Mike Fagan (pictured left) of Fort Worth, Texas, will lead the five-player field into Sunday's stepladder finals of the DHC PBA Japan Invitational at Tokyo Port Bowl, starting at 9:55 p.m. Eastern Time tonight.

Xtra Frame's live coverage today will begin with the finals of a special alternate-ball Scotch Doubles and four-player Baker Team events at 6:45 p.m. Eastern. A "last man standing" special event will follow the Japan Invitational finals.

Other Japan Invitational finalists will include No. 2 qualifier Chris Barnes of Double Oak, Texas; No. 3 Liz Johnson of Cheektowaga, N.Y.; No. 4 Stuart Williams of England, and two-hander Shawn Maldonado of Houston, Texas.

Fagan, a 34-year-old five-time PBA Tour winner, is trying for back-to-back PBA titles after posting a 23-9 match play record in the 32-game round-robin match play event and winning the top qualifying berth by 328 pins over Barnes.

Barnes (left), a future PBA Hall of Famer, is trying for his 18th career PBA Tour title and first since winning the H.H. Emir Cup in Qatar early in 2014.

Johnson (right), who finished fourth in the 2014 Cheetah Championship presented by PBA Bowling Challenge Mobile Game, is trying to join Kelly Kulick as the second woman in PBA history to win a PBA Tour title.

Williams (left), who became the first English bowler to win a PBA Tour title in the 2011 PBA Viper Championship, is making his second straight championship round appearance. He finished third in the PBA World Championship last Sunday at South Point Bowling Plaza.

Maldonado (right), who is beginning his third year of PBA Tour competition, is making his championship round debut. He finished eighth in the 2014 PBA World Championship.

The tournament includes a field of 11 PBA players who qualified based on 2014 PBA World Championship qualifying scores, three PBA members invited by the sponsoring DHC Corporation, one Korean PBA member and 16 Japan bowlers. Johnson is one of eight women – seven from the PBA Japan Regional program – who participated in the tournament.

 

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DHC PBA Japan Invitational Finals

Tokyo Port Bowl, Tokyo, Japan, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2015

Championship Round Pairings (live on Xtra Frame at 9:55 p.m. ET)
Match One: No. 4 Stuart Williams, England, vs. No. 5 Shawn Maldonado, Houston, Texas
Match Two: Match One winner vs. No. 3, Liz Johnson, Cheektowaga, N.Y.
Semifinal Match: Match Two winner vs. No. 2, Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas
Championship: Semifinal Match winner vs. No. 1, Mike Fagan, Fort Worth, Texas.

Alternate-Shot Scotch Doubles Pairings (live on Xtra Frame at 6:45 p.m. ET)
Match One: No. 1 Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas/Yuka Tsuchiya, Japan vs.
No. 4 Dom Barrett, England/Manae Kameshima, Japan
Match Two: No. 2 Jason Belmonte, Australia/Yang Hyeong Kyoo, Japan vs.
No. 3 Shawn Maldonado, Houston, Texas/Koichi Takahashi, Japan
Championship: Winner Match One vs. Winner Match Two.

Baker Team Pairings (live on Xtra Frame following Scotch Doubles finals)
Championship: International Team B (Mike Fagan, Sean Rash, Dom Barrett, Chris Barnes) vs.
International Team A (Wes Malott, Stuart Williams, Eddie Van Daniker and Jason Belmonte).

 

DHC PBA Japan Invitational - Standings after Round Four

Players with position, hometown/country, won-lost-tie record, 32-game total including match play bonus (30 bonus pins for matches won, 15 for a tie) and average. Top 5 advance to the stepladder finals.

1, Mike Fagan, Fort Worth, Texas, 23-9-0, 8036, 229.56
2, Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, 21-11-0, 7708, 221.19
3, Liz Johnson, Cheektowaga, N.Y., 21-11-0, 7612, 218.19
4, Stuart Williams, England, 20-11-1, 7603, 218.38
5, Shawn Maldonado, Houston, 20-12-0, 7590, 218.44

Missed Cut:
6, Mika Koivuniemi, Hartland, Mich., 18-13-1, 7516, 217.53
7, Shusaku Asato, Gifu, Japan, 20-11-1, 7485, 214.69
8, Todd Book, Russells Point, Ohio, 22-10-0, 7469, 212.78
9, Scott Norton, Mission Viejo, Calif., 16-16-0, 7425, 217.03
10, Jason Belmonte, Australia, 17-15-0, 7405, 215.47
11, Dom Barrett, England, 18-14-0, 7382, 213.81
12, Eddie VanDaniker Jr., Chatsworth, Calif., 16-16-0, 7360, 215.00
13, Daisuke Yoshida, Aichi, Japan, 20-12-0, 7304, 209.50
14, Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, 14-18-0, 7276, 214.25
15, Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., 18-14-0, 7180, 207.50
16, Ronnie Russell, Marion, Ind., 16-15-1, 7140, 207.66
17, Yuka Tsuchiya, Kanagawa, Japan, 15-16-1, 7112, 207.72
18, Cho Young Seon, Korea, 14-18-0, 7031, 206.59
19, Manae Kameshima, Wakayama, Japan, 15-17-0, 7015, 205.16
20, Patrick Girard, Canada, 18-14-0, 6999, 201.84
21, Koichi Takahashi, Hokkaido, Japan, 15-17-0, 6931, 202.53
22, Shogo Wada, Wakayama, Japan, 16-16-0, 6924, 201.38
23, Yuki Akiyoshi, Chiba, Japan, 15-17-0, 6858, 200.25
24, Mayumi Naito, Aichi, Japan, 16-16-0, 6749, 195.91
25, Yang Hyeong Kyoo, Aichi, Japan, 15-17-0, 6737, 196.47
26, Ryogo Tsurumi, Kanagawa, Japan, 12-20-0, 6662, 196.94
27, Takashi Yamazaki, Aichi, Japan, 8-23-1, 6576, 197.53
28, Naoshi Ishimine, Nagano, Japan, 12-20-0, 6477, 191.16
29, Takashi Fujimura, Shizuoka, Japan, 12-20-0, 6467, 190.84
30, Miku Urano, Chiba, Japan, 9-21-2, 6459, 192.47
31, Yumi Nakajima, Chiba, Japan, 11-21-0, 6354, 188.25
32, Hiroko Shimizu, Chiba, Japan, 5-27-0, 6202, 189.13