Professional Bowlers Association

SEATTLE – Jason Belmonte and Osku Palermaa aren’t the only two-handed bowlers to make waves in bowling, but the fact that they have risen to the top of the game at virtually the same age, but half a world apart, is too ironic to ignore.

And while their stories are similar in many aspects, they remain worlds apart as competitors and bowling stylists.

For starters, Belmonte grew up in Orange, New South Wales, Australia. Born on July 29, 1983, he’s the older of the two by 112 days. “Belmo” is 5-foot-10 and weighs 185 pounds. Palermaa, who also is 28, was born on Nov. 18, 1983 and grew up in Espoo, Finland. He is 6-foot and weighs 200 pounds.

“It’s pretty weird how our stories are the same, and we’re the same age,” said Palermaa. “We just happened to live, one here and the other on the other side of the globe. The only difference is (Belmo’s) father owned a bowling center and mine worked at one.”

Both naturally migrated to the two-handed technique as tots, far too young to be able to pick up a bowling ball and throw it with one hand. So they independently learned to roll the ball using two hands. Neither had mentors teaching them the technique because it just wasn’t the way you were supposed to bowl. But for them, it worked.

And even though they both engage both hands in their delivery, they don’t thing they bowl the same, at all.

“We actually throw the ball quite a bit different,” Palermaa said, “but there are similarities as well. I guess I’m a little more powerful. I have a little more speed and more revs. I’ve been working on getting the revs down and I think he has been, also. I’m also working on slowing my speed. With the bowling balls we have now, it’s not an advantage to have 500, 600 revs.”

Belmonte agrees.

“Just like one-handed bowlers, no two two-handers will throw the ball alike,” he said. “It’s kind of frustrating to put us all into one category, that we throw the ball the same, because we’re different people, we’re different bowlers.

“Osku has his skills and I have mine. It’s like saying Pete Weber and Walter Ray throw the ball the same because they throw the ball one-handed. It’s a really ridiculous comment. And what about Brian Valenta (another two-handed PBA Tour player who lives in Lockport, Ill.)? I could keep going. Of every two-hander I’ve ever seen, no one throws the ball like me, and I don’t throw it like them, and I’ve never seen two who are alike.

“It’s just another style,” Belmonte said, “and you put your own spin on it – your own touch, your own personality. Unless there are two people who are identical in every way, shape and form, then perhaps they could bowl the same. But as far as I know there are no two bowlers who are alike.

“There are a lot of things (Osku and I) have in common. Our rev rates are high, our ball speeds are high. But Osku’s tilt on the ball, his hand position, his feet are a lot different than mine. I can’t quite throw it a million miles an hour like he can, but we also share a lot of traits.

“We have really quick steps, we’re both very much over the ball at the release point, our follow-throughs are very close, right in front of our faces. There are a lot of similarities, but we’re a world apart, too.”

The bottom line for Belmonte is, he no longer feels like an oddity. He and Palermaa and a handful of others have provide the two-handed style is a legitimate, effective way to bowl, and it appears there are a growing number of young people who are embracing the high-revolution, pin-scattering technique as their way of playing the game.

“Seven or eight years ago, you didn’t see a single person bowling two-handed. Now you see Osku, and Brian Valenta, and Cassidy Schaub, and others. I get all kinds of e-mails from people who want to learn how to do it. It’s really an inspiration.”

Belmonte and Palermaa will meet in a PBA Tour televised contest for the third time when ESPN airs the finals of the Chameleon Open Sunday at 3 p.m. ET. In their two previous meetings, Palermaa has won both times, defeating Belmonte, 182-176, in the 2010 GEICO Shark Championship semifinal match and 10-6 in a one-ball rolloff after they tied at 203-203 in round one of the PBA World Championship elimination finals, knocking Belmonte out of title contention in that event.

A frenzy of activity in January got the Professional Bowlers Association’s new year off to a strong start, and it was the kind of activity that is having positive repercussions throughout the bowling industry:

● The PBA’s January ESPN ratings for the Petraglia Division finals of the PBA World Championship followed by the PBA World Championship finals both exceeded audience records for PBA World Series of Bowling telecasts, only to be topped by the live finals of the Alka-Seltzer Plus Liquid Gels USBC Masters telecast on January 29, which reached an audience of 1.1 million viewers – the largest in two years.

● During the USBC Masters, PBA and World Tenpin Bowling Association leaders put their heads together and formed an historic alliance that will create the first true global bowling tour, awarding PBA Tour titles at a series of World Bowling Tour tournaments in 2012. At the close of the year, the top three men and top three women in WBT points will bowl for increased prize funds in the WBT Finals presented by the PBA during the 2012 PBA World Series of Bowling in Las Vegas.

● Bowlers from around the world can start planning for the 2012-13 season, which will get underway with the fourth annual PBA World Series of Bowling Nov. 2-11 at South Point Casino, Hotel and Bowling Center. The 2012 World Series will feature four “animal pattern” championships, the PBA World Championship and the WTBA World Bowling Tour men’s and women’s finals presented by the PBA. Details will be forthcoming.

● The PBA has reached agreement with Killer B Promotions to conduct a series of Teen Masters qualifying tournaments in conjunction with PBA Regional events across the country in the months ahead. The Teen Masters finals will be conducted in Cleveland, Ohio, in July.

● The inaugural Xtra Frame Tour Cheetah Open presented by Ebonite, the first PBA Tour event broadcast exclusively over the Internet, drew a field of 143 players to Fountain Bowl in Fountain Valley, Calif. Eugene McCune successfully defended his Cheetah Open title.

● The PBA unveiled a new membership program that included a low-cost PBA24 membership package exclusively designed for young bowlers just entering the PBA ranks, a new International membership to grant specific privileges to international players who want to experience PBA competition, internationally and within the U.S., and a membership renewal program that provides amnesty for back dues while waiving initiation fees for many former members.

● The Chris Paul PBA Celebrity Invitational, which aired on ESPN in front of the Super Bowl on Feb. 5, also introduced “Sheets” as a new corporate sponsor. Sheets is a new fast-absorbing energy strip.

● The celebrity aspect of the Chris Paul event creates staggering media exposure for the PBA. As a group, celebrity participants Paul, Michael Strahan, Ciara, Jesse Williams, Jerry Ferrara, Kevin Hart, Blake Griffin, Reggie Bush, Drew Carey, Mindless Behavior, the L.A. Clippers and the NBA have a combined total of more than 100 million Twitter and Facebook followers. Sports Illustrated’s website, si.com, has posted a special “Athletes in the Bowling Alley” photo gallery using photos from this year’s (and earlier) events, and Kevin Hart and PBA West Region competitor J.T. (Action) Jackson, a Los Angeles-based actor, made a brief appearance on “TMZ” to discuss bowling as a sport (you can easily links to the si.com gallery and TMZ clip by clicking on the “In the News” tab on pba.com).

PBA TOUR STARS SHINE IN WTBA EVENTS FOLLOWING USBC MASTERS

Immediately following the Alka-Seltzer Plus Liquid Gels USBC Masters at Sunset Station in Las Vegas, Liz Johnson, Chris Barnes and Walter Ray Williams Jr. earned berths in the stepladder finals of the inaugural World Tenpin Bowling Association International Open, which will be held in conjunction with the Brunswick Euro Challenge in suburban Paris in March.
The WBTA International Open, the first tournament exclusively owned and operated by the WTBA, was part of a special three-event “bonus” series held at Sunset Station. Johnson, a two-time PBA Women’s Series titlist and 12-time Professional Women’s Bowling Association winner, took advantage of the six handicap pins per game awarded to women in many WTBA events to lead all qualifiers with a 1,418 total. Barnes was second with 1,367 pins and Williams qualified third, four pins behind Barnes.

The inaugural WTBA International Open drew a field of 132 players (123 men and nine women), including 36 PBA Tour exempt players. Other top PBA Tour finishers included Mika Koivuniemi, fourth for $6,000; Pete Weber, fifth for $4,500; Cheetah Open winner Eugene McCune, sixth for $3,000; Stuart Williams, eighth for $2,000, Masters champion Mike Fagan, ninth for $1,500, and PBA South Region competitor Scott Newell, 10th for $1,500.

Former PBA exempt player DJ Archer averaged over 240 in the qualifying rounds of the USBC Masters, WTBA International Open and the International Mini to win the $10,000 top prize for combined pinfall for 20 game in all three events. Chris Barnes was second with 4,766 pins for $5,000 with Mike Fagan was third with 4,727 pins for $2,500.

Canadian citizen Dan MacLelland earned $30,000 as International Mini champion. As the Gold Division representative, MacLelland bowled against the Silver and Bronze Division representatives in the finals, posting a 203 to top Darrin Remiticado, Stockton, Calif., who had a 187 game including handicap for $15,000, and Willie Wells, Herriman, Utah, who rolled a 182 with handicap for a $10,000 prize.

Ildemaro Ruiz and Mika Koivuniemi each won $2,000 by reaching round five in the gold division while Chris Barnes, Martin Larsen and Mike Fagan each earned $1,500 by advancing to round four.

XTRA FRAME TOUR HEADS TO COLUMBUS, OHIO

The second of four Xtra Frame Tour events, the Ricart Ford Open presented by Columbia 300, is set for Sequoia Pro Bowl in Columbus, Ohio, Thursday-Sunday, Feb. 16-19. At stakes is a $10,000 first prize, a PBA Tour title, an automatic berth in the Round of 36 for the PBA Tournament of Champions, and valuable points for players trying to qualify for both the Dick Weber PBA Playoffs and the 2012 Japan Cup.

The tournament will not only feature a specifically created 45-foot lane conditioning pattern named in honor of the late PBA Hall of Famer Don Johnson, a long-time Columbus resident, but also will include a Thursday night fundraiser in Johnson’s honor to benefit Nationwide Children’s Hospital of Columbus and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

The Xtra Frame Ricart Ford Open presented by Columbia 300 will be webcast live, exclusively on the PBA’s online bowling channel, Xtra Frame, beginning with Saturday’s qualifying squads at 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. ET. All of Sunday’s match play competition will be webcast with squads at 9 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. leading up to the four-player stepladder finals at 6 p.m. Full-year and monthly subscriptions to Xtra Frame are available on pba.com.

GREG THOMPSON WINS WEST REGION TITLE IN SUTTER CREEK

Greg Thompson Jr. of Dublin, Calif., posted a 9-3 match play record and a 20-game total of 4,957 pins to win the PBA West Region Jackson Rancheria Classic on Sunday, Feb. 5, at Gold Country Lanes in Sutter Creek, Calif. Thompson, who earned $2,400, defeated Robby Porter of Rancho Cordova, Calif., by 118 pins for his second PBA Regional title.

The Sutter Creek tournament again included a fundraising effort to benefit the people of Haiti who are still recovering from the devastating earthquake that rocked their nation in 2010. One of the survivors of the earthquake is 8-year-old Claire Bryditzki, the adopted daughter of Scott and Debbie Bryditzki of Auburn, Calif., who are actively involved in the fundraising effort.

In other PBA Regional activity, Marc Lineberry of Camanche, Iowa, defeated Dave Doane of Buffalo, Iowa, 201-179, to win the joint PBA Midwest/Central Region Sparetime Lanes Senior Open sponsored by Allstate Insurance in Decatur, Ill., on Sunday. The title was Lineberry’s sixth in PBA Regional competition. He also earned $1,600.

In Houston, Texas, Carlos Gonzalez from Houston defeated fellow amateur Steve Wright of Cypress, Texas, 209-206, to win the second annual PBA Southwest Region Carol “Stormin” Norman Pro Shop U Can Bowl 2 Houston Open at Del-Mar Lanes. Because Gonzalez isn’t a PBA member, he doesn’t receive credit for a PBA title.

This weekend’s calendar includes the inaugural Regional Players Doubles Championship presented by Hammer Feb. 10-12 at The Orleans in Las Vegas. The field will be limited to 70 teams on a first-come basis. For complete Regional tournament schedules and entry information, visit pba.com and click on “Regional Tour” under the “Schedules” drop-down tab.

QUICK NOTES:

PBA Tour member Dan MacLelland , Windsor, Ontario, has been named Canada’s 2011 Male Bowler of the Year. MacLelland was the men’s gold medalist at the Canadian National Championships and won the Masters gold medal in the 2011 Pan American Games.

LAS VEGAS – South Point Bowling Center in Las Vegas will host the fourth annual Professional Bowlers Association World Series of Bowling, a multi-event international competition, Nov. 2-11, that will kick off the 2012-13 PBA Tour season, PBA Commissioner Tom Clark announced Thursday.

The 2012 World Series of Bowling, the third consecutive hosted by South Point, will feature four PBA “animal pattern” championships and conclude with the PBA World Championship. The package of events also will include six ESPN television events, plus the 2012 WTBA World Bowling Tour Finals presented by the PBA. Two PBA Regional special events also are in the preliminary planning stage.

“Since its inception in 2009, the PBA World Series has evolved into the true world showcase for bowling that we hoped it would become,” Clark said. “Our newly-adopted relationships with the World Tenpin Bowling Association to expand PBA competition around the world will only enhance the drama that will unfold when we return to South Point in November. World Series IV is going to be fun.”

The World Series, which last year attracted more than 200 players from a record 15 different countries, will get underway with an open practice session on Friday, Nov. 2. Over the next four days, competitors will bowl eight-game qualifying sessions in the Cheetah, Viper, Chameleon and Scorpion Opens, respectively. At the conclusion of each daily qualifying round, the top 16 players will advance to an additional six-game qualifying session to determine the four players who will advance to the ESPN eliminator finals.

Combined 32-game pinfall from the four animal pattern events also will serve as qualifying scores for the PBA World Championship. The top 24 after 32 games will advance to round robin match play on Nov. 7 and 8. After 24 additional games of match play, the top eight players will advance to an eight-player stepladder final.

Television finals for delayed telecast on ESPN will be conducted on specially-installed lanes in an exhibition hall at South Casino and Hotel. The preliminary schedule calls for the WTBA World Bowling Tour Men’s and Women’s Finals, Cheetah Open and Viper Open finals to be conducted on Saturday, Nov. 10, with the Scorpion Open, Chameleon Open and PBA World Championship stepladder finals (in two sessions) to be conducted on Sunday, Nov. 11.

NORTH BRUNSWICK, N.J. – The 69th U.S. Open, one of professional bowling’s most demanding tournaments, will return to Brunswick Zone-Carolier in North Brunswick, N.J., in 2012 for a record seventh time. Defending champion Norm Duke of Clermont, Fla., will be on hand to try to win his eighth career major title, his third U.S. Open crown and the $60,000 first prize.

The 2012 U.S. Open is scheduled for Monday, Feb. 20, through Sunday, Feb. 26, concluding with the live stepladder finals in high-definition at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday. Carolier has previously hosted U.S. Opens in consecutive years between 2005 and 2009, and in 2011.

The U.S. Open is considered by many competitors to be the most difficult title in all of bowling to win because of its unfriendly scoring environment, demanding schedule and mental challenges. It is an extreme test of bowling skill, patience and perseverance, and traditionally includes a world-class field of non-professionals, men and women, as well as the world’s top professionals.

It also will be one of 14 events on the World Tenpin Bowling Association’s World Bowling Tour, an international series of tournaments that award points to male and female competitors en route to the 2012 WBT Finals presented by the PBA which will be conducted in November 2012 in Las Vegas.

Duke won his 34th career title in North Brunswick in 2011, staging a valiant comeback against Mika Koivuniemi of Hartland, Mich., and won, 225-216, when Koivuniemi failed to convert a 10 pin spare in the 10th frame.

The next chapter in U.S. Open history will begin with 18 qualifying games for all players and continue through a grueling 51-game contest to determine the four finalists. In addition to Duke, other U.S. Open champions expected include Chris Barnes, Tommy Jones, Pete Weber, Mike Scroggins, Walter Ray Williams Jr., Bill O’Neill and Johnny Petraglia.

Duke (2011), Barnes (2005), Jones (2006), Weber (2007) and Scroggins (2009) all have won at Carolier. Weber is a four-time U.S. Open winner. Williams and Duke are two-time Open champions. Koivuniemi, a native of Finland, is the only international player ever to win the U.S. Open.

Entries are now being accepted on pba.com. Click on the U.S. Open link under PBA Tour on the “Schedules” drop-down menu.

All preliminary rounds of the Open will be webcast live on PBA’s exclusive online bowling channel, Xtra Frame. For subscription information, visit pba.com and click on the Xtra Frame logo.

69TH U.S. OPEN SCHEDULE
Brunswick Zone-Carolier, North Brunswick, N.J., Feb. 20-26 (all times Eastern)

Monday, Feb. 20
8 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. - Practice squads
4 and 7 p.m. – Pro-Am squads

Tuesday, Feb. 21
8 a.m. - A Squad qualifying (6 games)
Noon - B Squad qualifying (6 games)
6 p.m. - C Squad qualifying (6 games)

Wednesday, Feb. 22
8 a.m. - B Squad qualifying (6 games)
Noon - C Squad qualifying (6 games)
6 p.m. - A Squad qualifying (6 games)

Thursday, Feb. 23
8 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 to Cashers’ Round

Friday, Feb. 24
9 a.m. – Cashers’ Round (9 games)
Top 24 advance to match play
6 p.m. – Top 24, 8 games match play

Saturday, Feb. 25
11 a.m. – Top 24, 8 games match play
6 p.m. – Top 24, 8 games match play
Sunday, Feb. 26
3 p.m. – Top four, live ESPN finals

LAS VEGAS – Sean Rash of Montgomery, Ill., who qualified for the ESPN finals in a record six Professional Bowlers Association World Series of Bowling events, will meet two-handed rivals Jason Belmonte of Australia and Osku Palermaa of Finland in the PBA Chameleon Open finals Sunday on ESPN. Rounding out the field of four will be unsung Venezuelan Ildemaro Ruiz, making his third career PBA television appearance.

The Chameleon Open is the second of four PBA “animal pattern” championships conducted during the World Series of Bowling at South Point Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas. ESPN will air the finals at 3 p.m. ET (noon PT).

Rash, a four-time PBA Tour champion who is trying for his first title since the 2007 USBC Masters, will try to derail the two international two-handed stars who finished one-two in Chameleon Open qualifying. Belmonte averaged 236.29 to pace the Chameleon field with Palermaa 16 pins behind, averaging at a 235.14 pace. Rash was another 25 pins behind Palermaa while Ruiz qualified fourth for the four-man eliminator format finals.

Eliminator-format finals feature three one-game rounds. All four players bowl the opening game, with the lowest-scoring player after each game being eliminated.

Belmonte, the 2008-09 PBA Rookie of the Year, is trying for his second career title. He won his only Tour title in the 2009 Bowling Foundation Long Island Open. In the meantime, Palermaa, his primary rival in the world of two-handed players, has won twice including the 2012 PBA World Championship. Ruiz is trying for his first PBA title.

In their only two previous meetings in PBA Tour televised competition, Palermaa is 2-0 vs. Belmonte. Palermaa defeated Belmonte, 182-176, in the 2010 GEICO Shark Championship semifinal match and he nipped the Aussie, 10-6, in a one-ball rolloff after they tied at 203-203 in round one of the PBA World Championship elimination finals, knocking Belmonte out of title contention in that event.

The Chameleon Open winner will earn $15,000 and a berth in the Round of 36 for the end-of-season PBA Tournament of Champions, April 8-15, at Red Rock Lanes in Las Vegas.

A Chameleon Open pre-event show will be webcast at no cost on pba.com’s Xtra Frame online bowling channel starting Wednesday, with a follow-up post-game show immediately following Sunday’s ESPN telecast. To subscribe to Xtra Frame , visit pba.com and click on the Xtra Frame logo.