Diandra Asbaty Triumphs At 2012 USBC Queens Championship

"I'm still in shock and literally feel like I'm in a dream." ~ Diandra Asbaty

I'm not a fan of the double-elimination format employed by, among other elite bowling tournaments, the USBC Masters and USBC Queens championships. I don't like this format because it often prematurely eliminates some of the best bowlers in the tournament just because they lost their matches on a couple of pairs of lanes that favored their opponent's ball reaction at the time more than theirs or for some other reason that under-emphasized the bowler's overall level of performance throughout the tournament. I greatly favor round-robin match play as the best way to get the best or, at least, highest performing bowlers that week into the finals where they belong.

Having said that, I can't quarrel with the participants in yesterday's televised stepladder finals of the 2012 USBC Queens Championship or with the quality of their performances. Josie Earnest, who battled her way through, in the colorful words of a USBC publicist, the "Murderer's Row of staggering proportions" of Kim Terrell-Kearney, Kelly Kulick, Carolyn Dorin-Ballard, and Leanne Hulsenberg to make her first nationwide telecast, bowled an admirably solid first outing of 223. The great Liz Johnson came out firing with a 268, and then Diandra Asbaty overwhelmed her own "Murderer's Row" of Johnson, Stefanie Nation, and Carolyn Dorin-Ballard, shooting 233, 270, and 244 respectively, to win the coveted title and be crowned with the glittering tiara.

As much as I lamented Kelly Kulick's and Leanne Hulsenberg's eliminations, yesterday's finalists bowled well and deserved to make the finals. And, as usual, Dave Lamont and Chris Barnes did a top notch job of calling the action. I've said it before and I'll say again that I think Chris Barnes is the best color commentator in bowling today.

You can read more about the final results on the USBC website and view all of the televised matches below.

* Notice of correction: I originally reported that Dave Ryan was the announcer for this event when, in fact, it was Dave Lamont. Thank you Lani Chin for pointing this out. I've corrected the text accordingly.

Bowling Quote--Carolyn Dorin-Ballard Aims At 2012 USBC Queens Title

"Feels really good. Actually, if anything else, it proves that if I keep working at my game and if I keep sharp and keep up with the times, I can still be competitive. And you know what? Tomorrow, everything's just bonus." ~ Carolyn Dorin-Ballard on being the top seed in the televised stepladder finals of the 2012 USBC Queens Championship

Video: Tonight's USBC Queens Finals Preview

How to Get Your Bowling Fix

Do you miss the PBA telecasts on ESPN? Are you going through televised bowling withdrawal? Well, you can always go back and watch YouTube's archives of bowling telecasts, many of which you can view in embedded videos on this blog if they're from the past couple of years. Or you can subscribe to PBA Xtra Frame and watch live match play of senior and some regional Tour events over the spring and summer, as well as access the archives that go back ten or so years.

However, if you don't want to pay for any subscriptions and you'd like to watch bowlers at the USBC Open in Reno and other upcoming events this spring and summer, you can always check out Bowl.com for their live streaming of numerous bowling competitions, and you can also access their growing archives of past events including the recently concluded Queens match play and Senior Queens finals, Men's Team USA competition, and so forth.

Bowl.com has posted a schedule of upcoming events they'll be covering live over the next few months including tonight's live coverage of Carolyn Dorin-Ballard's team competing in the USBC Open at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno. So whether you're willing to pay for it or you want it for free, your bowling fix is literally just a mouse click or two away.

Carolyn Dorin-Ballard and Leanne Barrette Impressive at the End of USBC Qualifying

Carolyn Dorin-Ballard led the USBC Queens qualifying and went into match play seeded first, followed by Shannon Pluhowsky, Wendy Macpherson, Stefanie Nation, and Carol Gianotti. Leanne Barrette-Hulsenberg rose from 35th to 6th place with a monster block of 204-299-256-236-234.

You can check out the final qualifying results here.

Dorin-Ballard and Nation Leading USBC Queens Qualifying After Second Qualifying Round

Carolyn Dorin-Ballard is leading after the second round of USBC Queens qualifying action in Syracuse, NY, Stefanie Nation is in third place, last year's champion, Kelly Kulick, is in ninth place, and local Sacramento favorite Leanne Barrette-Hulsenberg is hanging in at 35th place.

The top 80 placers in the beginning field of 206 will return to bowl 5 more games of qualifying today, and then the field will be winnowed to the top 64 who will then compete in double-elimination match play until the players are determined for the televised finals that will be shown live on ESPN2 on Wednesday, April 27 at 7 p.m EDT.

You can read the Bowl.com story and check the current results here, watch live streaming of the action here, and below is a USBC video showing Stefanie Nation and Dorin-Ballard competing this year and talking about their first two qualifying rounds.

Bowling Bytes--4/27/10

~ Hulsenberg rolls 803 to stay undefeated at USBC Queens -- "USBC Hall of Famer Leanne Hulsenberg of Roseville, Calif., put herself in good position to make a run at her second Queens title as she tied for the second-highest series in match-play history on her way to an undefeated record at the El Paso Convention and Performing Arts Center on Monday. After qualifying fourth, the 1999 Queens champion defeated Stacey Fehr of Cincinnati, Ohio, 661-573, before beating defending champion Liz Johnson of Cheektowaga, N.Y., 803-698. Hulsenberg's 803 ties her with Shannon O'Keefe of Arlington, Texas, who rolled 803 at the 2009 Queens in Reno, Nev. Johnson holds the record for the highest match-play set with 806, also shot in the 2009 event..."

~ Videos from the 2010 USBC Queens

~ Dorin-Ballard leads USBC Queens field into match play -- "The field for match play is set at the 2010 United States Bowling Congress Queens as USBC Hall of Famer Carolyn Dorin-Ballard of Keller, Texas, continued her torrid pace by breaking the 15-game qualifying record on her way to leading the field. The 2001 Queens champion posted an 1,118 score in her final five-game block to finish at 3,636 overall, surpassing Kelly Kulick's 3,472 set in the 2009 event. Dorin-Ballard now owns the highest five, 10 and 15-game totals in tournament history..."

~ Wheelchair bowlers compete at USBC Open Championships -- "One of the best attributes regarding the sport of bowling is that it can be played by people of all ages, skill levels and abilities, and John Budd of Batesville, Ind., and Kevin Schaefer of Fountain Valley, Calif., found out that the USBC Open Championships encourages those same sentiments. Budd and Schaefer are wheelchair bowlers and members of the American Wheelchair Bowling Association. Joined by four other AWBA members, they made the trip the National Bowling Stadium to compete at the 2010 Open Championships last week. Schaefer made his third appearance at the tournament, while Budd made his first..."

~ On the lanes with Fero Williams -- "In the coming months, we'll talk with some of best-known bowlers at the USBC Open Championships and get their thoughts on their time at the tournament and what it takes to succeed on the championship lanes. This week, we heard from former Team USA member Fero Williams, who owns USBC records for 300 games and 800 series in a single season (2006-07) with 22 and 27, respectively. His record-setting year included six leagues and five tournaments at seven bowling centers in five states. The talented right-hander has rolled more than 100 perfect games and nearly as many 800s in his career. He was a member of Team USA in 2006 and 2007 after a runner-up finish at the 2006 USBC Team USA Trials. He claimed six medals at the 2006 Lee Evans Tournament of the Americas..."

~ Ron Mohr Sets Record Pace to Lead PBA Senior Columbus Open Second Round -- "Reigning PBA Senior Player of the Year Ron Mohr of Eagle River, Alaska, set three PBA Senior Tour records Monday on his way to the second-round lead in the PBA Senior Columbus Open at HP Lanes. Mohr had a record 16-game overall pinfall of 4,243 after Monday’s second qualifying round for a 265.1 average, breaking his own mark of 4,036 set in 2008. His second eight-game qualifying round pinfall of 2,160 (270 average) broke the previous record of 2,119 set by Hall of Famer Wayne Webb of Columbus in Sunday’s first round. Webb dropped to fourth after Monday’s second round..."

~ Mohamed Kamel, Zandra Aziela win qualifying in 12th Sinai International Open -- "Mohamed Kamel of Kuwait and Zandra Aziela, Malaysia, lead 36 men and 16 women into the finals of the 12th Sinai International Open Bowling Tournament at International Bowling Center in Cairo, Egypt. Kamel lead the field of 121 men with his three highest 4-game series of 1010, 1005 and 901 and a 2916 pinfall total (243.00 average). Kamel was the only player who had two series over 1000...Zandra Aziela combined her highest 4-game series of 1013, 951 and 865 to lead the 38-player women's field for 2829 pinfall total. She was the sole woman, who cracked the 1000-bar in qualifying..."

~ Janine Primrose remains undefeated in USBC Senior Queens title defense -- "Janine Primrose (pictured left) of Gardnerville, Nev., developed a knack for finding herself behind in matches during her run to the 2009 USBC Senior Queens title, and she has continued to fight her way back to victories at the 2010 event at the El Paso Convention and Performing Arts Center. Finding herself down going into the final game of her first and second round matches on Monday, she rallied with games of 245 and 247 to defeat USBC Hall of Famer Nancy Fehr of Cincinnati, 613-567, and Melody Felton of Colfax, Iowa, 653-635, respectively..."

~ Tommy Jones: The Interview, Pt 1 -- "Anyone who watched either of the two telecasts on which Tommy Jones appeared last season - the USBC Masters and the 2009 Earl Anthony Medford Classic - might have wondered what happened to the Tommy Jones whom the PBA named the 30th greatest player in history just as he also prepared to turn only 30 years old, the Tommy Jones who won his first ten titles more quickly than anyone in the history of the Professional Bowlers Association..."

~ If You're Looking for 'Magic' to Revive Your Game, It Might Just Be a Stone's Throw Away (Par Bowling: Tom Kouros--Bowlers Journal International, April 2010, pg.52) -- "...Trust me, no matter how talented you are, you can't compete using old, antiquated equipment in today's environment..."

Bowling Bytes-4/26/10

~ Minnesota bowler breaks all-events record at USBC Open Championships -- "After a disappointing performance at the USBC Masters in February, Matt McNiel of Chanhassen, Minn., worked hard to make sure he was prepared for his return to the National Bowling Stadium for the 2010 USBC Open Championships. The 24-year-old left-hander was determined and focused this weekend and blistered the tournament lanes for a 2,326 all-events effort Sunday, the highest nine-game total in 107 years of Open Championships competition..."

~ Dorin-Ballard continues to lead at USBC Queens -- "United States Bowling Congress Hall of Famer Carolyn Dorin-Ballard of Keller, Texas, continued her dominance Sunday at the 2010 USBC Queens as she broke the five and 10-game qualifying records to lead going into Monday's final block of qualifying at the El Paso Convention and Performing Arts Center. Dorin-Ballard came out of the gates with a 299 game, and continued to strike as she added games of 254, 250, 235 and 256 for a five-game total of 1,294. Combined with her first-day total of 1,224, she is at 2,518 through the first two days with a 251.8 average..."

~ Oklahoma bowler shoots 299 at USBC Open Championships -- "On a day when the leaderboards at the USBC Open Championships were given a slight jolt, Darrell Banks of Edmond, Okla., etched his own name into the history books with the fifth 299 game of this year's event. The 38-year-old right-hander started his team event with 11 consecutive strikes before leaving the 10 pin standing on his final shot. Banks finished his set with games of 206 and 222 for a 727 series and helped Lil Bit A Shine to a 2,999 team total at the National Bowling Stadium on Saturday night. There have been nine perfect games at the 2010 Open Championships..."

~ '09-'10 X'tra Frame Top 5 Moments Motor City Open Position Round -- "This week's featured moment was from the position round of the season-opening Motor City Open at Taylor Lanes in suburban Detroit. This one had just about everything you could ask for: two legends (Walter Ray Williams Jr. and Chris Barnes) tied for the lead, safely ahead of third, Pete Weber shooting a big game to lock himself onto the show, then four guys (Osku Palermaa, Rhino Page, Bill O'Neill and Tommy Jones) fighting it out for two spots on the show..."

~ PBA South Region Leaders through April 25, 2010 -- "The top 25 players will be invited to the 2010 Regional Players Invitational (RPI). The RPI is scheduled at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nev., in December, 2010. 2010-11 LLPBA Tour exempt players are not eligible for the RPI..."

~ PBA Region East Leaders Through April 25, 2010 -- "The top 25 players will be invited to the 2010 Regional Players Invitational (RPI). The RPI is scheduled at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nev., in December, 2010. 2010-11 LLPBA Tour exempt players are not eligible for the RPI..."

~ Mohamed Kamel, Chan Shuk Han move to the top in 12th Sinai International Open -- "Mohamed Kamel of Kuwait and Chan Shuk Han (pictured left), Hong Kong, overtook the lead in the men's and women's division of the 12th Sinai International Open Bowling Tournament to lead the field of 121 men and 36 women going into Monday's final qualifying day at the International Bowling Center in Cairo, Egypt..."

~ Dana Miller-Mackie sets 10-game record at USBC Senior Queens -- "Dana Miller-Mackie (pictured left) of Albuquerque, N.M., set the USBC Senior Queens 10-game qualifying record Sunday as she took the lead after two rounds of qualifying. Miller-Mackie, a 16-time women's pro tour winner, shot 2,287, an average of 228.7, at the El Paso Convention and Performing Arts Center and easily surpassed the old record of 2,097 set by Sharon Powers in 2008. A day after being in fourth place after the opening round, Miller-Mackie had games of 229, 206, 279, 235 and 209 for a 1,158 total to add to her first-day score of 1,129..."

~ USBC President Jeff Boje answers 10 Questions before USBC Convention Convention opens in Reno -- "Jeff Bojé (pictured right) delivered the most inspirational speech I have ever heard at Bowl Expo when he was elected president of the Bowling Proprietors' Association of America during the 2004 convention in Las Vegas. That was the beginning of a long series of Email exchanges with a man who thrives on challenges and apparently hates any down time..."

~ Bill Allen (1959)