PBA Cheetah Championship

Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) Hall of Famer and all-time win leader Walter Ray Williams Jr. and 2007-08 PBA Player of the Year Chris Barnes are among the survivors in the Round of 28 eliminations Wednesday in the PBA Cheetah Championship at Thunderbowl Lanes.

Williams defeated international two-handed star Osku Palermaa of Finland 4-2 in his best-of-seven game match and will advance to the Round of 16 Wednesday evening against fellow Hall of Famer Norm Duke who earned a first-round bye as a result of being a top-four qualifier.

“It wasn’t an easy match and I had a chance to win it in the fifth game but wasn’t able to do it,” said Williams, who owns 45 Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour titles. “Osku is an excellent bowler but he made just enough mistakes to give me a chance to win.”

Barnes, who was the 2008-09 PBA points leader, won his match 4-0 over P.J. Haggerty. “I could have started 0-2 because the first couple of games could have gone either way,” said Barnes, who owns 12 Tour titles including two last season.

“Anytime you can cruise through a match in four games it makes a tournament like this a lot less grueling.”

Four-time Tour titlist Ryan Shafer, who rolled a 300 game, came back from a 3-0 deficit against Scott Newell to win his match. “This is the first time I’ve ever come back from being down 3-0 since the seven-game format but I can tell you there have been several guys who have done it to me,” Shafer said.

Also surviving the Round of 28 was PBA Hall of Famer Brian Voss who won his match 4-1 against seven-time Tour titlist Steve Jaros. In addition to Duke, top-four qualifiers Ryan Ciminelli, reigning PBA Player of the Year Wes Malott, and Jack Jurek, earned byes in the first round and will join the Round of 16.

The Cheetah Championship, conducted on PBA’s Cheetah lane conditioning pattern, is the second tournament of the PBA World Series of Bowling which runs through Sept. 6. The entire Cheetah Championship is being taped with the highlight-style telecast airing on ESPN Sunday, Nov. 8, at 1 p.m. ET.

PBA CHEETAH CHAMPIONSHIP
Thunderbowl Lanes, Allen Park, Mich., Aug. 12
ROUND OF 28 MATCH PLAY

12 winners advance to round of 16 along with top four qualifiers who earned first-round byes.
Bowlers eliminated earned $2,500.

Derek Sapp, Keokuk, Iowa, def. Lee Vanderhoef, Greenville, S.C., 4-1
Brian Voss, Kennesaw, Ga., def. Steve Jaros, Yorkville, Ill., 4-1
Mike Wolfe, New Albany, Ind., def. Thomas Smallwood, Saginaw, Mich., 4-1
Michael Fagan, Patchogue, N.Y., def. Jeffrey Roche, Dearborn, Mich., 4-3
Dino Castillo, Carrollton, Texas, def. Nathan Bohr, Wichita, Kan., 4-2
Ryan Shafer, Horseheads, N.Y., def. Scott Newell, Deland, Fla., 4-3
Walter Ray Williams Jr., Ocala, Fla., def. Osku Palermaa, 4-2
Rudy Kasimakis , Baldwyn, Miss., def. Ronnie Russell, Camby, Ind., 4-1
Sean Rash, Wichita, Kan., def. Mike Scroggins, Amarillo, Texas, 4-1
Stuart Williams, England, def. Mika Koivuniemi, Hartland, Mich., 4-2
Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, def. P.J. Haggerty, Clovis, Calif., 4-0
Stevie Weber, Chalmette, La., def. Mitch Beasley, Puyallup, Wash., 4-1

Palermaa, Shafer and Weber earned $100 for rolling a 300 game.