Australia's Belmonte Tops Scorpion Championship Qualifying

Australia’s Jason Belmonte averaged 237.58 for 12 games to top the Scorpion Championship qualifying round on Thursday,finishing 57 pins ahead of Eugene McCune of Munster, IN.

The top 16 players from Thursday’s Scorpion qualifying round advance to a nine-game round-robin match play round next Tuesday. After 21 games, the top five will advance to the stepladder finals which will be conducted on Friday, Nov. 5, at South Point Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, NV. Defending Chameleon champion Bill O’Neill of Southampton, PA, qualified for match play in seventh place, his third straight top 16 finish.

After the first three stages of World Series competition, O’Neill is the only players in the field of 252 who have qualified for match play on the Cheetah, Viper and Chameleon patterns. After three sessions, 38 different players have advanced to next week’s match play rounds.

SCORPION CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFYING LEADERS
(After 12 games; top 16 advance to round-robin match play Tuesday, Nov. 2)
1, Jason Belmonte, Australia, 2,851.
2, Eugene McCune, Munster, Ind., 2,794.
3, Dan MacLelland, Canada, 2,790.
4, Mike Fagan, Patchogue, N.Y., 2,783.
5, Martin Larsen, Sweden, 2,749.
6, Mike DeVaney, Murrieta, Calif., 2,739.
7, (tie) Paul Moor, England, and Jason Sterner, McDonough, Ga., 2,730.
9, Amleto Monacelli, Venezuela, 2,714.
10, Jack Jurek, Lackawanna, N.Y., 2,707.
11, Jun-Yung Kim, Korea, 2,701.
12, Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, 2,690.
13, Bill O'Neill, Southampton, Pa., 2,686.
14, Yong-Jin Gu, Korea, 2,685.
15, Eddie VanDaniker Jr., Essex, Md., 2,683.
16, Chad Kloss, West Allis, Wis., 2,678.