Major PBA event under way at South Point
Starting Monday (Oct. 25), the eyes of the bowling world will be focused on South Point Hotel, Casino and Bowling Center on the south side of Las Vegas when the 2010 edition of the Professional Bowlers Association World Series of Bowling gets underway, kicking off the 2010-11 Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour season.
The 14-day extravaganza will begin with “PBA World Championship Week,” a five-day, 60-game test of skill and endurance that will serve as the foundation for the first major championship of the 2010-11 season. Week two of the World Series will focus on a series of “animal pattern” championships, culminating on Nov. 5-6 with two days of television finals.
During the first week of competition, the sold-out field of 256 players (men and women from 14 different countries) will bowl 12 games each day on five different Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour “animal patterns.” The PBA’s challenging lane conditions were given names and introduced to the sport during the 2007-08 season as a way of illustrating the varying types of lane conditioning challenges PBA Tour players face – similar to a tennis player competing on clay, grass or hard courts on different days. Each lane conditioning pattern employs different characteristics based upon the length oil is applied to the lane, as well as how much oil is applied across the lane. Each pattern provides a different test a player’s strengths and versatility. A detailed description of each PBA oiling pattern can be found on pba.com under the “Resources” tab.
On Monday, the field will bowl on the Cheetah pattern. On Tuesday, it’s Viper pattern day. The Chameleon, Scorpion and Shark rounds will follow on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, respectively.
Similar to the former “PBA Marathon Open,” which featured a different lane condition for each round, total pinfall for 60 games on all five patterns will serve as the final standings for the PBA World Championship. One in four will cash based upon 60 games, and the top eight will return to South Point Jan. 14-16 to battle for a $50,000 top prize in the live PBA World Championship stepladder finals which will launch the “live” portion of the Tour’s 2010-11 television schedule. The top qualifier will have the advantage of selecting the lane conditioning pattern for the televised finals.
In week two, the top 16 on each pattern will bowl nine games of round-robin match play to determine the top five for stepladder finals. The Cheetah and Viper match play rounds will be contested on Monday, Nov. 1. The Chameleon and Scorpion rounds will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 2. The Shark match play round will be bowled on Wednesday, Nov. 3. The top five after 21 games in each case will advance to the respective stepladder finals, and all 16 in each event will earn “bonus cash” in addition to whatever they may earn based upon their PBA World Championship standings. Each champion will win $15,000 and a PBA Tour title.
An added special event will be a new “USA vs. The World” team competition, which will be taped on Nov. 6. The top six United States bowlers after 60 qualifying games will meet the top six international players in a five-player team showdown. One point will be awarded for each head-to-head match, and three points will be awarded for the team total.
Tom Smallwood of Saginaw, Mich., is defending PBA World Champion. Also hoping to defend their 2009 titles in Las Vegas will be Cheetah champion Norm Duke of Clermont, Fla.; Viper champion Rhino Page of Dade City, Fla.; Chameleon champion Bill O’Neill of Southampton, Pa.; Scorpion champion Mike DeVaney of San Diego, and Shark champion Jack Jurek of Lackawanna, N.Y.
Tickets for all rounds of the World Series, including limited seating for the TV shows on Nov. 5-6, are now on sale on pba.com. Tickets also will be available at the door at South Point Bowling Center.
2010 PBA WORLD SERIES OF BOWLING SCHEDULE
South Point Hotel
MONDAY, OCT. 25
(Brunswick Pro Bowling Cheetah Championship qualifying)
7:30 a.m. – Squad A, first round, 6 games
11 a.m. – Squad B, first round, 6 games
4 p.m. – Squad B, second round, 6 games
7 p.m. – Squad A, second round, 6 games
Top 16 advance to match play on Monday, Nov. 1
TUESDAY, OCT. 26
(Pepsi Viper Championship qualifying)
7:30 a.m. – Squad B, first round, 6 qualifying games
11 a.m. – Squad A, first round, 6 qualifying games
4 p.m. – Squad A, second round, 6 qualifying games
7 p.m. – Squad B, second round, 6 qualifying games
Top 16 advance to match play on Monday, Nov. 1
WEDNESDAY, OCT. 27
(Chameleon Championship qualifying)
7:30 a.m. – Squad A, first round, 6 qualifying games
11 a.m. – Squad B, first round, 6 qualifying games
4 p.m. – Squad B, second round, 6 qualifying games
7 p.m. – Squad A, second round, 6 qualifying games
Top 16 advance to match play on Tuesday, Nov. 2
THURSDAY, OCT. 28
(Scorpion Championship qualifying)
7:30 a.m. – Squad B, first round, 6 qualifying games
11 a.m. – Squad A, first round, 6 qualifying games
4 p.m. – Squad A, second round, 6 qualifying games
7 p.m. – Squad B, second round, 6 qualifying games
Top 16 advance to match play on Tuesday, Nov. 2
FRIDAY, OCT. 29
(GEICO Shark Championship qualifying)
7:30 a.m. – Squad A, first round, 6 qualifying games
11 a.m. – Squad B, first round, 6 qualifying games
4 p.m. – Squad B, second round, 6 qualifying games
7 p.m. – Squad A, second round, 6 qualifying games
Top 16 advance to match play on Wednesday, Nov. 3
Top one-quarter of field after 60 combined games cash in PBA World Championship
Top 8 after 60 combined games advance to PBA World Championship TV finals
Top 6 U.S. and top 6 international bowlers advance to USA vs. the World TV finals
SATURDAY, OCT. 30
No competition
SUNDAY, OCT. 31
6 p.m. – Practice session for all match play finalists, all five animal patterns
MONDAY, NOV. 1
7:30 a.m. – Brunswick Pro Bowling Cheetah round-robin match play, 9 games
Top 5 after 21 games advance to Brunswick Pro Bowling Cheetah TV finals
2 p.m. – Pepsi Viper round-robin match play, 9 games
Top 5 after 21 games advance to Pepsi Viper TV finals
TUESDAY, NOV. 2
7:30 a.m. – Chameleon round-robin match play, 9 games
Top 5 after 21 games advance to Chameleon TV finals
2 p.m. – Scorpion round-robin match play, 9 games
Top 5 after 21 games advance to Scorpion TV finals
WEDNESDAY, NOV. 3
7:30 a.m. – GEICO Shark round-robin match play, 9 games
Top 5 after 21 games advance to GEICO Shark TV finals
THURSDAY, NOV. 4
No competition
FRIDAY, NOV. 5
9 a.m. – Brunswick Pro Bowling Cheetah Championship (ESPN air date Sunday, Nov. 28, 1 p.m. Eastern)
1 p.m. – Pepsi Viper Championship (ESPN air date Sunday, Dec. 5, 1 p.m. Eastern)
3:30 p.m. - Chameleon Championship (ESPN air date Sunday, Dec. 12, 1 p.m. Eastern)
SATURDAY, NOV. 6
11 a.m. – Scorpion Championship (ESPN air date Sunday, Dec. 19, 1 p.m. Eastern)
3 p.m. – GEICO Shark Championship (ESPN air date Sunday, Dec. 26, 1 p.m. Eastern)
5:30 p.m. - USA vs. The World (ESPN air date Sunday, Jan. 9, 1 p.m. Eastern)
FRIDAY, JAN. 14 (ESPN2)
2 p.m. (5 p.m. Eastern) – PBA World Championship, Stepladder Round One (No. 8 vs. No. 7 qualifiers; winner bowls No. 6 qualifier)
SATURDAY, JAN. 15 (ESPN2)
6 p.m. (9 p.m. Eastern) – PBA World Championship, Stepladder Round Two (Friday winner vs. No. 5 qualifier; winner bowls No. 4 qualifier)
SUNDAY, JAN. 16 (ESPN)
10 a.m. (1 p.m. Eastern) – PBA World Championship (Saturday winner vs. No. 3 qualifier; winner bowls No. 2 qualifier; winner bowls No. 1 qualifier for title)
