The Longmarch PBA Pioneers League in China is currently in its fifth season of working to develop players to PBA membership eligibility status. The PBA Pioneers League program involves rigorous three-day, 12-games-a-day qualifying events, and requires players to average at least 200 in order to meet the PBA’s minimum eligibility requirement before applying for membership.
Longmarch Bowling owner Frank Zhao, who founded the PBA league program, said 26 bowlers from all parts of China are competing in the current session, which got underway following a Brunswick-sponsored visit to China by PBA Tour champion Sean Rash, PBA Tour Reps Chuck Gardner and Pat Mitchell for a series of clinics, pro-ams and exhibitions.
Representatives of the Pioneers league program will travel to Reno in December to compete in the GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling VII, following in the footsteps of the first delegation of Chinese bowlers ever to compete in the WSOB last fall at South Point in Las Vegas.
Zhao also said it appears representatives of the China Bowling Association and the China Sport Bureau will join the Chinese PBA members in Reno this year as the world’s largest nation continues to pursue training and education for its emerging bowling programs.
PBA, PWBA MEMBERS WIN GOLD MEDALS IN PAN AMERICAN GAMES BOWLING
PBA member Dan MacLelland of Canada, and PBA/PWBA members Clara Guerrero of Colombia and Shannon Pluhowsky of Dayton, Ohio, were gold-medal winners in the recently-completed Pan American Games bowling competition in Toronto.
MacLelland and Wichita State University star Francois Lavoie won the men’s doubles gold medal with a 12-game combined total of 5,607 pins, topping Colombia’s Jaime Gonzalez and Manual Otalora by 318 pins and Team USA bronze medalists Tommy Jones and Devin Bidwell, who finished with 5,203 pins.
Guerrero and Rocio Restrepo won women’s doubles with 5074 pins, topping former PBA Women’s Series titlists Pluhowsky and Liz Johnson by 149 pins.
Brazil’s Marcelo Suartz won men’s singles with a 201-189 over PBA Hall of Famer Amleto Monacelli, who was representing his home country of Venezuela. Monacelli defeated MacLelland, 187-178, and Suartz eliminated Bidwell, 202-182, in the semifinal round.
Pluhowsky, who also won women’s singles in 2003, got her second gold medal in the event with a 223-212 victory over Aumi Guerra of the Dominican Republic. Pluhowsky defeated Restrepo, 214-212, and Guerra defeated Johnson, 258-181, in the women’s semifinal round.
SEAN RASH TO FULFILL “WISH” FOR 11-YEAR-OLD OHIO BOY
Eight-time PBA Tour titlist Sean Rash of Montgomery, Ill., will meet and bowl with 11-year-old Solomon Wohrer of Lancaster, Ohio, on Wednesday, Aug. 5, at Olympia Lanes in Hammond, Ind., prior to the start of the PBA/PBA50 South Shore Doubles, fulfilling Wohrer’s request through the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Wohrer, who suffers from Ewing’s Sarcoma, a form of bone cancer that affects mostly young people, will bowl with Rash at 6 p.m. on Wednesday. Thursday morning, he will again meet Rash, have a bowling ball drilled on the PBA truck while touring the PBA’s equipment transport, and meet other PBA players.
Wohrer and his family will then be guests of the PBA and Olympia Lanes to attend the rest of the tournament.
UPCOMING ON XTRA FRAME: PBA/PWBA STRIKING AGAINST BREAST CANCER DOUBLES
PBA’s exclusive online bowling channel, Xtra Frame, will close out its July schedule with live start-to-finish coverage of the PBA/PWBA Xtra Frame Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles from Palace Lanes in Houston, Texas, July 31-Aug. 2. A sold-out field of 128 teams, including a number of PBA Tour champions and current PWBA Tour competitors, will compete for the $15,000 first prize.
Bowling fans who want to sample Xtra Frame can subscribe on a three-day basis for only $3.99. A full month’s worth of Xtra Frame programming cost only $7.99. PBA’s best package is the 12-month XF Season Ticket for $64.99, or $5.41 per month. To sign up, visit pba.com and click on the Xtra Frame link.
Bowling fans also can watch coverage of the USBC Senior Masters from Green Bay, Wis., on USBC’s BowlTV video-streaming service, and link to “live scoring” by visiting pba.com’s home page. Visit bowl.com for the full schedule. BowlTV is a free service.
The August 6-8 Xtra Frame schedule includes doubleheader coverage of the PBA/PBA50 South Shore Doubles from Olympia Lanes in Hammond, Ind., along with the PWBA Topeka Open presented by Prairie Band Resort & Casino from West Ridge Lanes in Topeka, Kan.
PBA REGIONAL UPDATE: 22 YEARS LATER, STAIKOFF GETS FIRST PBA TITLE
With a bit of help from partner Mike Scroggins of Amarillo, Texas, PBA veteran Ted Staikoff of Black Hawk, S.D., won his first PBA title in 22 years as a member on Friday, July 24, when the duo won the PBA50 Treasure Island Resort & Casino Midwest Doubles title at Island Xtreme Bowl in Welch, Minn.
Staikoff, 67, teamed with Scroggins, a two-time PBA50 Tour winner in his PBA50 rookie year, to defeat Harry Sullins of Chesterfield Twp., Mich. and partner Dave Axon of Bellevue, Neb., 258-232, in the final Baker format doubles match.
After competing on the PBA50 Tour for 17 years, Staikoff made news earlier this season when he led after the first round of qualifying in the PBA50 Fountain Valley Open presented by Track. His best previous PBA50 Tour finish was third in the 2003 Senior Manassas Open.
● Patrick Allen of Mt. Kisco, N.Y., defeated Anthony Pepe of Elmhurst, N.Y., 227-187, to win the PBA Pure-It Pro Shop Eastern Open presented by DV8 at Cedar Lanes in Lebanon, Pa., Sunday. The win was Allen’s third of the year and the 27th title of his career.
Allen used two different bowling balls throughout the stepladder finals to deal with a tricky left lane. Allen posted a 10-2 match play record to qualify third for the stepladder finals and won three straight matches to claim the title. After defeating John Furey of Freehold, N.J., 218-187, in the opening match, he defeated Tommy Gollick of Oberlin, Pa., 201-181, to advance to the title match.
● Craig Nidiffer of Trenton, Mich. defeated E.J. Tackett of Huntington, Ind., by 123 pins to win the PBA Farmer’s State Bank Central Open presented by Roto Grip at Angola Bowl in Angola, Ind., Sunday. Nidiffer finished with a 4-4 match play record and a total of 5,179 pins for 21 games, including match play bonus pins for his third career PBA Regional title. He also earned $2,600.
● Marty Deh of San Jose, Calif. and Greg Thompson Jr. of Dublin, Calif., teamed up to defeat Chris Warren of Grants Pass, Ore., and Jeff Frankos of Daly City, Calif., 426-391, to win the PBA Sands Regency West\Northwest Doubles presented by MOTIV at High Sierra Lanes in Reno, Nev., Sunday.
Deh earned his sixth PBA Regional title while Thompson picked up his third. The winning team shared the $3,600 first prize. The winning team defeated Californians Nick Morgan of Sacramento and Robby Porter of Rancho Cordova, 445-370, in the semifinal round while Warren and Frankos defeated another set of Californians, Ty Dawson of Sunnyvale and PJ Haggerty of Roseville, 20-18 in a two-ball (one shot by each player) sudden death roll-off after the teams tied at 352-352.
● Closing out the July schedule over the July 31-Aug. 2 weekend will be the PBA Xtra Frame Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles, a PBA Tour-PWBA Tour title event, at Palace Lanes in Houston, Texas; the Lakewood Bowl Midwest Open in Richton Park, Ill.; the PBA/PBA50 Northwest/West Open from 20th Century Lanes in Boise, Idaho, and the PBA Japan Region’s first events of the year, the DHC Japan Cheetah and Women’s Cheetah Opens at Nagoya Grandbowl in Aichi, Japan.
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: book a room through HotelPlanner.com’s link on pba.com to become eligible for a $200 lodging certificate in the monthly sweepstakes sponsored by PBA’s official hotel booking partner. And subscribe to Xtra Frame (monthly plan at $7.99 or XF Season Ticket for $64.99) to automatically enter MOTIV’s monthly sweepstakes for a chance to win a new high-performance MOTIV bowling ball.