Australia’s Jason Belmonte won his first World Tenpin Masters title in the third attempt as he posted the second 300 game in the history of the event to help him go past England’s Paul Moor by 566-524 at Metrodome Center in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England.

"You have no idea what this means to me," said 23-year-old Belmonte. "I can't believe it, it was all a blur. All I know is Paul kept striking and I knew if I didn't he wasn't going to stop and I would lose - that was my only mental picture."

Moor, who finished second for the third consecutive year, bowled superbly himself and his 524 total would have won all but one of the 14 other matches in the tournament but Belmonte, in the zone for most of the game, bowled an incredible 18 consecutive strikes. Belmonte received $30,000, compared to $10,000 that went to the runner-up.

"You can't do anything when your opponent plays like that," admitted Moor. "If I knew he would get 560 + then all it takes is one or two mistakes and I've lost the game.

"The last two times I've been in the final, I have not done myself justice but this time there wasn't much more I could do. I hit one bad shot and in previous matches if you have one bad shot you still expect to win.

Both players had to work hard to reach the title match as Moor (pictured) defeated Biboy Rivera (Philippines), Alex Liew (Malaysia) and Remy Ong (Singapore), while Belmonte ousted Jens Nickel (Germany), Badr Al Sheikh (Saudi Arabia) and defending champion Chris Barnes (United States).

As expected the match was of a top standard as both players recorded strikes with each of their first six balls. The first error came in Moor's seventh frame as he hit the first spare of the match, to give Belmonte a chance to move ahead.

The Aussie, who uses both hands to deliver the bowling ball, accepted this opportunity as he moved up to nine successive strikes and only three balls away from a 300. The tenth and 11th balls toppled the pins and as the final frame scattered, the crowd went wild as Belmonte hit perfection.

"I thought the way with I threw the ball in the 11th frame and if that can strike then anything can happen. As soon as I threw the 12th I yelled out 'it's good' and knew it was," Belmonte said.

It became only the second 300 game in the history of the World Tenpin Masters; ironically, the first one was also made by Belmonte, in the 2005 event.

The second game began in exactly the same fashion with another six strikes - three for each player. But the turning point came in Moor's fourth and fifth frames as he registered two successive spares as the trophy looked to be heading to Belmonte.

In an incredible performance, Belmonte hit a further three strikes for six in a row and 18 out of 18 in total. However, the run had to come to an end and it did in Belmonte's seventh frame. It was also an open frame which gave Moor some hope of producing a remarkable turnaround, although the 40-pin difference looked a tough proposition.

But Belmonte was too good and made no further mistakes as he hit 23 strikes out of a possible 24 to become the 2007 World Tenpin Masters Champion. Of course, the 1,090 pinfall total was the highest in the WTM history and broke the previous record (1,013) set by Belmonte and Chris Barnes in the semi-final by 77 pins.

In the highest scoring match in the ten year history of the Masters, two-handed Australian Jason Belmonte (archive picture) outstruck defending champion Chris Barnes to book a place in Sunday night's championship match.

The 1,013 total pinfall beats the event’s previous best, 1,005, set by Tore Torgersen and Richard Hood in 2000 and equaled by Belmonte himself and Shalin Zulkifli five years later.

Both players came out flying and the double 300 game looked on. Barnes (right) racked up nine consecutive strikes while Belmonte made eight. The American faltered slightly at the end of the first game and Belmonte doubled the tenth to take a two pin lead, 278-276, into the second half of the match.

The match was one in the second game as Belmonte continued to strike whilst Barnes could only spare and the 31 pin winning margin in the second game was enough to secure the charismatic Australian his first Masters final.

"I am physically and emotionally drained," said Belmonte. "He just would not stop hitting the pocket. I have to be honest and I got lucky. Chris left some pins when he should not have done but that’s how bowling goes - plenty of times they have stood for me.

"This is my third time here and I just want to come and bowl well but to make the final - I'm speechless. It's a really cool thing and not many people can say 'I have been in a final of the World Tenpin Masters. It doesn't matter who I play. If I can beat Chris I can beat anyone."

Barnes was quick to praise his opponent and then tipped Belmonte to win the final, “That was one of the best matches I've ever been involved in," said Barnes.

"He didn't have many lucky strikes and a lot of perfect ones out there. If I had stayed close then it might've been interesting. I've been dodging bullets for a couple of years and one of them finally got me.

"I have to give the night to Jason, he has bowled unbelievably. Even as dominating as Paul has bowled and as good as Remy has been, I think Jason is the favorite."

Paul Moor of England showed want tournament consistency is all about as he dug deep to reach his third consecutive Masters final, winning through over Singapore’s Remy Ong by a single pin.

The match between the two lefties was always going to be close and it was the Asian No.1 (right) who edged the tight opening game, coming through 248-235 courtesy of a slightly superior strike rate.

The crowd, though, were with the Englishman as they cheered his every success but an open frame in the first of the second game put a massive dent into Ong’s hopes.

Moor, who seemed to be in slight discomfort at times, kept the pressure up throughout the second half of the match and another open frame from Ong gave Europe's No. 1 his chance. In the end he needed a nine/spare in the tenth frame to take the victory.

The second quarterfinal of the 2007 World Tenpin Masters saw talented Aussie two-hander Jason Belmonte (archive picture) turn up the power to move past Saudi Arabian Badr Al Sheikh to set up an exciting semi-final match against defending champion Chris Barnes.

Belmonte had previously defeated Jens Nickel, while Al Sheikh (right), the youngest player in the tournament, beat England’s Darren Cundy in a match that featured the fifth highest aggregate total in the 10-year history of the Masters.

Belmonte started out strongly and a run of three strikes seemed to set him on his way but he threw an open game in the fifth frame to lose momentum. Al Sheikh though, did the same in the seventh as this looked likely to be another close encounter at the Barnsley Metrodome.

At halfway Belmonte had registered 244 but another open frame in the tenth from Al Sheikh left him on 207 and was probably the one that cost him a place in the final four.

That proved to be the case as Al Sheikh could not get back into the match as Belmonte hit the 500 figure, with Al Sheikh languishing on 428.

"I'm relieved and it's nice to get through another match with a win," said Belmonte. "Bowling is a very unpredictable game and you can never be too confident but also, at the same time, you can't be under-confident.

"Now I get to face Chris Barnes. It's going to be a really hard to win. You can't expect Chris to throw a bad shot and that open chance. You have to create your own chances and the way to do that is out-bowl him.

"I've never played against him before in my life as he is on the PBA Tour so we don't get to meet each other.

"When you grow up and watch these guys on TV, he is one of the guys that I've always wanted to bowl against. If he beats me I can say I've given one of the best bowlers in the world a good game."

In the third quarterfinal match, 2005 and 2006 runner-up Paul Moor (England), posted his second consecutive 500-plus tally to comfortably overcome Malaysia’s Alex Liew by 507-393.

It was always going to be a big ask for Liew (right) against the rampaging Moor who blasted home a 265 opening game, including seven strikes on the spin, to make his intentions plain. Liew’s progress was stymied by an open frame in the third and he trailed by an ominous 41 pins at the turn.

That was as good as it got for Liew though as he fell away in the second half with a 169 which contained a crippling three open frames. Moor meanwhile kept up his blistering scoring rate to run out a wide winner.

Moor said: "I'm pretty please with the way I bowled. I made the moves at the right time and I cannot really fault my performance.

"The standard is high and everyone is shooting in excess of 450 or 460 to win. You need to string the strikes together and I'm doing that at the moment so hopefully it will continue until the end."

In the last quarter final match Singapore’s Remy Ong and Dominic Barrett of England had a hard fought encounter before an open frame from Barrett, early in the second game, derailed his chances.

The opening match was all-square at 225 apiece – Ong left the final frame open to deny himself the lead. Barrett (right) recovered in the second game after his open frame blip but Ong kept up the pressure to run out a winner by 35 pins.

Ong, who now meets Paul Moor, said: "Dominic is one for the future of England and for me he is going to be a threat for many bowlers.

"This is one more step to winning it. I just have to take it as making it to the next round and go out there and start all over again.

"Paul has been bowling well and it's going to be a tough match but as you get further the matches get tougher. He has bowled 500 twice in his two matches and that's impressive but in matchplay it's different. I will try and set the pace."

Barrett added: "I played pretty good but maybe I could've made a couple of better decisions. It was not really my day today but I've learnt a lot from it and gained good experience. Hopefully I will be back even stronger next time."

Three-time World Tenpin Masters Champion Tore Torgersen of Norway crashed out of the 2007 edition in the first round at the hands of Singapore’s capable Remy Ong Saturday evening at the Metrodome Center in Barnsley, South Yorkshire.

Ong, the 2006 world champion in Singles and All Events, put together a run of six strikes in the opening game that gave him a great chance for victory as he opened up a 42 pin lead. He was helped on his way as Torgersen (right) was left with awkward splits in both games which really derailed his chances.

Ong said: "I just put the ball and got some lucky breaks. This competition is anyone's and anything can happen but I'm looking good and hopefully will do well."

Torgersen added: "I didn't bowl my best game. I felt I had the breaks go against me. It's always a risk of going out early and it happens. It doesn't feel very good but there are other tournaments. If you lose you feel better if you've performed well but I didn't get there today."

Ong will play England’s Dominic Barrett, who came through a torrid encounter with Diandra Asbaty, winning by the narrowest margin of the tournament so far – just nine pins.

Asbaty, 26, got into the tournament on the strength of her win in the World Cup last year (pictured right with the trophy) and looked a certain loser after dropping 65 pins behind after the first game. Barrett’s nine consecutive strikes to close out the game did all the damage.

However, a game second half performance saw her claw her way back into the match and Barrett had to hang in to secure the victory by 470 – 461.

"I was hoping Diandra was going to miss but she's such a great competitor I had to get back on top of the lane. And fortunately I did enough in the first game and also the first half of the second," said Barrett afterwards.

"When it's not over I always think I have a chance. I did the best I could and he bowled really well. Hopefully he will go on and win it as I will feel partly responsible," added Asbaty.

The first quarterfinal was a high scoring affair as defending champ Chris Barnes saw off a rampaging Osku Palermaa to clinch the first semi-final spot by 23 pins.

The atmosphere in the arena was expectant and neither bowler failed to deliver as they hammered home the strikes in the opening game but it was Barnes who edged ahead and but for an open frame in the tenth, the lead would have been greater than just ten pins.

Palermaa (right) opened the second game with four strikes to let Barnes know he was still there but an open frame in the eighth put his comeback on hold as Barnes gathered up enough strikes to close out the victory.

Barnes said afterwards, "I made better moves tonight but I did not necessarily bowl any better. He had a chance and from what I know about him he's not likely to let you back in the game so I was lucky.

"In this tournament there is no easy draw unless I get the guy that oversleeps or trips on the stairs."

Palermaa could only add, "You cannot say he was in trouble but it was not that easy for him but this was anybody's game."

Badr Al Sheikh, the first ever Saudi Arabian national to compete in the World Tenpin Masters, came through his opening round encounter with English qualifier Darren Cundy in a match that produced the fifth highest aggregate total score in the ten year history of the event.

The 19 year-old double Asian Games gold medalist from Riyadh took a tight, entertaining match by a 20 pin margin after he edged out the plucky Cundy down the home straight.

Cundy, right, 29, who won the PTBC Masters title to secure a spot in the event, trailed by just a single pin after the first session and with a big crowd getting him behind him he had every chance to take the match.

The young Saudi though was equal to the task as he fired home a superb 274 game to take the tie and with it a quarter-final spot.

"It was my first match and every ball counted," said Al Sheikh. "It's difficult when you have to strike every shot and difficult when the line changes so fast."

Cundy added: "I would've taken 472 before I bowled, but he played well - we both did. It went all the way to the tenth frame of the second game. I've enjoyed it. It's a very different environment to what we normally play in and it was very hot."


Malaysia's Alex Liew, making his second Masters appearance, is on track for another semi-final appearance following a comfortable 462-392 win over Canada's lacklustre Michael Schmidt.

The 26 year-old from Winnipeg (right) was in fact leading by eight pins after the opening game but his decline in the second half of the match coincided with Liew picking up the pace.

The Malaysian, who celebrates his 31st birthday tomorrow, rattled off six consecutive strikes to close out the game while Schmidt left a couple of nasty open frames to fall by the wayside. The winning margin was 70 pins.

"All of the competitors that went into the quarter-final I expected," said Liew. "They are all very strong, especially Chris Barnes, Badr Al Sheikh, Jason Belmonte and the Finnish guy Osku Palermaa.

"The lane is a bit tougher compared to last year and I changed ball on the third frame. I tried to make sure I relaxed and was smooth on my release. It was tough at the beginning and Michael Schmidt's bowling speed was pretty good but he was a bit unlucky."


In the final match of the afternoon session England's Paul Moor, looked in superb form as he attempts to improve on his runner-up spots in 2005 and 2006 and lift the World Tenpin Masters title.

His two game tally of 521 is the best of the tournament so far and he will go into tomorrow afternoon's quarter-final match against Alex Liew full of confidence.

"I have struggled in the first round but now I have bowled a few times and I'm getting used to the atmosphere," said Moor.

"Biboy (pictured left) struggled a bit in the first game and my split in the tenth frame of the first game could've made it interesting but he then split as well. I matched him shot for shot and that's what I had to do.

"At the end you're just a bit relaxed and the blood pressure was down because it was not a tight finish. I was expecting a tougher game before the match."

Moor has been runner-up in the last two years and is desperate to go one step further this time.

"I definitely want it this year," added Moor. "To lose in the final in the first year was not so bad but if I made the final again and lost maybe it would be that I destined not to win it. I really want to go all the way this year."

After defeating Biboy Rivera, Moor now faces another Asian player, Alex Liew of Malaysia. Moor said: "Alex bowled well in his last match and I expect another tough match against another lefty."

Defending World Tenpin Masters champion Chris Barnes, United States, looked the man to beat as opened the tournament with a devastating display to dispose of England's Zara Glover by a 108 pin winning margin.

Barnes, the 37 year-old from Texas, who plies a lucrative trade on the American Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) Tour, delivered a succession of strikes to open up a 50 pin lead in the opening game.

The 25 year-old Glover (right), a three-time World Champion, was under pressure from the outset and Barnes turned the screw in the second game with a huge 279 total to take the match 524 – 416 in the two-game aggregate format.

"Chris is the best bowler here so it was a tough draw from the beginning," said Glover. "If he can keep bowling like that then I don't think anyone will touch him. I felt I bowled better here than in the last few years and I've struggled in the past two years.

Despite the convincing victory, Barnes refused to get carried away and insisted he would have to perform better if he is to retain his title.

"I was slow in the first six frames but then 17 out of 18 so I can't be disappointed with that and I learnt a lot about the line. They carry down quite fast in the first five frames but I was able to keep making the moves.

"In my bracket I've got two of the guys that throw the most strikes in the world in Osku Palermaa and Jason Belmonte so I don't think strikes will scare them. These guys aren't afraid of big scores."

Barnes will face 2006 World Cup Champion Osku Palermaa (left) who came through his first round clash with South Africa's Guy Caminsky.

Palermaa bowled a great first game of 256 and coupled with his opponents disappointing 180, it effectively ended the match. Credit to Caminsky (right) as he came back well to bowl an excellent 258 second game but Masters first-timer Palermaa, Finland, ran out a 464-438 winner.

"I played ok but I was not very comfortable as I have not done much bowling recently," said Palermaa. "It is nice to come here and it has been one of my dreams." Palermaa admitted he realized the game was effectively over after three frames of the second game as he had gained a 90-pin advantage, which eventually was reduced to 26 pins.

Despite the defeat Caminsky was happy with his performance. "I played great," said Caminsky. "I hit the pocket enough but I just didn't strike enough and two bad shots hurt me.

In the final match of the evening, a show-boating Jason Belmonte secured a quarter final berth, beating 2005 Masters champion Jens Nickel by 58 pins.

Nickel (right) looked in discomfort throughout after he slipped on the approach in the early stages. That, coupled with some excellent bowling from the charismatic Australian, saw a 54 pin gap open up after the first game.

Both players were highly popular with the enthusiastic Barnsley crowd and they both matched each other through the second game. Belmonte will face the winner of tomorrow afternoon's match between Badr Al Sheikh and Darren Cundy.