Despite bowling 154 in his final game of qualifying in the fourth round, Ryan Shafer of Horseheads, N.Y., earned top qualifier honors in the Suncoast PBA Senior U.S. Open presented by Storm Thursday to lead 40 players who advanced to Friday’s match play rounds.

Shafer (featured photo) finished the qualifying portion of the third PBA50 Tour major of the season with a 5,340 24-game pinfall total (222.5 average) to lead 14-time PBA Tour winner Mika Koivuniemi who surged into second from 10th in the third round, with 5,256.

“You have to put that experience in your memory bank for the future,” said a frustrated Shafer (right). “I used four different balls on the right lane alone and just couldn’t get anything going.”

While he ended the round poorly, Shafer, a five-time winner on the PBA Tour who is trying for his first PBA50 Tour title, did bowl well the rest of the round with games of 279, 221, 210, 227 and 212 before the 154 game.

“I felt good about all the decisions I made for playing the lanes and my equipment choices for the whole round,” he continued. “Even in the last game I don’t think there’s any decision I would change — I just got to a pair (of lanes) where I couldn’t figure it out.”

Trailing by 164 pins heading into the final round of qualifying, Koivuniemi (left) bowled a 1,383 six-game pinfall in the fourth round with games of 268, 186, 279, 236, 218 and 196.

Koivuniemi, a native of Finland, is currently the head coach of the United Arab Emirates national bowling team and has been retired from PBA Tour competition for three years, but still manages to bowl an occasional professional event.

“Of course, you can find places where you could have scored higher but I’m really happy with the way I’m bowling,” said the 51-year-old Koivuniemi who owns three PBA Tour majors. “Today was a little better because I could play further inside and loft the ball more which is more the game I like to play.”

PBA50 Tour rookie Rolando Sebelen (right) of the Dominican Republic finished qualifying in third with a 5,210. He bowled 1,246 in Thursday’s round with games of 212, 211, 244, 161, 185 and 233.

Sebelen, a member of the Dominican Republic national bowling team for more than 30 years, is a multi-medalist in international competition, most notably winning a doubles bronze medal in the 2007 Pan Am Games and a team gold medal in the 1989 PABCON (formerly American Zone) Championships.

Qualifying fourth was defending champion Michael Haugen Jr. (left) of Phoenix with a 5,205 pinfall, followed by three-time PBA50 Tour winner Harry Sullins (right) of Chesterfield Twp., Mich., who bowled the tournament’s first 300 game, in fifth with 5,204.

The top 40 players will bowl two six-game match play rounds Friday beginning at 8 a.m. PT. At the end of match play the top five players will be determined for the stepladder finals schedule for 4:15 p.m.

PBA Hall of Famer and 2014 Senior U.S. Open winner Norm Duke (left) of Clermont, Fla., finished qualifying in sixth with 5,188, followed by fellow hall of famer Parker Bohn III of Jackson, N.J., in seventh with 5,167.

Two-time Senior U.S. Open winners hall of famers Amleto Monacelli (right) of Venezuela, who finished 10th with 5,149, and Pete Weber of St. Ann, Mo., who finished 31st with 4,942, will be trying to become the tournament’s first three-time winner. Monacelli won back-to-back in 2012 and 2013 and Weber won consecutively in 2015 and 2016.

PBA’s online bowling channel Xtra Frame is providing start to finish coverage of the Senior U.S. Open. For subscription and schedule information click here.

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Suncoast PBA Senior U.S. Open – Fourth Round Results

Players with position, hometown and 24-game total. n denotes non-member; Top 40 and top 8 PBA60 players (places 41-48) ages 60 and over out of the regular prize fund who cashed for $1,100 advance to Friday’s match play rounds.

1, Ryan Shafer, Horseheads, N.Y., 5,340
2, Mika Koivuniemi, Hartland, Mich., 5,256
3, Rolando Sebelen, Dominican Republic, 5,210
4, Michael Haugen Jr., Phoenix, 5,205
5, Harry Sullins, Chesterfield Twp., Mich., 5,204
6, Norm Duke, Clermont, Fla., 5,188
7, Parker Bohn III, Jackson, N.J., 5,167
8, n-Paul Fleming, Bedford, Texas, 5,161
9, n-Steven Smith, San Diego, 5,153
10, Amleto Monacelli, Venezuela, 5,149
11, Brian Kretzer, Dayton, Ohio, 5,131
12, Eddie Graham, Kettering, Ohio, 5,104
13, Rick Minier, Houston, 5,096
14, Ron Mohr, Las Vegas, 5,095
15, Brian Voss, Centennial, Colo., 5,094
16, Todd Kjell, Roscoe, Ill., 5,083
16, Allan Sennevall, Sweden, 5,083
18, Mark Williams, Beaumont, Texas, 5,081
19, Kimmo Lehtonen, Finland, 5,077
20, n-Steven Badovinac, Parker, Colo., 5,072
21, Eric Forkel, Henderson, Nev., 5,067
22, Kevin Croucher, Grants Pass, Ore., 5,054
23, n-Ben Hoefs, Mobile, Ala., 5,003
24, Mike Edwards, Tulsa, Okla., 4,997
25, Lennie Boresch Jr., Kenosha, Wis., 4,976
26, Walter Ray Williams Jr., Oxford, Fla., 4,974
27, Sammy Ventura, Syracuse, N.Y., 4,961
28, Doug Kent, Newark, N.Y., 4,955
29, Ricky Schissler, Brighton, Colo., 4,954
30, Robert Lawrence, Austin, Texas, 4,953
31, Pete Weber, St. Ann, Mo., 4,942
32, Bob Learn Jr., Erie, Pa., 4,937
33, Bo Goergen, Sanford, Mich., 4,933
34, Andrew Frawley, Australia, 4,930
35, n-David Bolles, Stockton, Calif., 4,922
36, Jan Larsen, Sweden, 4,918
37, Chris Warren, Grants Pass, Ore., 4,915
38, Wayne Garber, Modesto, Calif., 4,913
39, Jeff Johnson, Freeport, Ill., 4,908
40, Mark Mazzulla, Brentwood, Calif., 4,906
41, ss-Mike Dias, Lafayette, Colo., 4,882, $1,100
42, ss-Ted Staikoff, Black Hawk, S.D., 4,864, $1,100
43, ss-Paul McCordic, Sugar Land, Texas, 4,859, $1,100
44, ss-David Axon, Bellevue, Neb., 4,853, $1,100
45, (tie) ss-Don Blatchford, Santa Monica, Calif., and
ss-Darwin Wimer, Mesquite, Nev., 4,845, $1,100
47, ss-Michael Lucente, Warren, Mich., 4,842, $1,100
48, ss-Junichi Yajima, Japan, 4,824, $1,100

Missed Cut:
49, Pat Nolan, Japan, 4,901
50, Keith Lesko, Prosper, Texas, 4,894
51, Noel Vazquez, Sacramento, Calif., 4,893
52, Dennis Horan Jr., Oakley, Calif., 4,872
53, Peter Knopp, Germany, 4,850
54, Mike Kanada, Camarillo, Calif., 4,839
55, Brian LeClair, Albany, N.Y., 4,836
56, Bryan Goebel, Shawnee, Kan., 4,835
57, n-Marv Sargent, Temecula, Calif., 4,826
58, Terry Metzner, Kentwood, Mich., 4,817
59, Andrew Warren, Austin, Tex., 4,812
60, n-Paul Renteria, Henderson, Nev., 4,809
61, Joseph Petrovich, Tracy, Calif, 4,804
62, n-Bob Baer, Henderson, Nev., 4,802
63, Tom Carter, Columbus, Ohio, 4,798
64, Christer Petersson, Gothenburg, Sweden, 4,787
65, n-Dave Cirigliano, Phoenix, 4,785
66, Hakan Fast, Sweden, 4,756
67, Dale Traber, Cedarburg, Wis., 4,755
68, Marty Deh, San Jose, Calif., 4,751
69, Bruce Hall, Westborough, Mass., 4,749
70, (tie) Brian Cooper, Henderson, Nev., and
Gary Faulkner, Norfolk, Va., 4,747
72, Tony Johnson, Canton, Ohio, 4,743
73, Christopher Keane, Cape Coral, Fla., 4,740
74, Edward Silva, Manteca, Calif., 4,737
75, (tie) Daniel Miyamoto, Mililani, Hawaii, and
Toby Contreras, Lee’s Summit, Mo., 4,735
77, David Allen, Las Vegas, 4,729
78, n-Barry Zimmerman, Grand Forks, N.D., 4,727
79, Olle Svenson, Lerum, Sweden, 4,721
80, Mike Mineman, St Louis, 4,720
81, n-John Hricsina Jr., Las Vegas, 4,719
82, n-Klaus Lischka, Germany, 4,713
83, John Dudak, Orland Park, Ill., 4,711
84, Troy Kendrick, Las Vegas, Nev., 4,707
85, Scott Greiner, Sunrise Beach, Mo., 4,704
86, Darron Peters, Temecula, Calif., 4,702
87, n-Tish Johnson, Colorado Springs, Colo., 4,695
88, n-Dana Wright, St. Paul, Minn., 4,689
89, Rob Rice, Sunnyside, Wash., 4,685
90, Lennart Nyman, Sweden, 4,682
91, Paul Mielens, Menomonie, Wis., 4,677
92, Skip Pavone, San Jose, Calif., 4,672
93, Brian Miller, Springfield, Ohio, 4,667
94, Johnny Petraglia, Jackson, N.J., 4,666
95, n-Jimmie Pritts Jr., Mathuen, Mass., 4,660
96, Lew Elting, Carlsbad, Calif., 4,658
97, Crister Danielsson, Sweden, 4,654
98, Kerry Fulford, Ft. Worth, Texas, 4,653
99, Greg McDaniel, Kimball, Neb., 4,651
100, n-Anthony Figuiera, Gardena, Calif., 4,643
101, Doug O’Bryant, Ball Ground, Ga., 4,639
102, (tie) n-John Marsala, St. Louis, and
Klas Thunberg, Sweden, 4,635
104, (tie) n-Paul Appling, Camarillo, Calif., and
Tony Rodriguez Jr., Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., 4,628
106, n-Bill Oakes, Lawton, Okla, 4,625
107, n-Joe Baca, Brentwood, Calif., 4,623
108, Stan Winters, Simi Valley, Calif., 4,621
109, Warren Nelson, Hemet, Calif., 4,618
110, Randy Turner, Shallowater, Texas, 4,614
111, n-David Graber, Las Vegas, 4,584
112, Warren Eales, Chandler, Ariz., 4,573
113, Jonny Hall, Sweden, 4,565
114, Don Herrington, Ballston Lake, N.Y., 4,553
115, n-Dennis Klein, Phoenix, 4,532
116, Russ Simmons, Fontana, Calif., 4,531
117, n-Jeff Row, Humbolt, Ariz., 4,505
118, Henry Dawson, Elma, Wash., 4,494
119, Jon DeLaney, McKinney, Texas, 4,488
120, Ray Valdovino, Sacramento, Calif., 4,459
121, n-Ron Hosler, Englewood, Colo., 4,447
122, Don Lane, San Francisco, 4,412
123, n-Nelson Sand, Maple Valley. Wash., 4,400
124, n-Robert Callari, Cordova, Tenn.., 4,389
125, Norm Spurlock, Kenner, La., 4,388
126, Raymond Scrivens, Jr., Athens, Pa., 4,387
127, James Storts, Westfield, Ind., 4,384
128, Mike Schmid, St. Paul, Minn., 4,378
129, Steven Jansson, Barnes, Wis., 4,365
130, Timothy Regan, East Northport, N.Y., 4,360
131, Doug Kempt, Arcadia, Calif., 4,342
132, Robert Donovan, Prattsville, N.Y., 4,317
133, Daniel Knafo, Valencia, Calif., 4,316
134, Ron Anderson, Canyon Country, Calif., 4,309
135, Jon J.J. Jensen, Olympia, Wash., 4,302
136, n-Marty Hinton, Henderson, Nev., 4,299
137, Garry Blanton, Owensboro, Ky., 4,274
138, Rodney Garrick, San Francisco, 4,273
139, Richard McNeill, Yorktown, Va., 4,263
140, Glen Nakagawa, Highland Village, Texas, 4,245
141, Glenn Morgan, Carson City, Nev., 4,211
142, John Kidwell, Indianapolis, Ind., 4,202
143, Frank Paganelli, Las Vegas, Nev., 4,195
144, Charles Allen Jr., Pell City, Ala., 4,178
145, Ross McDonald, Las Vegas, Nev., 4,170
146, n-Jay Gneiting, Aberdeen, Idaho, 4,155
147, Steve Stein, Staten Island, N.Y., 4,128
148, Joe Beck, Montgomery, Ala., 4,120
149, n-William Mcgee, Great Falls, Mont., 4,080
150, Tim Pierce, Portland, Ore., 4,020
151, John Austin Jr., League City, Texas, 3,996
152, n-Dale Knight, Las Vegas, 3,805
153, Galen Keas, Alda, Neb., 3,762

300 games (1) – Harry Sullins.