Tom Smallwood earns the No. 1 seed for the stepladder finals in Kuwait

    03/20/12

    Kuwait

    Two U.S. pros, two European PBA players and Asian Toc Winner Wu to bowl for the first PBA Tour international title and the $25,000 top prize

    201112PBATomSmallwood.jpgPBA champion Tom Smallwood (pictured left), United States, averaged 253 in the so-called "Modified Match Play Round" en route to earn the No. 1 seed for the stepladder finals of the 9th Kuwait International Open which ends this evening at Cozmo Bowling Center in Kuwait City, Kuwait.

    Smallwood, who won 2009 PBA World Championship for his only PBA Tour title thus far, started the eight-game match play round in fifth place with the four-game pinfall of Round Five carried forward.

    All fifteen players bowled seven games plus one game position round with three bowlers on each pair of lanes. The winner of each match received 20 bonus pins while the second place got 10 bonus pins. The top 5 advance to the stepladder finals.

    Smallwood used back-to-back 299 and 290 to take the lead and never looked back. He finished atop the leaderboard with 3105 pinfall total including 130 bonus pins (five wins, three second-place finishes) and an average of 247.92 for 12 games.

    2011ABFTToCWuSiuHong.jpg201112PBA02OskuPalermaa2.jpgWu Siu Hong of Hong Kong, who has won his second ABF Tour Tournament of Champions title here at Cozmo Bowling Center in Kuwait City last Wednesday (pictured left with the ToC trophy), was a distant second with 3033 including a 4-2-2 match play record (1st-2nd-3rd).

    Fresh off his victory in the 10th Kingdom of Bahrain International Open Osku Palermaa (right) of Finland, a two-time PBA champion including the PBA World Championship this season, targets his second consecutive title in the Middle East and his third PBA title after finishing in third place with 3023. The two-hander won five of his matches and finished second in the other three to tie Smallwood for the field-best 130 bonus pins.

    201112PBAMartinLarsen.jpg201112PBARonnieRussell.jpgMartin Larsen (left) of Sweden, was "on the bubble" heading in the position round match. Three-time WTBA World Champion and PBA exempt player closed things out with a 300 game to move into fourth place with 3013 including 105 bonus.

    Ronnie Russell (right), United States, a three PBA Regional champion, suffered a 162 game in the position round but could not fall out of the top 5. Russell, who has won his first five matches including games of 299 and 289, slipped from second to fifth place with 3011.

    Dominic Barrett of England, who won his first PBA title in the PBA World Series of Bowling last November, was sixth with 2925 and was followed by four-time PBA champion Sean Rash, United States, in seventh place with 2888. Defending Kuwait Open champion Chris Loschetter, United States, finished eighth with 2844.

    The 9th Kuwait International Open drew 110 players, 99 men and 11 women, from 19 countries. All players - men and women in the same division - bowled 15 games of qualifying (three 3 blocks of 5 games) over three days. Women received 5 pins handicap each game.

    A total of 38 players advanced to the second round: The top 6 plus the best Kuwaiti (ranked 7th), the next 27 players in the overall standings plus the next four Kuwaitis (ranked 35 to 38).

    Places 1-7 earned three byes, places 8-14 got two byes and places 15-22 received one bye. The remaining 16 players (places 23-38) bowled six games scratch with the top 8 advancing to Round 3.

    Qualifiers 15-22 and the top 8 of Round 2 bowled another six games scratch to cut to the top 9, who met qualifiers 8-14 in Round 4. Those 16 bowled another six games scratch with the top 8 advancing to fifth Round.

    Those eight and the top six qualifiers plus the top Kuwaiti bowled four games with the pinfall total being carried forward into a "Modified Match Play Round". Match play consisted of seven games and one game position round with three bowlers on each pair of lanes. The winner of each match on a pair of lanes received 20 bonus pins while the second place received 10 bonus pins.

    The top 5 after match play advanced to the stepladder finals. The No. 1 seed must be defeated twice to win the title. Since the PBA Tour's new alliance with the World Tenpin Bowling Association (WTBA) the winner of the 9th Kuwait International Open will be awarded the first PBA Tour international title, the $25,000 top prize and 50 points in the World Bowling Tour ranking.

    Women who compete in World Bowling Tour events on equal terms with men are eligible to win PBA Tour titles, but women who accept "handicap" pins which are commonly awarded to women in WTBA tournament are not eligible to win PBA titles.

    WBTLogo_small.jpgThe ninth edition of the Kuwait International Open is also the sixth event of the 2012 World Bowling Tour organized by the World Tenpin Bowling Association. After the Bahamas Classic has been postponed the 2012 WBT consists of 13 tournaments in America, Asia, Europe and Australia - five in the United States and one each in Australia, Austria, Finland, France, Japan, Korea, Kuwait and Thailand.

    Players earn ranking points based on how they finish in each event. The current points system is based on a continuous two-year cycle, so points earned in 2011 are added to points earned in 2012 to determine the points list.

    The top three men and top three women will be invited to compete in the World Bowling Tour Finals presented by the Professional Bowlers Association at the end of 2012 featuring total prize fund of $70,000.

    World Bowling Tour Rankings
    WBT Women's Ranking
    WBT Men's Ranking

    The World Tenpin Bowling Association, which is made up of 115 bowling federations, governs the sport throughout the world. For more information on WTBA and the World Bowling Tour, visit WorldTenpinBowling.com.

     


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    9th Kuwait International Open - Places 6-38 (cashers)


    6. Dominic Barrett, England, $3,500
    7. Sean Rash, United States, $3,250
    8. Chris Loschetter, United States, $3,000
    9. Sayed Al-Hashemi, UAE, $2,900
    10. Khaled Al-Dubyyan, Kuwait, $2,800
    11. Josh Blanchard, United States, $2,700
    12. Ildemaro Ruiz, Venezuela, $2,650
    13. Keith Saw, Singapore, $2,600
    14. Ahmed Abdulla, Kuwait, $2,550
    15. Basel Al-Anzi, Kuwait, $2,500
    16. Shaker Al-Hassan, UAE, $2,000
    17. Lonnie Waliczek, United States, $2,000
    18. Jazreel Tan, Singapore, $2,000
    19. Putty Armein, Indonesia, $2,000
    20. Shayna Ng, Singapore, $2,000
    21. Badin Lerdpiriyasakulkit, Thailand, $2,000
    22. Mika Koivuniemi, Finland, $2,000
    23. Sharon Limansantoso, Indonesia, $2,000
    24. Mathias Ã…rup, Sweden, $1,500
    25. Mohamad Janahi, Bahrain, $1,500
    26. Ryan Lalisang, Indonesia, $1,500
    27. Rakan Al-Amiri, Kuwait, $1,500
    28. Tannya Roumimper, Indonesia, $1,500
    29. Muhammad Jaris Goh, Singapore, $1,500
    30. Chris Barnes, United States, $1,500
    31. Fadhel Al-Mousawi, Kuwait, $1,200
    32. Yannaphon Larp-apharat, Thailand, $1,200
    33. Wicky Yeung, Hong Kong, $1,200
    34. Hareb Al-Mansoori, UAE, $1,200
    35. Annop Aromsaranon, Thailand, $1,200
    36. Kim Bolleby, Sweden, $1,200
    37. Jassem Darwish, Kuwait, $1,200
    38. Mohannad Ebrahim, Kuwait, $1,200

     


    Modified Match Play Round


    Seven games plus one game position round, three bowlers on each pair of lanes. The winner of each match receives 20 bonus pins while the second place gets 10 bonus pins. The top 5 advance to the stepladder finals.

     


    Round Five


    All players advance to the Modified Match Play Round with the pinfall of Round Five being carried forward.

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