Wes Malott (pictured left) of Pflugerville, Texas, won 11 of his 16 matches Wednesday and will take a 125-pin lead into Thursday's final round of match play in the PBA World Championship, the concluding event of the GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling VI, at South Point Bowling Center.

Malott, who qualified for the match play finals in fourth place after four PBA animal pattern championships held earlier in the week, led by more than 200 pins going into Wednesday night's final match against fellow Texan Mike Fagan (right) of Fort Worth.

Fagan, after rolling a 300 a game earlier, defeated Malott, 276-204, to cut Malott's lead in half. Malott, a nine-time PBA Tour title winner, finished with a 44-game total of 10,541 pins. Fagan, who also fired 276 and 268 games earlier in the second round, had a 10,416 total.

Recently-retired PBA Hall of Famer Jason Couch (left) of Clermont, Florida, returned to competition and sat in third place with 10,226 pins. A third Texan, two-handed player Shawn Maldonado (right) of Houston, also rolled a 300 game to move into fourth place with 10,213 pins.

Defending PBA World Champion Dom Barrett (left) of England was fifth with a 10,168 total, with compatriot Stuart Williams (right) twenty pins behind in sixth place with 10,148. Six other players were within less than 100 pins of qualifying for the ESPN finals.

The final eight-game match play round will take place Thursday at 2 p.m. PT. A total of 52 games of qualifying and match play will determine the five player stepladder finalists who will return to South Point's new Bowling Plaza on Sunday, Jan. 11, for the live ESPN finals.

The final round will be covered live on Xtra Frame. For subscription information, visit pba.com and click on the Xtra Frame Season Ticket link.

 

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PBA World Championship - Match Play Round Two Standings

Players with position, hometown/country after 44 of 52 games, includes match play bonus pins

1, Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, 11-5, 10,541
2, Mike Fagan, Fort Worth, Texas, 12-4, 10,416
3, Jason Couch, Clermont, Fla., 10-6, 10,226
4, Shawn Maldonado, Houston, 11-5, 10,213
5, Dom Barrett, England, 9-7, 10,168
6, Stuart Williams, England, 7-9, 10,148
7, Scott Norton, Mission Viejo, Calif., 8-8, 10,129
8, Patrick Girard, Canada, 10-6, 10,128
9, Ronnie Russell, Marion, Ind., 8-8, 10,122
10, Todd Book, Russells Point, Ohio, 10-6, 10,112
11, Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., 8-8, 10,096
12, Jason Belmonte, Australia, 7-9, 10,073
13, Eddie VanDaniker Jr., Chatsworth, Calif., 9-7, 9,997
14, E.J. Tackett, Huntington, Ind., 7-9, 9,995
15, Martin Larsen, Sweden, 10-6, 9,981
16, Pete Weber, St. Ann, Mo., 7-9, 9,973
17, B.J. Moore III, Apex, N.C., 5-11, 9,916
17, Tom Daugherty, Wesley Chapel, Fla., 7-9, 9,916
19, J.R. Raymond, Bay City, Mich., 6-10, 9,824
20, Shuichi Heki, Japan, 7-9, 9,789
21, Bryon Smith, Roseburg, Ore., 6-10, 9,782
22, Dick Allen, Columbia, S.C., 5-11, 9,767
22, John Szczerbinski, N. Tonawanda, N.Y., 6-10, 9,767
24, Mike DeVaney, Winchester, Calif., 6-10, 9,747.

300 Games (2) - Mike Fagan, Shawn Maldonado.