During the GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling VI, the PBA worked with Rolltech to record unique frame-by-frame, ball-by-ball statistics for the 14 qualifying games. Here’s a look at some of the stats for the four players – top qualifier Connor Pickford, Dom Barrett, Mika Koivuniemi and Ronnie Russell– who made it to the Viper Championship ESPN finals. Koivuniemi won the Viper title, defeating Pickford in the title match, 224-214. The Viper finals aired on ESPN on Sunday:
● Strike percentage: Russell, the No. 2 qualifier, struck on 101 of 160 shots for a 63.13% success rate. Pickford, the top qualifier, was second (62.66%, 99 strikes on 158 attempts), Barrett was third (60.65%, 94 of 155) and Koivuniemi was fourth (56.25%, 90 of 160). The entire field’s strike percentage was 49.93% (10,157 strikes on 20,343 attempts).
● Spare percentage: Koivuniemi was the leading spare shooter (93.85% successful on 61 of 65 attempts) followed by Russell (87.50% on 49 of 56 attempts) followed by Pickford (83.02% on 44 of 53) and Barrett (73.21% on 41 of 56). Note: splits were not counted as “spare attempts.” The field’s success rate was 73.16.
● Single pin spare conversions: three players were perfect – Koivuniemi with 41 of 41 conversions, Pickford with 32 of 32, and Barrett with 19 of 19. Russell was the only player among the top four to miss a single-pin spare, converting 33 of 34 attempts. The field’s success rate was 93.22% (4,344 spares made on 4,660 attempts).
● Multi-pin spare conversions: Koivuniemi and Russell were perfect on 17 of 17 and 16 of 16, respectively. Barrett made 20 of 21 (95.24%) and Pickford made 12 of 14 attempts (85.71%). The field converted 73.23% (2,301 successful spares on 3,142 attempts).
TWO-HANDER MIKE GARCIA’S STRIKE TOPS SEAN RASH IN “SELFIE’ SHOWDOWN
In the second edition of the special one-shot “take a selfie” promotion sponsored by High 5 Gear during the GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling VI, 23-year-old Las Vegas two-handed bowler Mike Garcia rolled a strike to top Sean Rash’s eight-count, winning Rash’s custom High 5 Gear jersey along with the autographed ball Rash used in the special event prior to the Chameleon Championship finals.
The special promotion gave a lucky fan who “tweeted” a selfie an opportunity to participate in a one-ball “showdown” against a PBA star prior to each WSOB telecast.
DOM BARRETT TAKES WORLD BOWLING TOUR MEN’S POINTS LEAD
England’s Dom Barrett closed the 2014 international bowling calendar as the World Bowling Tour points leader, five points ahead of perennial leader Mika Koivuniemi and 30 points ahead of Sean Rash on the two-year, rolling points list. Barrett, who successfully defended his Qatar Open title, has 546 points in the race for the three berths in the 2015 WBT Finals presented by PBA which will be contested during PBA World Series of Bowling VII in Las Vegas next fall.
Behind Barrett, the top 10 on the men’s points list are Koivuniemi (541), Rash (516), Mike Fagan (505), Australia’s Jason Belmonte (500), Tommy Jones (461), Finland’s Osku Palermaa (415), Chris Barnes (372), Sweden’s Martin Larsen (363) and Bill O’Neill (283).
The top 10 on the WBT Women’s Finals list at year’s end are Kelly Kulick (698), Liz Johnson (559), Sweden’s Sandra Andersson (412), Singapore’s Jazreel Tan (379), Missy Parkin (318), Singapore’s Shayna Ng (298), Colombia’s Clara Guerrero (286), Singapore’s Cherie Tan (269), Danielle McEwan (253) and Sweden’s Joline Persson Planefors (251).
HOTELPLANNER.COM RENEWS MONTHLY SWEEPSTAKES PROGRAM FOR 2015
HotelPlanner.com, the official travel partner of the PBA, has announced it will renew its sweepstakes program, awarding a $200 lodging gift certificate to a lucky winner each month, beginning in January. All you have to do to enter the January sweepstakes is book a hotel room through HotelPlanner.com using one of the links below before January 31, and you will be automatically entered.
You must enter through any link on pba.com, or by using this link: http://pba.hotelplanner.com/. For each additional reservation you make through HotelPlanner.com, you’ll receive another free entry into the sweepstakes.
The monthly drawing will take place on the last day of the month. To qualify, the user must book a reservation through HotelPlanner.com. The $200 gift certificates will be valid for hotel room and tax only. Any incidental charges will be the responsibility of the person using the certificate.
To enter without making a purchase, send a letter to HotelPlanner, attn.: Carlos Diaz, 777 S. Flagler Drive, Suite 800 West Tower, West Palm Beach, FL 33401. Written entries must be received before the end-of-the-month drawing.
ON TAP FOR SUNDAY: THE PBA CHAMELEON CHAMPIONSHIP ON ESPN
GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling VI telecast No. 3, the Chameleon Championship finals, will air Sunday at 1 p.m. ET on ESPN. Top qualifier DJ Archer of Friendswood, Texas, bidding for his first PBA Tour title in his third television appearance, will bowl the winner of a three-player shootout match involving No. 2 Ronnie Russell, Marion, Ind.; No. 3 Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., and No. 4J.R. Raymond, Bay City, Mich. Raymond will be making his PBA television debut.
To view a preview of Sunday’s telecast, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kNx_wuqzsI
HISTORIC FIRST TELEVISED 300 GAME REVISITED
During the PBA Cheetah Championship telecast, the PBA identified Bob Benoit’s nationally-televised 300 game in 1988 as the only perfect game bowled in a player’s first game on television. It was, in fact, the first-and-only by a PBA member in his first television game. But Jason Queen also performed that feat as an amateur when he defeated Bobby Fleetwood, 300-225, in his first game on television in the semifinal round of the 1997 USBC Masters in Huntsville, Ala. Queen went on to win the Masters that year, defeating Eric Forkel for the title, 248-194. In addition, current ESPN and Xtra Frame play-by-play announcer Mike Jakubowski called Queen’s perfect debut with PBA Hall of Famer Earl Anthony for Prime Sports Network.
PBA REGIONAL SUMMARY: SCROGGINS, BARNES WIN SOUTHWEST DOUBLES TITLE
PBA Tour champions Mike Scroggins of Amarillo and Chris Barnes from Double Oak captured the second annual PBA50/PBA Bowling Dynamix Houston Southwest Doubles Sunday at Houston’s Emerald Bowl by 185 pins over Paul McCordic of Sugarland and his partner, Joe Findling of Mesquite, in an all-Texas finale.
The winning duo took a 76-pin lead into the final position round match over McCordic and Findling. With 50 match play bonus awarded to the winner in addition to actual pinfall, the tournament outcome was undecided. Scroggins and Barnes locked up the $5,000 first prize with a 470-417 win in position round for a 8,651 18-game pinfall total. McCordic and Findling held on to second place, edging amateur Pete Thomas of Oklahoma City and Anthony Lavery-Spahr of Pasadena, Texas, by a single pin, 8,493-8,492.
● The PBA Regional program will take a break over the holiday season, resuming over the Jan. 23-25 weekend when Legend Lanes in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, hosts the Don Vay Memorial Regular/PBA50 Central Doubles Classic presented by Ebonite.
The Feb. 6-8 weekend includes the Break Point Alley South Challenge, a non-champions event, in Tavares, Fla., while the Midwest and Central Regions will conduct a joint one-day PBA50 Allstate Midwest/Central Open at River Rand Lanes in Des Plaines, Ill.
There are no regionals scheduled for Feb. 13-15, but the Feb. 20-22 weekend includes the PBA50 Dave Edwards Toyota Southern Open presented by Ebonite at Paradise Lanes in Spartanburg, S.C.; the PBA Lakewood Southwest Open at Holiday Bowling and Billiards in Lakewood, Colo.; the West Region’s Jackson Rancheria Casino Resort Championship at Gold Country Lanes in Sutter Creek, Calif., and the Sunday-only Lynwood Midwest Challenge presented by Roto Grip, a non-champions event, at Lynwood Bowl in Lynwood, Ill.
Closing the February schedule will be the PBA50 Pensacola South Open at New Liberty Lanes in Pensacola, Fla.
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
● Reminder: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 ball-a-month promotion is a continuation of the MOTIV promotion which ran during the 2014 GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling VI when MOTIV gave away one bowling ball a day for the six days of WSOB competition.
● Reminder: if you missed the ESPN telecast on Sunday, all GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling VI telecasts will be archived on Xtra Frame seven days after they air on ESPN. Click on the “2014 WSOB archives” tab on the left side of the Xtra Frame home page for a complete listing of archived shows.
● Due to a schedule conflict with the 2015 World Bowling Women’s Championships, the schedule for two PBA International-World Bowling Tour events in Qatar and Saudi Arabia have been adjusted. The Qatar Open, originally scheduled for Nov. 21-27 in Doha, will take place Nov. 23-29. The 9th Kingdom International Open, originally scheduled for Nov. 28-Dec. 3, will take place Nov. 30-Dec. 6 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.