Australia's Jason Belmonte tops Scorpion Championship qualifying

    10/29/10

    2010-11 PBA Tour #4

    Seven international bowlers make the cut; O'Neill leads World Championship after 48 games

    201011PBAJasonBelmonte.jpg200910PBAEugeneMcCune.jpgAustralian two-handed star Jason Belmonte (pictured left) averaged 237.58 for 12 games to win the Scorpion Championship qualifying round at South Point Bowling Center in Las Vegas Thursday and to lead the top 16 players including seven international bowlers into the round robin match play round on Tuesday Nov. 2.

    Belmonte, who failed to advance to the top 16 match play rounds in the Cheetah and Viper Championship rounds earlier in the week, began to hit his strike during Wednesday's Chameleon round and kept his momentum during the fourth of five stages of the World Series Thursday, finishing with a 12-game total 2,851 pins and a 57-pin lead over Eugene McCune (right) of Munster, Ind.

    "I was disappointed in my performance the first couple of days, but something I pride myself in is what we call 'ticker' back home. It's like heart," Belmonte said. "You can never give up. No matter how bad it seems I'm always going to try to get every pin I can because you never know what's around the corner, and today was what was around the corner.

    201011PBADanMacLelland.jpg2010EBT15MartinLarsen.jpg"From where I was sitting after the first two days, I knew if I wanted to give myself a chance to make top eight (in the PBA World Championship standings) and make the World team (for the USA vs. The World special team event), it was all or nothing," Belmonte continued. "I was very aggressive with my ball choice and my lane play today. I decided I'd rather shoot 100 under playing aggressive than fail playing safe."

    Trailing McCune by four pins to finish in third place with 2,790 was Canadian Dan MacLelland (left). Mike Fagan of Patchogue, N.Y. was was fourth with 2,783 followed by 3-time World Champion Martin Larsen (right), Sweden in fifth place with 2,749.

    Defending champion Mike DeVaney (below left), Murrieta, Calif., slipped from first to sixth place during the second block on Thursday with 2,739 pinfall total. 3-time European Bowling Tour ranking champion Paul Moor, England was seventh with 2,730.

    201011PBAMikeDeVaney.jpg201011PBAAmletoMonacelli.jpgPBA Hall of Famer Amleto Monacelli (right), Venezuela was ninth with 2,714 while South Korea's Kim Jun-Yung and Gu Yong-Jin made the cut in 11th and 14th place with 2,701 and 2,685, respectively.

    Chad Kloss, West Allis, Wis., beat out Norm Duke for the 16th and final place to advance by just one pin with 2,678 and an average of 223.17.

    In winning the Scorpion stage, Belmonte moved into 20th place in the PBA World Championship standings, based upon total pinfall for the first 48 games of World Series competition. After 24 games, he was more than 400 pins out of the top eight and now is 122 pins away from the TV finals.

    The top eight after Friday's GEICO Shark Championship qualifying round will advance to the live ESPN/ESPN2 PBA World Championship stepladder finals Jan. 14-16 at South Point.

    201011PBABillONeill.jpg201011PBASeanRash.jpgBill O'Neill (pictured left) of Southampton, Pa., was the PBA World Championship leader with a 48-game total of 10,969 pins, 30 ahead of Sean Rash (right) of Wichita, Kan., after finishing 13th in the Scorpion round.

    O'Neill, the reigning U.S. Open champion is the only player in the field who has qualified for next week's top 16 match play rounds in all four stages. The top 16 players in each of five "animal pattern" championships will advance to nine-game match play rounds with the top five in each then advancing to stepladder finals next Friday and Saturday.

    "The patterns have played pretty similar after the Cheetah," O'Neill said. "It's a matter of matching up with right ball shape. They were a little tougher tonight. I left a lot of corner pins, but it could have been a lot worse. Overall I'm happy with my performance.

    "I've been bowling really well the past few months," he added. "I bowled with Team USA in Germany, and I also bowled in Asia and Europe. So I bowled a lot, but you never know if you're really mentally prepared for a grueling event like this. When you get off to a good start, it definitely helps."

    The top 63 cashers in the PBA World Championship standings will be based upon 60 games bowled over five days. Friday's GEICO Shark Championship qualifying round will be the final qualifying event in the PBA World Championship.

    Bowling fans around the world are following the action on Xtra Frame, the PBA's exclusive video-streaming service. Full-year, World Series only and one-day trial memberships are available by visiting www.xtraframe.tv.

     


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    Scorpion Championship - Round 2


    The top 16 after 12 games advance to round-robin match play Tuesday, Nov. 2.
    * indicates non-member bowler. INT = international. bowler.


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