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.
Tommy Hess Wins USBC Masters
The USBC Masters TV finals started with Mika Koivuniemi bowling against Mike DeVaney. Mika continued to bowl great, as he has done all season and won the match. This put Mika in the semifinals against the #2 bowler, Tom Hess. Tommy Hess bowled a great match and was able to defeat Mika Koivuniemi to move onto the finals against #1 bowler Jack Jurek. The finals match went back and forth between the two bowlers, with Hess being victorious in the end. By winning the USBC Masters, Hess takes home the first prize of $50,000.
Mika Koivuniemi Wins 2011 PBA Tournament of Champions
Several records were set in the 2011 PBA Tournament of Champions this past weekend. Along with the highest prize in a PBA event with $250,000 for first place, the lowest nationally televised game in PBA history.
The telecast started with Mika Koivuniemi taking on Andres Gomez. Mika won a close match, 224-220, to move onto his next match against Tom Daugherty. Daugherty struggled to get going and never gave Mika much of a challenge. On the other hand, Mika Koivuniemi used his great ball reaction and ran the front 11 strikes for a 299 game. Mika won the match, 299 to Daugherty’s record low 100, and moved on to the final match against Tom Smallwood. Mika kept his scoring pace up, throwing 10 of 12 strikes for a 269 game, which was plenty to beat Smallwood’s 207.
In winning the PBA Tournament of Champions, Mika Koivuniemi earned his 3rd PBA major title and his 9th overall PBA title.
Kelly Kulick Wins 2009-2010 PBA Tournament of Champions
Kelly Kulick led all bowlers with a 225.63 Average and had a 14-9-1 matchplay record to qualify 2nd in the 2009-2010 PBA Tournament of Champions. 4th place qualifier Rhino Page took on 3rd place qualifier Mika Koivuniemi in the first stepladder match. Koivuniemi won the match, 255-215. Koivuniemi went on to face Kelly Kulick in the semifinal match. Kulick won the match, 227-223, and went on to face Chris Barnes in the final match. Kelly Kulick didn’t give Barnes a chance as she won the match, 265-195.
This win gives Kelly Kulick her first PBA Tour title. She has two PBA Women’s Series titles. Kulick has become not only the first woman to win a PBA Tour major title, but also the first woman to win any PBA Tour title. Kulick had earned her PBA Tour exemption by finishing sixth in the 2006 PBA Tour Trials. By winning the PBA Tournament of Champions, Kelly Kulick has earned herself a two year exemption for the PBA Tour. Kelly is a former Collegiate All-American and three time Collegiate Player of the Year.
See what equipment the pros were using on my InTheBag page for the PBA Tournament of Champions.
Derek Hartnell is Winning Bidder for Chris Barnes Challenge
Derek Hartnell ended up being the highest bidder for the Chris Barnes Challenge, which will take place this weekend on Saturday, December 13, at 3:00. Hartnell’s winning bid was $1600, well short of the $5000 that Barnes was willing to put on the table. The Chris Barnes challenge came after the PBA announced the All-In Action Sweeper. Chris Barnes was the only bowler to put up the $5000 entry fee. Barnes started this challenge this week, putting his own $5000 on the table, saying he’ll take on whoever is willing to put up the most money, up to $5000. There were a few bids earlier this week, one being Mika Koivuniemi with $1500. Derek Hartnell ended up beating Mika’s bid with $1600. Hartnell is a current collegiate bowler for Newman University. He is a 1st team All-American. This should be a good match, as Barnes was a successful collegiate bowler at Wichita State University. The two Wichita area bowlers will face each other on Saturday and the match will be aired on Xtra Frame. The Chris Barnes Challenge is being sponsored by Columbia 300. Good luck to both bowlers!
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.”
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