Chris Barnes Wins PBA World Championship
The PBA World Championship at South Point Bowling Center in Las Vegas, NV concluded this weekend. The opening match of the TV finals had Chris Barnes bowling against Osku Palermaa. Barnes was able to win the match, 246-176, to advance to the semifinal round against fellow former Wichita State University bowler Sean Rash. Barnes continued to bowl well and won 237-161 to advance to the finals against former SVSU bowler Bill O’Neill. Both bowlers rolled some big scores, but Barnes was victorious, winning 267-237.
Before this event, Chris Barnes had had some trouble bowling on TV. He had done great in the qualifying and matchplay rounds of several events, but couldn’t get over his “TV demons” and finish strong. Winning this event helped Barnes get over that. This is his 13th PBA title and now Barnes has won the “PBA Triple Crown” by winning the U.S. Open, Tournament of Champions, and now the World Championship.
Osku Palermaa Wins Shark Championship
Osku Palermaa came from the #3 spot in the TV finals to win the PBA GEICO Shark Championship. It looked as Jason Belmonte was going to run the table to win the tournament, but he ran into Palermaa in the third round. Belmonte started the TV finals against Mike Fagan, winning 248-223. Belmonte went on to bowl against Tom Smallwood. Belmonte was able to overpower Smallwood and won the match, 208-192, to move on and bowl against fellow two-hander Osku Palermaa. Palermaa won the grueling match, 182-176, and went on to bowl against tournament leader Dan MacLelland as the lanes continued to get tougher. Palermaa was able to win the match, 173-149, as both bowlers struggled on the tough lane conditions. This win gave Osku Palermaa his first PBA Title.
Scott Norton Wins PBA Chameleon Championship
Scott Norton led the qualifying and matchplay rounds of the PBA Chameleon Championship to earn a spot in the finals on ESPN. The first TV match had Sean Rash bowling against Osku Palermaa. Rash won the match 236-211 and advanced to bowl against Chris Barnes. Rash continued to roll through opponents and won the match, 227-175. Rash went on to bowl against Wes Malott in the semifinals and was able to win, 235-217. This earned him a spot in the finals to bowl against Scott Norton. Norton continued to bowl well, as he did all week, and won the match convincingly, 256-181. This win gave Scott Norton his first PBA Tour title.
Brunswick Euro Challenge Results
England’s Rob Thurlby is the champion of the Brunswick Euro Challenge 2010. Thurlby went into the stepladder finals in the #2 position, needing to win two matches. The first stepladder match was between Malaysia’s Zulmazran Zulkifli and Venezuela’s Ildemaro Ruiz. Zulkifli won the match 230-202 and went on to face Rob Thurlby. Thurlby won the match 233-194 and earned his spot in the final match against Malaysia’s Adrian Ang. Thurlby won the close match 253-248 to win the tournament.
Several U.S. bowlers had good showings at this event. Mike Fagan finished 5th, while Norm Duke finished 7th. Finnish bowlers Osku Palermaa and Kimmo Lehtonen finished 6th and 8th in the tournament. Congratulations to Rob Thurlby!
Scroggins Wins Don Johnson Eliminator
The finals of the PBA Etonic Don Johnson Eliminator started off with Osku Palermaa leading the first game, but it soon showed that didn’t mean much in the format of this event. The first game had Palermaa leading with a 233 game. Brian Kretzer had a 211, Mike Scroggins had a 203, and Wes Malott was low with 195. Malott was eliminated during this round. The next game had Scroggins leading with a 254 game. Brian Kretzer was close behind with a 245, while Palermaa fell short with a 211 and was eliminated. The finals had Scroggins and Kretzer facing off. Scroggins won the match by a score of 206-195.
This is Mike Scroggins’ 8th career title and his 1st this season. Scroggins also won the USBC Red, White, and Blue tournament, but that event was not a PBA event. Scroggins won this event while using a Columbia 300 Full Swing and a Total Bedlam. See which equipment the other pros were using on my InTheBag page for the Don Johnson Eliminator.
TV Finals Set for PBA Don Johnson Eliminator
The TV finals field has been set for the PBA Etonic Don Johnson Eliminator. The final four players advancing are Osku Palermaa, Wes Malott, Brian Kretzer, and Mike Scroggins. Sean Rash had led the tournament throughout qualifying, but was eliminated in the group led by Palermaa. This event is being held on the PBA Chameleon pattern.
The scoring pace for this event has been fairly high, with most bowlers averaging over 200 for the week. The 14-game cut score to the top 30 bowlers was 3034 (+234, 216.71 Average). The 28-game cut to the top 16 was 6162 (+562, 220.07 Average). Once bowlers reached the round of 16, they were put into groups of four. In each round, they bowled a 3-game series and eliminated the lowest bowler in each group. This eliminated four bowlers in each round, until we now reach the final four.
The TV finals will have all four bowlers facing off in the first game. Three games will be bowled, with one bowler being eliminated after each game. The TV finals will air live on ESPN at 12:30 PM Eastern Time on Sunday, March 7, 2010.
Osku Palermaa Trick Shot (Bowling Tricks)
Here is the famous shot that the two-handed wonder from Finland, Osku Palermaa, made at the PBA World Series of Bowling. Osku lofted the ball over a chair, which was placed beyond the arrows, which resulted in a strike.
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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