Page 10 - bwfeb2013

10www.bowlingworld.com– FEBRUARY 2013
Idle Bowling Thoughts
By Chuck Pezzano
30th Anniversary Bay Branch
1st Place $10,000.00
WITH FULL PROGRESSIVE POT
February 16-17-18
(check website for more information)
Schedule
Feb 16-17-18 AMF Pinole Valley Lanes
Feb 23-24 Diablo Valley Bowl
Mar 2-3 AMF Mission Lanes
Mar 9-10 AMF Southshore Lanes
Mar 16-17 Clayton Valley Bowl
Mar 23-24 Kentwig Lanes
Mar 30-31 AMF Pinole Valley Lanes
(925) 945-1204
Finland's Koivuniemi Dons Glasses, Wins
Second Japan Cup Kaji Falls Short In Bid To
Become First Japanese Winner In 24 Years
TOKYO, Japan - Finnish native Mika Koivuniemi won his second Round1 Japan Cup and a
$71,700 first prize at Round1 Stadium Diver City Tokyo Plaza Bowling Center with a 268-164
victory over Japan's Yoshihiro Kaji, denying Kaji's bid to become the first Japanese player to win
the event in 24 years.
The 45-year-old Koivuniemi, wearing glasses for the first time in a championship round,
started the title match with eight strikes before a 10 pin in the ninth frame ended his bid for a 300
game. The finals aired Sunday on ESPN.
"I got glasses about two years ago and started to practice with them, but I didn't like them at
all," the Hartland, Mich., resident said. "I bowled a couple of games in the 180s with them on, so
I took them off and shot a 300 game. After that I didn't even try them again in competition. I just
wore them when I was driving at night.
"I told my wife I would start wearing them after I won my 10th title, but after I screwed up a
couple of times during the World Series of Bowling, I decided to try them again and they felt ok.
So I decided to test my luck and I bowled with them on in Japan.
"It worked," he said with a laugh.
Kaji started the title match with back-to-back open frames and never had a chance after that.
Takeo Sakai (1988) and Ken Taniguchi (1985) are the only Japanese bowlers who have won the
Japan Cup.
Koivuniemi made it into the championship match by winning a sudden death roll-off against
reigning PBA Player of the Year Sean Rash of Montgomery, Ill., in one of the season's most
exciting matches. Rash converted the 2-10 split in the ninth frame and threw three strikes in the
10th to force Koivuniemi to mark in his 10th frame for the winner.
Koivuniemi, however, left the 4-9 split and got one pin for a 223-223 tie.
In the one-ball sudden death roll-off, both players threw strikes on their first two shots, and
both left a single pin on their third attempts before Koivuniemi struck while Rash left a 9 pin on
their fourth shots.
ROUND1 JAPAN CUP
Round1 Stadium Diver City Tokyo Plaza Bowling Center, Tokyo, Japan, Dec. 2 (ESPN tele-
cast Jan. 20)
Championship: Mika Koivuniemi, Finland ($71,700) def. Yoshihiro Kaji, Japan ($38,500), 268-
164.
Semifinal Round (losers earned $17,900): Koivuniemi def. Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., 223-
223, 10-10, 10-10, 9-9, 10-9 in four-frame, one-ball sudden death roll-off. Kaji def. Osku Paler-
maa, Finland, 235-225.
Round of 8 (losers earned $9,000): Koivuniemi def. Yoshihiro Sakuraba, Japan, 228-171.
Rash def. Parker Bohn III, Jackson, N.J., 223-202.
Palermaa def. Takeshi Suda, Japan, 268-257. Kaji def. Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, 226-
213.
Round of 16 (best of five games, losers earned $4,100): Palermaa def. Mike Fagan, Dallas, 3-
0. Rash def. Bill O'Neill, Langhorne, Pa., 3-1. Malott def. Yuya Katoh, Japan, 3-1. Sakuraba def.
Yoichi Hirayama, Japan, 3-2., Bohn def. Park Jean Soo, Korea, 3-0. Kaji def. Masanori Saito,
Japan, 3-0., Suda def. Jason Belmonte, Australia, 3-0. Koivuniemi def. Masanori Satoh, 3-0.
Round of 32 (best of five games, losers earned $2,000): Palermaa def. Akio Harada, Japan, 3
-1. Fagan def. Yuji Akimoto, Japan, 3-1. O'Neill def. Kim Young Kwan, Korea, 3-0. Rash def.
Subaru Nagano, Japan, 3-0. Katoh def., Rhino Page, Dade City, Fla., 3-1. Malott def. Jeong Tae
Hwa, Korea, 3-1., Hirayama def. Shinichiro Tamai, Japan, 3-2. Sakuraba def. Isao Yamamoto,
Japan, 3-2., Bohn def. Rim Sung Chol, Korea, 3-0. Soo def. Ryan Ciminelli, Cheekto-
waga, N.Y., 3-1. Saito def. Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, 3-2. Kaji def. Hiroshi Nagatani,
(Continued on page 11)
Why do people bowl?
Some people bowl because it is their way to make a living.
Some people bowl to be with their friends, mates or family.
Some people bowl to get away from their friends, mates or family.
Some people bowl because they like being frustrated, bitter and unhappy, and bowling gives
them a little of each.
Some people bowl because they like being satisfied and happy, and bowling gives them a little
of that.
Some people bowl just because they were asked to bowl.
Some people bowl because it is an inexpensive form of entertainment.
Some people bowl because they like to throw things.
Some people bowl because they were lousy at every other sport and figure bowling is an easy
game.
Some people bowl because they were good in other sports and figured when they don’t cut it in
football or baseball or other sports bowling can still keep them competitive.
Some old people bowl to stay young.
Some young people bowl to learn how to mature.
Some people bowl because they like to talk.
Some people bowl because they like to listen.
Some people bowl so they can have something to brag or complain about.
Some people bowl because they have some excuses left over from other life encounters they
lost.
Some people bowl because they found a bowling ball or pair of shoes in the attic or cellar.
Some people bowl because it gives them license to go out, have a drink, wear outlandish
clothes, and yell a lot.
Some people bowl for exercise.
Some people bowl to get away from the cares of work or home, then end up caring more about
home and work because of the new cares bowling brings.
Some people bowl to make out.
Some people bowl because they saw a pro on TV and figure they can do better.
Some little people bowl because their mothers and fathers make them bowl.
Some people bowl because for a tiny sum they can use million dollar equipment.
Some people bowl to lose their inhibitions and some people bowl to put themselves on exhibi-
tion.
Some people bowl because they like to laugh, and cry, in no special order.
Some people bowl because bowling centers can be a home away from home.
Some people bowl because they want to win a trophy of some sort, and almost every bowling
can win a trophy at one time or another.
Some people bowl to lose weight.
Some people bowl to throw their weight around.
Some people bowl because it’s one of the only things they can do.
Some people bowl because it’s the only thing they want to do.
But all people bowl because they enjoy it, gain something from it in some normal or peculiar
way, and because bowling is truly the people’s pastime.