Page 12 - jan2013

12www.bowlingworld.com– JANUARY 2013
Barnes, Parkin Kick Off 2012-13 PBA
Season with World Bowling Tour Titles
Two-year international journey ends with victories during PBA World Series of Bowling IV
LAS VEGAS – Chris Barnes of Double Oak, Texas, and Missy Parkin of Lake Forest, Calif.,
successfully concluded two years of international travel when they captured Bayer Advanced
Aspirin World Bowling Tour men’s and women’s finals titles to kick off the 2012-13 Professional
Bowlers Association television season at South Point Hotel and Casino.
Barnes, a 14-time PBA Tour champion, defeated reigning WBT men’s champion Mika Koi-
vuniemi of Finland, 244-228, while Parkin defeated Liz Johnson of Cheektowaga, N.Y., 238-
190, in the women’s finals during the GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling. Both finals, which
featured three players who qualified by earning points in World Tenpin Bowling Association-
PBA International Tour events over a span of two years, aired Sunday on ESPN. Both champi-
ons earned $20,000.
Barnes, who won the Columbia 300 Vienna Open in Austria in October to lock up his berth in
the WBT men’s finals, edged Mike Fagan of Dallas, 258-244, in the semifinal match before
closing with a string of six strikes for a come-from-behind victory over his close friend, Koi-
vuniemi, in the title match.
“Any win feels good,” Barnes said. “Mika and I always have good matches. I’ve been fortu-
nate the last three times, but I’m pretty sure it’ll even out whether I like it or not.”
The key to Barnes’ victory was three 10 pins left by his long-time international rival on the
right lane in the third, seventh and ninth frames.
“I left a couple of solid 10s on that lane myself,” Barnes said. “I knew that lane was tighter. I
threw one shot that I thought was pretty good that didn’t even get back to the pocket.”
Forced to finish his game on the tricky right lane after Koivuniemi’s misfortune in the ninth
frame gave him an opening, Barnes made a critical adjustment and threw three strikes in the
10th frame. The first strike was the one that iced the title.
“I knew I was going to move right and have to stay firm with the shot,” Barnes said. “Earlier
on in my career I didn’t commit to that shot very well, but I committed to it, and made the shot I
wanted to throw. It didn’t quite get up to high flush, but it was good enough today.”
As part of their ongoing rivalry on television, Barnes and Koivuniemi make a side bet that
has involved things like the gaudy Madras plaid pair of pants Koivuniemi was forced to wear on
television the last time he lost.
“We had a jersey bet on this one,” Barnes said of his WBT win. “I, or my fans, or his daugh-
ters will get to design a jersey that he’ll get to wear on a future TV show. And pretty much any-
thing goes as long as it’s legal for TV.”
In the women’s finals, Johnson advanced to the title match after a thrilling 267-260 victory
over PBA Tour titlist Kelly Kulick of Union, N.J. But Johnson’s strike shot evaporated in the title
match. A 4-6-7 split in the second frame and a 4-6 in the fourth put her in a hole she couldn’t
escape.
“I’ve come in second a lot lately,” said Parkin, who lost to Chicago’s Diandra Asbaty in the
Australian Masters title match prior to the WSOB and finished second to Kulick in the U.S.
Women’s Open earlier in the year. “Today I wasn’t going to let that happen again. I kind of went
out with a mindset that I was going to make the pins strike. I know you can’t do that, but it was
the mindset I had.
“I only had one game, and I needed to throw 10 really good shots, and I feel like I did. Luckily
the pins fell my way and it was enough to win.”
But for Parkin, the victory made her international travels worth the effort.
“This year all of the travel has been particularly hard being away from family and friends,”
she said. “It’s really hard; a lot of people don’t understand how much we travel. Winning this
tournament after two years and having to accumulate all those points means so much.”
The second annual Bayer Advanced Aspirin WBT Finals presented by the PBA also signaled
the start of a new points cycle for the international series. Points earned in WTBA-PBA Interna-
tional Tour events over the next 12 months will replace points earned in the first year of the
qualifying cycle, leading into the third WBT Finals which will be part of PBA WSOB V in Novem-
ber 2013.
The 2012-13 PBA Tour season on ESPN continues next Sunday at 1 p.m. ET with the finals
of the Alka Seltzer Plus Cold Cheetah Championship. Stepladder finalists will include Bill
O’Neill, Langhorne, Pa.; Chris Loschetter, Avon, Ohio; Jeff Roche, Dearborn, Mich., and top
qualifier Mike Wolfe, New Albany, Ind.
Pre- and post-telecast shows for all PBA-ESPN telecasts will be available on Xtra Frame,
PBA’s online bowling channel.
Bayer Advanced Aspirin World Bowling Tour Finals
Presented by the PBA
South Point Exhibition Hall, Las Vegas
Women’s Final Standings: 1, Missy Parkin, Lake Forest, Calif., $20,000. 2, Liz Johnson,
Cheektowaga, N.Y., $10,000. 3, Kelly Kulick, Union, N.J., $5,000.
Stepladder Results: Semifinal Match – Johnson def. Kulick, 267-260. Championship – Parkin
def. Johnson, 238-190.
Men’s Final Standings: 1, Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, $20,000. 2, Mika Koivuniemi,
Finland, $10,000. 3, Mike Fagan, Dallas, $5,000
Stepladder Results: Semifinal Match – Barnes def. Fagan, 258-244. Championship – Koi-
vuniemi, 244-228.
Koivuniemi Wins Qatar Open, Adds 19th
Nation to International Titles List
DOHA, Qatar – Two-time Professional Bowlers Association Player of the Year Mika Koi-
vuniemi, a native of Finland now living in the United States, continued to expand his unprece-
dented international bowling portfolio when he won the 12th annual Qatar Open Saturday at
Qatar Bowling Center, making Qatar the 19th different country in which he has won a bowling
title.
Koivuniemi defeated fellow Finn Tony Ranta, 544-471, in the two-game total pinfall title
match to win a first prize of US$39,480.
The tournament was part of the growing World Tenpin Bowling Association-PBA Interna-
tional Tour series, and it was the final event of the 2012 European Bowling Tour season.
Koivuniemi, who led the Qatar field of 142 players from 26 countries through the preliminary
qualifying rounds, defeated Sweden’s Martin Larsen, 442-385, to advance to the title match
while Ranta eliminated 13-time PBA Tour titlist Tommy Jones of Simpsonville, S.C., 389-361.
"This is my first title in this part of the world and I'm glad I finally broke that jinx," the 45-year-
old Koivuniemi said.
(Continued on page 15)
Norton Ends Left-Handed Drought With PBA
Chameleon Championship Title
California Attorney Throws Three Strikes In 10th Frame To Rally Past Australia’s Belmonte
LAS VEGAS – California attorney Scott Norton ended the longest title drought for left-
handed bowlers in 50 years of Professional Bowlers Association Tour competition when he
defeated Australian two-handed star Jason Belmonte, 227-223, to win the PBA Chameleon
Championship at South Point Hotel and Casino.
Norton, the 2010-11 PBA Rookie of the Year, became the PBA’s first left-handed title winner
since Jason Couch won the Mark Roth Plastic Ball Championship in March, 2011. The last full
season in which there was not a left-handed winner in PBA competition was 1962.
The Chameleon Championship finals, the third of five GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling
IV Tour events, aired Sunday on ESPN.
“I didn’t think I’d be the one to end the drought, but why not?” Norton grinned. “Someone
had to do it. I’m so happy. This is the best week of my career.”
The Costa Mesa, Calif., resident won his second PBA Tour title by throwing three pressure-
packed strikes in the 10th frame after Belmonte, the top qualifier, missed an opportunity to lock
Continued on Page 15