World Series of Bowling

Seventy-five miles to the northwest, the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) Senior Tour wrapped up the Senior Dick Weber Open on Wednesday, and began their final migration leg from Lansing into suburban Detroit to join the PBA World Series of Bowling party. 

Already on hand at Thunderbowl Lanes are the greatest male and female bowlers from around the world – amateurs as well as professionals – who are geared up for a one-of-a-kind PBA World Championship tripleheader that will provide a grand finale to the PBA’s five-week, multi-event World Series of Bowling.

The closing act will be a weekend of championship finals conducted in  Thunderbowl Lanes’ historic arena bay for tape-delayed telecast on ESPN in the  fall. Eleven men’s and women’s championships will be contested on Saturday and  Sunday, Sept. 5 and 6, for delayed telecast on ESPN.

The PBA World Championships – three separate events conducted concurrently with $440,000 in prize money at stake – will be a feast for any bowling fan. Norm Duke of Clermont, FL, will try to win his third consecutive PBA World Championship in the Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour’s first major championship of the 2009-10 season while, for the women and seniors, their World Championships will be the final majors of the year.

In the PBA Women’s World Championship, a new major championship for women, United States Bowling Congress (USBC) Queens champ Liz Johnson of Cheektowaga, NY, and U.S. Women’s Open winner Tammy Boomershine of North Ogden, Utah, will head a talent-ladened field.

In the PBA Senior World Championship, the final event on the PBA Senior Tour schedule for 2009, two-time Senior U.S. Open champion Wayne Webb of Sacramento, CA; USBC Senior Masters winner Dale Traber and four-time PBA Senior Tour Player of the Year Tom Baker of King, NC, will be in the spotlight as the race for PBA Senior Player of the Year heads into the home stretch.

Competition in the PBA, PBA Women’s and PBA Senior World Championships gets underway Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday with six-game qualifying each day for all players. After 18 games, a minimum of 53 women, 53 seniors and 53 men will advance to a six-game cashers round Thursday at 9 a.m.  

Thursday evening, best-of-seven-game, single-elimination match play begins. The top 40 qualifiers in the PBA World Championship advance while the top 20 women and top 20 seniors will move on. The top eight male qualifiers and top four women and seniors will earn byes through the first two rounds of match play. 

Match play will continue Thursday and Friday, culling the fields to 

four survivors in the PBA World Championship, two in the PBA Women’s World  Championship and two in the PBA Senior World Championship. 

The women’s and  senior title matches will be held as the opening event at noon on Saturday’s  television agenda and taped to air Oct. 25 on ESPN. The PBA World Championship  finals will be conducted on Dec. 13 at Northrock Lanes in Wichita, KS, and  aired live.  Each of the tournaments is open to amateurs as well as professionals. For entry information, visit bowl.com and click on the “Enter Tournament” tab.  

Spectators  looking for tickets can click on the World Series of Bowling link on the pba.com home page. For those unable to  attend, pba.com’s online “bowling TV channel,”  Xtra Frame, will provide non-stop coverage. Click on the Xtra Frame link for information on how to sign up.