The question of the week is, can Wes Malott retain his “King of Bowling” crown one more time against a sure-fire future PBA Hall of Famer, South Carolina’s Tommy Jones?

In an online vote, PBA fans selected Jones (pictured left) – an 18-time PBA Tour titlist, former Rookie and Player of the Year – as Malott’s opponent for the next chapter of PBA’s King of Bowling challenge series.

The exclusive best-of-three-game Xtra Frame pay-per-view match will take place Monday at FireLake Bowling Center in Shawnee, Okla., prior to the start of PBA’s Grand Casino Hotel & Resort Oklahoma Open.

The pay-per-view match will begin with a pre-game show at 7:40 p.m. EDT on Monday with the match starting at 8 p.m. For subscription and schedule information click here.

Malott, nicknamed “Big Nasty” and “Sir Strikes-a-Lot,” has successfully defended his King of Bowling crown six consecutive times, dating back to the original series held at Kegel Training Center in Lake Wales, Fla., in 2009.

Most recently he won the revival of the competition in April in Portland, Maine, where he rolled a 721 series to defeat reigning PBA Player of the Year EJ Tackett (left; 664) and Australia’s Jason Belmonte (right), PBA Player of the Year the three previous years (640).

Malott’s victims in Lake Wales included, in order: Chris Barnes, 268-214; Patrick Allen, 258-234; Walter Ray Williams Jr., 300-238; Rhino Page, 257-233, and Parker Bohn III, 300-223.

PBA Hall of Famer Randy Pedersen will man the Xtra Frame announce booth and Chris Barnes, the first player Malott dispatched to start his winning streak, will work the event as Xtra Frame’s “sideline reporter.” Barnes will be in the settee with the players asking them questions before, during and after the match.

XF schedule includes Hardwick Open, Oklahoma Prelims, PWBA action

Headlining Xtra Frame’s upcoming live streaming schedule will be the “throwback” PBA Xtra Frame Billy Hardwick Memorial Open presented by his son, Chris Hardwick, from Billy Hardwick’s All Star Lanes in Memphis, Tenn., June 24-25, followed by qualifying round coverage of the PBA Grand Casino Hotel & Resort Oklahoma Open from FireLake Bowling Center in Shawnee, Okla., June 27-30.

Two days of live ESPN coverage of the Oklahoma Open’s nine-player stepladder finals is set for Saturday and Sunday, July 1-2, at 1 p.m. EDT both days. Live ESPN coverage also will be available on ESPN and the WatchESPN app.

The Hardwick Memorial Open, which will limit all players to using two low-tech polyester plastic bowling balls for the duration of the tournament, is the sixth PBA Xtra Frame Tour event of the season, offering a $10,000 first prize and a PBA Tour title if the winner is a PBA member.

This week’s PWBA Tour coverage focuses on the qualifying and match play rounds of the Go Bowling PWBA Players Championship from The Ashwaubenon Bowling Alley in Green Bay, Wis. Friday and Saturday, leading to the live CBS Sports Network stepladder finals Sunday at 10 a.m. CDT. Coverage of PWBA’s Orlando Open will follow June 30-July 1.

Xtra Frame’s July schedule includes the Teen Masters from Richmond, Va., July 5-7; the PWBA St. Petersburg-Clearwater Open from Seminole, Fla., July 7-8; the Proprietors Cup from Beavercreek, Ohio, July 8-9; the Nationwide PWBA Rochester (N.Y.) Open, July 14-15; the PBA50 South Shore Open from Hammond, Ind., July 25-27; the XF Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles from Copperfield Bowl in Houston, Texas, July 28-30, which will award PBA and PWBA Tour titles; and the PBA50 Dave Small’s Championship Lanes Classic from Anderson, Ind., July 30-Aug. 1. For broadcast time and other details, check under the “schedules” tab on pba.com.

For subscription and schedule information click here. PBA fans also can follow real-time results for PBA50, PBA Xtra Frame Tour and all PBA Regional events by visiting the “live scoring” feature on pba.com. PWBA live scoring is available on pwba.com.

World Bowling Tour Finals added to Geico PBA WSOB IX Schedule

Due to the re-scheduling of World Bowling Men’s World Championships and end-of-year World Bowling Tour events in the Middle East, the World Bowling Tour Men’s and Women’s Finals presented by the PBA have been added to the GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling IX ESPN television schedule.

The WBT Finals, featuring the three men and three women who are leading PBA International-World Bowling Tour points lists at the end of the PBA World Championship in Reno, will be held following the PBA World Championship stepladder finals at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno on Sunday, Nov. 19.

WBT points events yet to be contested include next week’s PBA Oklahoma Open, the Sweden WBT in Malmo, Sweden, Aug. 14-28, and the Thailand WBT in Bangkok, Sept.30-Oct.

Construction of a new Kuwait Bowling Center in Kuwait City has been delayed, forcing World Bowling to move its Men’s World Championship to the South Point Bowling Plaza in Las Vegas, Nov. 24-Dec. 4, following PBA’s WSOB IX in Reno.

The Kuwait construction issue also led to the cancellation of planned WBT events in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. World Bowling has awarded the 2021 World Championships to Kuwait.

USBC honors long-time PBA Regional competitor Bob Hileman

Bob Hileman of Portage, Ind., a three-time PBA Midwest Region Pat Patterson Award winner, has been named recipient of the 2017 Jim Jaryszak Laneman Award by the United States Bowling Congress Equipment Specifications and Certifications team in recognition of his behind-the-scenes work as a laneman.

Pictured above: Bob Hileman, center, is presented the 2017 Jim Jaryszak Laneman Award by USBC President Frank Wilkinson, left, and Len Nicholson, the first recipient of the award.

“It was a total surprise,” said Hileman, who competed in 205 PBA Regional events, winning his only title in Raytown, Mo., in 2002.

“I’m deeply honored and humbled at the same time. Jim Jaryszak and I were very good friends, and I miss him dearly. To have my name associated with all the lanemen in the world – Lenny Nicholson, John Davis, everyone – I’m quite honored.”

Hileman has been the laneman at Stardust Bowl II in Merrillville, Ind., for more than 35 years. He was instrumental in running PBA national and regional events held at Stardust Bowl, including the PBA Tour Trials. He earned his Pat Patterson Awards for individual contributions toward the PBA Midwest Region program.

Past recipients include Sam Baca, the PBA’s first Director of Lane Maintenance; Kegel founder John Davis, and PBA Tour titlist John Forst, who died hours after receiving his award in 2016 of circumstances related to terminal brain cancer. Len Nicholson, also a former PBA director of lane maintenance and a member of the PBA Hall of Fame, was the first recipient of the award.