Hoffman ends U.S. drought at Men's QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup
11/21/07
Team USA's Bill Hoffman (left) defeated Jason Belmonte in the decisive game, 221-181, to win the 43rd QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup at Continent Bowling Center in St. Petersburg, Russia.
The 33-year-old right-hander ended an almost 12-year U.S. drought in the men's division at the World Cup with a two-games-to-one victory over Belmonte, who finished second after leading the event since day one qualifying. The Aussie was voted 'Sportsman of the Tournament' by the players from 88 countries.
Hoffman, seeded second, swept No. 3 seeded Andres Gomez in the opening match of the three-player shootout, 2-0.
The TV stepladder finals were contested in best-of-three game format. The No. 2 and No. 3 seed after the 40-game preliminaries met in the opening match. The winner bowled the top seed for the title. Women's World Cup champion Ann Maree Putney and Belmonte have earned the Bent Petersen country award.
A 90-minute show from the men's finals was aired on Sunday, Nov. 11th from 16:45 to 18:15 (UK time).
2007 BWC
Updated with photos from the Victory Banquet
Team USA's Bill Hoffman (left) defeated Jason Belmonte in the decisive game, 221-181, to win the 43rd QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup at Continent Bowling Center in St. Petersburg, Russia. The 33-year-old right-hander ended an almost 12-year U.S. drought in the men's division at the World Cup with a two-games-to-one victory over Belmonte, who finished second after leading the event since day one qualifying. The Aussie was voted 'Sportsman of the Tournament' by the players from 88 countries.
Hoffman, seeded second, swept No. 3 seeded Andres Gomez in the opening match of the three-player shootout, 2-0.
The TV stepladder finals were contested in best-of-three game format. The No. 2 and No. 3 seed after the 40-game preliminaries met in the opening match. The winner bowled the top seed for the title. Women's World Cup champion Ann Maree Putney and Belmonte have earned the Bent Petersen country award.
A 90-minute show from the men's finals was aired on Sunday, Nov. 11th from 16:45 to 18:15 (UK time).
Men's Finals
Continent Bowling Center in St. Petersburg, Russia (November 3-11, 2007)
Championship Round:
1. Bill Hoffman, United States, 1163 (5 games)
2. Jason Belmonte, Australia, 596 (3 games)
3. Andres Gomez, Colombia, 401 (2 games)
#2 Bill Hoffman, United States vs. #2 Andres Gomez, Colombia
43rd QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup - Men's Final
Continent Bowling Center in St. Petersburg, Russia (November 3-11, 2007)
Championship Round:
1. Bill Hoffman, United States, 1163 (5 games)
2. Jason Belmonte, Australia, 596 (3 games)
3. Andres Gomez, Colombia, 401 (2 games)
Semi-final (best-of-three games)
#2 Bill Hoffman, United States vs. #2 Andres Gomez, Colombia
Game 1: Former PBA exempt bowler Andres Gomez started the semi-final match with two strikes but did not strike again until frame 9 which was not enough to beat 2-time U.S. Amateur champion Bill Hoffman. Hoffs had seven strikes including a double in frames two and three and a five-bagger in frames four through nine to put the game away well before the final frame. Gomez, who got a Greek Church (2-4-7-9-10) in frame 5 which resulted in the only open frame in this game, changed to an outside line in frame 8. He doubled in frames 9 and 10 but fell 51 pins short, losing the game, 247-196.
Game 2: The second game could be described like this: Hoffman struck ten times while Gomez picked up seven single-pin spares. The Team USA member started out with six consecutive strikes and never looked back. After he spared a seven-count in the seventh frame he added another four-bagger and a nine-count on his fill ball to win the game a 276-205 and the match, two-games-to-none. Gomez, who had a strike in frame 3 and a double in frames 8-9 finished with a strike on his fill ball to end in third place.
#2 Bill Hoffman, United States def. #1 Jason Belmonte, Australia, 2-1
Game 1: By far the lowest game of the entire week for Jason Belmonte. The two-handed Aussie, who shot one of three 300 games in this year's World Cup, had four open frames in the second and third, the sixth and the 9th frame to hand the game to the American on a silver plate. Hoffman bowled a clean game with a double in frames four and five and closed out with a four-bagger for an easy 227-147 win.
Game 2: It comes down to the third game. Tides turned in game two when Belmonte fired Strikes like a machine gun as he did all week long. The Aussies started with a double and a single-pin spare, then reeled of seven consecutive strikes and 10-pin spare to level the match with 268-192. Hoffman fell behind early as he opened in his first frame and was unable to double before the ninth and tenth frame. He converted two difficult spares (1-2-4-7-10 and 3-6-7-10) very much to the delight of the spectators in the 'arena' at Continent Bowling Center.
Game 3: In the third and decisive game in the men's World Cup final, U.S. representative Bill Hoffman proved that he he's the man when it comes to completing a 'mission'. He shot a 300 game en route to lead Team USA to the team gold in the men's World Championship, which ended a long streak for the USA without winning the team gold, and today he ended an 11-year drought in the men' QubicaAMF World Cup. Hoffman defeated Jason Belmonte, who led the World Cup since day one, 221-181 to capture the 2007 title, two-games-to-one. Hoffman started with double, spare and three strikes to hold a 20-pin lead in the middle of the game. When Belmonte, who had just one double in frames 4 and 5 suffered a big 4-10 split in the ninth frame, the game was over.
Game 2: The second game could be described like this: Hoffman struck ten times while Gomez picked up seven single-pin spares. The Team USA member started out with six consecutive strikes and never looked back. After he spared a seven-count in the seventh frame he added another four-bagger and a nine-count on his fill ball to win the game a 276-205 and the match, two-games-to-none. Gomez, who had a strike in frame 3 and a double in frames 8-9 finished with a strike on his fill ball to end in third place.
Final (best-of-three games)
#2 Bill Hoffman, United States def. #1 Jason Belmonte, Australia, 2-1
Game 1: By far the lowest game of the entire week for Jason Belmonte. The two-handed Aussie, who shot one of three 300 games in this year's World Cup, had four open frames in the second and third, the sixth and the 9th frame to hand the game to the American on a silver plate. Hoffman bowled a clean game with a double in frames four and five and closed out with a four-bagger for an easy 227-147 win.
Game 2: It comes down to the third game. Tides turned in game two when Belmonte fired Strikes like a machine gun as he did all week long. The Aussies started with a double and a single-pin spare, then reeled of seven consecutive strikes and 10-pin spare to level the match with 268-192. Hoffman fell behind early as he opened in his first frame and was unable to double before the ninth and tenth frame. He converted two difficult spares (1-2-4-7-10 and 3-6-7-10) very much to the delight of the spectators in the 'arena' at Continent Bowling Center.
Game 3: In the third and decisive game in the men's World Cup final, U.S. representative Bill Hoffman proved that he he's the man when it comes to completing a 'mission'. He shot a 300 game en route to lead Team USA to the team gold in the men's World Championship, which ended a long streak for the USA without winning the team gold, and today he ended an 11-year drought in the men' QubicaAMF World Cup. Hoffman defeated Jason Belmonte, who led the World Cup since day one, 221-181 to capture the 2007 title, two-games-to-one. Hoffman started with double, spare and three strikes to hold a 20-pin lead in the middle of the game. When Belmonte, who had just one double in frames 4 and 5 suffered a big 4-10 split in the ninth frame, the game was over.
Bowlingdigital will cover the event live from St. Petersburg commencing November 3 all the way through to the finals on Sunday, November 10.