEJTackett.jpg

    E.J. Tackett (pictured left) of Huntington, Ind. and Nathan Urrutia led the qualifying squads in the 2013 Round1 Japan Cup to earn the No. seeds for the single-elimination best-of-five games brackets as the field was trimmed to 64 players at Minami Suna Round1 Bowling Center in Tokyo, Japan.

    176 players were divided equally between A and B Squads including 28 PBA players, the top 16 PBA competition points leaders, four players invited by the Japan Cup organizing committee, and eight players who made it through the pre-tournament qualifier.

    All players bowled 10 games of qualifying with the top 32 players in each squad advancing to A and B Brackets. 24 PBA players survived the cut.

    Tackett rolled all games between 279 and 206 to lead Squad B with the field-best 2466 total or an average of 246.6 to earn the No. 1 seed in B Bracket. He will bowl No. 32 Manabu Emura of Japan in the opening match. Emura beat out Tom Hess of Urbandale, Iowa, for the 32nd and last spot to advance by ten pins, 2167 to 2157.

    2013EBT15MikeFagan.jpg201213PBA13JakePeters6.jpgUrrutia rolled the lone 300 game in qualifying en route to lead Squad A with 2412 (241.2 average) and to earn the No. 1 seed in A Bracket. Urrutia will meet No. 32 Keisuke Aita of Japan in the opening match. Aita averaged 217 to earn the last spot to advance.

    Other than in Squad B, there will be three Round of 64 matches in Squad A in which PBA players will clash. No. 5 Jake Peters (left) of Decatur, Ill. meets No. 28 Mike Fagan (right) of Fort Worth, Texas in the upper part of the bracket.

    201213PBA14ChrisLoschetter4.jpg201213PBAWalterRayWilliams.jpg In the lower part of the bracket, No. 7 Chris Loschetter (left) of Avon, Ohio bowls No. 26 Walter Ray Williams Jr. (right) of Ocala, Fla. and No. 3 Ryan Ciminelli of Cheektowaga takes on No. 30 Bill O'Neill of Langhorne, Pa.

    Mika Koivuniemi of Finland, who defeated Japan's Yoshihiro Kaji for his second Round1 Japan Cup title and a $71,700 first prize last December, missed the cut to the Round of 64 finishing 48th in Squad A.

    Still in the race for another Japan Cup are four-time winner Parker Bohn III of Jackson, N.J.; three-time winner Tommy Jones of Simpsonville, S.C.; and Pete Weber of St. Ann, Mo.; Walter Ray Williams Jr. and Venezuela's Amleto Monacelli, who have each won the event two times as well as Chris Barnes of Double Oak, Texas, who also has won the Cup once.

    The Japan Cup, hosted by the Japan Professional Bowlers Association and PBA, and sponsored by Round1 Corporation, will be nationally televised in Japan. The finals will subsequently be webcast on a delayed basis by the PBA on its exclusive online bowling channel, Xtra Frame.

     


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    2012-13 PBA Tour Schedule & Champions

     


    Round of 64 Match-ups (A Bracket)


    #5 Jake Peters vs. #28 Mike Fagan
    #21 Takeshi Suda vs. #12 Eisuke Miyazaki
    #13 Akihiro Sunako vs. #20 Tommy Jones
    #29 Takeo Sakai vs. #4 Kim Hyun Bum

    #8 Shigeyuki Mizuno vs. #25 Kim Young Pil
    #24 Kenichi Kadokawa vs. #9 Osku Palermaa
    #16 Nobuhito Fujii vs. #17 Isao Yamamoto
    #32 Keisuke Aita vs. #1 Nathan Urrutia

    #2 Sean Rash vs. #31 Masami Abe
    #18 Kiyoshi Nakarai vs. #15 Josh Blanchard
    #10 Ronnie Russell vs. #23 Kentarou Masuchi
    #26 Walter Ray Williams Jr. vs. #7 Chris Loschetter

    #3 Ryan Ciminelli vs. #30 Bill O'Neill
    #19 Chris Barnes vs. #14 Shinichiro Tamai
    #11 Fumihiro Yoshida vs. #22 Yasuyuki Sadamatsu
    #27 Akiyoshi Hokura vs. #6 Jason Belmonte

     


    Round of 64 Match-ups (B Bracket)


    #5 Anthony LaCaze vs. #28 Ryo Nishimura
    #21 Toshifumi Kojima vs. #12 Subaru Nagano
    #13 Yuya Katoh vs. #20 Amleto Monacelli
    #29 Masayuki Koyama vs. #4 Kenta Onishi

    #8 Scott Norton vs. #25 Shigeo Saito
    #24 Wes Malott vs. #9 Shota Kawazoe
    #16 Kim Young Kwan vs. #17 Norm Duke
    #32 Manabu Emura vs. #1 E.J. Tackett

    #2 Dan MacLelland vs. #31 Yoshimi Kitaoka
    #18 Hidekazu Wada vs. #15 Yoichi Hirayama
    #10 Tetsuya Kobayashi vs. #23 Shinichi Horie
    #26 Aki Nawa vs. #7 Parker Bohn III

    #3 Kazuaki Watanabe vs. #30 Satoshi Tsushima
    #19 Choi Won Young vs. #14 Pete Weber
    #11 Jason Sterner vs. #22 Yugo Imakita
    #27 Akio Ishihara vs. #6 Rhino Page

     


    Round1 Japan Cup 2013 - B Squad Qualifying


    The top 32 after 10 games advance to Round of 64 B Bracket.

     


    Round1 Japan Cup 2013 - A Squad Qualifying


    The top 32 after 10 games advance to Round of 64 A Bracket.

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