Two Handers Blasting PBA Tournament Of Champions Qualifying

 Finland’s Osku Palermaa and Australia’s Jason Belmonte, the top two-handed bowlers in the world, led the field of 24 finalists into the opening round of match play in the Barbasol PBA Tournament of Champions (TOC) Thursday at Woodland Bowl in Indianapolis, IN.

Palermaa, a three-time PBA Tour champion and winner of the 2011 PBA World Championship, averaged 244.88 for his 24 qualifying games, finishing with a total of 5,877 pins to lead Belmonte by 146 pins. Belmonte, who entered the final qualifying round in eighth place, averaged 265.87 for his first seven games in round three before finishing with a 169 game, but he held onto second place with a 5,731 total, 15 pins ahead of Pete Weber of St. Ann, MO.

“I felt tired this morning, but I started well anyway,” Palermaa said. “I left a 7-10 split in my first frame and converted it, and that’s the way it started. To be honest, I’ve probably converted the 7-10 more times than I have bowled 300 games - and I have a few of those – but it was a good way to start the day.

“Scores were high today, but I made the right guesses,” Palermaa continued. “I felt like I bowled better physically yesterday, but I scored better today. Yesterday I made the right moves, but I didn’t make big enough moves. Today the moves were smaller, but I made them pair to pair and I stayed right on top of things.”

Weber, who is trying for a record-tying 10th major championship, had 5,716 pins for third place. He was followed by reigning PBA Player of the Year Sean Rash in fourth with a 5,599 total and Stuart Williams of England with 5,570 pins.

All-time PBA titles leader Walter Ray Williams Jr. of Ocala, Fla., kept his hopes for a 48th title alive, advancing to match play in 19th place. Williams needs to win the Tournament of Champions to become the eighth player to complete the PBA Triple Crown (Tournament of Champions, U.S. Open and PBA World Championship) and the third to complete the Grand Slam (Triple Crown plus USBC Masters).

The TOC continues Thursday night when the top 24 players bowl the first of three eight-game round of match play. The final two match play rounds will be held Friday at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. After 48 games, the top five players will advance to Sunday’s live ESPN stepladder finals at 2:30 p.m. ET.

All match play rounds of the Tournament of Champions (and the PBA Hall of Fame induction ceremonies Saturday night) will be covered live, exclusively on PBA’s online bowling channel, Xtra Frame. For subscription information, visit pba.com.

BARBASOL PBA TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS

Woodland Bowl, Indianapolis, Thursday

Round Three (after 24 qualifying games; top 24 advance to round robin match play)

1, Osku Palermaa, Finland, 5,877.
2, Jason Belmonte, Australia, 5,731.
3, Pete Weber, St. Ann, Mo., 5,716.
4, Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., 5,599.
5, Stuart Williams, England, 5,570.
6, Amleto Monacelli, Venezuela, 5,556.
7, Mike DeVaney, Hemet, Calif., 5,552.
8, Tom Smallwood, Saginaw, Mich., 5,522.
9, Bill O'Neill, Langhorne, Pa., 5,493.
10, Dick Allen, Columbia, S.C., 5,478.
11, Dom Barrett, England, 5,449.
12, Scott Norton, Mission Viejo, Calif., 5,446.
13, Mike Wolfe, New Albany, Ind., 5,443.
14, Andres Gomez, Colombia, 5,424.
15, Norm Duke, Clermont, Fla., 5,403.
16, Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., 5,401.
17, Dave Wodka, Henderson, Nev., 5,394.
18, Doug Kent, Newark, N.Y., 5,393.
19, Walter Ray Williams Jr., Ocala, Fla., 5,368.
20, Rhino Page, Dade City, Fla., 5,344.
21, Anthony LaCaze, Melrose Park, Ill., 5,334.
22, Michael Haugen Jr., Phoenix, 5,322.
23, Patrick Allen, Wesley Chapel, Fla., 5,320.
24, Lonnie Waliczek, Wichita, Kan., 5,317.

Other Cashers (after 24 games):

25, Jason Sterner, McDonough, Ga., 5,315, $2,800.
26, Tom Hess, Urbandale, Iowa, 5,313, $2,700.
27, Mike Fagan, Dallas, 5,299, $2,600.
28, Mika Koivuniemi, Hartland, Mich., 5,291, $2,500.
29, Jason Couch, Clermont, Fla., 5,290, $2,400.
30, Tom Daugherty, Wesley Chapel, Fla., 5,268, $2,350.
31, Steve Jaros, Yorkville, Ill., 5,262, $2,300.
32, Ronnie Russell, Marion, Ind., 5,260, $2,250.
33, Eugene McCune, Munster, Ind., 5,257, $2,200.
34, Ryan Shafer, Horseheads, N.Y., 5,251, $2,150.
35, Scott Newell, Deland, Fla., 5,247, $2,200.
36, Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, 5,245, $2,050.
37, Parker Bohn III, Jackson, N.J., 5,237, $2,000.
38 (tie), Danny Wiseman, Baltimore, and Kurt Pilon, Warren, Mich., 5,220, $1,925.
40, Chris Warren, Grants Pass, Ore., 5,215, $1,850.
41, Jack Jurek, Lackawanna, N.Y., 5,201, $1,800.
42, Brian Kretzer, Dayton, Ohio, 5,175, $1,750.
43, Mark Williams, Beaumont, Texas, 5,133, $1,700.
44, Michael Machuga, Erie, Pa., 5,097, $1,650.
45, John Petraglia, Jackson, N.J., 5,079, $1,600.
46, Wayne Webb, Columbus, Ohio, 5,071, $1,550.
47, Ryan Ciminelli, Cheektowaga, N.Y., 5,064, $1,500.
48, Bryan Goebel, Shawnee, Kan., 5,063, $1,450.
49, Bryon Smith, Roseburg, Ore., 5,056, $1,400.
50, Kelly Kulick, Union, N.J., 5,019, $1,400.
51, George Branham III, Indianapolis, 4,857, $1,400.
52, Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, withdrew, $1,400.
53, Mike Scroggins, Amarillo, Texas, withdrew, $1,400.

300 Games: Jason Belmonte.