2009 PBA World Championship

Four of the world’s top players have had nearly three months to prepare for a high-stakes bowling contest that will take place on Sunday, Dec. 13, at Northrock Lanes when the Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour hosts its first live ESPN-televised final of the season, the 2009 PBA World Championship.

All four will arrive in Wichita with high hopes of winning their first PBA major title. Reigning PBA Player of the Year Wes Malott, former PBA Rookie of the Year Rhino Page, newly-crowned PBA Chameleon Champion Bill O’Neill and promising newcomer Thomas Smallwood earned their places in the PBA World Championship finals in late August in suburban Detroit during the PBA World Series of Bowling, and they will settle the matter at 1 p.m. Eastern on Dec. 13 in Wichita.

On the line is a $50,000 first prize, a two-year exemption to bowl on the Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour and the prestige of winning a major title for the first time. Smallwood, a Saginaw, MI, resident who is bowling full-time only because he was laid off from his job at General Motors earlier in the year, will meet O’Neill, Southampton, PA, in the first semifinal round match.

O’Neill, the PBA’s 2005-06 Rookie of the Year, finally shed his “can’t miss” label during the World Series of Bowling when he won his first PBA Tour title, defeating fellow non-titlist Ronnie Russell of Indianapolis, 205-192, to win the PBA Chameleon Championship.

“I’ve been thinking about it a little bit – what it would be like to win,” O’Neill admitted, “but the show is still a ways away. I’m doing other things to keep my mind off of it. But I’ll definitely be confident. I’m always confident, but not having that title issue in the back of my mind will make things easier, too.

“Winning the World Championship would obviously be special,” he added. “Any time you have a chance to win a major is special, and it would put me in a good place in the Player of the Year race. Winning Player of the Year is every player’s dream.”

Smallwood said he has been too busy to think much about the World Championship finals. “I don’t know if that’s a good thing or bad, but I had lots of things to do,” he said. “We moved into a new house. I went to Asia for a month and I spent some time in the woods hunting. I’m just getting ready to get back to practicing.”

Smallwood is the television novice in the group. He made his only prior television appearance in the PBA Scorpion Championship during the World Series of Bowling. It was an educational experience he’ll never forget, for all of the wrong reasons. “I hope it helps,” he said of his 222-175 loss to Australia’s Jason Belmonte in his ESPN debut.

“I bowled terrible. I started bad and by the sixth frame, it was pretty much over. The matches go so fast…there’s so much chaos going on around you, it’s just a flash. I never got lined up. The match was over and I wondered what happened. Even now, I’m not sure what I’d go back and change."

“I just hope I can keep myself in check, keep my nerves down and focus on what I’m doing.” Smallwood said he wasn’t personally disappointed in his Scorpion showing. “I felt worse for my family and my friends who came to watch than I did for myself. I felt like I disappointed them.”

Bowling against O’Neill isn’t a concern, any more than if he had drawn Malott or Page as an opponent. “There is no good draw on tour,” Smallwood said. “In a one-game match, some guy off the street can beat you. You never know what’s going to happen. Yes, it would be nice to win. It would be a big deal. I just hope I can keep myself in check, keep my nerves down and focus on what I’m doing. I probably have 10 people coming to Wichita to watch, so I hope there’s a little reprieve from my first show.”

In the other semifinal, Page will have moral support of a special friend when he tries to get past six-time PBA Tour champion Malott. Page, the 2007-08 PBA Rookie of the Year, comes into the match riding a wave of confidence after winning his third career title in the PBA Viper Championship in Detroit in August.

Malott, who resides in Pflugerville, TX, is coming off a three-title campaign in 2008-09 in which he also made six other TV shows. “I’ve spent a little more time recently thinking about it because it’s giving me incentive to practice,” Page said. “I’ve got the Viper title under my belt and I’m on the show for the World Championship, which are good things.

My goal is to be Player of the Year, so I’m going to keep working hard. “Wes is always tough,” the Wesley Chapel, FL, resident added. “I’m going to have to bowl a nearly flawless game to beat him, but I feel good about my chances. Any time you can beat Wes, it’s like, wow, I can beat anyone.” Page is also excited because a new-found friend, Tyler Cacioppo, and Cacioppo’s family are flying in from Queens, NY, for the finals.

Cacioppo, 10, has Crohn’s disease, a chronic digestive tract disorder. Page befriended Cacioppo a year ago in New York, and recently hosted a fundraiser in Mineola, NY, where he helped the Cacipoppo family raise more than $10,000 to benefit the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation.

“It’s a totally cool thing that Tyler and his family are coming to Wichita,” Page said. “It’s something that means a great deal to me. We’ve not only become great friends, but for them to come all the way to Wichita to watch me bowl is pretty special. It’ll definitely give me some added motivation.”

Malott is gearing up for the World Championship finals after a busy schedule of clinics, special appearances and launching a new pro shop business during the break. “I know it’s coming up and I should be pretty much back to 100% for the TV show,” Malott said. “I’m going to bowl a regional in Beaumont (Texas) and the Super Regional before the Red, White and Blue Open.

“I want to be sharp for the show,” he added. “The next thing I want on my resume is a major, and I don’t want to disappoint myself by not being ready. All I can do is put myself in position to win.”

Malott is expecting a battle. He and Page have been frequent opponents over the past year. “I think out of the 10 TV shows Rhino had made, we’ve bowled each other five times,” Malott said. “You don’t run into the same guy on TV that often, especially with me being a righty and Rhino being a lefty. We’ve had some interesting matches and I don’t expect anything different coming up.

“I lost to Rhino in the Shark Championship last year, and he beat me in the Tournament of Champions. We also met on TV in the King of Bowling. He started hot but I re-grouped and struck out to beat him by a pin. “And before the World Championship in Detroit, we bowled to make the show in the Shark Championship. That match went seven games, too (Malott won). So I expect another great match.”

The PBA World Championship will be the first live ESPN telecast of the 2009-10 Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour season. Following the World Championship finals, the finals of the Pepsi Red, White and Blue Open presented by BOWL.COM will be taped at Northrock Lanes for delayed broadcast on ESPN on Sunday, Jan. 10, at 1 p.m. Eastern.