Jason Belmonte’s back-to-back “major” victories in the USBC Masters and Barbasol PBA Tournament of Champions on the heels of winning 2012-13 Chris Schenkel PBA Player of the Year honors was the biggest story in another hallmark year for the PBA. For more detailed information about the PBA’s top stories in 2014, visit the pba.com summary: http://news.pba.com/post/2014/12/30/PBAe28099s-Top-10-Stories-of-2014.aspx. The year’s top stories included:
● The PBA christened the new South Point Bowling Plaza with its series of GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling VI telecasts on ESPN;
● The launch of the PBA Women’s Regional program and the introduction of its historic international regional program in Japan;
● The “Hall of Fame” season on the PBA50 Tour;
● Silver Lake Atom Splitters winning the PBA League Elias Cup behind the Mark Roth MVP performance of Chris Barnes;
● The launch of the far-reaching multi-media PBA Network;
● “Perfect” performances on television by Sean Rash and Ronnie Russell;
● The ushering in of a new era for the “young guns” on the PBA Tour;
● An electrifying Badger Open championship match between Bill O’Neill and Brian Valenta;
● Jason Couch becomes the “comeback kid” in an impressive Delaware Regional victory.
XTRA FRAME RETURNS WITH LIVE COVERAGE OF DHC PBA JAPAN INVITATIONAL
Live Xtra Frame coverage returns Jan. 15-17 with the historic live coverage of the DHC PBA Japan Invitational from Tokyo, Japan – the first-ever international tournament covered live by the PBA’s online bowling channel.
For a complete schedule of upcoming events on Xtra Frame, click here: http://www.pba.com/Live/. To subscribe to Xtra Frame, visit pba.com and click on the Xtra Frame link. Full year Xtra Frame Season Ticket subscriptions are available for $64.99; one-month subscriptions are only $7.99. Xtra Frame is a major component of the PBA’s multi-media PBA Network.
ROLLTECH STATS SAY HAUGEN WAS SCORPION STRIKES AND SPARES LEADER
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 in the Scorpion Championship: top qualifier Michael Haugen Jr., Scott Newell, Martin Larsen and Tom Hess. Haugen, who won the Scorpion title by defeating Larsen in the title match, 213-206, led the finalists in both strike and spare percentages during the qualifying stages of the Scorpion event. The Scorpion finals aired Sunday on ESPN:
● Strike percentage: Haugen struck on 100 of 159 shots for a 66.89% success rate followed by Larsen (62.34%, 96 strikes on 154 attempts), Newell (62.03%, 98 of 158) and Hess (59.75%, 95 of 159). The 240-player field’s strike percentage was 49.25% (9,892 strikes on 20,086 attempts).
● Spare percentage: Haugen was the leading spare shooter (90.74% successful on 49 of 54 attempts) followed by Hess (90.16% on 55 of 61 attempts), Newell (89.09%, 49 of 55) and Larsen (81.48%, 44 of 54). The field converted 74.99% (7,215 of 9,621 attempts).
● Single pin spare conversions: two players were perfect – Hess converted on 36 of 36 attempts and Haugen made 30 of 30. Newell made 29 of 30 (96.67%) and Larsen made 34 of 36 (94.44%). The field converted 4,475 of 4,811 (93.02%).
● Multi-pin spare conversions: Newell made 10 of 10, Hess 18 of 20 (90%), Haugen 17 of 20 (85%) and Larsen 10 of 12 (83.33%). The field converted 76.14% (2,508 of 3,294 attempts).
TWO-HANDER WARREN PACKER LOSES TO RONNIE RUSSELL’S STRIKE
In the Scorpion Championship edition of the special “take a selfie” promotion sponsored by High 5 Gear during the GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling VI, Viper, Chameleon and PBA World Championship finalist Ronnie Russell rolled a strike to “defeat” 29-year-old two-handed Dallas, Texas bowler Warren Packer’s eight-count. 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. Despite losing the showdown, Packer received the autographed ball Russell used in the contest.
ON TAP FOR SUNDAY: THE PBA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP LIVE ON ESPN
GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling VI telecast No. 5, the PBA World Championship finals, will air live on ESPN Sunday at 1 p.m. ET. Top qualifier Wes Malott of Pflugerville, Texas, is bidding for his 10th PBA Tour title and second major. He will bowl the survivor of stepladder battles involving No. 2 Mike Fagan, Fort Worth, Texas; No. 3 Ronnie Russell, Marion, Ind.; No. 4 Todd Book, Russells Point, Ohio, and No. 5 Stuart Williams, England.
In addition to profile videos of each of the five finalists that will be posted on the PBA YouTube Channel – a part of the PBA Network – this week, you can watch the dramatic position round of match play that determined the final field: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4gRvAur2nM
ENTER THE HOTELPLANNER.COM MONTHLY SWEEPSTAKES
HotelPlanner.com, the official travel partner of the PBA, has renewed its sweepstakes program for 2015 and will award a $200 lodging gift certificate to a lucky winner each month all year. To enter, book a hotel room through HotelPlanner.com using one of the links below before the last day of the month, and you will be automatically entered. You must enter through any link on pba.com, or by using this link: http://pba.hotelplanner.com/. Each additional reservation you make through HotelPlanner.com will earn you another free entry into the sweepstakes.
The monthly drawing will take place on the last day of the month. The $200 gift certificate 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.
QUICK NOTES
● Ronnie Russell’s “perfect game” in the 2014 PBA Chameleon Championship shootout round has now exceeded 410,000 views on the PBA YouTube Channel. To watch the 24th nationally-televised 300 game in PBA history, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02imeWT-3OA
● Every 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. December’s winner of a new MOTIV ball was Richard Lasher of Altoona, Iowa.
● Reminder: if you missed the ESPN telecast on Sunday, all GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling VI telecasts will be archived on Xtra Frame three 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.