BELMONTE GOES BACK-TO-BACK AS BWAA BOWLER OF THE MONTH

ARLINGTON, Texas - Jason Belmonte of Orange, New South Wales, Australia, has been named the December 2011 Kegel Bowler of the Month by the Bowling Writers Association of America.

Belmonte captured the men’s 47^th QubicaAMF World Cup in Johannesburg, South Africa, defeating top-seeded Tommy Jones, United States, in the best-of-three final, 2-1 (259-279, 247-216, 259-236). The number 2 seed Australian upended third-seed Mykhaylo Kalika, Ukraine, 2-1 (237-203, 248-266, 266-185) to reach the championship match.   

Perhaps the most well-known of the two-handed bowlers in the world, his lengthy list of worldwide tournament wins did not include the QubicaAMF World Cup. Belmonte led most of qualifying at the 2004 event in Singapore and lost in the 2007 finals in St. Petersburg, Russia, to American Bill Hoffman.

Belmonte also set a new three-game series mark in the championship round with 765. The prior mark was a 764 series rolled by Petter Hansen, Norway in 2004.

In very close voting this month, also capturing votes were Aumi Guerra, Dominican Republic, winner of the women’s 47^th QubicaAMF World Cup; Osku Palermaa, Finland, winner of Swedish Super Six Tour Malmo tournament; and Jazreel Tan, Wichita State University, women's third place, Glenn Carlson Las Vegas Invitational, winner, women's individual, Collegiate Shoot-Out.    

BELMONTE REIGNS AS BWAA BOWLER OF THE MONTH

ARLINGTON, Texas - Jason Belmonte of New South Wales, Australia, has been named the November 2011 Kegel Bowler of the Month by the Bowling Writers Association of America.

Belmonte won a record three titles in the Professional Bowlers Association’s World Series of Bowling (WSOB) in Las Vegas. The first crown for Belmonte came in the WSOB Chameleon Open, defeating Sean Rash, Montgomery, Illinois, 268-191. Next was the GEICO Shark Open when he downed Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, 243-213. The third win was the Pepsi PBA Elite Players Championship, with Belmo outlasting Mike DeVaney, San Diego, California, 255-238.

A third place finish in the Carmen Salvino Classic and a fourth place standing in the PBA World Championship rounded out the best performance by any bowler in the three-year history of the WSOB. In the span of 16 days, the 2011 Bowling ESPY award winner captured his second, third, and fourth PBA titles.

Also capturing votes in balloting this month were Osku Palermaa, Finland, winner of the PBA World Championship, Dominic Barrett, England, winner of the European Bowling Tour’s (EBT) Qatar Bowling Open and the PBA WSOB Scorpion Open, and Sean Rash, with runner-up finishes in the PBA WSOB Chameleon and Scorpion Opens, and third place finished in the PBA World Championship, WSOB Bayer Viper Open, GEICO Shark Open and the EBT Qatar Bowling Open.    

JOHNSON TWICE GOLDEN AS BWAA BOWLER OF THE MONTH

ARLINGTON, Texas - Liz Johnson of Cheektowaga, New York, has been named the October 2011 Kegel Bowler of the Month by the Bowling Writers Association of America.

Johnson captured the women’s singles and women’s doubles gold medals in the 16^th Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico.  Team USA teammate Kelly Kulick and Johnson averaged just over 219 in a 328-pin victory over silver medalists Sandra Gongora and Miriam Zetter of Team Mexico. Johnson then grabbed her second gold medal of the games by downing silver medalist Jennifer Park, Team Canada, 2-0 (232-186, 235-190) in a best-of-three final match.   The Pan American Games are the second-largest multi-sport event after the Olympic Games, which are also held every four years. Nearly 6,000 athletes in 36 different sports competed in the American Zone.

Others capturing votes in a very close vote this month were Jason Belmonte, Australia, winner of the PTT Thailand Tournament, Osku Palermaa, Finland, winner of the Columbia 300 Vienna Open, and Wu Siu Hong, men’s division winner, AMF Australian Masters.

PLUHOWSKY PULLS IN BWAA SEPTEMBER BOWLER OF THE MONTH

ARLINGTON, Texas - Shannon Pluhowsky, of Kettering, Ohio, has been named the September 2011 Kegel Bowler of the Month by the Bowling Writers Association of America.

Pluhowsky became the first bowler in the World Tenpin Bowling Association (WTBA) Women’s World Championships to win four gold medals in the same tournament.

At this year’s event in Hong Kong, the first gold medal was in the doubles division with fellow Team USA member Liz Johnson, as they downed New Hui Fen and Jazreel Tan, Team Singapore, 453-392 in the one-game final. Teaming up with Stefanie Nation and Shannon O’Keefe in the trios division, they defeated Natsuki Sasaki, Haruka Matsuda, and Kanako Ishimine, Team Japan, 631-605.

The 11-year Team USA member, along with Carolyn Dorin-Ballard, Shannon O’Keefe, Kelly Kulick, and Liz Johnson, secured the gold in a high scoring 1240-1140 win over Team Singapore. The victory ended a 24-year long drought between team gold medals for Team USA. 

The fourth gold medal was perhaps the most dramatic. In the best-of-five Masters division final, Pluhowsky defeated Daphne Tan, Team Singapore, 3-1, with games of 300-226, 219-238, 299-234, and 223-191. A 10-pin denied her an unprecedented second perfect game of the match.

Others receiving votes were Tommy Jones, winner of the 13^th DSD Samho Korea Cup International Open, Liz Johnson, two-time gold medalist at the WTBA Women’s World Championships, and Mai Ginge Jensen, Denmark, winner of three bronze medals and all-events leader at the WTBA Women’s World Championships.

TRABER MASTERS BWAA AUGUST BOWLER OF THE MONTH

ARLINGTON, Texas - Dale Traber of Cedarburg, Wisconsin, has been named the August 2011 Kegel Bowler of the Month by the Bowling Writers Association of America.

Traber won the USBC Senior Masters defeating Walter Ray Williams, Jr., Ocala, Florida,   707-695 in the three-game total pins championship match, earning the $14,000 first place prize. Traber was undefeated in the winners bracket of double-elimination match play.

The win marks Traber’s sixth USBC crown. Besides USBC Senior Masters wins in 2009 and 2011, his USBC Open Championship wins came in the 1999 Doubles, 2000 Team All-Events, and 2009 Team and Team All-Events divisions.
In a very close vote, Traber edged out Zach Hattori, Las Vegas, Nevada, winner of the 14^th Annual Teen Masters youth tournament, earning a $64,000 college scholarship

Others receiving votes were Harry Sullins, winner of the PBA Senior Lake County Open,

Ron Mohr, winner of the PBA Senior Jackson Open, and Brenda Padilla, winner of five gold medals at the 49^th Annual Lee Evans Tournament of the Americas.

MACPHERSON NAMED BWAA JULY BOWLER OF THE MONTH

ARLINGTON, Texas - Wendy Macpherson of Henderson, Nevada, has been named the July 2011 Kegel Bowler of the Month by the Bowling Writers Association of America.

Macpherson continued her success on the Japan Professional Bowlers Association (JPBA) Tour with back-to-back wins in July, her ninth and tenth JPBA titles. This pair of victories gives her 30 professional titles overall, in addition to her 20 PWBA titles won through 2003.

The 2009 USBC Hall of Famer's first win of July was a successful defense of the JFE Cup Women's Chiba Open, defeating Hiromi Matsuwaga, 217-199. The following week, she downed top seeded Yuko Nakatani, 203-191, for the Bigbox Higashi-Yamato Cup.

Others receiving votes were Dick Allen, winner of a pair of PBA Regional tournaments, Melanie Hannon, Girls Division winner of the North Pointe Insurance High School Singles Championships, and Gary Faulkner, winner of the USBC Boys Junior Gold Championships



HULSENBERG HAULS IN BWAA JUNE BOWLER OF THE MONTH

Leanne Hulsenberg, Roseville, California, has been named the June 2011 Kegel Bowler of the Month by the Bowling Writers Association of America. Hulsenberg defeated top-seeded Kelly Kulick, Union, New Jersey, 218-183, for Bowling‘s U.S. Women‘s Open, the only women’s major title she had not yet claimed. 

The 2008 USBC Hall of Famer began the TV finals as the number two seed, defeating Lynda Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, 247-246. Barnes easily won the first two matches, 268-166 over Shannon O’Keefe, Arlington, Texas, and over Liz Johnson, Cheektowaga, New York, 259-225.

The ESPN2 televised finals inside Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas was the second- most attended in U.S. bowling history with over 6,000 fans. The 1995 Men’s U.S. Open at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit is at the top of the list with 7,212 fans. This year’s Bowling’s Women’s U.S. Open now moves ahead of the 2004 USBC Masters finals at Milwaukee’s Miller Park with 4,300 in attendance.

Finishing a close second in this month’s voting is Ron Mohr, winner of the PBA Senior U.S. Open and PBA Senior Northern California Classic. The two June wins are his second and third on the 2011 PBA Senior Tour. Also receiving votes were Kelly Kulick, winner of the 44^th Singapore International Open, Women’s Open Masters Division, and Ronnie Russell, winner of the Brunswick Italia Challenge.

For additional information, contact Ron DeRoxtra, bwaa@bowlingwriters.com., Bowling Writers Association of America, 621 Six Flags Dr., Arlington, TX 76011  Telephone: 1-800-343-1329.