PBA World Championship
The PBA World Championship is one of the four major PBA (Professional Bowlers Association) bowling events. Prior to 2002, the tournament was called the PBA National Championship. The PBA National Championship was first contested on November 28, 1960, then called the First Annual National Championship; the winner was PBA Hall of Famer Don Carter. Winners currently earn $60,000 (U.S.) and the Earl Anthony Trophy, named in honor of the late PBA legend who won this title a record six times (1973-75 and 1981-83).[1]
The National Championship and World Championship have been contested over the years using a variety of formats. Currently, the PBA World Championship format is different from normal PBA Tour events. Since the 2009-10 season, the initial qualifying scores for the World Championship have come from other stand-alone tournaments at the PBA World Series of Bowling (in its seventh year as of 2015). It is open to any PBA member who also enters the World Series of Bowling.
Norm Duke won the Denny's World Championship on February 24, 2008 at Woodland Bowl in Indianapolis, Indiana. It was Duke's second career World Championship win and fourth major title overall. Duke repeated as PBA World Champion in the opening event of the 2008–09 season, defeating Chris Barnes 259–189. With his additional win in the 2008 U.S. Open, Duke set a PBA record by winning three consecutive major tournaments.
For the 2009–10 season, the PBA World Championship was part of a multi-tournament event held in Allen Park, Michigan called "The PBA World Series of Bowling," and was contested in a split format. The qualifying rounds of the tournament were contested August 31 – September 4, with the televised finals being broadcast live on ESPN December 13, 2009.[2] The PBA again held the World Series of Bowling in 2010, moving it to Las Vegas, Nevada, and again used it as qualifying for the 2010–11 PBA World Championship. This time, the 60-game qualifying scores for the five "animal pattern" championships held at the World Series were used to determine the 8-bowler TV field for the PBA World Championship finals. The World Championship finals were televised live over three consecutive days (January 14–16, 2011), a PBA first.[3]
At the 2011 World Series of Bowling, the qualifying rounds of four "animal" oil pattern events determined the top 25% of the field for the "cashers' round" of the PBA World Championship. Eight additional games then determined the 32-player match play field for the World Championship.[4] For the first time, ESPN aired the entire 16-player quarterfinal "eliminator" rounds over four broadcasts (December 11, December 18, January 1 and January 8), with the final round airing on January 15.
Champions
2015 event
A five-player stepladder format was used in the 2015 PBA World Championship.[5]
- Match 1: (4) Scott Norton def. (5) Rhino Page, 215–202
- Match 2: (3) Gary Faulkner, Jr. def. Norton, 262–218
- Match 3: Faulkner, Jr. def. (2) Ryan Ciminelli, 247–237
- Championship Match: Faulkner, Jr. def. (1) E. J. Tackett, 216–178
1. Gary Faulkner, Jr., Memphis, TN ($60,000)
2. E. J. Tackett, Huntington, IN ($30,000)
3. Ryan Ciminelli, Cheektowaga, NY ($25,000)
4. Scott Norton, Mission Viejo, CA ($20,000)
5. Rhino Page, Orlando, FL ($15,000)
Past winners
+ Due to the 2012–13 "Super Season" running from November 2012 to December 2013, there were two PBA World Championship events: one in November 2012 and one in November 2013.
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ "FAQs for PBA World Series of Bowling." Article at pba.com/worldseries
- ↑ Vint, Bill. "O'Neill Wins Top Berth for PBA World Championship." Article at www.pba.com on October 29, 2010. [1]
- ↑ Vint, Bill. "Revised PBA World Series of Bowling Broadens International Appeal; Finals Set for South Point Arena." Article at www.pba.com on July 8, 2011. [2]
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
