Rhino Page continues to lead in PBA Tournament of Champions after Round 2

01/21/10

2009-10 PBA Tour #10

Red Rock Lanes, Red Rock Casino in Las Vegas, Nev. (Jan. 19-24, 2010)

200910PBA01PeteWeber.jpg200910PBA07RhinoPage.jpgRhino Page (left) of Dade City, Fla., added an 1846 8-game series to his 1885 from Round 1 to hold on to the lead in the Professional Bowlers Association Tournament of Champions at Red Rock Lanes Wednesday.

Page, a three-time Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour titlist, had a 3,731 pinfall (233.19 avg.) to hold a four-pin lead over PBA Hall of Famer and 1987 Tournament of Champions winner Pete Weber (right) of St. Ann, Mo. (3,727), who had the field-best 1912 series in Round 2.

Page finished second in last season's Tournament of Champions losing to defending champion Patrick Allen of Wesley Chapel, Fla., 267-263. Page lost the match when he threw a four-count washout in the 10th frame, handing the victory to Allen.

"I'm coming in here really focused and motivated this year," said the 26-year-old Page. "I just have to continue to work hard and continue to do what I've been doing.

"The main thing right now is to get to match play which is actually my favorite part of the tournament. From there I need to get to the TV finals and hopefully this year it will be a different story."

Weber, tied for third all-time with 34 PBA Tour titles, is trying for his ninth major. He is currently tied for second with Mike Aulby in career majors with eight. Earl Anthony is the all-time leader with 10 major titles.

200910PBA01TommyJones.jpg200910PBA06KellyKulick2.jpgTommy Jones (left), Simpsonville, S.C., is third with 3,701 followed by Mike Fagan, Patchogue, N.Y., in fourth with 3,681 and Dave Wodka, Chatsworth, Calif., in fifth with 3,655.

Kelly Kulick (right), the first woman to earn a berth in the Tournament of Champions by winning the PBA Women's Championship earlier this season, posted the third-highest 1,891 series to leap from 26th to sixth place with a 3,628 pinfall (226.7 average).

PBA Hall of Famer and 1994 Tournament of Champions winner Norm Duke had to withdraw because of injury.

The 63-player field will bowl one more eight-game qualifying round Thursday morning after which the field will then be cut to the top 24 qualifiers who will advance to match play Thursday evening. Match play continues with two additional rounds on Friday. The top four after 48 games will advance to Sunday's stepladder finals which airs at 1 p.m. Eastern (10 a.m. Pacific) on ESPN.

The Tournament of Champions, one of four majors on the Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour, is open exclusively to Tour exempt-player champions; the winners of the most recent PBA Regional Players Championship and Regional Players Invitational; the USBC Masters winner; the USBC Senior Masters, PBA Senior U.S. Open and PBA Senior World Championship winners; all Tournament of Champions past winners, PBA Hall of Famers and the PBA Women's Championship winner.

 


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PBA Tournament of Champions - Standings after Round 2

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