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JANUARY 2013 -www.bowlingworld.com15
Koivuniemi, a long-time member of Finland’s national bowling team before joining the
PBA and moving to Hartland, Mich., had previously won titles in his home country, Sweden,
Denmark, Japan, Singapore, Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Canada, China, Colombia, Spain,
France, The Netherlands, Slovenia, England and Germany as well as the United States.
The 2003-04 and 2010-11 PBA Player of the Year and Venezuela’s Amleto Monacelli (1989
and 1990) are the only international players to win Player of the Year honors twice.
The WTBA-PBA International Tour’s next tournament will be the International Bowling
Championships presented by DHC in Aichi-ken, Japan, Jan. 17-19.
QATAR OPEN
Qatar Bowling Center, Doha, Qatar, Dec. 16
Championship (two games total pinfall): Mika Koivuniemi, Finland ($39,480) def. Tony
Ranta, Finland ($18,950), 544-471.
Semifinal Round (two games total pinfall, losers earned $6,580): Koivuniemi def. Martin
Larsen, Sweden, 442-385. Ranta def. Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., 389-361.
Other PBA Finalists (after 6 games): 5, Mike Fagan, Dallas, 1,330, $3,290. 6, Tom
Smallwood, Saginaw, Mich., 1,325, $3,290. 7, Josh Blanchard, Gilbert, Ariz., 1,324, $3,290.
8, Yousif Falah, Bahrain, 1,318, $3,290. 10, Dom Barrett, England, 1,299, $3,290. 13, Chris
Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, 1,283, $2,360. 15, Bill O’Neill, Langhorne, Pa., 1,268, $2,360.
16, Thomas Larsen, Denmark, 1,254, $2,360. 17, Jesper Agerbo, Denmark, 1,248, $2,360.
18, Ronnie Russell, Marion, Ind., 1,242, $2,360.
(Continued from page 12)
Koivuniemi Wins
(Photo courtesy of Steve Spatafore/PBA LLC/Las Vegas News Bureau)
Norton Continued from Page 13
him out when he failed to strike on his first shot in the 10th frame.
“That was a lot of fun,” Norton said. “The first match I bowled on TV I started with eight strikes, so I didn’t have to come from behind. The second time I was
on TV, my opponent started with eight strikes. This one? I don’t know. I don’t remember half of it.”
Belmonte started the title match with four strikes in the first five frames, but left the 3-10 split in the sixth frame and failed to convert. With the match tied at
127-127, Belmonte ran off another string of three strikes and regained the lead when Norton left the 4-7 in his eighth frame to fall behind by 19 pins.
“When I got up in the ninth and 10th frames, I knew if I threw the ball as well as I could, that’s all I could do, and whatever happened, happened,” Norton
said. “That’s all I focused on.”
Norton started the finals with a 225-194 win over Bahrain’s Fawaz Abdulla, who bowled in excruciating pain after suffering a chronic case of gout in his right
foot – the foot he uses to push away in his approach – on the eve of the finals, resulting in a brief hospital stay for treatment. Despite bowling in severe pain,
the first Middle Eastern bowler ever to appear in a PBA Tour final led Norton until he left the 2-4-6-10 split and opened in the eighth frame. Norton responded
with a late string of four strikes for the win.
In the semifinal match, Norton eliminated PBA Hall of Famer Walter Ray Williams Jr. of Ocala, Fla., 236-195. Williams made his first television
appearance in more than a year. His record 26-year streak of making at least one PBA Tour television appearance ended during the 2010-11 season, and his
bid for his 48th PBA Tour title ended when he left eight single pins during his
match against Norton.
The GEICO World Series of Bowling continues on ESPN next Sunday at 1
p.m. ET with the finals of the Bowlers Journal Scorpion Championship. Final-
ists will include Tom Daugherty of Wesley Chapel, Fla.; Jason Sterner of
McDonough, Ga.; Belmonte and top qualifier Osku Palermaa of Finland. The
final telecast of the World Series IV series will be the PBA World Champion-
ship which airs on Sunday, Jan. 13, at 1 p.m. ET.
Pre- and post-telecast shows for all PBA-ESPN telecasts will be available
on Xtra Frame, PBA’s online bowling channel.
CHAMELEON CHAMPIONSHIP
South Point Exhibition Hall, Las Vegas
Final Standings: 1, Scott Norton, Costa Mesa, Calif., $20,000. 2, Jason
Belmonte, Australia, $10,000. 3, Walter Ray Williams Jr., Ocala, Fla.,
$7,000. 4, Fawaz Abdulla, Bahrain, $5,000.
Stepladder Results: Match One – Norton def. Abdulla, 225-194. Semifinal
Match – Norton def. Williams, 236-195. Championship – Norton def. Bel-
monte, 227-223.
Greater Reno Sparks USBC Events
2013 Women's City Tournament
January 19, 20, 26 & 27, 2013
2013 Open Tournament
January 19, 20, 26 & 27, 2013
2013 Doubles Only Tournament
February 9th & 10th, 2013
2013 Men's City Tournament
March 2, 3, 9 & 10, 2013
2013 Nevada State USBC Open
Championships in Reno, NV
Open to all adult Nevada sanctioned female and male bowlers
Tournament Dates: March 23 to April 14, 2013 @ High Sierra Bowl