SEPTEMBER 2013 -
7
SERVING THE BOWLING INDUSTRY SINCE 1967
Tenth Tournament Breaks
Records
The 10th New Mexico Open held
last week at Tenpins & More was
a record-breaker in many ways,
including awarding the winner,
Nathan Bohr his biggest first
place check ever of $ 10,120.
Bohr of Wichita, Kansas said as much after he beat
top seed, Geoffrey Young of Denton, Texas 188-183 in
a tense final that produced only eight strikes, ten
spares and three open frames (splits).
In fact, Bohr's 2-10 split conversion in the third frame
put added pressure on Young, who had moved up from
ninth place earlier in the day to win poll position with a
256 closer to jump front-runners Bohr and Robert
Gotchall of Nebraska in the position round.
Young struggled on the right lane after that, leaving a
2-8-10 and a brooklyn strike before finding a way in
with strikes in the eighth and tenth frames. But it was
too late as Bohr spared a single pin and got a 6-count
to win by five.
The two newest members of next year's Team USA
showed experience and versatility throughout the 29-
game event played on testing lane conditions, prepared
by former touring pro, Mike Miller. They were tabbed co
-favorites for the title prior to the tournament.
In earlier championship round action, left-hander,
Theo Douthit of Arizona, eliminated Kyle King of Ari-
zona 258-225 and Gotchall 280-216 before falling to
Bohr 235-212 in the semi-final, leaving a wash-out in
the tenth frame when a turkey would have put him in
the final against Young.
The New Mexico Open was acclaimed the most suc-
cessful yet, with 213 entries from 16 states and one
from Brisbane, Australia - up 40 on last year. The main
event prize-fund was $ 50,220, up $ 8,570 over 2012.
In all, including the three pre-tournament sweepers,
consolation, pro-am and brackets, the pay-out was $
65,793.
Final results: (Winnings include high game awards,
high youth, high woman prizes)
1. Nathan BohrKansas423 (two games)
$10,120
2. Geoffrey YoungTexas183 (one game)
$5,150
3. Theo DouthitArizona750 (three games) $2,620
4. Robert GotchallNebraska216 (one game) $1,700
5. Kyle KingArizona225 (one game)
$1,510
6. Kristopher Prather Kansas
$1,360
7. Ed Smaglik Arizona
$1,270
8. Keith Ubert Kansas
$1,180
9. Michael Tang California (high youth)
$1,210
10. Craig Spencer Arizona
$910
11. Steve Novak Michigan
$915
12. Sara Vargas New Mexico
$1,170
Notes:
* It took 1,757 over nine games to cash in 71st place;
1,800/9 to make the cut to top 48 and 2,723/13 to get to
the top 12 for match-play.
* Dates for the 11th annual event will be August 15-17,
2014.
TEAM USA'S
BARNES,
O'KEEFE WIN
ALL-EVENTS
HENDERSON, Nev. - Team USA's Chris Barnes and
Shannon O'Keefe earned the all-events gold medals
Wednesday as team qualifying came to an end at the
2013 World Tenpin Bowling Association World Champi-
onships.
It was a completely different path to gold for each of
them as Barnes dominated the field most of the week,
while O'Keefe bolted from eighth to first the last game
at Sunset Station's Strike Zone Bowling Center.
In the final game of team qualifying, O'Keefe fired a
269 game to not only help give Team USA the top seed
in the women's team semifinals but also boost her into
the all-events gold.
O'Keefe finished her 24-game total with 5,209 (217.04
average), while Korea's Son Yun-Hee earned the silver
with 5,189. Latvia's Diana Zavjalova took the bronze
with 5,166.
"I never looked at the scores for all-events the last
game and didn't have any idea until we were com-
pletely done," O'Keefe said. "I had no idea because I
was so focused on helping get the team into first place
and knock down as many pins as we could."
The team USA women entered the second round of
team qualifying in eighth place and put together games
of 1,074, 1,191 and 1,226 to surge into the top spot
with 6,439 (214.63 average). Malaysia earned the sec-
ond seed with 6,277, Korea was third with 6,262 and
Venezuela was fourth with 6,211.
In the semifinals Thursday night, Team USA will face
Venezuela, while Malaysia will battle Korea. The win-
ners will meet for the gold medal Friday.
On the men's side, Barnes totally dominated the all-
events standings, winning the gold medal by 210 pins
with 5,609 (233.71 average). Korea's Cho Young-Seon
took the silver with 5,399 and Team USA's Bill O'Neill
earned bronze with 5,370.
"It's not very often that you can get that far ahead of a
very talented field," Barnes said. "My ball reaction
played a huge part in the win as well as the guys I
bowled with."
The Team USA men settled for the second seed in
the men's semifinals after Barnes left a pocket 7-10
split in the final frame allowing Korea to earn the top
seed by just four pins.
The Koreans finished on top of the standings with
6,560 (218.67 average), while Team USA was second
with 6,556. Denmark finished third with 6,512, and
Finland was fourth with 6,500.
Korea will face Finland, while Team USA will take on
Denmark in the semifinals Thursday night. The winners
will meet for the gold medal Friday.
The top 24 players in the all-events standings after 24
games advanced to the Masters competition, which
gets underway with the first round Thursday morning.
The advancing players will bowl six additional games
with all pins carrying forward to determine the top eight
for round-robin match play.
After seven games of round robin, the top four men
and top four women will advance to the semifinals,
which will take place Friday morning.
All rounds of the World Championships are being
broadcast live on BOWL.com's BowlTV.
For more information on the WTBA World Champion-
ships, visit BOWL.com/World2013.
2013 WTBA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Sunset Station's Strike Zone Bowling Center,
Henderson, Nev.
Wednesday's results
WOMEN'S ALL-EVENTS
Gold - Shannon O'Keefe, United States, 5,209
Silver - Son Yun-Hee, Korea, 5,189
Bronze - Diana Zavjalova, Latvia, 5,166
MEN'S ALL-EVENTS
Gold - Chris Barnes, United States, 5,609
Silver - Cho Young-Seon, Korea, 5,399
Bronze - Bill O'Neill, United States, 5,370
Husband & Wife Claim
Masters Gold for Korea
HENDERSON, Nev. -
Bowling has seen its share of
love connections on the lanes, but Korea's Cho Young-
Seon and Son Yun-Hee raised the bar for bowling fami-
lies everywhere when they became the first husband
and wife to claim Masters gold medals at the World
Tenpin Bowling Association World Championships.
There's no doubt that competing on the biggest stage
in international bowling can be intimidating, but the two
were able to find comfort in making the 6,000-mile jour-
ney to Las Vegas together, and the trip culminated with
an emotional moment atop the medal stand Friday at
Sunset Station's Strike Zone Bowling Center.
Both Cho and Son enjoyed success on the lanes this
week, including a pair of silver medals in all-events, but
sometimes, the best stories and memories go beyond
leader boards.
"I just cannot easily express how incredible this feels,"
Cho said. "We knew after she won there was a chance
to do something special."
Son earned her gold medal with a 211-193 win
against her Korean teammate Kim Moon-Jeong, while
Cho topped all-events winner Chris Barnes of Team
USA, 254-195.
The 2013 WTBA World Championships marked the
first time since 2003 that the men's and women's
events have been held in the same venue. For the last
decade, the World Championships have been held
every two years, alternating between the men and
women. (
Continued on Page 14)
