PBA Regional, PBA Women’s Regional and PBA50 Tour players will have the added incentive of paid entry fees in the 2015 PBA World Series of Bowling VII and potential berths in the 2015 PBA Challenge as part of the World Series, PBA Commissioner Tom Clark has announced.
The PBA Challenge, introduced for WSOB VI, will involve season-long qualifying programs within the PBA Regions as well as the PBA50 Tour in 2015. Qualifying for each division remains the same as last year, with regional players competing for points between Jan. 1 and Sept. 30, and PBA50 Tour players competing throughout their 2015 schedule. In each of the PBA’s eight regions (East, South, Central, Midwest, Southwest, West, Northwest and Japan), plus the PBA50 Tour, the competition points leader as of Sept. 30 will earn a paid entry into the World Series along with a berth in a special eight-game match play roll-off leading to two players advancing to the PBA Challenge Finals. The fourth spot in the PBA Challenge Finals will be awarded to the 2015 Teen Masters boys’ and girls’ division champions.
While the regional schedules for 2015 are still pending, the PBA expects an increase in the number of regional events that will include PBA Women’s Regional qualifiers. Complete details about the regional program will be available on each region’s home page on pba.com.
The 2014 PBA Challenge finals, presented by the International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame, will air on ESPN on Sunday, Jan. 18, at 3 p.m. ET. Finalists will include Walter Ray Williams Jr. of Oxford, Fla., vs. Venezuela’s Amleto Monacelli (PBA50 Tour); Josh Blanchard, Gilbert, Ariz., vs. E.J. Tackett, Huntington, Ind. (PBA Regional); Clara Guerrero, Pflugerville, Texas, vs. Missy Parkin, Laguna Hills, Calif. (PBA Women’s Regional), and Michael Coffey, Melbourne, Fla., vs. Kelly Skalacki, Coram, N.Y. (Teen Masters).
PBA STARS CARRY AMERICA’S GOLD MEDAL HOPES INTO MEN’S WORLD CHAMIONSHIPS
Six PBA stars will carry America’s gold medal hopes into the World Bowling Men’s Championships Dec. 6-14 at Zayed Sports City in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas; Mike Fagan, Fort Worth, Texas; Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C.; Marshall Kent, Yakima, Wash.; Bill O’Neill, Langhorne, Pa., and Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., are the members of Team USA who will join 274 bowlers from 49 countries competing for gold, silver and bronze medals in singles, doubles, trios, team, all-events and Masters match play events.
In the 2013 Men’s World Championships, held in Las Vegas, Finland won the team title, denying the United States a fourth consecutive win. Despite the absence of a team gold medal, the U.S. won three gold, two silver and three bronze medals.
Bowling fans will be able to follow the Men’s World Championships live on USBC’s BowlTV online video streaming service (visit bowl.com).
SUBSCRIBE TO XTRA FRAME FOR CHANCE TO WIN NEW MOTIV BOWLING BALL
Each month MOTIV is giving away a bowling ball to someone who signs up for a new Xtra Frame subscription, either monthly ($7.99) or 12-month XF Season Ticket ($64.99).
The November winner is Tyler Gruhl of Madison, Wis., who was selected at random. Gruhl won a Jackal ball from MOTIV (http://www.motivbowling.com/products/balls/jackal.html).
The ball-a-month promotion is a continuation of the MOTIV promotion which ran during the 2014 GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling VI when the company gave away one bowling ball a day for the six days of WSOB competition.
PBA REGIONAL SUMMARY: SIMONSEN WINS BATTLE OF TEENAGERS FOR SECOND TITLE
In a battle of teenagers, Anthony Simonsen of Mesquite, Texas, won his second PBA Southwest Region title Sunday, clinching the title in the Beaumont Southwest Open at Beaumont’s Crossroads Bowling Center in Beaumont, Texas, by winning his last three games of the eight-game round robin match play finals.
Going into the final game position round match, the 17-year-old Simonsen led Chris Hibbitts from Fort Worth, Texas, by 29 pins, and was only 33 pins ahead of fourth place. Simonsen defeated Hibbitts, 230-190, to secure the $3,000 first prize. Nineteen-year-old Mason Edmondson from Amarillo, Texas, defeated Houston’s Shawn Maldonado, 205-189, to move up to second. Simonsen finished with a 21-game total of 4,652 pins, 56 ahead of Edmondson.
● Amateur Charles Easton of Sylvania, Ohio, defeated Kyle Bigelow of Troy, Ohio by 75 pins to win his first PBA Regional event in the La-Z-Boy/Monroe Sport Center Central Challenge at Monroe Sport Center in Monroe, Mich., Sunday.
Easton finished with an 8-2 match play record and a total of 4,535 pins for 18 games, including match play bonus pins. He also earned $1,600.
The Challenge tournament field consisted of PBA members who do not hold a PBA title or non-members who have never won a PBA event. Because Easton is a non-member, he does not receive credit for a PBA title.
● Moving into the final month of the year, there is only one PBA Regional on the calendar for the Dec. 5-6 weekend – the PBA Knob Hill/MJK Pro Shop Eastern Challenge for non-title holders at Knob Hill Country Lanes in Manalapan, N.J.
The Dec. 12-14 PBA Regional schedule includes the PBA Decker Appraisal Services Southern Baker Trios presented by Hammer at Wayne Lanes in Waynesboro, Va.; the PBA McKinley Lanes Central/East Challenge in Niles, Ohio, and the PBA and PBA50 Sands Regency Trio Region Challenge and Open presented by Radical at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nev.
Closing out the year over the Dec. 19-21 weekend will be the PBA/PBA50 Southwest Doubles Open presented by Bowling Dynamix at Emerald Bowl in Houston, Texas.
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.
QUICK NOTES
● Admission will be free, and no tickets will be necessary, for the live PBA World Championship finals from the brand new South Point Bowling Plaza in Las Vegas on Sunday, Jan. 11 at 1 p.m. ET (10 a.m. PT) on ESPN. Wes Malott, Mike Fagan, Ronnie Russell, Todd Book and Stuart Williams will do battle in the finals of the final tournament (and major) of the 2014 PBA Tour season. A $50,000 first prize also is at stake.