Robert Smith moves to the top of the leaderboard at Daejeon International

    08/25/11

    Korea

    Shoots one of four 300s Wednesday as the field was cut to the top 48

    2011DeajeonRobertSmith2.jpg2011DeajeonKimTaekYeon.jpgRobert Smith (pictured left), United States, averaged over 257 in the third and final six-game block Wednesday at Daejeon World Cup Stadium Bowling Center in Daejeon, Korea, en route to lead the top 48 players into Thursday's Semifinal Round at the Daejeon International Bowling Tournament.

    The seven-time PBA champion and the 200 U.S. Open winner, who now lives in Hong Kong, China, had games of 219, 268, 278, 300, 214 and 268 for 1547 (257.83) to pace the 225-player field with 4452 total and an average of 247.33 for 18 games.

    Smith' perfecto was one of nine 300 games in the last thee days and one of 30 including qualifying.

    2011DeajeonKimYoungKwan.jpg2011DeajeonJeonGueAe.jpgKim Taek-Yeon (above right), Korea, fired the highest series of the three-day round in which all players, split into three Squads (A, B, and C), rolled six games each day. Taek-Yeon had games of 279, 227, 289, 259, 299 and 237 for 1590 or an average of 265 to jump from 21st to second place with 4381 total (243.39).

    KPBA pro Kim Young-Kwan (left) moved from sixth to third place with 4368 behind a 1478 series. Kim Jun-Soo, Korea, maintained fourth place with 1433 and 4332 total. His fellow country women Jeon Gue-Ae (right) and Kim Min-Hee were the best of eleven women, who survived the cut to the top 48 in fifth and seventh place with 4323 and 4313, respectively, including seven pins handicap each game.

    2011DeajeonToshihikoTakahashi.jpg2011DeajeonMikaKoivuniemi3.jpgTakahashi Toshihiko (left) from the Japan Bowling Congress had a pair of 300s in the first and last game of his third block (1527) to propel him from 35th to ninth place with 4277.

    Reigning PBA Player of the Year and current World Bowling Tour men's ranking leader, Mika Koivuniemi (right), Finland, slipped from second to 14th place behind a 1322 series in Squad A. Koivuniemi had 4289 pinfall total and an average of 236.06.

    Koreans Jang Seong-Man and Kim Sik were deadlocked for 48th place at 4059, a 225.50 average. Seong-Man took the last spot to advance due to the higher series.

    201011PBA12JasonBelmonte2.jpg201011PBA06OskuPalermaa.jpgSmith and Koivuniemi were the sole of the eleven-player international field in Daejeon. Zulmazran Zulkifli of Malaysia, was mere 19 pins off the pace for the top 48 in 55th place with 4040. Aussie Jason Belmonte (left) was another 13 pins behind in 58th place with 4027.

    Belmonte's fellow PBA champion Osku Palermaa (right), Finland, leaped from 83rd to 60th place in the last block to finish with 4022. 61st place JPBA pro Shinichiro Tamai had rolled the last 300 game Wednesday en route to a 4008 total.

    Badin Lerdpiriyasakulkit, Thailand, was 64th with 3999 and was followed by PBA champion Mike Machuga, United States, in 79th with 3974 and Ryan Lalisang of Indonesia in 87th with 3954.

    Rounding out the international contingent were Brian Valenta, United States (101st; 3929), Remy Ong, Singapore (147th; 3835), and Yannaphon Larp-apharat, Thailand (178th; 3729).

    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 bowled three blocks of six games over three days on a 44 feet oil pattern to cut to the top 48 who advanced 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).

    Results and some photos courtesy of Asian Bowling Federation.

     


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    Standings after Final Round Three


    The top 48 advance to round robin. Women's scores (F) including seven pins handicap each game.

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