Ryan Ciminelli of Cheektowaga, N.Y. appears to have picked up where he left off last season. Ciminelli led Wednesday's Tournament Qualifying Round (TQR) with a 1,710 pinfall to easily earn a spot in the Pepsi Viper Championship at Thunder Alley in Omaha, Neb. Also earning spots in Thursday's Round of 64 were:
Rick Miller of Lincoln. Neb. with a score of 1643,
Scott Newell of Deland, Fla. with 1608 pins,
Lonnie Waliczek of Wichita, Kan. with a score of 1551,
P.J. Haggerty of Clovis, Calif at 1546 and
Jonathan Van Hees of Newport, R.I. with a score of 1530. Competition continues on Thursday with the qualifying Round of 64.
P.J. Haggerty of Clovis, Calif. said Sunday was the best he has bowled so far this season and he certainly backed up that statement with his performance. Haggerty led Sunday's Tournament Qualifying Round (TQR) with a 1,771 pinfall to easily earn a spot in the Ultimate Scoring Championship at Taylor Lanes. He bested the field by at least 54 pins and averaged 253 over the seven game block. Monday's competition continues with the qualifying Round of 64, cutting down the field to the top 32 players.,who will bowl in best-of-seven match play to determine the final four for Sunday's finals which will be taped and air on ESPN on Sunday, Nov. 23.
Anthony LaCaze (l.) made PBA history at the Lake County Indiana Golden Anniversary Championships as he became the first amateur to reach a PBA telecast since the tour switched to an all-exempt field for the 2004-2005 season. In the semis, LaCaze will face Bill O'Neill (r.), who served as LaCaze's best man at his wedding. Walter Ray Williams, Jr., who is going for his 45th title, meets Mike Scroggins in the other semifinal match. Hugh Miller will take on Timothy Kauble for the senior title in the first PBA senior telecast since 2001.
Two bowlers who have had a lot of success in Indiana found more luck in Lake County Thursday as Todd Book finished atop the field of exempt bowlers and Mark Williams finished in first place in the senior division at the Lake County Indiana Golden Anniversary Championship at Olympia Lanes in Hammond, Ind. Book made his only televised final in nearby Merrilllville, Ind. in 2007, where he finished fourth. He will begin Friday's Round of 32 as the top seed. Williams (r.) won the PBA Senior Lake County Indiana Open, also held at Olympia Lanes in August 2008. He leads the seniors going into Friday's Round of 8.
Canadian George Lambert IV (left) finished atop the field of 99 bowlers to advance to Thursday's Round of 64 at the Lake County Indiana Golden Anniversary Championship at Olympia Lanes in Hammond, Ind. Lambert finished the round with a total pinfall of 1592, averaging 227.43 for the seven-game block. He finished 29 pins ahead of second-place qualifier Lee Vanderhoef of Greenville, S.C. In addition to Lambert and Vanderhoef, four other professional bowlers advanced, as well as one amateur, Anthony LaCaze of Melrose Park, Ill. 
Hugh Miller (left) of Mercer Island, Wash. took the first steps towards claiming his second PBA Senior title Tuesday as he placed first in the Senior Tour Qualifying Round at the Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour's Lake County Indiana Golden Anniversary Championship. He finished the day with a 220.30 average and a 2230 10-game total over two five-game qualifying blocks. The tournament is taking place from Nov. 4-9 at Olympia Lanes in Hammond, Ind., with the PBA Exempt bowlers and the PBA Senior bowlers competing simultaneously in separate tournaments.
Brad Angelo (left) of Lockport, N.Y., won three straight matches to capture his first career PBA title in the PBA Viper Championship at Thunder Alley in Omaha, Neb., United States. After four career runner-up finishes, Angelo defeated No. 1 seeded Chris Loschetter (right) of Avon, Ohio, 256-215. In the opening matches of the 4-player stepladder finals, third seeded Angelo defeated #4 Wes Malott (222-195) and #2 Walter Ray Williams Jr. (221-214) to advance to the championship match. 
Chris Loschetter (left) finished atop the field in Friday's match play at the Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour Pepsi Viper Championship at Thunder Alley. Loschetter, who bowled for the University of Nebraska 1999-2001, went 12-6 in match play Friday to earn the top seed for Sunday's stepladder finals. Walter Ray Williams, Jr. earned the number two seed while Brad Angelo took the third spot. In a miraculous comeback, Wes Malott was tied for seventh with one game remaining and shot 268 to catapult from seventh to fourth place and claim the last spot for Sunday's finals live on ESPN Sunday, Nov. 2 at 1 p.m. EST. 
Wes Malott (pictured left) of Argyle, Tex. finished atop the leaderboard in Thursday's Qualifying at the Pepsi Viper Championship at Thunder Alley in which the top 32 men advanced to Friday's match play. Malott finished with a score of 3261, averaging 232.93 over the 14-games. He bested No. 2 and all-time PBA Title leader Walter Ray Williams Jr. (right) of Ocala, Fla. by 81 pins. Friday’s competition continues 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. with Match Play Round One (9 games) which cuts to the top 16.
Norm Duke became the first player in PBA history to win three consecutive Majors as he captured the PBA World Championship at Northrock Lanes in Wichita, Kan., which marks the first event of the 50th Anniversary Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour season. In the championship match, Duke defeated reigning PBA Player of the Year Chris Barnes of Double Oak, Texas, 259-189. Prior to today's win Duke had won the 2007-08 Denny's World Championship and the U.S. Open. Along with the title, Duke earned a two-year exemption and $50,000.
Norm Duke (left) moved even closer to the history books by defeating Parker Bohn III in five games (247-244, 279-206, 216-230, 239-223, 234-200) in Saturday's Round of 8, advancing to Sunday's televised finals of the PBA World Championship, live on ESPN at 1 p.m. ET.
Fifty-four year-old Tom Baker of King, N.C., bowled a perfect 300 game in the first round of match play at the PBA World Championship in Wichita, Kan. Baker defeated No. 32 seed Mike Machuga of Erie, Pa., 4-2 (238-227, 246-169, 196-212, 238-199, 229-248, 300-227) to advance to the Round of 16. In the Round of 32, seven of 16 matches were sweeps. Match play continues on Saturday, Oct. 25 at 9 a.m. until four bowlers remain. The top four finalists will advance to the live ESPN finals on Sunday, Oct. 26 at noon. All times CT. The winner will receive the $50,000 prize and a two-year exemption.
Jason Belmonte of Australia ran over the competition during Round Four of qualifying, leading the field by 240 pins at the PBA World Championship at Northrock Lanes in Wichita, Kan. Belmonte, who by the end of the qualifying block was lofting the left gutter cap, will be seeded into the Super 16, thus earning two byes in match play. The top eight bowlers after Round Four of qualifying received automatic berths into the Super 16 and the top 40 bowlers advanced to single-elimination best 4-out-of-7 match play.
Troy Wollenbecker believes his best games have been at the end of his blocks and he certainly proved that to be true during Wednesday's second block of qualifying at the PBA World Championship in Wichita, Kan. Wollenbecker struck the last three shots of the six-game block to narrowly edge Todd Book for the lead by 12 pins. Wollenbecker shot 2825 for the 12-game total, averaging 235.42 over the 12 games. Book is currently second with 2,813. Competition continues on Thursday with block three of qualifying. The field will then be cut to the top 25%.
Competing in the third and final Squad C on Tuesday, Todd Book (l.) rolled games of 267, 248, 208, 237, 287 and 258 to move to the top after the first block of qualifying in the PBA World Championship with 1505 six-game total and an average of 250.83. Sean Rash was second with 1466. Australian two-hander Jason Belmonte was tied for third place with reigning PBA Players of the Year Chris Barnes with 1427. Rounding out the top 5 was Brian Kretzer with 1421. The PBA World Championship features 195 competitors, representing 12 different countries. 
Viewers enjoyed a unique treat on ESPN Sunday afternoon as they watched recent Olympic gold medalists and NBA stars Chris Paul, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade headline pairings with stars of the PBA in the inaugural Chris Paul PBA Celebrity Invitational. The event kicked off the 2008-09 50th Anniversary Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour Season. Viewers watched as Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James and Jason Couch (pictured) won the Invitational by defeating No. 1 seed New Orleans Hornets guard Chris Paul and 2007-08 PBA Player of the Year Chris Barnes, 214-195 in the championship match.
For its 50th Anniversary season, the PBA Tour has announced a unique schedule of championship events on ESPN that will feature formats built to celebrate the game and test all facets of the world's greatest players. The schedule will be highlighted by the four distinct major championships, a made-for-TV celebrity doubles event, the return of the PBA Women's Series, a Mixed Doubles Championship and special Golden Anniversary Championship that will find senior pros battling on ESPN for the first time in seven years. The season will also crown champions on each of the PBA Tour's six challenging lane oil patterns.