Bowling Bytes--5/10/10

~ The Gambler: How John Handegard gambled on his dreams and won -- "John Handegard had seen this before. A 20-something PBA Tour upstart grips the tournament trophy while Handegard packs up his gear, another week behind him, and gone with it another chance at trading in his day job at the plywood mill for a life chasing dreams around the country on Tour. This week, the “upstart” is Wayne Chester, and this will be the only PBA title he ever wins. He turns to smile for the flashing cameras, and tells the man holding the microphone that this is a “dream come true.” Chester has captured that dream at just 25 years old; Handegard, who came in second, is 40. His dream will wait another 17 years..."

~ 12-Year-Old Kamron Doyle Becomes the Youngest to Cash in a PBA Tournament -- "Twelve-year-old Kamron Doyle of Brentwood, Tenn., finished 30^th in the PBA Canton (Ga.) Open Regional tournament Sunday, becoming the youngest bowler ever to cash in a PBA event. He earned $400 which will be deposited in a scholarship account. Bowling as a non-PBA member, Doyle had a 2,797 13-game pinfall total of 215.1 average bowling in a 96-player field which included some of the top regional and national tour professional players from the organization’s South region. The event was won by 2009-10 PBA Player of the Year Walter Ray Williams Jr. Doyle is a youth bowling phenom who already holds the all-time record as the youngest bowler to roll a sanctioned 800 series (he rolled games of 279, 278, and 245 for an 802 three-game series at the age of 11 years, 2 months, and 1 day) and is also the third-youngest bowler to roll a 300 game in sanctioned competition..."

~ Xtra Frame Top Moment #3: Mixed Doubles Position Round -- "...At the start of the week, the chances of this event making our list was extremely low, mostly because the players treated this tournament with a bit more of a casual attitude than the usual event (heck, several top players even skipped it altogether). But as is always the case when you get tour players out on the lanes to decide a title, the competition heated up to a fever pitch in the position round. With Michelle Feldman and Jason Belmonte absolutely lapping the field, the position round was a battle between three teams for two spots on the telecast. In the best position were Kelly Kulick and Eugene McCune, but a final game collapse had them in jeopardy of missing the show. The teams of Tom Smallwood/Jodi Woessner and Brian Voss/Diandra Asbaty, meanwhile, were involved in a tight match in the 5-6 spots with Voss/Asbaty holding the lead heading into the 8th frame...Check out the entire position round free today on the pba.com home page, then later in the week by subscribing to Xtra Frame.

~ PBA Southwest Region Leaders through May 9, 2010

~ PBA South Region Leaders through May 10, 2010

~ Liz Johnson has another big day, leads U.S. Women's Open after Qualifying -- "Liz Johnson (left) of Cheektowaga, N.Y., posted the day's best block for the second consecutive day to take the lead in qualifying at the 2010 U.S. Women's Open, a United States Bowling Congress event. Johnson's eight-game pinfall total of 1,797 on Sunday at Cityview Lanes pushed her total to 5,307 pins (221.13 average) to give her the lead by nearly 100 pins over Kelly Kulick (right) of Union, N.J. Kulick averaged nearly 225 to lead the first two rounds of qualifying but averaged just over 201 on Sunday..."

~ Shaker Al-Hassan flies past his opponents to win ABF Tour Bahrain leg -- "Shaker Al-Hassan (pictured left9 cruised to the title in the Asian Bowling Federation Tour Bahrain leg Sunday at Funland Bowling Center in Manama, Bahrain. In the title match the UAE international flew past Yousif Falah (right), Bahrain, 279-175, to claim his fourth career title on the Tour. In the semifinal, Al-Hassan topped Ryan Lalisang, Indonesia, by 99 pins, 267-168, while Falah defeated his compatriot Fawaz Abdulla, Bahrain, 229-211..."

~ Minnesota duo takes doubles lead at USBC Open Championships -- "Three years ago, John Kreyer Jr. (right) of Fridley, Minn., made headlines with the first perfect game of the 2007 United States Bowling Congress Open Championships, and this weekend, he's back in the spotlight at the National Bowling Stadium. The 29-year-old left-hander threw 30 strikes on the way to games of 258, 279 and 279 for an 816 series and teamed up with fellow southpaw Steve Bohn (left) of Norwood, Minn., to take the Regular Doubles lead with a 1,514 total Saturday. Jeffrey Mersch of Orlando, Fla., and Erik Vermilyea of Mansfield, Texas, previously held the lead with 1,507..."

~ The 11th Frame: McCune wins PBA Regional -- "Long-time PBA Tour player and champion Eugene McCune defeated Mark London 217-146 Saturday to win the PBA Midwest Region Liberty Lanes Open in Libertyville, Ill. With Mother's Day on Sunday, the event featured a special one-day format with all 65 bowlers on one squad for seven games of qualifying and the top 16 advancing directly into bracket matches. Scores were low on the Scorpion pattern with just under a 200 average (1,398) grabbing the last cash spot and a 203 average (1,421) making match play..."

~ Born a natural: Carson sophomore has eyes on a college scholarship, PBA Tour -- You could say Joey Bowers was born to bowl. “When I was 18 months old, I had Pepsi cans set up in the hallway and I would roll a ball at them,” said the 15-year-old Bowers, who is a student at Carson High School. “My parents were in leagues and they always took me with them, so I was down there a lot. When I was 3, I was in a league.” Nearly 14 years after his hallway bowling, Bowers has turned into a dominating force on the Northern Nevada junior bowling circuit, his average ranging from 215 to 230. He also is Carson High's best bowler, and a big reason why the school has won nearly 80 straight matches against other high school teams in the area..."