September 15, 2010 Sports Reporter

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T h e E a s t ' s M o s t R e a d B o w l i n g W e e k l y

Sports ReporterThe Nation's Leading Bowling Tournament Newspaper Since 1940

Vol. 71 No. 28 September 15 - 21, 2010 50 cents

2010 WORLD MEN’S CHAMPIONSHIPSUnterfohring, Munich, Germany

Singles: Gold: Bill O’Neill, United States; 2. Choi Bok-Eum,Korea; Bronze: Dominic Barrett, England & Chris Barnes,United States.

Doubles: Gold: Martin Paulsson/Mathias Arup, Sweden; Silver:

Alex Liew/Muhamad Aiman, Malaysia; Bronze: Patrick Allen/Rhino Page, United States & Bodo Konieczny/Jens Nickel, Germany .

Trios: Gold: United States - Patrick Allen/Rhino Page/WesMalott; Silver: Mexico – Ernesto Franco/JorgeRosado/Alejandro Cruz; Bronze: Chinese Taipei – ChengHsing-Chao/Hung Kun-Yen/Wu Hao-Ming & United States – Bill O’Neill/Chris Barnes/Tommy Jones.

Team: Gold: United States; Silver: Finland; Bronze: Germany& Colombia.

All Events: Gold: Bill O'Neill, United States: Silver: ChrisBarnes, United States: Bronze: Jang, Dong-Chul, Korea.

Masters: Gold: Chris Barnes, United States; Silver: Patrick Allen, United States; Bronze: Wes Malott, United States & ChoiBok-Eum, Korea; 5. Wu Hao-Ming, Chinese Taipei; 6. ChengHsing-Chao, Chinese Taipei; 7. Osku Palermaa, Finland; 8.Petteri Salonen, Finland.

Team USA Dominated World Men’s ChampionshipsBy Keith Hale - Worldletter-Plus

Paul Fair 300At Stelton Lanes

Tommy Martino Blasted 946In Doubles at Majestic Lanes

PISCATAWAY, NJ – Paul Fair took center stage spotlight rollinga twelve-bangger 300 game tolead all scoring while competingin the Wednesday Gentlemen’sLeague at Stelton Lanes.

Fair posted his perfecto betweengames of 233 and 213.Chris Cintron was the closest fol-

lower rolling a 245 game followed by Kim Cornell rolling a 235game.

Ken Isom Hit 300At Parkway

ELMWOOD PARK, NJ – KenIsom blasted his first careed 300game while rolling in theWednesday Nite Summer MixedLeague at Parkway Lanes.

Jip Winfrey took high series hon-ors with a 799 set followed byJohnnie Ricks with 732, KellySappington 716, Frank Lassiter 708, and Rene Ruiz 703.

HOPELAWN, NJ – TommyMartino topped the scoring in theHandicap Doubles League firinggames of 236-279-233 for a highseries of 946.

Jay Pintus shot 213-235-266-902, Nelson Alves 279-236-876,Anthony Martino 203-256-835,Bob Lampariello 242-207-832,Eric Haltli 210-237-823, Paul

Stolp 215-230-818, Walt Kronert217-277-816, Amanda Mermann211-717, and John Kertesz 232.

In the Guys and Dolls LeagueWill Dellamanna hit 228, SteveVenito 224, Tito Ramos 208,Carole Lopez 205, PJ Mitilineos215, Mike Kelly 207, and LauroPerez 203.

GERMANY: The word has truly spread bynow that Team USA had several field days,taking home eleven medals in all, five of themgold, denied a clean sweep by the Swedishduo of Mathias Arup and Martin Paulsson tak-ing the Doubles title. Therefore, our Americanfriends took gold in Singles, Trios, Team, AllEvents and Masters, their best performancesince the 1963 World Championships inMexico where there were fewer teams andless events.

I will go out on a limb and say that the 2010World Men’s Championships will be remem-

bered as the best ever, both for the organiza-tion, the ambience and one of the most beauti-ful bowling centers in the world.

With 52 Brunswick-equipped lanes and lux-urious furnishings and surroundings,Munich’s Dream Bowl Palace played host to65 nations and 356 competitors, plus their

coaches, media people and supporters throughAugust 12 – 21.

After WTBA and FIQ meetings over the first couple of days, during which the main points of discussion about the future of FIQ were postponed until the presidiums and con-gresses next year in Hong Kong, then the managers’ meeting to set the teams on course for a successful championship, things got underway with official practice sessions across the

52 lanes.It was obvious pretty early on that the organ-

ization of this year’s event was exemplary andGerman Federation president Roland Mueck,tournament director Kim Thorsgaard Jensenand host tournament manager Florian Fister had gone far beyond the call of duty in puttingon a show that should have been seen andcopied by all future championship hosts. Not anegative anywhere, despite the previous

prophets of doom.The Dream Bowl Palace proved to be an

ideal host center and a showpiece for the sport,a point proved by a spectator sell out, a situa-tion not knowingly previously experienced.

Covering the event was a two-week stint of 100 per cent enjoyment. The Kegel people hadset a tough but fair lane condition for both themedium and long oil patterns; all squads ran ontime; fantastic web streaming; the shuttle buses

were prompt and the restaurant in the center just great. What more could be asked?

Looking through the six-game series for most of the competitors there were few scoresover 1400, so no false averages of 250-plus, just sensible scores that pleased both playersand the huge crowds.

See TEAM USA page 8

Terence Yaw photo

Team USA Gold

Victor Padilla is King of the HillFor Season at Parkway Lanes

By Dennis Spoto9/5/10ELMWOOD PARK, NJ - Victor Padilla will remain the King of The Hill at Parkway lanes until next summer an honor he earned whenhe defended his crown beating Will Vidulich 264-253 in the finalmatch on the season’s last Sunday nite. Finishing In 4th place wasDwight Godbee, 3rd was Larry Deangelo.

John Illare was the high seed, he received a free entry he can useduring the next King of the Hill season at Parkway Lanes. To make

that final night special they increased the entry fee by $5 and paideveryone who made the cut, all 12 bowlers cashed.Dennis and his wife Barbara along with Parkway Lanes thanks

everyone who participated in this Summer’s King of the hill. All 628 bowlers over 14 Sundays will also remember the great job done byMary Ellen Krattinger and Anthony Alcade for showing up every week to run the brackets and the eliminator, thank you as well.



The new fall league season iswell underway. Strange thingshappen on the opening night of any league. Here are some of them as reported by bowlingfriends across the nation.

Five teams were assigned tothe same pair of lanes.

A league secretary failed toshow up at a hastily calledmeeting was fired beforestarting.

A couple couldn’t find ababy sitter so they broughttheir six kids to the lanes withthem. And at another quick meeting the league requestedcage facilities.

Too many bowlers in toomany leagues didn’t knowmuch about the USBC and thefirst lesson was to tell them thatit stood for United StatesBowling Congress.

A team captain argued thatall the bowling shirts were theright size, until a 5’2”, 120pounder wearing a size 52bowling shirt tripped over hiscollar as he rolled his firstball.

Ten bowlers were madbecause their names werespelled wrong on the rostersand score-sheets. Ten otherbowlers were madder becausethere weren't any recap score-sheets.

There was much scurrying to

the rule book.One bowler stuck on a laneapproach. Another bowlerslipped on the same runway.The debate that ensuedreminded of a United Nationdiscussion, with most of theofficials abstaining.

There were dozens of newexcuses to go with hundreds of old ones.

For every ball rolled therewas advice and coaching for atleast the next three frames.

There was a run on tape,bandages, and wristlets, andthe ball cleaning machine didrecord business.

There were many eyebrowslifted, many thoughts keptsilent and many spoken wordsabout the new bowler who

looked like Walter RayWilliams Jr. in action, yet camein with an entering average of 132.

A bowler rolled a 259 game inhis very first game andattempted to quit, saying hecould now truthfully say he hadaveraged 259 for the season.

Big sighs of relief wereheard when all teams got off and rolling with only minorproblems.

One bowler kept cleaning hisball after every frame and mostthought that strange until theylearned it was his birthdaypresent.

Another bowler switched tohouse bowling shoes afterpainfully discovering that thenew shoes he was using for thefirst time were a size too small.

There were more mixedteams, men and women on thesame team, than in the past,and the women more than heldtheir own.

In the leagues in areas thatstill allow smoking, the smok-ers got plenty of exercise run-

ning off away from the non-smokers to grab a few puffs.Many snack bars unveiled

new menus but the bowlerspreferred their old favorites,burgers, dogs, fries andpizza.

Team captains wonderedwhy their bowlers didn't prac-tice more during the summer.Bowlers who didn't practiceduring the summer wonderedwhy they didn't practice moreduring the summer.

2 SPORTS REPORTER September 15 - 21, 2010

If I hadn’t talked to these two bowlers myself, Idon’t know if I would have believed it when AnneBilotti told me what they had done. Recently atHanover Lanes on lanes 31 and 32, two men bowleda 300 game against each other during the secondgame. It was so close for the total pins for the teamgame, that one needed his eleventh strike to win. Thetwo Titans were Charlie Bianco and LD Oppici.

Bianco, a 55-year veteran of the game, said, “LD isthe anchor for my daughter’s team in the winter league, so I got to know him there. I also knew hisfather years ago. We would always talk about bowl-ing. When we arrived at the lanes we discovered thattwo nights previous we both had a 300 game, his atHanover Lanes and mine at Lodi. So we started strik-ing in our second game and he finished first. I con-gratulated him and knew I needed the eleventh strike.There were so many people gathered around.”“Charlie has around 20 sanctioned perfect gamesnow.” He is averaging 228 in his Thursday league. Or at least he was before that game. He is 63 and residesin Bloomfield.

LD Oppici is having a great summer in his leagues.At age 24 he is a 20-year veteran of the game. “Wewere just having fun. It was a close game as we bothwent back and forth, trying to win. We just kept goingand it happened.” More recently at Hanover, LD hadanother 300 and scored his first 800 series with a 298game for a total of 811. He was averaging 230 in hisThursday league. “I’m having a great summer,” he

said. It’s no wonder…. since his winter league team-mate, PBA Champion, Kelly Kulick, has helped LDrefine his skills. “I learned a lot from her, and I’mgoing to start bowling (PBA) Regional tournaments inAugust.” He’s off to a great start!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *In these days of mega-scores, we tend to overlook

achievements that may be less than a big 800 or even 900 series. And yet the 700 is something to berespected. It means that someone averaged 233-

plus over three games.“Back in the day” I remember hovering around the

end pair of lanes at Rockaway Lanes, watching DocRussano complete his third game, trying for a 700series. He did it, and in fact made it look easy, butwe knew it was difficult.

And now, two people at two ends of the age spec-trum have achieved the septo-series.

Samantha “Sammie” Pearson saw her first 700series, a 713 at age 18 in the Tuesday Triples (adult)League at Oakwood Lanes. Her games were 245-225-246.

The best thing is that she had no idea she washeaded for a new personal best as “I was just bowl-ing for fun.” She averaged 210 in that league beforeher big series. Sammie credits Joan Mack with

being a “big help to my game.”She would like to see a 300 game as her next

bowling goal. She resides in Oxford with her par-ents, Mary, and Mike and older brother Mikey. Allthree bowl, so that 700 was not only in the cards, butalso in the genes.

Tom Marks posted not only his first 700, but alsohis second 700 within a week of each other. OnAugust 13 he posted a 730 in the Hanover SeniorsLeague. One week later he rolled 702 in that league,where he was averaging 175, but is now up to 203.He used a Storm Rapid Fire ball fitted at Pro ImagePro Shop by Kenny Yokobosky. Ken has alsocoached and worked with Tom. And now “the rest of the story.”

First, Tom at age 60 had gotten away from bowl-ing, and only returned three years ago. Once hecame back he says he wondered why he ever stopped. However, two years ago Marks lost 90%of the vision in his right eye due to a conditionknown as optic neuropathy (blockage of the bloodvessel supplying oxygen to the optic nerve) and he

says his bowling deteriorated. “That is when I start-ed wearing a patch over my right eye. It blocks outthe little vision I have in that eye. Fortunately, Idon’t need depth perception to bowl, so I was ableto improve over time.” He is enjoying two summer leagues.

A retired business co-owner, Tom moved toVenice Florida, and lives and bowls there duringthe winter league season. “I bowl in the SeniorsClassic League down there which includes severalex-professional bowlers. I learned a lot watchingthem bowl.” Marks, and his wife, Priscilla, haveone daughter, Christina, and live in Denville duringthe warm weather months. His bowling goals are to

bowl a 700 series (check that off the list), average200 for a whole season, and bowl a 300 game.Overcoming his vision disability was huge in get-

ting to his first goal. “I thought of putting a parroton my shoulder, too,” he joked.By the way, the Hanover league

president, Joe Salinari, contactedme with this news. He is 90 yearsold.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Thanks to Doc Russano whosent the following information: if

people with honor scores chooseto donate their USBC award bychecking the appropriate box onthe honor score form, the USBCwill donate $25 to the Susan G.Komen Breast Cancer foundation.

“Many of us with numerousawards would only have another patch or plaque to gather dust onthe shelf,” he wrote. Imagine if 100 people do this! That ’s an easy$2500 toward wiping out thisdreaded killer.

J o a n Ta y l o r ’ sTe n P i n R a p . . . .

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things

that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the

trade winds in your sails.

Explore. Dream. Discov er." -Mark Twain

Sports ReporterEditor/Publisher - Dan McDonough

Pat McDonough - 1967-1996

Circulat ion Manager Edi torial AssistantHenry Allen Immaculatta D'Elia

Contributing WritersChuck Pezzano George Faytok Joan Taylor

Dick Evans John JowdyMartin Michel Vince Albrech Joe Rizzi

For information regarding advertising,subscriptions, or editorial content call:

(201)865-5363Fax: (201) 865-6246

E-mail - [email protected]

Sports ReporterP.O. Box 1491, Secaucus, NJ 07094

Member



September 15 - 21, 2010 SPORTS REPORTER 3




SEATTLE, Wash. – TheProfessional Bowlers Associationis gearing up for the richest tourna-ment in professional bowling his-tory, the $1 million PBATournament of Champions, and for the first time is creating an oppor-tunity for any player who has ever won a PBA title to take a shot atthe record $250,000 first prize.

The PBA Tournament of Champions will be conducted Jan.16-22 at Red Rock Lanes in LasVegas, Nev., and it will feature anall-new format featuring a“Champions field” to determine

the players who will advance to the“Elite field.”

The “Elite field” will be com- posed of: 2010-11 Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour exempt

players; any player who was listedamong the “50 Greatest Players inPBA History” during the PBATour’s 50th anniversary celebra-tion in 2009; any PBA Hall of Famer; any player who has wonfive or more PBA Tour titles; any

player who has won a PBA major championship; the 2010 PBASenior U.S. Open and USBCSenior Masters champions, and the

2010 PBA Regional PlayersChampionship and RegionalPlayers Invitational winners.

All other PBA title winners, upto a maximum of 180, will makeup the “Champions” field. TheChampions field will include play-ers who have won four or fewer PBA Tour titles or a PBA regional,PBA Women’s Series, PBA Senior Tour or PBA Senior Regional titleas of Jan. 9, 2011. Titles won by

players who were not members atthat time are not eligible.

The Champions field will bowl14 games – two seven-game quali-

fying rounds each on Sunday andMonday, Jan. 16 and 17. After 14games, the top half of theChampions field (up to 90 players)will join the Elite field. Qualifyingscores from the Champions roundwill be dropped.

The Elite field – includingChampions field qualifiers andElite players – will begin qualify-ing on Monday evening, Jan. 17.All bowlers then will bowl 20games in four five-game blocks todetermine the top 54 (based on 216entries) who will advance into theCashers Round.

After two eight-game blocks inthe Cashers Round, the top 24

based on 36 total games willadvance to a traditional 24 gamesof round-robin match play. At theconclusion of match play, the topfour will advance to the TV final.

The first key step, however, isthat all players eligible and wish-ing to enter must be full-fledgedPBA members as of Oct. 1.

The entry fee for all Tournamentof Champions competitors will be$750 if paid by Dec. 15 ($1,000after Dec. 15). To enter, look for the Tournament of Champions

entry link when you log on to pba.com as a PBA member.

The rewards for bowling wellwill be unprecedented in PBA his-tory. The payoffs for making thefour-player stepladder final onSaturday, Jan. 22, will be $250,000to win, $100,000 for second,$60,000 for third and $40,000 for fourth place. Based upon a startingfield of 216, last-to-cash will be$2,500 for 54th place.

Concluding the week will be thePBA Hall of Fame dinner onSaturday, Jan. 22.

Richest Tournament of Champions in History 2011 PBA Tournament of Champions Red Rock Resort, Las Vegas, Nev., Jan. 15-22

Saturday, Jan. 159 and 11:30 a.m., 2 p.m. – Pro-Am squads4:30 p.m. – Autograph sessions6:30 p.m. – Champions field practice

Sunday, Jan. 169 a.m. – Elite field practice1 p.m. – Champions field, 7 qualifying games

Monday, Jan. 178 a.m. – Champions field, 7 qualifying games Top 50% advance to Elite field4 p.m. – Squad A, 5 qualifying games7 p.m. – Squad B, 5 qualifying games

Tuesday, Jan. 188 a.m. – Squad B, 5 qualifying games11 a.m. – Squad A, 5 qualifying games

4 p.m. – Squad B, 5 qualifying games7 p.m. – Squad A, 5 qualifying games

Wednesday, Jan. 198 a.m. – Squad A, 5 qualifying games11 a.m. – Squad B, 5 qualifying games Top 54 advances to Cashers Round5 p.m. – Cashers Round 1, 8 qualifying games

Thursday, Jan. 2010 a.m. – Cashers Round 2, 8 qualifying games Top 24 after 36 gamesadvance to round robin match play5 p.m. – Top 24, 8 match play games

Friday, Jan. 2111 a.m. – Top 24, 8 match play games5 p.m. – Top 24, 8 match play games Top 4 advance after 60 games advance tostepladder finals

Saturday, Jan. 22 tba – Top 4 stepladder finals7 p.m. – PBA Hall of Fame dinner




North Arlington, NJ 08/06/10 – Junior Sam Passaro recoveredwith two above average scores torepeat as Bowler of the Week in

North Arlington’s Adult-YouthDoubles action; Sam’s comeback enabled his Saute’ Two team toskip past the Absentees, 7-0 and

move into a third place tie withtwo weeks left to play.

The Bacon Boys clinched second place, defusing the BowlingBombers, 5-2 as junior DannyBivin rolled a steady three gameset. Meanwhile, first place BoschBeastin coasted to two of three

against Boom Boom Pow behindBryan Valentin’s 179,181.

Above average marks among the juniors were Sam Passaro +11,Danny Bivin +10, Pat Crocitto +5and Bryan Valentin +1. Bestamong the adults was Nick Gavron’s 227-658.

Sam Passaro Top Junior at NABy Vince Albrecht




SEATTLE, Wash. - After a one-year absence, the 68th U.S. Openwill return to Brunswick ZoneCarolier in North Brunswick, N.J.,Feb. 21-27, with the addition of aunique three-day schedule of livetelevision coverage.

Carolier had previously hostedfive consecutive U.S. Opens

between 2005 and 2009.The U.S. Open, considered by

many to be the most challengingtitle in all of bowling to win, is an

extreme test of bowling skill, patience and perseverance. Whatmakes the U.S. Open special isthat non-professionals, men or women, are invited to competeagainst the world's top profession-als on difficult lane conditions that

place a high premium on accuracyand precise shot-making.

Bill O'Neill of Southampton,Pa., is defending U.S. Open cham-

pion, winning his first career major title in Indianapolis in 2010

over Mike Scroggins of Amarillo,Texas, who won the 2009 U.S.Open title at Carolier. O'Neill'svictory - his second of the 2009-10Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour season as well as the second of hisyoung career - was part of a sea-son that saw five first-time cham-

pions crowned.Unique to the 2011 event will be

three days of live television cover-age, including the first-ever national network coverage of thefinal round of round-robin match

play on Saturday, Feb. 26, plus

live coverage of the "positionround" - the dramatic final gameof match play which will deter-mine the four players who willadvance to the stepladder finals onSunday, Feb. 27. The third showwill provide live coverage of sev-eral matches during the final gamein the opening round of match

play on Friday, Feb. 25."Bringing the position round of

the U.S. Open to a national televi-sion audience is something we areextremely excited about," saidPBA Deputy Commissioner TomClark. "The energy of that roundconsistently produces some of themost exhilarating moments insports, but it's a critical part of PBA competition that only specta-tors in the building and, mostrecently, Xtra Frame subscribers,ever get to witness."

An example was the 2010 posi-tion round in Indianapolis wheneventual PBA Player of the Year

Walter Ray Williams Jr., needed aseven-count on his fill ball toclinch a spot in the televisedfinals, but he left four pins stand-ing, ending up tied with NormDuke and eliminating both playersfrom the show while Jason Couchslipped past both into a spot in theTV finals.

The next chapter in U.S. Openhistory will begin with 18 qualify-

ing games for all players and con-tinue through a grueling 51-gamecontest to determine the four final-ists. In addition to Scroggins, theother U.S. Open champions atCarolier include Chris Barnes(2005), Tommy Jones (2006), PeteWeber (2007) and Norm Duke(2008).

2011 U.S. Open Returns to Brunswick Carolier Lanes

HY-WAY BOWLROUTE 22, UNION, NJ

908-687-9300DANNY WILLIAMS, PROPRIETOR

AL BRIDGES, MANAGER

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advertise thatSpecial Event in the

Sports Reporter




2010 WORLD YOUTHCHAMPIONSHIPS

Helsinki, Finland Girl’s Singles: Gold: Yeon-Ju Kim, Korea; Si lver: Brittni Hamilton,United States; Bronze: Carmen Haandrikman, Netherlands & DianaZavjalova, Latvia.Boy’s Singles: Gold: Adam Cairns, England; Silver: Sam Cooley,Australia; Bronze: Jong Woo Park, Korea & Francois Lavoie,Canada.Girl’s Doubles: Gold: Laura Fonnegra/Maria Jose Rodriguez,Colombia; Silver: Daphne Tan/New Hui Fen, Singapore; Bronze:Yeon-Ju Kim/Moon-Jeong Kim, Korea & Shayna Ng/Jazreel Tan,Singapore.Boy’s Doubles: Gold: Craig Hanson/Andrew Koff, United States;Silver: David Bidwell/Jake Peters, United States; Bronze: Ju-YoungKim/Seung-Hyeon Shin, Korea & Aris Ardilla/Syimir Razak,Malaysia.Girl’s Team: Gold: Korea; Slver: Singapore; Bronze: England &Malaysia.Boy’s Team: Gold: Korea; Silver: United States; Bronze: Australia& EstoniaGirl’s All Events: 1, Moon-Jeong Kim, Korea, 3,922. 2, HayleyWhite, England, 3,905. 3, DianaZavjalova, Latvia, 3,899.Boy’s All Events: 1, Andrew Koff, United States, 4,036. 2, Jong-Woo Park, Korea, 3,994. 3, SamuValaranta, Finland, 3,965.Girl’s Masters: Gold: Yeon-Ju Kim, Korea; Silver: Laura Fonnegra,Colombia; Bronze: Moon-Jeong Kim, Korea & CarmenHaandrikman, Netherlands.Boy’s Masters: Gold: Ju-Young Kim, Korea; Silver: Seung-Hyeon

Shin, Korea; Bronze: Jong-Woo Park, Korea & Daniels Vezis,Latvia.

Keith Hale, Worldletter-Plus

68TH U.S. OPEN SCHEDULE Brunswick Carolier Lanes, North Brunswick, N.J., Feb. 21-27

Monday, Feb. 218 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. - Practice squads4 and 7 p.m. - Pro-Am squads

Tuesday, Feb. 228 a.m. - A Squad qualifying (6 games) Noon - B Squad qualifying (6 games)6 p.m. - C Squad qualifying (6 games)

Wednesday, Feb. 238 a.m. - B Squad qualifying (6 games) Noon - C Squad qualifying (6 games)6 p.m. - A Squad qualifying (6 games)

Thursday, Feb. 248 a.m. - C Squad qualifying (6 games) Noon - A Squad qualifying (6 games)6 p.m. - B Squad qualifying (6 games) Top 25 percent of field advances

Friday, Feb. 259 a.m. - Cashers' Round (9 games) Top 24 advance to match play4:30 p.m. - Match Play Round 1 (7 games)8 p.m. - Live television coverage, final game of Round 1 matches

Saturday, Feb. 269 a.m. - Match Play Round 2 (8 games)4 p.m. - Match Play Round 3 (7 games)8 p.m. - Live television coverage of the position round of match play (top four advance to stepladder finals)

Sunday, Feb. 27tba - Top four, live television finals




Each of the four disciplines was run over sixgames and then the top four advaced to one game

play-offs for the gold, silver and two bronzemedals.

The singles event was the opener with six gameson medium oil and here the Americans struck their first treasure with Bill O’Neill defeating Korea’swunderkid Choi Bok-Eum, 242-202, in the play-off final. In the semi-finals, O’Neill advanced after defeating England’s star Dominic Barrett, 187-170, and Choi Bok-Eum enjoyed beating ChrisBarnes of the United States, 217-191.

The four teams to advance to the play-offs in thedoubles, played on long oil, were Sweden,Malaysia, Germany and the United States. Herewe saw the Americans denied a second gold medal

by the Swedish duo of Martin Paulsson andMathias Arup of Sweden, the pair defeatingPatrick Allen and Rhino Page of Team USA in thesemi-finals, 449-373. In the other semi, Malaysiagot to tackle Sweden for gold by beatingGermany’s Bodo Konieczny and Jens Nickel, 429-325.

It was no walk-over for the Swedes, but theytook gold from the Malaysian pair of Alex Liewand Mohamad Aiman, 398-379.

The Trios were scheduled in two blocks of threegames on consecutive days, the first three onmedium oil, the second

on long. The four teams going into the play-offswere both of the Team USA threesomes, Mexicoand Chinese Taipei.

Topping the preliminary table in first and fourth places meant that the United States had to playeach other whilst

Mexico faced Chinese Taipei.Bill O’Neill, Chris Barnes and Tommy Jones

won through to the final after a 590 tied game andthe 50 – 27 points in the ninth and tenth frame roll-off, leaving Patrick Allen, Rhino Page and WesMalott with bronze. Mexico’s Ernesto Franco,Jorge Rosado and Alejandro Cruz defeatedChinese Taipei’s Cheng Hsing-Chao, Hung Yun-Ki and Wu Hao-Ming, 607-576 to advance to thefinal.

Patrick Allen led his trio to a convincing win and

a second gold by defeating the Mexicans, 607-576.Team USA has won gold in the past two WorldMen’s Championships, in Busan, Korea and 2006and two years later in Bangkok, Thailand and thisyear the team gold was the ultimate aim.

As the United States qualified in first place andColombia were fourth, those two were to play onesemi-final, the other came between Finland andGermany, second and third respectively.

The Americans went through to the final with a1048-970 win over the Colombians and Finland’s996-941 victory over the Germans brought themwithin a chance of defeating Team USA and spoil-ing their chances of three team golds in a row.

And that team final was easily one of the mostexciting matches ever staged, holding the packedcenter in awe as the pendulum swung to the advan-tage of one team then the other. It went right downto the tenth frame as Finland held a slight lead andthat left Team USA anchorman Tommy Jones thetask of having to double in the final frame for victo-ry. That he did and both teams received a standingovation. The score, Team USA 1073, Finland 1057.

The 24 games played so far counted for the AllEvents medals and also the top 16 qualified for theMasters. The gold medal was taken by ‘strikemachine’ Bill O’Neill of the United States with5343 (222 avr.) and team-mate Chris Barnesclinched silver on 5258. An American clean sweepwas spoiled by Korea’s Jang Dong-Chul, taking

bronze on 5091.The 16 in the Masters were faced with best of

five game matches, top seed against low, and thechock of the first round was Bill O’Neill’s depar-ture, 2-3, at the hands of Finn Petteri Salonen. Also

ousted was Korea’s Jang Dong-Chul. There werefour American qualifiers for the Masters and threesurvived for the second round.

All three won their next matches, Barnes takingout Salonen, 3-2; Patrick Allen coasting home witha 3-0 win over Finland’s Osku Palermaa; and WesMalott defeating Chang Hsing-Chao of ChineseTaipei, 3-1. The fourth match between Korea’sChoi Bok_Eum against Wu Hao-Ming of ChineseTaipei went the Korean’s way, 3-0.

The situation now with thee Americans and alone Korean in the semi-finals meant that twoTeam USA members would face one another for a

place in the final. That draw saw Patrick Allenagainst Wes Malott whilst Chris Barnes playedChoi Bok-Eum.

With three games of 201, 212 and 279, Allen had

an easy 3-0 win over Malott, but Barnes had astubborn Korean who took the match all the way,Barnes getting the edge 3-2.

The semi-finals and final were filmed for later transmission on Eurosport as well as having liveweb stream and many fans will treasure videocopies of the epic finale to a wonderful champi-onship.

Barnes took the first game over Allen, 213-188.Then he upped the pace to take the second game,257-236. The third game had everyone on the edgeof their seats as Barnes rolled the first nine strikes.Allen finished with a humble 212 and the stagewas set for Barnes to roll the championship’s third300 game, a dream ending. Barnes delivered thefirst ball of the tenth frame – a strike – then whatlooked like a perfect pocket hit and had Barnes

leaping feet into the air, resulted in a stubborn 9- pin. He spared that for 289 and a 3-0 win for gold.“Certainly, the Masters title has always been

high on my list,” said Barnes. “I've always thoughtthat when I lost to Raymond (Jansson) back in1995 that I was never going to have a chance at itagain. I knew I was going to turn pro at some pointand I was devastated when I lost that game as Ithought I would never be back in this positionagain. The difference between now and 15 yearsago s that I remember how nervous I was and howmuch drama I had built up about winning this. Iremember about the fifth or sixth frame and thecrowd going crazy. I looked around this wonderful

place and took a moment to enjoy. Who knowswhether I will be back in three years for the nextWorld Championships. That was a great time to bewhere I was at that moment.”

When it was all over, the Americans went homewith eleven medals. Second were Korea with twosilver and a bronze and Germany booked two

bronze. Seven other nations had one medal each,Sweden the remaining gold.

TEAM USAContinued from page 1

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September 15, 2010 Sports Reporter

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