Several PBA stars are in contention for the Qatar Open title this week in Doha, Qatar. England’s Dom Barrett is defending champion. PBA fans can monitor the action by visiting http://abf-online.org/index.html or http://www.bowlingdigital.com/. The tournament ends on Thursday. First prize is the equivalent of $40,000.
The Qatar Open format includes 17 squads of qualifying plus a last-chance “desperado” round on Wednesday leading to Thursday’s “step” finals. The top 10 qualifiers, based on six-game totals, earn a bye into Final Step 2.
In Final Step 1, qualifiers 11-34, plus two qualifiers each from three rounds held early in the week and three “desperado” qualifiers will bowl six games (qualifying pins do not carry over). The top 18 from Step 1 will join the top 10 for Step 2. Step 2 is another six game round, from scratch.
The top four players after Step 2 advance to the Step 3 championship round, where qualifier No. 1 will bowl a two-game total pinfall match against No. 4, while No. 2 will bowl No. 3 in a two-game match. The two winners will advance to a two-game, total pinfall championship match.
Among the PBA players bowling in Qatar are American players Sean Rash, Mike Fagan, Marshall Kent, Tommy Jones, Bill O’Neill, Craig Nidiffer, Chris Barnes, Brad Angelo, Tom Daugherty and Tom Hess; Sweden’s Kim Bolleby, Martin Larsen, Magnus Johnson and Mattias Olsson; Finland’s Osku Palermaa and Mika Koivuniemi, Denmark’s Thomas Larsen and England’s Dom Barrett (the defending Qatar Open champion) and Stuart Williams. Sweden’s Sandra Andersson and Latvia’s Diana Zavjalova are among the females in the field who are accepting the traditional eight handicap pins per game awarded to women who bowl against men in many international tournaments.
The Qatar Open is a PBA International Tour-World Bowling Tour event. A PBA Tour title will be awarded to the winner if he is a PBA member. Women bowling in PBA-WBT events can earn a PBA title only if they are bowling scratch.
PBA REGIONAL SUMMARY: BOHR WINS 18TH REGIONAL TITLE IN WATAUGA
Nathan Bohr of Austin, Texas, outlasted fellow Texans Wes Malott of Pflugerville, Mike Fagan of Hurst and Shawn Maldonado of Houston to win his 18th PBA Regional title Sunday in the 10th annual PBA Dallas Orthopaedic Trauma Surgeons Southwest Open, hosted by Brunswick Zone, Watauga, Texas.
Maldonado led Saturday’s 10 games of qualifying, won his first two matches, but then faltered, losing five of his next six matches. Bohr, Malott and Fagan took turns at the top of the leader board before Bohr pulled comfortably ahead of Malott with a 290 in the 14th of 16 games of match play.
Bohr earned $5,000 with the victory, Malott collected $2,600 for second, Maldonado $1,750 for third and Fagan $1,300 for fourth.
● Gary Faulkner Jr. of Memphis, Tenn., defeated PBA Tour titlist Jason Sterner of Covington, Ga., 235-234, to win his first PBA South Region title in the PBA Merritt Island Southern Open presented by Storm Sunday at Shore Lanes in Merritt Island, Fla.
In the PBA50 portion of the doubleheader event, Bob Learn Jr. of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., defeated Kent Wagner of Bradenton, Fla., 279-218, to win his 28th overall PBA regional Title.
Faulkner and Learn each earned $2,000 for their wins. With his first title, Faulkner also is now eligible to enter the 50th anniversary Barbasol PBA Tournament of Champions in February in Indianapolis.
● Gary Shultis of Levittown, N.Y., defeated PBA Hall of Famer Johnny Petraglia of Jackson, N.J., 207-190, to win the PBA50 Bryan’s Bowling Center Open presented by The Insurance Market at Bryan’s Bowling Center in Laurel, Del., Sunday. Shultis earned $1,700 along with his 21st career regional title.
Shultis also ended two-time defending champion George Tignor’s bid for a three-peat when Shultis defeated the Winchendon, Mass., resident, 205-180, in the semifinal round. Petraglia defeated first-time competitor Jay Davis of Silver Spring, Md., 238-186, in the other semi-final match.
● Hugh Miller of Mercer Island, Wash., defeated Brian Tinsley of Medford, Ore., 258-187, to win his sixth PBA50 regional title and a $2,000 first prize in the PBA50 Dick’s Pro Shop Northwest/West Open at Linn Lanes in Lebanon, Ore., Sunday.
Miller defeated Trent Zabelle of Portland, Ore., 185-176, and Tinsley defeated Mal Acosta of Lebanon, 196-145, to set up the championship match.
● The PBA’s Thanksgiving weekend schedule includes the Beaumont Southwest Open at Crossroads Bowling Center in Beaumont, Texas, and the La-Z-Boy/Monroe Sport Center Central Challenge for non-titlists in Monroe, Mich.
For complete PBA Regional schedules, rules and entry information, visit pba.com, open the “schedules” tab and click on Regional Tours to find the event(s) in your area.