Mika Koivuniemi sets the pace in the finals of the Daejeon International in Korea

    08/23/11

    Korea

    PBA Player of the Year averages 252.50 to take first round lead

    2011EBT11MikaKoivuniemi.jpgReigning PBA Player of the Year and World Bowling Tour men's ranking leader, Mika Koivuniemi (pictured left), averaged 252.50 to overtake the lead after the first round of the finals in the Daejeon International Bowling Tournament.

    The field of 225 players - the top 125 qualifiers and 100 seeded players - was split into three squads (A, B, C) to bowl three rounds of six games at Daejeon World Cup Stadium Bowling Center in Daejeon, Korea before the cut to the top 48. Koivuniemi, a native Finn, who lives in Hartland, Mich., United States, set the pace in Squad A with 1515 six-game total.

    The two-time PBA Player of the Year and nine-time PBA champion including three "majors" (2000 USBC Masters, 2001 U.S. Open, 2011 Tournament of Champions) had games of 279, 205, 246, 267, 268 and 250.

    2010AGChoiJinA.jpgSecond and third place belonged to Korea Professional Bowlers Association members Park Sang-Yong and Jeon Je-Sun. Playing in the same squad as Koivuniemi, Sang-Yong used the first of three 300 games in Round One to finish mere two pins behind the Finn in second place with 1513 (252.17). Je-Sun closed out his set in Squad C with 279 and 278 to move into third place with 1486.

    Kim Min-Hee was the best of 32 women in the field, all from Korea, in seventh place with 1463 including 42 pins handicap, a 236.83 scratch average. Long-time Korean national team member Choi Jin-A (right), who was the best woman in qualifying, sits in 156th place with 1254.

    Another two out of eleven international players in the finals were among the top 48, who will survive the next cut.

    2011EBT07RobertSmith.jpg201011PBA12JasonBelmonte2.jpgRobert Smith (left), a seven-time PBA champion and the 200 U.S. Open winner, bowled a 1393 series (232.17) in Squad B to land in 29th place. The American, who lives in Hong Kong and won the Hong Kong Open last month, had six games between 245 and 213.

    Australian two-hander Jason Belmonte (right), the 2008-2009 PBA Rookie of the Year and one-time PBA champion, had six games between 203 and 269 to sit in 42nd place with 1370 (228.33)

    Kim Min-Seon currently holds the 48th and last place to advance with 1363 and an average of 227.17 including handicap.

    Qualifying leader Park Geun-Woo was six pins off the pace for round robin in 54th place with 1357.

    2011ABFT07RyanLalisangBadinL.jpg2011INAOpenYannaphonLarpapharat.jpgThe other international bowlers have twelve more games to make up some ground and to move into the top 48. Badin Lerdpiriyasakulkit (pictured left with Ryan Lalisang, left), Thailand, suffered a 177 game to take 69th place with 1342 and was followed by Asian Games champion Ryan Lalisang , Indonesia, in 83rd place with 1324.

    Due to a slow start, two-time world champion and three-time Asian Games champion, Remy Ong, Singapore, ended the first round in 97th place with 1309. Yannaphon Larp-apharat (pictured right), Thailand, also rolled a 300 in Squad A but had to settle for 107th place with 1301 due to three sub-par games.

    201011PBA06OskuPalermaa.jpg201011PBAMikeMachuga.jpgPBA champion and three-time European Bowling Tour champion, Osku Palermaa (left), Finland, had five games between 202 and 219 and a high game of 246 to sit in 116th place with 1290. Two-time PBA champion Mike Machuga (right), United States, was two pins behind Palermaa tied for 120th place with 1288.

    Machuga's compatriot Brian Valenta was 159th with 1250 and rounding out the international group was Zulmazran Zulkifli, Malaysia, who was 188th with 1210, 153 pins off the pace for the top 48.

    All players will bowl another two blocks of six games over the next two days before the cut to the top 48.

    2011DeajeonOpenLogo2.jpg WBTLogo.jpgThe Daejeon International Bowling Tournament, the sixth stop of the inaugural World Bowling Tour, will be held at Daejeon World Cup Stadium Bowling Center in Daejeon, Korea, from Aug. 8-26, 2011.

    Daejeon, located in the center of the country, is South Korea's fifth largest metropolis with a population of over 1.5 million in 2010. The Stadium was constructed in preparation for the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

    The tournament organized by the Korea Professional Bowling Association (KPBA) offers total prize money of 200 million South Korean Won (KW) or approximately 186.720 U.S. Dollar. 30 million Won will be distributed in the preliminaries and the remaining 170 million are the payout for the main event.

    The winner will walk away with the 50 million KW top prize or approx. $46.680. The first runner-up receives 25 million with 12 million going to the third-place finisher, while fourth and fifth place are worth 9 and 7 million won, resp.

    The top 125 qualifiers joined a group of one hundred players made up from members of KPBA, Korean National Team, DBC, Japan Professional Bowlers Association (JPBA), Japan Bowling Congress (JBC) and invited international players, who were automatically seeded into the finals.

    Those 225 players will bowl three blocks of six games over three days on a 44 feet oil pattern to cut to the top 48 who will advance to semifinal round to bowl another six game block with the previous pinfall total being carried forward.

    The top 12 after 24 games advance to twelve games round robin match play to determine the top six players who will make the TV stepladder finals.

    The No. 4, 5 and 6 seed will square off in the opening shoot-out match. The winner takes on the No. 3 seed; the winner of that match bowls the No. 2 seed for the right to bowl the tournament leader for the title.

    The top 50 men and the top 50 women will also earn points for the World Bowling Tour ranking (current standings).

     


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    Standings after Final Round One


    The top 48 after 18 games will advance to round robin. Women's scores including seven pins handicap each game. Courtesy of Asian Bowling Federation.

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