In a title match between the reigning WTBA World Champions in Doubles,
Patrick Allen (pictured left), Wesley Chapel, Fla., defeated
Rhino Page (right), Topeka, Kan., 267-263, to win the prestigious PBA H&R Block Tournament of Champions, his second PBA major title, the $50,000 top prize plus a two-year exemption. Three lefties, No. 1 Allen, No. 2 Page, No. 3 Mike Scroggins, Amarillo, Texas and right-hander Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, the No. 4 seed advanced to the live TV final which started on Sunday, January 25th, 12:30p.m. ET at Red Rock Lanes in Las Vegas, Nev.
It has been a long time since reigning PBA Player of the Year Chris Barnes (l.) and PBA Hall of Famer Pete Weber have used a plastic bowling ball on a regular basis for other than spare shooting. But they got the most out of that technology Friday when both bowlers advanced to Sunday's finals of the PBA GEICO Plastic Ball Championship. Barnes defeated Mike DeVaney of San Diego, 4-1 in the Round of 8 behind games of 279, 279, 279, 230 and 257. Joining Barnes and Weber in the finals will be Jeff Carter and Michael Fagan.
In a tournament where all competitors are required to use identical plastic bowling balls, Mike DeVaney (pictured left) of San Diego and two-handed bowling star Jason Belmonte of Australia, are the leaders after Round of 64 qualifying Thursday in the PBA GEICO Plastic Ball Championship at Brunswick Zone Wheat Ridge. DeVaney leads with a 3,348 14-game pinfall (239.1 average) just eight pins ahead of Belmonte in second with 3,340. The top 32 players will now move into best-of-seven game matches on Friday until the final four are remaining for the ESPN finals airing Sunday, Feb. 22, at 1 p.m. Eastern (11 a.m. Mountain). 
Finishing ninth in the PBA GEICO Plastic Ball Championship Pro Tour Qualifying Round Wednesday with a 1,507 seven-game total, two-handed bowling sensation Jason Belmonte (pictured) of Australia is among the nine players who will advance to the event’s Round of 64. David Williams Jr. of Omaha, Neb., rolled a 1,680 seven-game total Wednesday to top the 79-player non-exempt TQR field competing for the nine berths at Brunswick Zone Wheat Ridge. The 64-player field begins Round of 64 competition on Thursday. 
By virtue of his recent USBC Masters victory, John Nolen (l.) has been granted a commissioner's exemption into this week's PBA GEICO Plastic Ball Championship to be conducted Feb. 18-22 at Brunswick Zone Wheat Ridge in Wheat Ridge, Colo. Nolen joins PBA Hall of Famer Brian Voss (r.), the first time two players have received commissioner's exemptions to be in the same tournament field. With his Masters victory, Nolen earned a two-year exemption on the Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour. However, that exemption does not begin until the 2009-10 season.
Until recently, John Nolen (pictured) of Waterford, Mich., was a virtual unknown on the national bowling scene. He used Sunday's nationally televised championship Round of the 2009 USBC Masters to change that in a hurry. Competing on television for the first time, Nolen defeated Danny Wiseman of Baltimore, 202-193, to win the USBC Masters and claim his first career Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour title, a 2-year exemption and $60,000. Nolen, the No. 1 seed for the championship round, finished as the top qualifier and blew through match play undefeated to win the title. 
Pete Weber (pictured left) of St. Ann, Mo., is filled with confidence and proving it at the 2009 United States Bowling Congress Masters. The USBC and Professional Bowlers Association Hall of Famer cruised through the first two rounds of match play at Cashman Center on Thursday with wins over Ritchie Allen (735-619) and 2001 USBC Masters champion Parker Bohn III (706-595). After Thursday's competition, only 32 of the event's 452 players remained in the competition. Two international bowlers, Isao Yamamoto, Japan, in the winners bracket and Jason Belmonte, Australia, in the losers bracket are still in the hunt for the title and the $60,000 first prize. 
All season, Eugene McCune (pictured left) of Munster, Ind., has been plagued by injuries to his left leg that have left him competing on the Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour in tremendous pain. Now the pain is gone and the results are starting to show. McCune fired a perfect game as he moved into the overall lead after the second round of qualifying at the 2009 United States Bowling Congress Masters on Wednesday with 2,343 for 10 games, an average of 234.3. The top 115 bowlers (cut is 2,071) advanced to Thursday morning's final five-game qualifying block. The international contingent is well represented in the third qualifying round. 
Craig Tuholski (l.) averaged 237.4 and 1,187 five-game total to take the overall lead after qualifying round one in the USBC Masters Tuesday at Cashman Center in Las Vegas, Nev. Tuholski, bowling in his 13th event as an exempt player on the PBA Tour, ended the day with a 289 game and finished eight pins ahead of England's Dominic Barrett (r.), who is second with 1,179. European champion Mads Sandbækken, Norway, is 10th with 1,160. Tuholski and company now must focus on five more games of qualifying on Wednesday.
Sean Rash's professional bowling career may be just beginning, but over the past four seasons a trend has quickly developed. Rash brings his best game when it comes time to compete in major events. Rash (pictured left), a Wichita, Kan., resident and the defending champion in the United States Bowling Congress Masters, has finished among the top 15 in 10 of the 14 majors he has competed in since the 2005-06 season. He will look to add to that total when the USBC Masters is conducted on 60 specially-constructed lanes inside Cashman Center in Las Vegas from Feb. 10-15.
After a disappointing finish in the recent Professional Bowlers Association H&R Block Tournament of Champions, where he was trying for his fourth consecutive "major" title, Norm Duke (pictured left) regained his focus to take top qualifier honors for Sunday's ESPN-televised stepladder finals of the Denny's Dick Weber Open at Fountain Bowl. His 9,371 39-game pinfall total put him 52 pins ahead of fellow Hall of Famer Pete Weber, who qualified second for the TV finals. Sunday's finals will get underway at 1 p.m. Eastern. The winner earns $35,000 plus a one-year exemption on the Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour.
After a tough outing in the recent H&R Block Tournament of Champions in Las Vegas where he was trying for his fourth consecutive "major" title, PBA and USBC Hall of Famer Norm Duke (l.) emerged as the qualifying leader at the Denny's Dick Weber Open at Fountain Bowl Thursday afternoon. Duke, who became the first bowler to win three consecutive majors, averaged 230.6 for 15 games. His 3,460 pinfall total is 35 pins ahead of reigning PBA Player of the Year Chris Barnes (r.) in second place.
Pete Weber (l.) averaged 227.4 to take the qualifying lead after two rounds Wednesday in the PBA Denny's Dick Weber Open at Fountain Bowl. Weber, the son of the late Hall of Fame bowler Dick Weber, had a 2,274 10-game pinfall to hold a three-pin lead over reigning PBA Player of the Year Chris Barnes in second with 2,271. Norm Duke is third with 2,249. Australian two-handed player Jason Belmonte is 10th with 2,180. Shalin Zulkifli, Malaysia, is the best woman in the field in 29th place with 2,120. The field of 158 bowlers will return Thursday for a final five-game qualifying block to determine the 24 players who advance to match play.
Perhaps the most anticipated and certainly the most controversial event in this 50th Anniversary season of the Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour is the first-ever GEICO Plastic Ball Championship to be held at Brunswick Zone in Wheat Ridge, Colo., Feb. 18-22. Debates in the bowling world rage on as to what bowling styles and players will succeed in this radical departure from the usual, generally unlimited equipment rules. In the Plastic Ball Championship, each of the 64 players in the main draw will be given two identical, unmarked plastic bowling balls with pancake weight blocks, branded only by the PBA 50th Anniversary logo.
Norm Duke called his 31st career Professional Bowlers Association title "the easiest I've ever won" and that was because he and partner Liz Johnson were nearly perfect in running away with the Don and Paula Carter Mixed Doubles Championship at the National Bowling Stadium. Johnson, the first and only woman to advance to the title match in a Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour event, and Duke defeated Jennifer Petrick of Canton, Ohio, and Steve Harman of Indianapolis, 274-180, in the title match to split the $50,000 first prize.
Defending champion Mike Scroggins of Amarillo, Texas, will head a field of the world's best bowlers who will return to Southern California Feb. 3-8 for the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) Denny's Dick Weber Open at Fountain Bowl in Fountain Valley, Calif. Named in honor of one of the sport's all-time greats (archive photo), the tournament will feature a star-studded field including a number of competitors recently named to the list of the 50 greatest players in PBA history as part of its 50th anniversary celebration.
Patrick Allen (l.) and Wes Malott (r.), the two hottest players in pro bowling, will be on stage again Sunday for the finals of the Professional Bowlers Association's H&R Block Tournament of Champions, the closing event in the PBA's 50th Anniversary celebration at Red Rock Lanes. Reigning PBA Rookie of the Year Rhino Page of Topeka, Kan., and veteran Mike Scroggins of Amarillo, Texas, will be the challengers who hope to throw ice water on the torrid tandem. First prize in the tournament is $50,000 plus a two-year Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour exemption. 