PBA Bowling Tour: 2010–11 season

This is a recap of the 2010-11 season for the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) tour.

Tournament Schedule and Recaps

For the second season in a row, the PBA condensed the first half of the season into the PBA World Series of Bowling. Preliminary rounds of the televised tournaments were held in October and November, with television tapings on November 5–6. All of the events were held at the South Point Casino's bowling center in Las Vegas, NV. South Point also hosted the live multi-day final for the PBA World Championship on January 14–16, 2011.

The World Series was open to all PBA, Korean Professional Bowlers Association, Japan Professional Bowlers Association, and World Ten-Pin Bowling Association members (except for USA-based WTBA members, who must also join the PBA).

The format for the first of the PBA's four majors, the PBA World Championship, overlapped with the five "oil pattern" championships of the World Series.^[1]

Each of the five oil pattern championships (Cheetah, Viper, Chameleon, Scorpion, Shark) were both standalone title tournaments and part of the qualifying round for the 2010-11 PBA World Championship. Each oil pattern championship opened with a 12-game qualifying round, and proceeded to its own 16-bowler match play semifinal and 5-bowler televised final round. In addition, scores from the 60 total games of oil pattern tournament qualifying were combined to create the 8-bowler final field for the PBA World Championship. The PBA also used the 60-game scores to create a made-for-television exhibition event, U.S.A. vs. the World, taped on November 6 and aired on January 9, 2011. The event featured the top 6 USA qualifiers against the top 6 international qualifiers.

The PBA, for the first time, scheduled three consecutive days of live broadcasts for the PBA World Championship finals, January 14–16, 2011. The format was an 8-bowler stepladder. The 8-7 and 7-6 matches aired Friday night, January 14 on ESPN2; the 6-5 and 5-4 matches aired Saturday night, January 15 on ESPN2; the top four then competed Sunday afternoon, January 16 on ESPN.^[2]

The 2011 Tournament of Champions featured an all-new format and a $250,000 first prize, making it the richest PBA tournament in history.^[3] The event also marked the return of a PBA tournament to ABC-TV, where the PBA Tour aired from 1962 to 1997.

The 2011 Lumber Liquidators U.S. Open also featured live Friday and Saturday night broadcasts on ESPN2, this time covering the match-play rounds on February 25–26. The 4-person stepladder finals aired live Sunday, February 27 on ESPN.

For the first time in PBA history, the season concluded with a playoff. The qualifying rounds of the Dick Weber PBA Playoffs ran March 8–13, and featured 18 regional qualifiers in each PBA Region (East, Central, South, Southwest, Midwest, combined West/Northwest) plus 72 "seeded" regular touring pros randomly placed in each of the six regions. Two "knockout" rounds (three region finals each) and the "conference finals" were broadcast on a tape-delay basis for three straight Sundays, starting March 27, 2011. The finals, featuring the three conference final winners, were broadcast live on Sunday, April 17.^[4][5]

World Series of Bowling (First Half) Highlights

• Eugene McCune won the season's first tournament (and his second PBA title) at the Brunswick Cheetah Championship. During the 9-game match play round for this tournament, McCune set a PBA record for a 9-game squad with 2,468 pins (274.2 average).^[6]

• Yong-Jin Gu became the first Korean to win a U.S. PBA Tour event, when he took the crown in the Scorpion Championship. In an all-South Korean final, he toppled Jun-Yung Kim, 236-224.^[7] (Gu was not awarded an official PBA title, because he is not a full-fledged PBA member in either the U.S. or Korea.)

• The World Series concluded with three first-time PBA Tour winners: Scott Norton, Yong-Jin Gu and Osku Palermaa.

Second Half Highlights

• Chris Barnes became just the sixth player in PBA history to earn a career "triple crown" when he won the PBA World Championship on January 16.^[8]

• Mika Koivuniemi won the largest first-place prize in PBA Tour history, taking $250,000 and the title in the Tournament of Champions on January 22.^[9]

• Tom Hess won his first-ever PBA title at the USBC Masters on February 13.

• Norm Duke won his second U.S. Open title and seventh PBA major overall on February 27, when Mika Koivuniemi missed a 10-pin for an open in the 10th frame of the final match.

• Ritchie Allen, now bowling under the name "Dick Allen," won the inaugural Dick Weber PBA Playoffs for his third PBA title.

• By failing to win a title in the 2010-11 season, Walter Ray Williams Jr.'s PBA-record streak of winning at least one title in 17 consecutive seasons came to an end.

2010-11 Awards

• Chris Schenkel Player of the Year: Mika Koivuniemi
• George Young High Average Award: Mika Koivuniemi (222.50)
• Harry Golden Rookie of the Year: Scott Norton
• Steve Nagy Sportsmanship Award: Ryan Shafer

Below is a summary of the 2010-11 season. Total career PBA Tour titles for winners are shown in parenthesis.

Event	Airdate	City	Preliminary Rounds	Final Round	Oil Pattern	Notes
Brunswick Cheetah Championship	November 28, 2010	Las Vegas, NV	Oct. 25 & Nov. 1	November 5	Cheetah	Winner: Eugene McCune (2)
Pepsi Viper Championship	December 5, 2010	Las Vegas, NV	Oct. 26 & Nov. 1	November 5	Viper	Winner: Bill O'Neill (3)
Chameleon Championship	December 12, 2010	Las Vegas, NV	Oct. 27 & Nov. 2	November 5	Chameleon	Winner: Scott Norton (1)
Scorpion Championship	December 19, 2010	Las Vegas, NV	Oct. 28 & Nov. 2	November 6	Scorpion	Winner: Yong-Jin Gu (1)
GEICO Shark Championship	December 26, 2010	Las Vegas, NV	Oct. 29 & Nov. 3	November 6	Shark	Winner: Osku Palermaa (1)
U.S.A. vs. the World	January 9, 2011	Las Vegas, NV	October 25–29	November 6	Cheetah	Exhibition event. Winners: World Team, 6-3 (1-point head-to-head matches tied 3-3, World defeats U.S.A. in 3-point team event, 1251-1208.
PBA World Championship	January 14–16, 2011	Las Vegas, NV	October 25–29	Live	Viper	No. 1 qualifier chooses oil pattern for finals. Winner: Chris Barnes (13)
Tournament of Champions	January 22, 2011*	Las Vegas, NV	January 16–21	Live	PBA Tournament of Champions	Winner: Mika Koivuniemi (9)
One A Day Earl Anthony Memorial Classic	January 30, 2011	Dublin, CA	January 24–29	Live	Earl pattern	Winner: Ryan Ciminelli (1)
Chris Paul PBA Celebrity Invitational	February 6, 2011	New Orleans, LA	December 9–11	December 12	Final pattern TBD	Exhibition Event. Winners: Jason Belmonte and Chris Paul
Bayer USBC Masters	February 13, 2011	Reno, NV	February 6–12	Live	USBC Masters (custom)	Winner: Tom Hess (1)
Lumber Liquidators 68th U.S. Open	February 25–27, 2011	North Brunswick, NJ	February 21–26	Live	U.S Open (custom)	Winner: Norm Duke (34)
Mark Roth Plastic Ball Championship	March 6, 2011	Cheektowaga, NY	March 1–5	Live	Modified house	Winner: Jason Couch (16)
Dick Weber PBA Playoffs	March 27, 2011 (Knockout Round 1)	Indianapolis, IN	March 8–14	March 14	Dick Weber	Advanced to Conference Finals: Central -- Ritchie Allen East -- Steve Jaros South -- Randy Weiss
	April 3, 2011 (Knockout Round 2)					Advanced to Conference Finals: Midwest -- Jack Jurek Southwest -- Jason Belmonte West/Northwest -- Chris Barnes
	April 10, 2011 (Conference Finals)					Head-to-Head Matches: Randy Weiss defeated Steve Jaros Ritchie Allen defeated Jack Jurek Chris Barnes defeated Jason Belmonte
	April 17, 2011 (Final Round)			Live		Winner: Ritchie Allen (3)

• *Airs on ABC-TV. All Sunday final rounds broadcast on ESPN, except the One-A-Day Earl Anthony Memorial, which is on ESPN2. Friday and Saturday telecasts for the PBA World Championship and U.S. Open also air on ESPN2.

2010-11 PBA Tour Trials

The seven bowlers who join the PBA's exempt bowler field for the 2010-11 season via the Regional Players Invitational tournament (which replaced the Tour Trials in 2010) are as follows:

• Dave D'Entremont
• Bobby Hall II
• Ryan Ciminelli
• Lennie Boresch Jr.
• Chris Warren
• David Beres
• Jeff Zaffino

These players join the bowlers who either (1) won a 2009-10 PBA Tour title, (2) earned a multi-year exemption by winning a major title, (3) earned an exemption via 2009-10 points list or (4) were awarded an injury deferment from the 2009-10 season. The total exempt field is 52 bowlers, with one more to be added via the PBA's "Golden Parachute" rule.^[10]

References

1. ^ "2010 PBA World Series of Bowling Q&A." Article at pba.com
2. ^ Vint, Bill. "Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour's Television Season Makes its 2010-11 Debut on Sunday, November 28." Article at www.pba.com on October 11, 2010. [1]
3. ^ Richgels, Jeff. "PBA releases format for 2011 Tournament of Champions." Article in The Capital Times on August 13, 2010.[2]
4. ^ Vint, Bill. "New Dick Weber PBA Playoffs to Conclude 2010-11 Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour Season in Indy." Article at www.pba.com on September 9, 2010. [3]
5. ^ Vint, Bill. "PBA Modifies Regional Qualifying Structure For 2011 Dick Weber PBA Playoffs". Article at www.pba.com on September 17, 2010. [4]
6. ^ Vint, Bill. "McCune Executes Flawless Shot to Win Brunswick Pro Bowling Cheetah Championship." Article at www.pba.com on November 28, 2010. [5]
7. ^ Vint, Bill. "South Korea’s Gu Pulls Off Stunning Upset to Win PBA Scorpion Championship." Article at www.pba.com on December 19, 2010.
8. ^ Vint, Bill. "Barnes Upsets O’Neill to Win PBA World Championship, Complete PBA’s Triple Crown." Article at www.pba.com on January 16, 2011. [6]
9. ^ Vint, Bill. "'Major Mika' Wins PBA Tournament of Champions, Record $250,000 First Prize," Article at www.pba.com on January 22, 2011.[7]
10. ^ [8]