Svensson, Belmonte Headline All-International PBA Cheetah Championship Finals Field

by JSchneider  |  Thursday, November 16, 3:40 PM

RENO, Nev. -- Two-handers Jesper Svensson of Sweden and Jason Belmonte of Australia won best-of-three Round of 8 matches Thursday to headline an all-international field advancing to the PBA Cheetah Championship presented by PBA Challenge Mobile Game finals which will be taped Saturday by ESPN at 4:15 p.m. PST and live streamed on ESPN3.

Svensson qualified for his second GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling IX presented by Eldorado Reno Resorts Properties telecast by sweeping PBA Hall of Famer Norm Duke of Clermont, Fla., 2-0 (259-214, 268-201).

Svensson, a six-time PBA Tour winner, earned top-qualifier honors for the PBA World Championship finals after cashers’ rounds were completed earlier in the week.

Belmonte, who qualified second for the World Championship finals, beat Ryan Ciminelli of Cheektowaga, N.Y., 2-1, in his best-of-three match to also make his second WSOB IX finals telecast. After losing the first game 234-206, Belmonte came back to win the next two, 259-189 and 300-214.

For Belmonte, a 15-time Tour winner and three-time PBA Player of the Year, the Cheetah Championship finals marks his 17th World Series of Bowling telecast appearance.

The Cheetah Championship, which will be aired on ESPN Dec. 24 at 1 p.m. ET, is also part of the 2017-18 Go Bowling! PBA Tour schedule.

Making it two players from Australia in the finals, Sam Cooley beat PBA Hall of Famer Parker Bohn III of Jackson, N.J., 2-0 (243-212, 279-194) to advance to his first WSOB final. Cooley’s best Tour finish was third in the 2016 Barbasol PBA Players Championship.

Two-time PBA Tour winner Thomas Larsen of Denmark rounded out the all-international finals field by sweeping South Africa’s Francois Louw, 2-0 (232-189, 247-232), to advance to the final.

The finals telecasts will use a format where the four finalists simultaneously bowl one game on the same pair of lanes with the top two scorers advancing to a head-to-head final match.

Round of 16 and Round of 8 Elimination Rounds for the Pepsi PBA Scorpion Championship presented by Go Bowling! continue this afternoon. And will be covered live by PBA’s online bowling channel Xtra Frame.

Jesper Svensson Cruises in Last Two Rounds to Earn PBA World Championship Finals Top Qualifier Honors

by JSchneider  |  Tuesday, November 14, 8:46 PM

RENO, Nev. -- After six days of competition and 60 games on four different lane conditions, Sweden’s Jesper Svensson averaged 241 to earn top qualifier honors for the stepladder finals of the PBA World Championship.

The 22-year-old left-handed two-hander finished with a 14,465 60-game pinfall total at the National Bowling Stadium Tuesday to lead right-handed two-hander Jason Belmonte of Australia who qualified a distant second for the finals with a 14,129 pinfall total.

“Obviously a major (win) means more than the rest but it will be like bowling a new tournament,” said Svensson, who as top qualifier needs only to win one match for the title. “I have to forget that I led the qualifying rounds by so many pins and focus on the best 10 frames I can bowl.

“It’s really a different mindset than qualifying,” Svensson added. “If you bowl a bad frame or a bad game there’s plenty of time to make up for it. In the championship match, at the end of the day, it’s whoever throws it the best the quickest.”

In Tuesday’s final cashers’ round bowled on the 42-foot Scorpion lane condition, Svensson bowled games of 183, 255, 224, 224 and 246 after bowling games of 233, 247, 258, 257 and 255 earlier in the day on the 33-foot Cheetah lane condition.

The World Championship finals will be taped on Sunday, Nov. 19 at noon PST (live streamed on ESPN3, taped for telecast on ESPN on Dec. 31 at 1 p.m. EST).

The PBA World Championship is the crown jewel of the GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling IX, presented by Eldorado Reno Resorts Properties, and the final major championship of the PBA’s 2017 season. WSOB IX is also a part of the 2017-18 Go Bowling! PBA Tour schedule.

Svensson, already a six-time PBA Tour winner, will be trying for his second PBA major title after winning the 2016 PBA Tournament of Champions, while Belmonte, a 15-time Tour winner, will be trying for his ninth major, which would put him alone in third place among the PBA’s all-time major title winners. Neither player has won the PBA World Championship.

Belmonte will also be trying for his third major title of the season winning the Barbasol PBA Players Championship and USBC Masters earlier this year.

“This win would be important for a number of reasons,” said Belmonte, a three-time PBA Player of the Year. “It would be a major title I haven’t won and it would go a long way to securing another Player of the Year honor.”

Finishing third for the finals was seven-time Tour winner Ryan Ciminelli of Cheektowaga, N.Y., who is also trying for his second major, after winning the 2015 U.S. Open. Ciminelli posted a 14,031 pinfall.

Two-time Tour winner Kyle Troup of Taylorsville, N.C., another two-hander, earned the fourth qualifying position finishing with a 13,931 pinfall and PBA Rookie of the Year contender Matt Sanders of Evansville, Ind., bowled a 268 in the final game of the round to secure the fifth qualifying position for the finals with a 13,830 pinfall. Sanders won his first PBA Tour title earlier this season in the Xtra Frame Billy Hardwick Memorial Open.

World Championship qualifying and cashers’ rounds were conducted on the 39-foot Chameleon, 45-foot Shark, 33-foot Cheetah and 42-foot Scorpion PBA lane conditioning patterns.

World Series of Bowling action continues Wednesday with PBA Chameleon presented by Reno Tahoe and Shark Championship presented by Xtra Frame elimination rounds beginning at 11 a.m. PST. Fans can catch all the action on PBA’s online bowling channel Xtra Frame.

Ryan Ciminelli Rolls 300 in Position Round, Claims Top Rung in Sunday’s Barbasol PBA Players Championship Stepladder Finals

by Bill Vint February 19, 2016 05:58

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ryan Ciminelli of Cheektowaga, NY, advanced from third to take the lead earlier Friday and fired a 300 in his final game to lock up the top berth in Sunday’s finals of the Barbasol Professional Bowlers Association Players Championship at Wayne Webb’s Columbus Bowl.

Ciminelli, a 29-year-old left-hander and the PBA Tour’s only three-time title winner in 2015 – including the U.S. Open – has won 16 of his 24 matches and tied another, averaging 240.69 to claim the top rung in the stepladder finals by 70 pins over Canadian Graham Fach, who is making his first television final in only his second PBA Tour appearance. Fach, 24, finished with a 14-10 match play record and 11,978 pins in his bid to become the first Canadian ever to win a PBA Tour title.

Australia’s Sam Cooley, also qualifying for his first TV final in third place, struggled early in the final round, but turned his fate around with a 300 game to finish with 11,832 pins, 70 ahead of Sweden’s two-hander Jesper Svensson. Svensson, who turned 21 on Monday, became the youngest player to win the FireLake PBA Tournament of Champions two weeks ago in Shawnee, Okla.

It might not have been the prettiest round among the finalists, but PBA Hall of Famer Norm Duke of Clermont, FL, battled his way into the telecast with three exciting victories in his final three matches, slipping past Anthony Pepe of Elmhurst, N.Y., by 12 pins and DJ Archer of Friendswood, Texas – his position round opponent – by 36 pins.

Duke, who needs to win the Players Championship to join Mike Aulby as only the second player to complete the “Super Slam” of major championships, said, “That’s the hardest telecast I’ve made in recent memory. With three games to go I was 100 pins back and it seemed like I could do nothing but leave 10 pins. I just told myself, hang in there. I just willed myself to bowl three good games.

“This is the fifth major,” the 51-year-old Hall of Famer added. “Don’t think I don’t know it. I just know how hard it is to win out here. I want to win one. I just want to win. I don’t think my story is over yet.”

Ciminelli, as tournament leader, will meet the survivor of three stepladder matches for the title. After finishing second in 2015 PBA Player of the Year balloting to Australia’s Jason Belmonte, Ciminelli said he had a premonition about his final match.

“I had a feeling I was going to bowl 300 because I figured Fach was going to bowl 279 or 280, and I’d need the pins,” Ciminelli said. He doesn’t generally have that kind of confidence.

“Eight months ago, I was looking for a new job in my career training, construction engineering,” Ciminelli said, “but it was like I got a message from God – no, not yet. This is what you’re meant to do."

“As bummed out as I was (about losing in Player of the Year voting last year), and as confident as I look, I fight demons constantly,” he continued. “I keep telling myself I’m not that good. It’s hard for me to keep believing in myself. I’m such a believer in you’re only as good as your last performance, so if I have a bad performance, I tell myself I stink. I just try to make a show. Every tournament is a battle to try to make a show."

“I’m averaging 240 in this tournament and asking myself, am I good enough to keep doing this? No matter what, I continue to question my ability – but I think that’s what makes me keep wanting to prove myself.”

Ciminelli will get a chance to prove himself during the live Barbasol PBA Players Championship ESPN stepladder finals Sunday at 1 p.m. ET. Immediately following the Players Championship, ESPN will air the World Bowling Tour Men’s and Women’s Finals presented by the PBA.

BARBASOL PBA PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

Wayne Webb’s Columbus Bowl, Columbus, Ohio, Friday

Final Match Play Standings (after 48 games, including match play bonus pins; top five advance to live ESPN stepladder finals Sunday at 1 p.m. ET)

1, Ryan Ciminelli, Cheektowaga, N.Y., 16-7-1, 12,048.
2, Graham Fach, Ontario, Canada, 14-10, 11,978.
3, Sam Cooley, Australia, 11-11-2, 11,832.
4, Jesper Svensson, Sweden, 16-7-1, 11,762.
5, Norm Duke, Clermont, Fla., 14-9-1, 11,634.

Failed to advance:
6, Anthony Pepe, Elmhurst, N.Y., 12-11-1, 11,622, $8,000.
7, D.J. Archer, Friendswood, Texas, 12-12, 11,598, $6,500.
8, Osku Palermaa, Finland, 13-10-1, 11,571, $5,500.
9, Kyle Troup, Taylorsville, N.C., 14-10, 11,565, $5,000.
10, Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, 13-11, 11,485, $4,500.
11, E.J. Tackett, Huntington, Ind., 13-11, 11,431, $4,000.
12, Patrick Allen, South Salem, N.Y., 13-11, 11,426, $3,700.
13, Walter Ray Williams Jr., Oxford, Fla., 13-11, 11,411, $3,400.
14, Andres Gomez, Colombia, 11-12-1, 11,408, $3,200.
15, Dave Wodka, Beavercreek, Ohio, 11-13, 11,389, $3,000.
16, Rhino Page, Orlando, Fla., 12-11-1, 11,352, $2,800.
17, Ryan Shafer, Horseheads, N.Y., 11-13, 11,349, $2,700.
18, Parker Bohn III, Jackson, N.J., 13-11, 11,295, $2,600.
19, John Szczerbinski, N. Tonawanda, N.Y., 10-13-1, 11,219, $2,500.
20, Ronnie Sparks Jr., Ecorse, Mich., 9-15, 11,133, $2,400.
21, Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., 9-15, 11,065, $2,300.
22, Dom Barrett, England, 8-16, 11,050, $2,200.
23, Mike Wolfe, New Albany, Ind., 5-19, 10,981, $2,100.
24, y-Shannon Pluhowsky, Dayton, Ohio, 3-2, 10,899, $2,000.
25, xy-Tom Smallwood, Saginaw, Mich., 7-12, 9,818, $1,700.
26, x-Pete Weber, St. Ann, Mo., 0-0-0, 5,637, $1,650.

x-Smallwood replaced Pete Weber, who withdrew due to injury.

y-Pluhowsky replaced Tom Smallwood, who withdrew due to illness.

300 Games: Kyle Troup, Sam Cooley, Ryan Ciminelli.

Canadian Rookie Graham Fach Takes Second Round Lead in Barbasol PBA Players Championship

by Bill Vint February 17, 2016 05:46

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Graham Fach, a 24-year-old left-hander from Gulph, Ontario, bowling in his second Professional Bowlers Association Tour event, averaged 248.38 to charge into the second round lead in the Barbasol PBA Players Championship at Wayne Webb’s Columbus Bowl Wednesday.

Fach (pronounced “faw”) fired games of 276, 227, 195, 289, 235, 256, 245 and 247 during Wednesday’s second round to finish with 3,974 pins, overtaking first-round leader Sam Cooley of Australia by 56 pins.

Anthony Pepe of Elmhurst, NY, advanced from 12th to third place among the 36 players who advanced to Thursday’s cashers round with 3,887 pins. He was followed by PBA Hall of Famer Pete Weber of St. Ann, MO, with 3,848 pins and 2016 FireLake PBA Tournament of Champions winner Jesper Svensson of Sweden in fifth with a 3,830 total. Hall of Famer Norm Duke of Clermont, FL, who is pursuing a fifth different PBA major title, remained in contention in 17th place heading into the cashers round.

Fach, who finished 171st in the field of 417 players in his PBA debut in last week’s United States Bowling Congress Masters, entered the day in second place, 47 pins behind Cooley.

“After the Masters, I was a little upset; I thought I bowled well and didn’t get a check,” Fach said. “Today I felt pretty comfortable the whole day. I’m just trying to stay on the high from day one.”

Fach, a member of Canada’s national bowling team, said, “I’ve bowled some pretty big amateur tournaments that were kinda similar in format, but this is the first time bowling with this caliber of players, this much talent. It makes you want to strike a lot more because you know they’re going to.

“The biggest part for me is, no matter what pair you look at, there’s a big name professional. When you start anything as a rookie, you want to make a good impression. Fortunately, my impression here was better than the Masters, where I was barely in the top half of the field. I got comfortable with my ball motion here, and it let me play to my strength.

“Today just means I’ve proven to myself I can compete with the guys I grew up watching. My goals are to make some money, make the cut to match play, make the show and win a title. I think I’ve met two of them so far.”

The 2015 graduate of Ohio’s Urbana University, where he got his degree in sports management, said he’s well aware no Canadian has ever won a PBA Tour title.

“Yup, I’m aware. Every time Dan MacLelland makes a TV show, the point is made,” Fach said of MacLelland, a Windsor, Ontario native and former Saginaw Valley State All-American who has made nine PBA television shows without winning a title – including a runner-up finish in last week’s Masters. “The fact that he hasn’t won yet indicates how tough this Tour is.”

The PBA Players Championship continues with an eight-game qualifying round for A Squad Wednesday night. After 16 games, the top 36 players will advance to an eight-game cashers round at 10 a.m. Thursday to determine the 24 players who will advance to round-robin match play beginning at 5 p.m. Thursday. The final two match play rounds begin at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Friday. After 48 games, the top five players will compete for the $40,000 first prize live on ESPN Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.

All preliminary rounds will be covered live, exclusively on PBA’s Xtra Frame online video-streaming service. For subscription information, visit pba.com and click on the Xtra Frame link.

BARBASOL PBA PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP

Wayne Webb’s Columbus Bowl, Columbus, Ohio, Wednesday

Final Second Round Standings (after 16 games, top 36 advance to cashers’ round)

1, Graham Fach, Ontario, Canada, 3,974.
2, Sam Cooley, Australia, 3,918.
3, Anthony Pepe, Elmhurst, N.Y., 3,887.
4, Pete Weber, St. Ann, Mo., 3,848.
5, Jesper Svensson, Sweden, 3,830.
6, Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., 3,829.
7, D.J. Archer, Friendswood, Texas, 3,818.
8, E.J. Tackett, Huntington, Ind., 3,806.
9, Parker Bohn III, Jackson, N.J., 3,804.
10, Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, 3,783.
11 (tie), Dave Wodka, Beavercreek, Ohio, and Ryan Ciminelli, Cheektowaga, N.Y., 3,781.
13, Andres Gomez, Colombia, 3,777.
14, J.R. Raymond, Bay City, Mich., 3,757.
15 (tie), Osku Palermaa, Finland, and Mike Wolfe, New Albany, Ind., 3,755.
17, Norm Duke, Clermont, Fla., 3,747.
18, Ronnie Sparks Jr., Ecorse, Mich., 3,735.
19, Ryan Shafer, Horseheads, N.Y., 3,731.
20, Dom Barrett, England, 3,727.
21, f-Shannon Pluhowsky, Dayton, Ohio, 3,722.
22, Brian Himmler, Cincinnati, 3,716.
23, Tom Smallwood, Saginaw, Mich., 3,714.
24, Rhino Page, Orlando, Fla., 3,710.
25, Patrick Allen, South Salem, N.Y., 3,706.
26, Kyle Troup, Taylorsville, N.C., 3,681.
27, Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, 3,674.
28, Walter Ray Williams Jr., Oxford, Fla., 3,658.
29, Scott Norton, Mission Viejo, Calif., 3,656.
30 (tie), Francois Lavoie, Wichita, Kan., and Martin Larsen, Sweden, 3,654.
32, Dino Castillo, Highland Village, Texas, 3,644.
33 (tie), Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., and John Szczerbinski, N. Tonawanda, N.Y., 3,642.
35 (tie), Jack Jurek, Lackawanna, N.Y., and Anthony Simonsen, Princeton, Texas, 3,636.

Failed to advance:
37, Marshall Kent, Yakima, Wash., 3,629.
38, John Furey, Freehold, N.J., 3,616.
39, Jon Van Hees, Charlestown, R.I., 3,611.
40, Jason Belmonte, Australia, 3,610.
41, Eugene McCune, Munster, Ind., 3,609.
42, Bill O'Neill, Langhorne, Pa., 3,607.
43, Shota Kawazoe, Japan, 3,602.
44 (tie), Chad Roberts, Reynoldsburg, Ohio, and Shawn Maldonado, Houston, 3,594.
46, Tom Daugherty, Riverview, Fla., 3,593.
47, f-Liz Johnson, Cheektowaga, N.Y., 3,587.
48 (tie), Ildemaro Ruiz, Venezuela, and Mitch Beasley, Clarksville, Tenn., 3,581.
50, Josh Conner, Columbus, Ohio, 3,576.
51, Greg Ostrander, Freehold, N.J., 3,572.
52, David Simard, Quebec, Canada, 3,569.
53, Jason Sterner, Covington, Ga., 3,568.
54, Jesse Buss, Wichita, Kan., 3,565.
55, Brandon Novak, Chillicothe, Ohio, 3,554.
56, Tom Hess, Urbandale, Iowa, 3,549.
57, Patrick Girard, Canada, 3,545.
58, David Haynes, Las Vegas, 3,539.
59, B.J. Moore III, Apex, N.C., 3,536.
60, Scott Newell, Deland, Fla., 3,529.
61, Chris Loschetter, Avon, Ohio, 3,527.
62, Lucas Legnani, Argentina, 3,525.
63, Brian Valenta, Lockport, Ill., 3,523.
64, Gregory Thompson Jr., Dublin, Calif., 3,520.
65 (tie), Jakob Butturff, Chandler, Ariz., and Amleto Monacelli, Venezuela, 3,517.
67, Mike Eaton Jr., Cincinnati, 3,516.
68, Andrew Cain, Phoenix, 3,515.
69, Gary Faulkner Jr., Memphis, Tenn., 3,514.
70, Josh Blanchard, Mesa, Ariz., 3,508.
71, Tim Foy Jr., Seaford, Del., 3,489.
72, Dick Allen, Columbia, S.C., 3,488.
73, Jaime Gonzalez, Colombia, 3,472.
74, Brett Cunningham, Clay, N.Y., 3,471.
75, Kyle Bigelow, Troy, Ohio, 3,470.
76, Andrew Graff, Las Vegas, 3,463.
77, Ronnie Russell, Marion, Ind., 3,459.
78, Nathan Bohr, Wichita, Kan., 3,456.
79, Anthony LaCaze, Melrose Park, Ill., 3,452.
80, Anthony Kennard, Wapakoneta, Ohio, 3,439.
81, A.J. Johnson, Oswego, Ill., 3,425.
82, Bryan Goebel, Shawnee, Kan., 3,422.
83, Johnathan Bower, Middletown, Pa., 3,418.
84, Manuel Otalora, Colombia, 3,405.
85 (tie), Aaron Lorincz, Belleville, Mich., and Brian Robinson, Morgantown, W.Va., 3,404.
87, Michael Haugen Jr., Phoenix, 3,403.
88, Miguel Lopez, Wichita, Kan., 3,395.
89, Connor Pickford, Charlotte, N.C., 3,381.
90, f-Danielle McEwan, Stony Point, N.Y., 3,378.
91, Joe Paluszek, Bensalem, Pa., 3,372.
92, f-Rocio Restrepo, Colombia, 3,364.
93, Kristopher Prather, Milton, Fla., 3,363.
94, Wayne Webb, Columbus, Ohio, 3,340.
95, John Petraglia, Jackson, N.J., 3,329.
96, Devin Bidwell, Wichita, Kan., 3,328.
97, Chris Colella, Templeton, Mass., 3,324.
98, Stuart Williams, England, 3,323.
99, Brad Miller, Maryland Hts, Mo., 3,318.
100, f-Liz Kuhlkin, Rotterdam, N.Y., 3,317.
101, Tony Johnson, Canton, Ohio, 3,315.
102, Lonnie Waliczek, Wichita, Kan., 3,306.
103, Carleton Chambers, Detroit, 3,300.
104, Tom Carter, Columbus, Ohio, 3,297.
105, Steven Arehart, Chesapeake, Va., 3,291.
106, f-Kelly Kulick, Union, N.J., 3,277.
107, Sean Johnson, Moundsville, W.V., 3,254.
108, Thomas Larsen, Denmark, 3,248.
109, Frankie Mazzella, Staten Island, N.Y., 3,230.
110, Jake Peters, Henderson, Nev., 3,229.
111, Terrance Bright, Atlanta, 3,201.
112, Cameron Weier, Tacoma, Wash., 3,192.
113, Brandon Dye, Columbus, 3,136.
114, Joshua Weiner, Hilliard, Ohio, 3,081.
115, Mark Nance Sr., Grove City, Ohio, 3,054.
116, Trey Ford III, Bartlesville, Okla., 2,985.
117, Frank Bellavia Jr., Niagara Falls, N.Y., 2,980.
118, James Owens, Vernon, N.Y., 2,802.
119, Larry Helton, Bolingbrook, Ill., 2,722.
120, Mike Edwards, Tulsa, Okla., withdrew.

f-denotes female

300 Games: Tom Hess, Kyle Troup, DJ Archer, David Haynes.