Jason Couch Wins PBA Mark Roth Plastic Ball Championship
The PBA Mark Roth Plastic Ball Championship took place this past week, at AMF Thruway Lanes in Cheektowaga, New York. The four TV finalists included Jason Couch, Tom Smallwood, Parker Bohn III, and Ryan Ciminelli. The first stepladder match had Parker Bohn III up against Tom Smallwood. Parker won a close match, 201-197, and advanced to face Ryan Ciminelli. In another close match, Bohn was able to win, 213-207, and advance to the final match against Jason Couch. Parker was not able to continue his success, and bowed out as Jason Couch overpowered him with a 219 game to beat Parker’s 175.
In winning the Mark Roth Plastic Ball Championship, Couch took home the $20,000 first prize and his 16th career PBA title. This title ended Couch’s 4 year drought and earns him a continuation on his exemption.
Bill O’Neill Wins U.S. Open
The opening match of the U.S. Open TV finals had Tommy Jones up against Jason Couch. Jones started off on fire, running the front six strikes to jump out to a big lead. Tommy’s lead was too big for Couch to make up. Tommy Jones won the match 245-192, making the Ebonite Mission look great, just like everyone else has done since its release. Match #2 had Tommy Jones Taking on Bill O’Neill. Jones started to lose his carry toward the end of his first match and made a ball change. Tommy Jones was not able to get his reaction back. Bill O’Neill had to grind out the beginning of the match, but was able to find a good reaction and finally string a few strikes together, winning the match 203-152. O’Neill went on to face Mike Scroggins in the final match. O’Neill caught fire in the middle of the match and jumped out to a huge lead. Scroggins tried to make a come back, but it was too late as Bill O’Neill finished striking out from the third frame to win 267-207. O’Neill won the tournament using a Hammer Black Widow Sting. See the equipment used by all of the pros in the TV finals on my InTheBag page for the U.S. Open.
U.S. Open TV Finals are set
Mike Scroggins made a great run during matchplay to move from 15th place all the way to the #1 spot for the TV stepladder finals of the U.S. Open. Bill O’Neill ended up getting the #2 seed, while Tommy Jones and Jason Couch took the #3 and #4 seeds. Couch and Jones will face off in the opening match of the stepladder finals. The winner of that match will face O’Neill in the semifinals. The winner of the semifinal match will go on to bowl Scroggins in the finals. Mike Scroggins averaged 216.80 and had a 16-8-0 record to earn the top position with a final score of 11537 (+1337, total pins + matchplay bonus points). The cut score ended up at 11282 (+1082, total pins + matchplay bonus points). A few bowlers came very close to making the TV finals, but fell just short. Walter Ray Williams, Jr. missed the cut by 2 pins, while Jason Belmonte couldn’t hold on to his lead and missed the show by 5 pins.
The U.S. Open TV finals will air live on ESPN at 12:30 PM tomorrow, Sunday, February 28, 2010.
Jason Belmonte Retains Lead in U.S. Open
Jason Belmonte used his 9 game score of 1934 (+134) to bring his total to 6051 (+651, 224.11 Average) and keep his lead in the U.S. Open. Belmonte will lead all bowlers going into match play this afternoon. Belmonte currently has an 85 pin lead on the second place bowler Andres Gomez’s score of 5966. Other bowlers currently in the top five include Bill O’Neill (5958), Jason Couch (5866), and Walter Ray Williams, Jr. (5850). The field will now be cut to the top 24 bowlers with a cut score of 5637 (+237, 208.78 Average). Matchplay will begin this afternoon and continue throughout the day tomorrow.
Team Europe wins Weber Cup
Story and picture courtesy of MatchRoom.com
EUROPE have won the 2009 PartyCasino.com Weber Cup X.
They won 17-11 with Paul Moor defeating Tim Mack in a singles match to seal the victory.
Earlier in the night, Mika Koivuniemi had a ball to win the Weber Cup in the previous match. He needed to hit nine but only managed eight and then lost a thrilling bowl off in his singles match against Jason Couch.
But it did not prove critical as Moor’s victory gave Europe the trophy for the first time since 2005.
“It’s just amazing to shoot a strike to win the Weber Cup for Europe,” said Moor. “It was tough and I was not 100 per cent concentrating and there was a few little distractions but in a situation like that you have to try and stay focused as much as possible.
“I didn’t bowl well here in the Weber Cup last year but I’m starting to get some form back now. Last year I missed three times late on in matches but this time I had the opportunity and it was the most important one.”
All the action was screened live on Sky Sports and America had a 4-2 lead at the end of the opening day.
However, the fortunes completely turned around on the second day as Europe claimed nine of the 12 points available. They continued that form at the start of the third day by winning five of the six matches to move only one away from victory.
USA won three successive points at the beginning of the last session but the fightback ended when Moor pushed Europe over the finish line.
It was the biggest margin of victory since Europe’s last win, an 18-11 success back in 2004.
European captain Osku Palermaa said: “We’re happy and we’ve enjoyed the whole time. We were down but built up the momentum, they took it back before we won. We were a bit worried but there are five good men here in our team.
USA captain Tim Mack added: “Paul was just too good. I would’ve had to bowl the highest score I had done in the tournament but he was just too good so hats off to him.
“We bowled better than the score suggests and it should’ve been much closer. But Europe bowled great and we just couldn’t keep up, our guys will be back next time.”
Jack Jurek Wins Shark Championship
Jack Jurek defeated Wes Malott, 255-213, to earn his way to the finals of the PBA Shark Championship. Michael Fagan defeated Jason Couch in the semifinals, 224-201. Jurek and Fagan squared off in the finals match, tying with a score of 218. In a one ball rolloff, Jurek beat Fagan by throwing a strike to Fagan’s 8 count.
This is Jurek’s first PBA title of the season, and second of his career.
View the full results on PBA.com
The bowlers will now have a break until December, when the season will pick back up.
PBA Shark Championship Results
The TV finals are set for the PBA Shark Championship. The four men bowling in the finals are Michael Fagan, Jason Couch, Jack Jurek, and Wes Malott. 2008 Player of the Year Wes Malott lost in the finals of the Shark Championship in 2008 against Rhino Page, so he is looking to take advantage of another opportunity to win it this year.
For the women, Kelly Kulick and Carolyn Dorin-Ballard are the two finalists. Kulick won a close semifinal match against Liz Johnson.
The PBA Shark Championship finals will be bowled on Saturday, September 6 and aired on ESPN on Sunday, December 6.
See PBA.com for the full results.
DV8 Hell Raiser