BANGKOK, Thailand - Team USA had a rough morning in the first round of Masters, only advancing Walter Ray Williams Jr. through to the quarterfinals - defeating teammate Rhino Page, 3-1, in the best-of-five, single-elimination event.Williams, the 15th seed who won the singles gold medal Friday night, jumped out to a 2-0 lead with 243-213 and 258-227 victories. After Page - the No. 2 seed and all-events silver medalist - took the third game 264-194, Williams closed the match with a 214-203 win.Williams moves on to face to top seed Choi Bok-Eum of Korea, who defeated Team USA's Patrick Allen, 3-1 (179-143, 232-237, 211-170, 216-177). Finland two-hander Osku Palermaa needed five games to edge Team USA's Tommy Jones, 3-2 (255-194, 186-236, 233-202, 188-207, 279-244).Other first-round winners were Norway's Tore Torgersen, Denmark's Jesper Agerbo, Mexico's Alejandro Cruz, England's Dominic Barrett and United Arab Emirates' Hussain Nasir Al Suwaidi.
Team USA's Chris Barnes blogs about his experience in Bangkok
WednesdayThe final day of team event is here and with Kobe and LeBron firing on all cylinders again, we quickly run down Norway in the first game. Only a few out of first, we make the flip to the higher hooking end and get caught a little. We stay within striking range of Norway, but Finalnd is close now and Korea has once again pounded the short for 2400 for the first 2 games. We close game 3 out with 1180 and run solidly into 2nd but 150 behind Korea. Norway is 3rd and Finland is 4th. The semis are pretty chaotic as some very unusual things occur. After a pair of 7-10's by Rhino and I, we miss 4 single pins to keep it relatively close. A strong 9th and 10th, which has been our hallmark this week, and we lock them out and another short oil showdown with Korea. Between our match with Norway and Korea, there have been 15 balls and a total of 2 of them have been reactive - if you count my Pro Hook. Three of the Koreans are throwing plastic (sort of). They are not soft enough to have been "soaked" with MEK, but judging by the amount they hook, some sort of "surface management" has occurred. Only a durometer test exists now so nothing illegal. The point of a pattern that forces even the softest of hands to throw urethane or plastic is....???? Not for me to decide. :)Once again we start off pretty good and they make a few uncharacteristic mistakes. We expect to have to shoot 1150 or so to have a chance. For us that pretty much means that bill, TJ, and I have to get 650 and Kobe and LeBron have to get the other 100 over. Not the case this time as the right lane gets very tight down lane for both sides and Billy and I each leave 3 single pins between 3 strikes. Bill has one open for 185 and I have one double in one of the best games I bowled all week for a measly 205. Earlier in the game PA got fired up and celebrated a little and the Korean coach took offense. Ironic after all the shenanigans they pulled at the World Championships in their home country in 2006. In the 10th with us up by 16 TJ pocket 7-10's and the coach slaps it off. Classy...Coming down to Rhino it is 10 pins and Rhino is on the right and not so good lane. He throws two pure ones and we get some help as their anchor throws two flush but ring 10 on the 2nd. Rhino can strike for the win but ends up with a fortunate 9 and a tie. A prime example of why bowlers hate administrators, the roll-off is a 9th and 10th frame by ONE bowler on each team. Who comes up with these things??? Not sure, but probably works to our advantage as we have been playing 2 on 5 all night anyway. PA says Rhino got us here, he should take us home so he is our man for the roll off. Their guy starts with a strike and Rhino gets a spare on the right lane. He then steps up and throws two HUGE strikes on the left lane followed by a 7 on the fill to force the Korean to get the first 2. I have thrown some big shots in my career, but I am not sure my heart has ever beat faster than it did for the shots that Rhino threw. That kid can flat get it done! Well as you know by now, the Korean kid 4 pins and the 3 guys that didn't win the trios will not get their life long stipend and on top of it, will probably get caned or some other form of torture tonight for not winning. What a great feeling it is to win a gold medal in the World Championships!!!! A long wait and one that I thought I would never get another chance at. Nothing better than winning for your country with a bunch of guys that you like!!!!Friday Singles ends today and wouldn't you know, that horseshoe found its way back to WRW! He goes out in the first squad and shoots 1316 on the long which basically plays like the US open pattern. He spends the next day and a half watching upwards of 20 guys implode or get tough breaks down the stretch to stay in 2nd the rest of the way and qualify for the singles final. What else would you expect from the best bowler of all time? Wasn't going to struggle forever was he??? :)The rest of us didn't do so well as 3 were under and TJ and I were 25 and 35 over respectively. It goes better for me after a 168 game 2. At that point I switch to a Arch Rival and have a pretty good look but just couldn't strike enough to catch back up. My tournament ends as only the top 16 qualify for the Masters. Rhino ends up 2nd for all events, TJ 12th, WRW 15th, and PA 16th. 25% of the field gives us a pretty fair chance. WRW and Rhino will bowl each other as it is a bracket best of 5 instead of a total pins format that might actually determine the best bowler. Administrators..... WRW bowls France in the first match. On the long with only 2 practice balls the lanes are very hard and walter plays right to left - laying it down on 3 and crossing 4-5. He keeps it in play, makes great shots as usual and wins pretty handily 211-169.Next he takes on Germany. He crossed next to the lefty in the very first squad in qualifying and the lefty ended up in front by a pin. Four squads later, they were still 1-2. Pretty good stuff from Kai Gunther as the lefties have really struggled on the long. This was a great match with both getting an early double. Walter gets a string of ten pins and then a couple of light 2 pins and doesn't have another strike going into the 10th. Kai leaves the 2-4-6-7 and gets three to give WRW the lead but throws a 3 bagger to set up the 10th. WRW does what he does, throw great shots in the 10th. He slices the rack for an opening strike and then throws his best shot of the match for the key double. He follows with a 10 pin that forces the German to throw the first strike in the 10th to win The World Championship in the singles. The pressure that WRW put on him is too much as his next shot sails wide and USA has another gold medal this week!!!!! The only gold we haven't one is the trios when both teams qualified for the finals. It's been a great week! Only the Masters to go!!!
BANGKOK, Thailand - One more squad stands in between Team USA's Walter Ray Williams Jr. and a spot in the singles medal round Friday.Williams is currently in second place after shooting 1,316 in the first squad Thursday morning. Germany's Kai Günther holds the lead at 1,317, also shot in the first squad.No one from Squad 4 cracked the top three Friday morning, but Sweden's Peter Ljung posted 1,295 to bump Chinese Taipei's Shu Liang-Chen from fourth place and out of medal contention.France's Francois Sacco remained in third with 1,310.Team USA's Chris Barnes had 1,238 in Squad 4, while Tommy Jones shot 1,220 to round out the American entries in the event.Squad 5 takes to the lanes at 1:30 p.m. local time (2:30 a.m. EDT). The top four preliminaries scores advance to the one-game semifinals at 6 p.m. (7 a.m. EDT), with the winners meeting in the one-game gold medal match at 7 p.m. (8 a.m. EDT). The semifinal losers will each receive bronze medals.
BANGKOK, Thailand - The top three on the singles leaderboard remained in tact after Squad 2 on Thursday, leaving Team USA's Walter Ray Williams Jr. in second place with 1,316 and still alive for the medal round with three six-game preliminary squads remaining.Bahrain's Mohamed Yusuf Sultan only needed 203 in the final game to pass Williams and 204 to pass Germany's Kai Günther to move into the lead, but only doubled once and opened three times en route to a 162. Sultan finished with 1,276 to move into fourth place. Chinese Taipei's Shu Liang-Chen is third with 1,283.Team USA's Rhino Page and Bill Hoffman take to the lanes at 6 p.m. local time (7 a.m. EDT), while Tommy Jones and Chris Barnes will bowl at 9 a.m. Friday (10 p.m. EDT Thursday) on the fourth of five squads.
BANGKOK, Thailand - Shaking off an uncharacteristic sub-par week, Team USA's Walter Ray Williams Jr. of Ocala, Fla., moved into second place in singles after one of five preliminary squads at the 2008 WTBA Men's World Championships on Thursday.The legendary Williams, a Professional Bowlers Association and United States Bowling Congress Hall of Famer, will now wait out the final four preliminary squads to see if his score remains in the top four to qualify for the event semifinals Friday evening.Williams posted 1,316 over six games (219.3 avg.) on the low-scoring long oil pattern. Germany's Kai Günther overtook Williams to lead by one pin, shooting 234 in the final game to Williams' 190."The last couple of days I feel like I've been bowling much better," said Williams, who owns a career record 44 Denny's PBA Tour titles. "Today, at least a few pins fell. It's still kind of frustrating, because I did throw a lot of good shots. Hopefully, I can sneak into the medal play."Williams started strong by opening with a 238 game, but soon found trouble - slumping to 161 in the second game on lanes 21 and 22, a pair that hooked slightly more. He quickly recovered, posting 235, 237 and 255 games before Günther passed him in the final frame. Entering Thursday in 51st place, Williams finished all-events with 5,072 over 24 games - putting him on the bubble to qualify for Saturday's Masters event, featuring the top 16 from all-events."I don't know why, but for me knocking pins down in this house is really tough," said Williams, whose struggles were apparent on the short pattern - averaging 207.46 over 13 games. "Relative to everything else, this is the best round I've had. The lane conditions are fairly challenging - the short pattern got a little high-scoring at times, but the long oil pattern is definitely challenging."There are a lot of great bowlers out here, outside of the United States. I knew there was, but there are a lot more than I thought. You have to make good shots. Hopefully, this won't be my last appearance at the World Championships."Team USA's Patrick Allen of Wesley Chapel, Fla., labored on the long pattern Thursday morning - posting 1,095 (182.5 avg.) and finishing all-events at 5,067, also putting him on the Masters bubble.Rhino Page of Topeka, Kan., and Bill Hoffman of Columbus, Ohio, will compete in Squad 3, scheduled for 6 p.m. local time (7 a.m. EDT) Thursday.Tommy Jones of Simpsonville, S.C., and Chris Barnes of Double Oak, Texas, will bowl in Squad 4 on Friday, beginning at 9 a.m. (10 p.m. EDT Friday).The top four preliminaries scores advance to the one-game semifinals at 6 p.m. (7 a.m. EDT), with the winners meeting in the one-game gold medal match at 7 p.m. (8 a.m. EDT). The semifinal losers will each receive bronze medals.
WE kick off the team event on the morning squad after a quick turn around from the night before. The Trios medal ceremony ended at about 11:20 and after the bus ride back we got to room at midnight. Bus left for the bowl this morning at 7 am. If I am going to be woke up on about 5 hours of sleep then I prefer it be because one of my boys is up early waking me up!With Rhino out it is PA and team ABAB (Average Bowling At Best). WE attempt to break them down and play around 7-8 pretty direct. WRW bowls a great 248 game, PA has one lane that is really hard and he has one open for 185. TJ and Hoff move around a bunch and get out with 200's and I am direct out with Walter using my shiny Noize and switch to a weak drilled Rival but a couple of late single pins leaves me with a disappointing 200 as well for 1031. That still keeps us in pretty good shape and while the rest of the field plummets in game two trying to get re lined up, we scrap out a 990 and move up on everyone except Norway which has bowled an unbelievable 1170 on this. Will probably be the high team game by more than a hundred on the long.The last game starts out as "one of THOSE games". WE have 4 early opens and by the 5th frame we are more than a hundred under and looking at a disaster. WRW finds a 3 bagger(182), Hoff a 4 bagger(209), PA a 3 bagger(200), I throw the back 6(200), and TJ a late 3 bagger(196) and we Houdini a 987 out of the last game.Tied for 4th on the much stronger of the two squads and in pretty good position. Tommorrow we get back Kobe (Rhino) and LeBron (PA) on the short. Walter is sitting out on the short, which sounds unbelievable but he has really struggled on it and the ball limits have really come into play as I think both WRW and I made a mistake with the balls we eliminated. TJ, Hoff and I have the role tomorrow of playing defense, rebounding, and passing the ball to our scorers.Tomorrow is the day -- the one we came here for!!!
Monday was quite a day! Rhino, PA, and Hoff go out first in the morning on the short and the southpaws continue to show the world why they are the best. They bowl 720 the last game to put them in great position (eventually 2nd) for the bracketed trios finals. Meanwhile Team Mediocrity - WRW, TJ, and myself start out strong with 700 but fall victim to pair to pairs in eh last two games and dodge bullets everywhere in squad 3 to qualify fourth and a chance to bowl for the gold. Good news, we are in, bad news is we lost about 150 to every team in finals on the short and they will get to pick... so the short it is against Korea.We get off to a pretty good start up 25 mostly on the strength of Tommy's opening five-bagger. Unfortunately, that is the last double we have until the 10th frame as Korea rolled over us pretty good and we struggle with the transition. The short has been pretty tough for the guys with rev rate. Most of the guys really hitting them are pretty soft handed AND throwing some form of really old reactive but most often urethane. I am throwing mostly a Pro Hook from about 1994 and had a couple of good games with a shiny 5 1/2" Noize but every other ball hooks too much and too early. TJ, Hoff, PA, and Rhino are throwing urethane exclusively. WRW is trying everything without a whole lot of success. Very strange to watch, but he has been a great teammate this week and has not only shared information really well but received it as well. For a guy who has bowled individual events most of his life, you wouldn't know it by his contributions this week.Rhino, PA, and Hoff take the lanes next vs. Japan and get off to a good start as well and lead by over 50 at the halfway point. The transition hits again and rhino and PA struggle to catch any more doubles and Hoff's ball reaction gets tough with a lot more oil downlane making it tough on the urethane. After a late split by Hoff and a ringing 7 by PA, Rhino throws all 3 in eh 10th to force Japan to strike and spare to win by one. T eh anchor's first shot is about 4 left, but it is the high hard one and strikes. The next one hits his target but with the same speed and misses the headpin for the 1 2 8. He makes it to secure the one pin victory and relegates us to the bronze.Tomorrow on the very tough long pattern and Rhino is going to sit. He is leading all events but the long is so tough on the left that it makes sense.
BANGKOK, Thailand - Team USA has an inside track to place two teams in the trios medal round with one squad remaining Monday at the 2008 WTBA Men's World Championships.After Patrick Allen, Rhino Page and Bill Hoffman took the lead in the morning, Walter Ray Williams Jr., Chris Barnes and Tommy Jones moved into third place with 3,787 - shooting 1,947 in the final three games of the six-game preliminaries.Jones led the group with 668, followed by Barnes' 661 and Williams' 618.Korea's Choi Buk-Eum, Choi Ki-Bong and Kim Tae-Young took over the top spot with 3,833 on the strength of a dominating 2,109 set. Kim converted on a 4-7-9 split in the 10th frame and struck on his fill ball to push the Koreans past Allen, Page and Hoffman, who finished with 3,826.The top four teams after the preliminaries advance to the one-game semifinals at 7:30 p.m. Monday (8:30 a.m. EDT), with the winners meeting in the one-game finals immediately following. If no team on the third and final preliminary squad crack the top four, the two Team USA squads would meet in the semifinals. Norway's Mads Sandbakken, Petter Hansen and Tore Torgersen are currently fourth with 3,780Due to television coverage in Thailand, the semifinals will not be held concurrently. Therefore, the finals will begin approximately 10 p.m. local time (11 a.m. EDT).
BANGKOK, Thailand - Team USA's Patrick Allen, Rhino Page and Bill Hoffman capitalized on the higher-scoring short oil pattern Monday to take the trios preliminaries lead after one squad at the 2008 WTBA Men's World Championships.They finished their six-game preliminaries with 3,826 (212.55 avg.) on the strength of 2,021 in three games Monday. After managing 643 to open the day, they closed strong with 672 and 706 games.Page, who led the team with 718 and closed with a 279 game, said the key to their success today was a slower ball speed to control the distance down the lane. "The lanes played a little bit tighter and it was just a matter of feeling comfortable throwing it that slow," said Page, who won the doubles gold medal with Patrick Allen on the short pattern. "Last time we saw this pattern in doubles, that speed hooked a lot. We got really locked in the tail end of the second game and the last game."Hoffman shot 668, while Allen had 635.England's Dominic Barrett, Mike Quarry and Stuart Williams, leaders after the first day, fell out of contention with 1,739 on Monday - starting with 551 and 567 games - for a 3,694 two-day total.The top four teams after the preliminaries advance to the one-game semifinals at 7:30 p.m. Monday (8:30 a.m. EDT), with the winners meeting in the one-game finals at 8:45 p.m. (9:45 a.m. EDT)."You don't know how the lanes will play from squad to squad," Page said. "Certainly there are some really good teams left who are in contention. You sit back, cross your fingers and hope for the best."One of those teams is Team USA's Walter Ray Williams Jr., Chris Barnes and Tommy Jones, who take to the lanes at 12:30 p.m. local time (1:30 a.m. EDT) for their final three preliminary games. They were in sixth place at 1,840 after day 1.Also yet to compete are a handful of teams in the top 10 after the first day - including Finland's Mika Koivuniemi, Pasi Uotila and Osku Palermaa; Sweden's Robert Andersson, Tomas Leandersson, Martin Larsen; and the Philippines (Constantine Chester King, Paulo Valdez and Biboy Rivera.
Trios started Sunday with 3 games on the long. Scores are very low with the lone exception of England's +150. Everyone else is piled up around +50. WRW, TJ and I struggled through, did not take advantage of our opportunity the first game and caught a tough pair (there's only about 2/3 of them it seems!). For myself, I mostly used an Arch Rival that was shined. Close but a little too directional for the length of the pattern. Grinded thru with 590, TJ had 610 and WRW had 630.Will probably use go with a Rival or Momentum the next time on the long. Getting ready for the short scorefest Monday. Smooothing out a Pro Hook and shining a Noize. Looking to put a run on them and finally start bowling well this week!
BANGKOK, Thailand - The high scores littering the short oil pattern in doubles are nowhere to be found so far after two squads of trios on the long oil pattern Sunday at the 2008 WTBA Men's World Championships.That includes Team USA's Patrick Allen, Rhino Page and Bill Hoffman, who combined for 1,805 to put them in fifth place halfway through in the six-game preliminaries."It was pretty tough our there today. The lanes had a lower scoring pace and varied from pair to pair," said Hoffman, who had a three-game total of 578. "No one is going to win the tournament today. You'll have to bowl well on the short pattern tomorrow to get into the top four."The good news is that we set ourselves up today by not bowling really bad."Allen led the trio with 616, while Page had 611.England's Dominic Barrett, Mike Quarry and Stuart Williams shot 1,955 and currently lead with one squad remaining today.Only one team - the United Arab Emirates' Hussain Nasir Al Suwaidi, Shaker Ali Al Hassan and Nayef Eqab Al Abadla - from today's first squad managed to average over 200, posting a three-game score of 1,846.Team USA's Walter Ray Williams Jr., Chris Barnes and Tommy Jones take to the lanes at 4 p.m. local time (5 a.m. EDT) for their first three games.The final three trios preliminary games will be held Monday on the short oil pattern. Allen, Page and Hoffman will compete at 9 a.m. (10 p.m. EDT Sunday), with Williams, Barnes and Jones to follow at 12:30 p.m. (1:30 a.m. EDT).The top four scores after the preliminaries advance to the one-game semifinals at 7:30 p.m. Monday (8:30 a.m. EDT), with the winners meeting in the one-game finals at 8:45 p.m. (9:45 a.m. EDT).
Man, what a day! The coaches came in with a strategy and it really paid off. By putting 3 distinctly different styles together (TJ and Hoff to hook it, WRW and I straighter and PA and Rhino on the left), they calculated that at least one of us would qualify for the finals. It paid off with PA and Rhino leading and then coming through in the best doubles match I have seen. Tomas Leandersson is probably the most decorated bowler in World Tenpin Bowling Federation history with 48 medals (45 competing, 3 coaching) in total. The Swedes had won the last 4 gold in doubles and 5 out of the last 6. Great way to start for Team USA and looking forward to bowling with TJ and WRWJR (I am sure there are more initials somewhere!) in the trios. Long pattern tomorrow and then short on Monday.Interesting side notes - Tommy assures me that Pizza Hut is not bad and that the medium pizza (menu says serves 2-3) actually serves one (and he misses Fuddruckers terribly). $1 equals about 30-33 baht. Exchange rate is actually good for us (how bad must their economy be!!??). Meals cost around $5-8. The 20 minute cab ride cost 100 baht (3 dollars). A good 2 hour Thai massage cost about $20 although some pain threshold is required.... and no that does not include a "happy ending"! :) Most in theater movies are available here (pirated) and electronics tend to be cheaper as well. Custom made suits can be had for around $150-200 US depending on quality. One gold so far ... a lot more fun than the last time around already!!!
BANGKOK, Thailand - Team USA's left-handed duo of Patrick Allen and Rhino Page held on to the lead after preliminaries and will enter tonight's doubles semifinals as the top seed. Allen and Page, who posted a six-game total of 2,857 on Friday, will meet No. 4 seed Mads Sandbakken and Tore Torgersen of Norway in the one-game semifinal beginning at 6 p.m. local time (7 a.m. EDT).No. 2 seed Petteri Salonen and Pasi Uotila of Finland will face No. 3 seed Tomas Leandersson and Martin Larsen of Sweden in the other semifinal. Sweden and Norway both advanced from the final squad.The winners advance to the one-game finals immediately following, while each losing team will share the bronze medal.
Team USA's Tommy Jones and Bill Hoffman - along with every other team on Squad 4 - failed to crack the top four in doubles Saturday morning and will not advance to the event's semifinals at the 2008 WTBA Men's World Championships.Jones and Hoffman led the morning session with 2,648 to put them in ninth place through four of five squads. After 472 in Game 2 and 467 in Game 3, they slumped with 392 and 412 in the next two games to take them out of contention.Jones shot 1,346 (224.30 avg.), while Hoffman had 1,302 (217.00 avg.).Team USA's Patrick Allen and Rhino Page still hold on to the top spot with 2,857 and would need four teams in the fifth and final squad to pass them in order to deny the left-handers a place in the semifinals.Korea's Choi Ki-Bong and Kim Tae-Young, leaders after the first squad, currently sit in fourth place with 2,715.The top four scores after the five preliminary squads advance to the one-game semifinals at 6 p.m. Saturday (7 a.m. EDT), with the winners meeting in the one-game finals at 7 p.m. (8 a.m. EDT).
BANGKOK, Thailand - Team USA's left-handed duo of Patrick Allen and Rhino Page stormed into the doubles lead through two of five preliminary squads at the 2008 WTBA Men's World Championships on Friday afternoon.
The southpaws posted a six-game total of 2,857 on the strength of three games over 500 - including a 557 in Game 3 propelled by late trips for strikes in the second frame that served as the turning point.
"The first two games I thought we bowled OK. We just couldn't string any doubles even though we were hitting the pocket," said Allen, who had 289 in the third game and finished with 1,446 (241.00 avg.) on the short oil pattern. "We both caught breaks early in that third game and just kept stringing them after that. The law of averages came our way."
They closed with 521 and 516 games, respectively, and fell just short of setting a six-game doubles record at the World Championships. Sweden's Tomas Leandersson and Andres Oman hold the mark with 2,906 set in 2003.
"That second frame in Game 3 just seemed to spark everything for us," said Page, who shot 268 in Game 3 and finished with 1,411 (235.20 avg.). "It loosened up my swing a little bit and Patrick kept throwing the ball really well, and we started striking."
Korea's Choi Ki-Bong and Kim Tae-Young, leaders after the first squad, currently sit in second place with 2,715.
The top four scores after the five preliminary squads advance to the one-game semifinals Saturday evening (Friday morning in U.S.), with the winners meeting in the one-game finals.
Team USA's Tommy Jones and Bill Hoffman will compete in Squad 4, scheduled for 9 a.m. Saturday (10 p.m. EDT Friday). Squad 3 is currently on the lanes.
Walter Ray Williams Jr. and Chris Barnes, who shot 2,551 on the first squad, were bumped down to sixth place after Squad 2 and will not advance to Saturday's semifinals.
