Norm Duke Wins U.S. Open
The U.S. Open took place this past week, concluding on Sunday, February 27, 2011. This event is held on the toughest of all of the PBA patterns, the flat U.S. Open pattern. The difficulty of this pattern was shown in the TV finals this weekend.
The first match had two former Collegiate All-Americans and Bowlers of the Year at Saginaw Valley State University in Bill O’Neill and Dan MacLelland. O’Neill was able to take over this match early and won decisively, 204-150. O’Neill went on to bowl against Ryan Shafer in the last Saturday night match. In a close match, Shafer was able to win, 193-183, as O’Neill left a split in the 10th frame. Shafer moved on to bowl against Mika Koivuniemi in the first Sunday match. Both bowlers scored well, but Mika was able to pull ahead and win the match, 236-222, and advance to the semifinals against Tommy Jones. Mika Koivuniemi continued to bowl well, as Jones struggled, and won the match, 241-158.
Mika Koivuniemi went on to face tournament leader Norm Duke in the finals. In a close match that went back and forth, it came down to the 10th frame. Norm Duke threw all strikes in the 9th and 10th frames to force Mika to mark in the 10th. Mika threw a great shot in the 10th, but left a 10 pin. All that was left was to cover the spare and get 8 pins on the fill ball. Off his hand Mika knew he had made a bad shot, as the ball fell into the gutter in front of the 10 pin. Norm Duke had won the match, 225-216, and the tournament.
After the match was over, both bowlers were visibly sick to their stomachs. As Norm Duke was happy to win, his feelings of sympathy toward Mika Koivuniemi strongly overpowered his happiness.
“I sat there stunned, shocked,” Duke said. “I knew I had just won the U.S. Open, but at that moment, my only thought was Mika had just lost. I was just like a fan watching in the living room. How could you not feel badly for him.”
“Mika will be fine, he’ll bounce back. He’s going to be our Player of the Year,” Duke said. “But he’ll never forget that one.”
In winning the U.S. Open, Norm Duke has won his 34th career PBA title and his 7th career PBA Major title.
Lambert Maintains Lead at USBC Masters
George Lamber IV has kept his lead from day of the USBC Masters throughout day 2 of this event. After 2 rounds of qualifying, Lambert is leading at 2356 (+356, 10 games, 235.6 Average). After the second round, the field was cut to the top 25% (65 bowlers). The remaining bowlers will bowl another 5 game block and the field will then be cut to the top 63 plus last years champion, Walter Ray Williams, Jr. These 64 bowlers will advance to matchplay this evening, Thursday, Feb. 10, 2011.
After 2 second round, the top 10 looks like this:
1, George Lambert IV, Canada, 2,356.
2, Bill O’Neill, Southampton, Pa., 2,345.
3, Tommy Jones, Greenville, S.C., 2,299.
4, Martin Larsen, Sweden, 2,297.
5, Nathan Bohr, Wichita, Kan., 2,274.
6, Mike Fagan, Patchogue, N.Y., 2,255.
7, Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, 2,253.
8, Jason Belmonte, Australia, 2,250.
9, Dino Castillo, Carrollton, Texas, 2,247.
10, Mika Koivuniemi, Hartland, Mich., 2,234.
10, Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., 2,234.
For full results, see the USBC Masters page.
Lambert Leads Day 1 of USBC Masters Qualifying
George Lambert IV has jumped out to an early lead in the qualifying rounds of the 2011 USBC Masters. Lambert has averaged 251.2 for the first 5 games to give himself a 52 pin lead over second place. At the end of day 1, this is what the top 10 looks like:
1, George Lambert IV, Canada, 1,256.
2, Chris Warren, Grants Pass, Ore., 1,200.
3, Bryon Smith, Roseburg, Ore., 1,168.
4, J.R. Raymond, Saginaw, Mich., 1,167.
5, Mathew Jones, Avondale, Ariz., 1,160.
6, Mark Scuderi Jr., Rochester, N.Y., 1,159.
7, Dino Castillo, Carrollton, Texas, 1,157.
8, Jason Belmonte, Australia, 1,152.
9, Joshua Kierpiec, Scottsville, N.Y., 1,151.
10, Bill O’Neill, Southampton, Pa., 1,150.
Qualifying will continue throughout the day Wednesday and Thursday, with matchplay beginning Thursday evening. Matchplay will conclude on Friday evening, with the top 4 bowlers advancing to the TV finals on Sunday, Feb. 13, 2011.
Ciminelli Wins PBA Earl Anthony Memorial Classic
Patrick Allen bowled great all day, but did not have enough to beat fellow lefty Ryan Ciminelli. The TV finals started off with PA bowling against Tommy Jones. In a very tight match, Allen won 226-223, and went on to face Pete Weber. In another close match, PA defeated Weber, 212-206, and earned his spot in the finals against Ryan Ciminelli. Patrick Allen continued to bowl well, but Ciminelli was too much for him. Ciminelli won the match, 237-215.
Ciminelli, a former USBC Collegiate All-American at Erie Community College has earned his first PBA title by winning the PBA One-A-Day Earl Anthony Memorial Classic. Congratulations to Ryan Ciminelli!
This tournament was bowled on the Earl Anthony Pattern.
Bill O’Neill Wins PBA Viper Championship
Bill O’Neill rolled through the TV finals of the Pepsi PBA Viper Championship to win his third PBA title. O’Neill started the day off with a match against Amleto Monacelli, winning 244-159. O’Neill went on to face Mike DeVaney and beat him 242-209, which moved him onto the semifinals to bowl against Tommy Jones. O’Neill won the match 248-192 to move on to the finals against Andres Gomez. O’Neill won the match and the championship, 237-203.
Malott Leads Going into Final Day of Qualifying of PBA Marathon Open
Wes Malott has been able to hold on to his lead in the PBA Lumber Liquidators Marathon Open. On Friday, the bowlers bowled on the PBA Scorpion pattern and the PBA Earl Anthony Pattern. Malott used his 7-game scores of 1648 and 1459 to hold on to his lead and bring his total 46-game score of 10,614 (+1414, 230.74 Average). Pete Weber heads into the final day of qualifying in second place with 10,559 and Brad Angelo is in third with 10,557. Other bowlers in the top five are Tommy Jones (10,507) and Chris Barnes (10,506).
The 39-game cut score to the top 24 was 8608 (+808, 220.72 Average). The 46-game top 16 cut score was 10,170 (+970, 221.09 Average). Bowlers will now bowl seven games on the PBA Dick Weber Pattern. This block is currently underway and Chris Barnes has started to make a big charge for the lead. We’ll have to see how this plays out throughout the day.
Malott Holds Lead in PBA Marathon Open
Wes Malott used a 7-game score of 1578 on the PBA Chameleon pattern to hold on to his lead in the PBA Lumber Liquidators Marathon Open. Malott currently sits at a total score of 7507 (+1107, 234.59 Average). Chris Barnes is close behind in second with 7416 and Walter Ray Williams, Jr. is in third at 7366. Rounding out the top five are Brad Angelo (7359) and Tommy Jones (7349).
The cut score to the top 32 is 6932 (+532, 216.63 Average). The top 32 bowlers will bowl 7 games on Friday with the top 24 bowling another 7 game set on Friday evening. The top 16 bowlers will bowl a final 7 game set on Saturday, before cutting to the top 5 bowlers for the live TV finals on ESPN on Sunday, April 4, 2010.
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.
Team USA Cleans House in PABCON Championships
In the 2009 Pan-American Bowling Championships, the Team USA men swept all five gold medals while the women took 3 of the 5.
Starting off with singles, Bill O’Neill set a new record with a score of 1475 (+275, 245.83 Average). He was followed up by Mexico’s Jorge Rosado in 2nd and USA’s David Haynes in 3rd. Venezuela’s Karen Marcano won gold in the singles event for the women. USA’s Diandra Asbaty took the silver and Panama’s Tilcia Lancini took the bronze.
Team USA’s duo of Tommy Jones and Chris Barnes took gold in the doubles event. USA’s David Haynes and Bill O’Neill took the silver while Peurto Rico’s Luis Rodriguez and Frankie Colon took the bronze. Guatemala took the gold medal on the women’s side followed by Mexico and the Dominican Republic.
In the men’s trios event, Team USA’s team of Chris Barnes, Bill O’Neill, and Tommy Jones won the gold medal. USA’s team of David Haynes, Cassidy Schaub, and Patrick Allen took the silver and Columbia’s team of Manuel Otalora, Jaime Monroy, and Andres Gomez took the bronze. Team USA won the women’s gold medal with the team of Shannon Pluhowsky, Shannon O’Keefe, and Lynda Barnes. Columbia’s Paola Gomez, Rocio Rostrero, and Clara Guerrero took the silver while the Venezuelan team of Patricia De Faria, Karen Marcano, and Alicia Marcano took the bronze.
Team USA won gold in both the men’s and women’s team events. The men’s gold medal team was led by Bill O’Neill, Cassidy Schaub, and David Haynes. Mexico and Venezuela took the silver and bronze medals. The women’s gold medal team was led by Lynda Barnes, Shannon O’Keefe, and Diandra Asbaty.
Team USA was all across the top of the leader board in the All Events category. USA swept the men’s side with Bill O’Neill at #1, Tommy Jones at #2, and David Haynes at #3. USA’s Shannon O’Keefe and Shannon Pluhowsky finished 1st and 3rd on the women’s side. Columbia’s Clara Guerrero finished in 2nd.
When it was all said and done, Team USA took 8 of 10 gold medals.
DV8 Hell Raiser