Great to see our Aussies mixing it with the top PBA talent!
Here's a roundup that I'm circulating to national and international media this evening ....
cheers,
lc
AUSSIES UNDAUNTED BY TOP PBA TALENT
Indianapolis, USA : Undaunted by the top names on the PBA Tour, Aussie bowlers Andrew Frawley and Jason Belmonte are in great form at the 2008 Denny’s PBA World Championship currently underway at Woodland Bowl. This year’s event marks the first time in PBA World Championship history the field has been open to amateurs and the change in format has attracted bowlers from five continents.
Frawley shot lines of 185, 188, 243, 246, 242, 221, 279, 300 and 228 firing a perfect game for the second consecutive day to finish in fourth place after Round 2. Malaysian Zulmazran Zulkifli finished the day fifth and Jason Belmonte is in 12th place going into the next round. The three are the only non-PBA members in the top 12 and will be aiming to stay in the top eight during the final nine games of qualifying to earn one of the eight byes through the first two rounds of matchplay.
“After a shaky start, Andrew was only 19 over with seven games to go,” reported Jason Belmonte today after the second round. “He finished 399 over and told me that it was the best seven games he had ever bowled…I told him it was the best seven games I had ever seen,” quipped Belmonte.
One of the PBA’s top performers, Chris Barnes from Texas is currently in the lead on 4061, averaging 223.11 over his nine games heading into the final day of qualifying, with fellow PBA stars Danny Wiseman and Mika Koivuniemi just ahead of Frawley’s outstanding 3999 pinfall on 4037 and 4021 respectively. Averaging 215.00, Belmonte is comfortably positioned 12th in the field, mid-way between some of bowling’s most experienced and well-known players, Pete Weber and Walter Ray Williams Jnr.
“The Pro's are great….everyone I spoke with was more than happy to say hello and have a chat. “These guys are bowling on a tour that requires more than just skill. “It’s the biggest mental grind I have ever seen. “Not many people really understand how hard it is bowling on the hardest tour in the world, “ said Belmonte.
The cut to the top 57 bowlers after Round 2 of qualifying will return for an additional nine games Thursday, after which the field will be cut to the top 40 for matchplay. The final four bowlers will advance to the live ESPN-televised finals on Sunday, 24 February at 12:30 p.m. local time and full scores and further details can be seen on the official PBA website –
www.pba.com.
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For further details, please contact Lynne Clay on +61 419 444 280 or by email [email protected]