14
- November 2016
World’s Best Bowlers Ready to Invade
Reno for GEICO PBA World Series of
Bowling VIII Nov. 27-Dec. 11
by Bill Vint
CHICAGO
– For the eighth consecutive year, the
world‟s best bowlers are gearing up for a dramatic con-
clusion of the season as they prepare to invade Reno,
Nev., for the GEICO Professional Bowlers Association
World Series of Bowling VIII, presented by Silver Leg-
acy Resort and Casino, Nov. 27-Dec. 11.
With five PBA Tour titles on the line to conclude a
year that has seen bowling history re-written at every
major championship contested to date, the live telecast
of the PBA World Championship on Sunday, Dec. 11,
from Reno‟s National Bowling Stadium should provide
a fitting ending to a memorable year.
Among the highlights thus far in the 2016 season:
● In the first event of 2016, Anthony Simonsen became
the second-youngest player to win a PBA Tour title,
missing Norm Duke‟s record by two days. Simonsen
was 18 years, 347 days old at the time.
● In the second event of the year, Venezuela’s Amleto
Monacelli won the DHC PBA Japan Invitational at age
54, becoming the fourth-oldest ever to win a PBA Tour
title.
● Next, eight days shy of his 21st birthday, Jesper
Svensson of Sweden became the youngest to win the
FireLake PBA Tournament of Champions.
● A week later, Simonsen – now 19 – became the
youngest ever to win a PBA major when he won the
USBC Masters.
● Seven days later, Graham Fach won the Barbasol
PBA Players Championship to become the first Cana-
dian to win a PBA Tour title.
● In November, Francois Lavoie won the U.S. Open,
bowling the first nationally-televised 300 game in U.S.
Open history, to become the second Canadian to win a
PBA Tour title.
● During the PBA Fall Classic at South Point Bowling
Plaza in Las Vegas, 22-year-old Jakob Butturff won the
Xtra Frame South Point Las Vegas Open, joining Ryan
Ciminelli as the only two-time title winners in the seven-
event 2016 PBA Xtra Frame Tour, but veteran Tommy
Jones won a $10,000 winner-take-all bonus as the top
all-around performer in the special XF series of events.
After his record-breaking start to the year, Svensson
tacked on two more titles to become the first player to
win five PBA Tour titles by age 21 and set in motion an
intense PBA Player of the Year race that will carry into
WSOB VIII. Svensson is being pursued by two-time
2016 title winners Ryan Ciminelli, EJ Tackett, Sean
Rash (who won both of his titles in the PBA Fall Swing)
and Jakob Butturff. And Canadian rookies Fach and
Lavoie are battling at the head of the PBA Rookie of
the Year race – an award won by international players
only two other times in PBA history (Australia‟s Jason
Belmonte in 2009 and Sweden‟s Svensson in 2015).
Keep in mind, however, that the GEICO PBA World
Series of Bowling – the richest event in bowling with
more than $750,000 in prize money – has a way of
ignoring trends.
The four animal pattern events – Cheetah Champion-
ship presented by PBA Bowling Challenge Mobile
Game, Chameleon Championship presented by Ho-
telPlanner.com, Scorpion Championship presented by
Reno Tahoe USA and the Shark Championship – often
produce unexpected champions. In 2015, Jon Van
Hees won the Scorpion Championship for his first PBA
Tour title. Six other players made ESPN finals for the
first time in their careers in the animal pattern events.
Gary Faulkner Jr. won the 2015 PBA World Champion-
ship, and Simonsen teamed with Connor Pickford to
win the Mark Roth/Marshall Holman PBA Doubles
Championship, all for their first titles.
That has been a common theme since the WSOB was
created in 2009. In the ensuing years, the WSOB has
become the international showcase for bowlers, attract-
ing bowlers from 37 different countries and making
PBA Tour champions out of players from Australia,
Colombia, England, Finland, South Korea and Sweden.
The World Series of Bowling has not only attracted
bowlers from around the globe, but the introduction of
Xtra Frame – PBA‟s online video-streaming service that
provides hundreds of hours of live coverage of WSOB
competition – has given bowling fans an opportunity to
watch their home-country favorites in competition on
the sport‟s most visible stage.
Expect nothing different in 2016, when bowlers from
more than 20 countries descend on Reno. There will be
a few subtle changes to enhance the event (the World
Series has been in a constant evolution to remain fresh
and vibrant), such as the return of the Shark Champi-
onship – contested on a 43-foot application of oil – in
place of the Viper pattern, to provide a different chal-
lenge. Updated lane surfaces inside the National Bowl-
ing Stadium also are expected to change the way balls
react on the lanes.
n 2016, the top 24 qualifiers in each of the animal
pattern championships will advance to best-of-five-
game match play elimination rounds to give players a
more diverse path to the ESPN finals in each event.
But like years past, the animal pattern events will also
serve as “stages” to advance to the main event – the
PBA World Championship – similar in concept to the
way world-class bicycle racers advance to the podium
in the famous Tour de France.
Eight games each on the Cheetah, Chameleon, Scor-
pion and Shark qualifying stages will serve as the 32-
game qualifying phase of the PBA World Champion-
ship. An additional six-game cashers round for the top
25 percent of the field will determine the 24 players
who will then bowl 24 games of round-robin match play
to determine the five players who will bowl for the
$60,000 first prize in the final major championship of
the year, live on ESPN on Sunday, Dec. 11 at 1 p.m.
Eastern (10 a.m. local time).
The carrot-at-the-end-of-the-stick in the animal pattern
championships is that all four of them include a
$20,000 first prize, a chance to bowl on ESPN and a
PBA Tour title for each winner. So consider it
“qualifying on steroids.”
That‟s not all. WSOB VIII will get underway on Sun-
day, Nov. 27, when eight PBA Regional, eight PBA-
PWBA Women‟s Regional and eight PBA50 Tour play-
ers will compete in special PBA Challenge events -
eight-game match play events video-streamed live on
Xtra Frame. Those players, who earned their berths in
season-long points competitions, will then bowl in the
World Series.
Another bonus feature, reviving a special event held in
2010 and 2012, will be the USA vs. The World team
showdown. Based on the same 32-game pinfall totals
used in PBA World Championship qualifying, the top
five American players and the top five international
bowlers will advance to the team event which will be
contested after the PBA World Championship telecast
on Dec. 11 for delayed broadcast on ESPN on Sunday,
Jan. 8, at 1 p.m. ET.
Bottom line, the world‟s most expensive and dedi-
cated bowling facility – Reno‟s 21-year-old National
Bowling Stadium – will once again be at the center of
the bowling universe for two solid weeks. Grassroots
bowlers in and around northern Nevada and California
will have an opportunity to bowl with the greatest stars
in the sport during the annual WSOB Pro-Am on Satur-
day, Dec. 3 (call the National Bowling Stadium at 800-
304-2695 for details).
The Dec. 10-11 weekend will feature six ESPN televi-
sion finals. An all-day pass to watch the Cheetah, Cha-
meleon, Scorpion and Shark Championship finals on
Saturday, starting at noon, is available for $20. An all-
day pass for the live PBA World Championship finals
on Sunday at 10 a.m. followed by the USA vs. The
World special team match is available for $15, and will
include a free hotdog and beer/soft drink for the first
200 through the door. TV tickets can be purchased at
pba.com/tickets.
That‟s about all, except for the occasional “surprise.”
In previous World Series, devoted bowlers such as
Sirius radio star Howard Stern‟s engineer, Scott Salem,
bowled. So did NFL superstar Terrell Owens. Last year,
Boston Red Sox outfield Mookie Betts made his profes-
sional bowling debut.
That‟s what makes the GEICO PBA World Series of
Bowling great. You never know what‟s going to hap-
pen…
PBA WORLD SERIES OF BOWLING VIII SCHEDULE
National Bowling Stadium, Reno, Nev., Nov. 27-Dec. 11
(all times are Pacific)
Sunday, Nov. 27
3 p.m. – PBA Regional, PBA-PWBA Women‟s Regional
and PBA50 Tour Challenge, 8 games round-robin
match play (top two in each division advance to Xtra
Frame finals)
6:30 p.m. – PBA-PWBA Women‟s Regional Challenge
Xtra Frame championship match (live on Xtra Frame)
7 p.m. – PBA50 Tour Challenge Xtra Frame champion-
ship match (live on Xtra Frame)
7:30 p.m. – PBA Regional Challenge Xtra Frame cham-
pionship match (live on Xtra Frame)
Monday, Nov. 28
10 a.m. – A Squad practice session (Cheetah, Chame-
leon, Scorpion and Shark lane conditions)
2:30 p.m. - B Squad practice session (Cheetah, Cha-
meleon, Scorpion and Shark lane conditions)
6 p.m. – Mandatory PBA WSOB VIII players meeting
Tuesday, Nov. 29
9 a.m. – Cheetah Championship – A Squad 8 qualifying
games
4 p.m. - Cheetah Championship – B Squad 8 qualifying
games
(Top 24 advance to best-of-five-game single-
elimination match play on Tuesday, Dec. 6; top 8
qualifiers earn one round bye)
Wednesday, Nov. 30
9 a.m. – Chameleon Championship – A Squad 8 quali-
fying games
4 p.m. – Chameleon Championship – B Squad 8 quali-
fying games
(Top 24 advance to best-of-five-game single-
elimination match play on Tuesday, Dec. 6; top 8 quali-
fiers earn one round bye)
Thursday, Dec. 1
9 a.m. – Scorpion Championship – B Squad 8 qualify-
ing games
4 p.m. - Scorpion Championship – A Squad 8 qualifying
games
(Top 24 advance to best-of-five-game single-
elimination match play on Wednesday, Dec. 7; top 8
qualifiers earn one round bye)
(Continued next page)
