Colombia's Andres Gomez leads top 5 into PBA Pepsi Viper Championship finals
11/02/10
Colombia's Andres Gomez (pictured left), a veteran international competitor, will try for his first Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour title as top qualifier when the Pepsi Viper Championship stepladder finals are held Friday at South Point Bowling Center.
Gomez, who entered Monday's nine-game match play round as the No. 4 qualifier, lost his first match, but won six of the next eight including a 224-194 victory over Tommy Jones (right) of Simpsonville, S.C., in the position round, to finish with a 21-game total of 4,964 pins, two better than Jones.
Also advancing to Friday's stepladder finals were Mike DeVaney (below left) of Murrieta, Calif.; Bill O'Neill of Southampton, Pa., and 19-time PBA Tour champion Amleto Monacelli of Venezuela.
Among the five finalists, Gomez is the only non-titlist and the other player never to appear on a PBA Tour telecast.
"I've been on Eurosport television during the AMF World Cup a few years ago, and I've been close a few times in PBA Tour events, a few heart-breakers," Gomez (right) said. "It hasn't settled in yet. I'm amazed. I knew I had a good chance to make the TV show, but being No. 1 is amazing. I've been smiling for an hour and a half.
"I'm going to have to take it one frame at a time on TV," he said. "It's easier said than done, but I was able to manage it today."
Gomez, 37, has lived in the United States off and on for the past 15 years, after attending the University of Central Florida in Orlando. He has bowled around the world, and worked for a time in a bowling pro shop, but ultimately decided he needed to test his skills on the American professional tour.
"You've got to bowl with the best and the best are on the PBA Tour," he said. "I knew if I wanted to get better, it would be here."
But the PBA's Viper lane condition was the last place he expected to find success.
"Since the PBA named the patterns, the Viper has always been my worst," he said. "But I knew when I saw it in practice earlier in the tournament it was different than the versions I've seen before. I made some adjustments and they worked like a charm. It suited my game really good."
Jones, a 13-time PBA Tour winner, advanced from 14th place at the start of match play to take the lead going into his position round match with Gomez. The final match also was pivotal for O'Neill and Monacelli, who were both out of the stepladder finals with a game to go.
O'Neill (left) defeated Greg Thompson Jr. of Dublin, Calif., 257-201, to advance from sixth to fourth and Monacelli (right), a PBA Hall of Famer, raced past Sean Rash of Wichita, Kan., 257-180, to claim the fifth spot.
The Pepsi Viper Championship was the second of five PBA "lane condition" championships which will be contested as the PBA World Series of Bowling continues this week.
The Pepsi Viper Championship stepladder finals will be conducted Friday at 1 p.m. Pacific at South Point Bowling Center for delayed airing on ESPN on Sunday, Dec. 5, at 1 p.m. Eastern.
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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Two international bowlers reach the stepladder finals on Friday Nov. 5
Colombia's Andres Gomez (pictured left), a veteran international competitor, will try for his first Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour title as top qualifier when the Pepsi Viper Championship stepladder finals are held Friday at South Point Bowling Center.Gomez, who entered Monday's nine-game match play round as the No. 4 qualifier, lost his first match, but won six of the next eight including a 224-194 victory over Tommy Jones (right) of Simpsonville, S.C., in the position round, to finish with a 21-game total of 4,964 pins, two better than Jones.
Also advancing to Friday's stepladder finals were Mike DeVaney (below left) of Murrieta, Calif.; Bill O'Neill of Southampton, Pa., and 19-time PBA Tour champion Amleto Monacelli of Venezuela.
Among the five finalists, Gomez is the only non-titlist and the other player never to appear on a PBA Tour telecast.
"I've been on Eurosport television during the AMF World Cup a few years ago, and I've been close a few times in PBA Tour events, a few heart-breakers," Gomez (right) said. "It hasn't settled in yet. I'm amazed. I knew I had a good chance to make the TV show, but being No. 1 is amazing. I've been smiling for an hour and a half."I'm going to have to take it one frame at a time on TV," he said. "It's easier said than done, but I was able to manage it today."
Gomez, 37, has lived in the United States off and on for the past 15 years, after attending the University of Central Florida in Orlando. He has bowled around the world, and worked for a time in a bowling pro shop, but ultimately decided he needed to test his skills on the American professional tour.
"You've got to bowl with the best and the best are on the PBA Tour," he said. "I knew if I wanted to get better, it would be here."
But the PBA's Viper lane condition was the last place he expected to find success."Since the PBA named the patterns, the Viper has always been my worst," he said. "But I knew when I saw it in practice earlier in the tournament it was different than the versions I've seen before. I made some adjustments and they worked like a charm. It suited my game really good."
Jones, a 13-time PBA Tour winner, advanced from 14th place at the start of match play to take the lead going into his position round match with Gomez. The final match also was pivotal for O'Neill and Monacelli, who were both out of the stepladder finals with a game to go.
O'Neill (left) defeated Greg Thompson Jr. of Dublin, Calif., 257-201, to advance from sixth to fourth and Monacelli (right), a PBA Hall of Famer, raced past Sean Rash of Wichita, Kan., 257-180, to claim the fifth spot.The Pepsi Viper Championship was the second of five PBA "lane condition" championships which will be contested as the PBA World Series of Bowling continues this week.
The Pepsi Viper Championship stepladder finals will be conducted Friday at 1 p.m. Pacific at South Point Bowling Center for delayed airing on ESPN on Sunday, Dec. 5, at 1 p.m. Eastern.
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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Pepsi Viper Championship - Round Robin Match Play
Standings after 21 games including match play bonus pins. Top five advance to stepladder finals at 1 p.m. Pacific Friday. Finals will air on ESPN at 1 p.m. Eastern on Sunday, Dec. 5
1, Andres Gomez, Colombia, 6-3, 4,964
2, Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., 7-2, 4,962
3, Mike DeVaney, Murrieta, Calif., 7-2, 4,908
4, Bill O'Neill, Southampton, Pa., 5-4, 4,905
5, Amleto Monacelli, Venezuela, 7-2, 4,893
Missed Cut:
6, (tie) Gregory Thompson Jr., Dublin, Calif., 3-5-1, and Kip Roberts, Glenallen, Va., 5-3-1, 4,820, $2,500
8, Mika Koivuniemi, Hartland, Mich., 4-5, 4,815, $2,200
9, Kimmo Lehtonen, Finland, 3-6, 4,808, $2,150
10, Sean Rash, Wichita, Kan., 4-5, 4,764, $2,100
11, Chris Loschetter, Avon, Ohio, 5-4, 4,748, $2,050
12, Ritchie Allen, Columbia, S.C., 4-5, 4,712, $2,000
13, Norm Duke, Clermont, Fla., 4-5, 4,701, $1,950
14, Tyler Jensen, Fort Worth, Texas, 4-5, 4,564, $1,900
15, Brian Lake, Warren, Mich., 3-6, 4,494, $1,850
16, Michael Haugen Jr., Carefree, Ariz., 0-9, 4,414, $1,800