The Hardwick
Division is the second of four eliminator rounds that will trim the PBA World
Championship field of 16 finalists down to four for a Sunday, Jan. 15, battle
for the $50,000 first prize, the Earl Anthony Trophy and the PBA Tour’s first
major title of the 2011-12 season.
All World
Championship competition will be conducted on a pair of lanes specially
installed in an exhibit hall at South Point Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, NV.
Smallwood, 34,
became an instant hero among America’s blue-collar work force when he defeated
former PBA Player of the Year Wes Malott for the 2009 PBA World Championship.
Smallwood, who had lost his job with General Motors, had decided to pursue his
dream to become a professional bowler and stunned the bowling world with his
upset victory in Wichita, KS. Last season, he won $100,000 as runner-up to Mika
Kovuniemi in the PBA Tournament of Champions.
Now Smallwood is
back in position to try for another major title as the top qualifier in the
Hardwick Division. He earned his place in the Hardwick group as the No. 2
qualifier over 40 games of World Championship qualifying on five different lane
conditions, averaging 226.63 to finish 296 pins behind leader Sean Rash. As top
qualifier in his group, Smallwood has selected the PBA’s Scorpion lane
conditioning pattern for Sunday’s event when he will face Venezuela’s Ildemaro
Ruiz, Colombia’s Andres Gomez and 25-year PBA Tour veteran Ryan Shafer of
Horseheads, NY, in a battle for a berth in the World Championship
finals.
Both South American
players are trying for their first PBA Tour titles. Ruiz, who is making his PBA
television debut, qualified for the elimination rounds in seventh place. Gomez
was 10th and Shafer tied for 14th. No international player has ever won the PBA
World Championship.
In Sunday’s
eliminator round, all four players will bowl a one-game match. The player with
the lowest score will be eliminated. The three survivors will bowl another game,
with the low man knocked out. The two finalists will bowl a final game, with the
survivor advancing to the World Championship finals.
The four World
Championship divisional finals have been named for PBA superstars who excelled
in the event during their careers. Finland’s Osku Palermaa won the Don Carter
Division berth. The Johnny Petraglia and Mike Aulby Division finals, which will
air on ESPN on Jan. 1 and Jan. 8, respectively, will complete the divisional
elimination rounds. The championship trophy is named in honor of Anthony, the
only player ever to win the event six times.
A special preview of
the Hardwick Division finals will be webcast on pba.com’s Xtra Frame beginning
Wednesday, and a post-game show will be presented on Xtra Frame Sunday
immediately following the ESPN finals.
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