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onefrombills
06-05-2009, 06:44 PM
PBA Announces 2009-10 Tour Schedule, ESPN Telecast Dates
Seattle, Wash. - 6/5/2009



SEATTLE, Wash. (June 5, 2009) – The Professional Bowlers Association will kick off its second half-century in August with another wave of new programs, beginning with the all-new PBA World Series of Bowling and featuring a 14-city journey that will result in 23 Sunday afternoon television shows on ESPN.



The Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour will shift the 67th U.S. Open to a February time slot and a new home in Indianapolis; create the first-ever Internet-based “bowling league” for PBA stars; bring back the controversial “plastic ball” championship; expand opportunities for the world’s best women bowlers, and convert the PBA World Championship into a unique two-part event concluding with a live television final in Wichita, Kan.



The PBA World Series of Bowling gets the season started with an all-new festival of competition featuring five solid weeks of PBA Tour, PBA Women’s Series and PBA Senior Tour competition – all in the Metro Detroit area – capped by two days of TV finals on Sept. 5 and 6. The Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour then hits the road for the second half of its season, traveling to popular bowling markets from coast to coast.



Among the highlights:



● The U.S. Open will move into a February timeslot to maximize its exposure on ESPN, and will be hosted by Woodland Bowl in Indianapolis.



● The PBA World Championship will become a two-part event, with qualifying and match play contested during the World Series and the four finalists advancing to a live ESPN final in Wichita, Kan., on Dec. 13.



● A new PBA Xtra Frame League will involve 32 top PBA players bowling in an eight-week “singles league” format during the second half of the season. One-game matches will be bowled during Tour stops in Medford, Ore.; Dublin, Calif.; Fountain Valley, Calif.; Omaha; Columbus, Ohio; Norwich, Conn., and West Babylon, N.Y. The series of weekly head-to-head matches will be broadcast exclusively on the pba.com subscription service, Xtra Frame.



● The PBA Women’s Series presented by BOWL.COM will once again showcase the best in women’s bowling. The series will feature a third major championship – the Women’s World Championship at Thunderbowl Lanes – and a new Tour Qualifying Round program for PBA Women’s Series events that will allow at least two women to advance to the 20-player fields for traditional Women’s Series events. PBA Women’s Series winners also will advance to the PBA Women’s Series Showdown presented by BOWL.COM at the end of the season.



● The “Versatility Swing” returns, featuring the PBA Tour’s five “animal-pattern” championships (Cheetah, Viper, Chameleon, Scorpion and Shark). The winner of each plus the points leader among non-titlists will advance to the new post-season PBA Experience Showdown presented by BOWL.COM, a special event including six grassroots league bowlers randomly selected from USBC’s PBA Experience League program. The Showdown will be hosted by USBC at its new International Training Center in Arlington, Texas.



● The “Extreme Swing” also returns and will include the Omaha Classic (which will use a dual oiling pattern scheme), Don Johnson Eliminator, Match Play Championship, Mark Roth Plastic Ball Championship and the season-ending Marathon Open. The controversial “plastic ball” event will require all players to use identical bowling balls using throw-back technology from the 1970s. The event is being re-named in honor of Roth, the PBA superstar who introduced the “power game” and became a dominant force in that era.





2009-10 LUMBER LIQUIDATORS PBA TOUR SCHEDULE

(All ESPN telecast times are Eastern)



Aug. 3-6 Motor City Open, Taylor Lanes, Taylor, Mich. (finals Sept. 5

at Thunderbowl Lanes, Allen Park, Mich., ESPN telecast Nov. 1,

1 p.m.)



Aug. 8-13 PBA Cheetah Championship, Thunderbowl Lanes, Allen Park,

Mich., Aug. 8-13 (ESPN telecast Nov. 8, 1 p.m.)



Aug. 14-16 PBA Viper Championship and PBA Women’s Series Viper

Championship, Thunderbowl Lanes, Allen Park, Mich. (finals on

Sept. 5, ESPN telecast Nov. 15, 1 p.m.)



Aug. 18-20 PBA Chameleon Championship and PBA Women’s Series

Chameleon Championship, Thunderbowl Lanes, Allen Park,

Mich., Aug. 18-20 (finals on Sept. 5, ESPN telecast Nov. 22, 1 p.m.)



Aug. 23-25 PBA Scorpion Championship and PBA Women’s Series Scorpion

Championship, Thunderbowl Lanes, Allen Park, Mich. (finals on

Sept. 6, ESPN telecast Nov. 29, 1 p.m.)



Aug. 27-29 PBA Shark Championship and PBA Women’s Series Shark

Championship, Thunderbowl Lanes, Allen Park, Mich. (finals on

Sept. 6, ESPN telecast Dec. 6, 1 p.m.)



Aug. 30-Sept. 4 PBA Women’s World Championship, Thunderbowl Lanes, Allen Park, Mich.

(finals on Sept. 5, ESPN telecast Oct. 25, 1 p.m.)





Aug. 30-Sept. 4 PBA Senior World Championship, Thunderbowl Lanes, Allen Park,



Mich. (finals on Sept. 5, ESPN telecast Oct. 25, 1 p.m.)



Aug. 30-Sept. 4 PBA World Championship, Thunderbowl Lanes, Allen Park,

Mich. (finals at Northrock Lanes, Wichita, Kan., ESPN telecast Dec. 13, 1 p.m.)



Sept. 25 Chris Paul PBA Celebrity Invitational (Special Event), AMF

Winston-Salem Lanes, Winston-Salem, N.C. (ESPN telecast

Feb. 7, 2 p.m.)



Dec. 7-13 Red, White and Blue Open presented by USBC, Northrock

Lanes, Wichita, Kan. (ESPN telecast Jan. 3, 1 p.m.)



Jan. 4-10 Don and Paula Carter Mixed Doubles, Lava Lanes, Medford,

Ore. (ESPN telecast Jan. 10, 1 p.m.)



Jan. 12-17 Earl Anthony Memorial and PBA Women’s Series Earl

Anthony Memorial, Earl Anthony’s Dublin Bowl, Dublin, Calif.,

(ESPN telecast Jan. 17, 1 p.m.)



Jan. 19-24 PBA Tournament of Champions, Red Rock Lanes, Red Rock

Casino, Las Vegas, Nev. (ESPN telecast Jan. 24, 1 p.m.)



Jan. 26-31 Dick Weber Open, Fountain Bowl, Fountain Valley, Calif.,

(ESPN telecast Jan. 31, noon)



Feb. 9-14 USBC Masters, National Bowling Stadium, Reno, Nev. (ESPN

telecast Feb. 14, 1 p.m.)



Feb. 16-21 Omaha Classic, Thunder Alley, Omaha, Neb. (ESPN

telecast Feb. 21, 1 p.m.)



Feb. 22-28 67th Lumber Liquidators U.S. Open, Woodland Bowl,

Indianapolis (ESPN telecast Feb. 28, 12:30 p.m.)



March 2-7 PBA Don Johnson Eliminator, Sequoia Lanes, Columbus, Ohio

(ESPN telecast March 7, 1 p.m.)



March 16-21 PBA Match Play Championship, Norwich Bowling Center,

Norwich, Conn. (ESPN telecast March 21, 1 p.m.)



March 23-28 Mark Roth Plastic Ball Championship, AMF Babylon Lanes, West

Babylon, N.Y. (ESPN telecast March 28, 2 p.m.)



March 29-April 4 PBA Marathon Open, AMF Country Club Lanes, Baltimore, Md.

(ESPN telecast April 4, 1 p.m.)



April 6-8 (tentative) PBA Experience Showdown presented by BOWL.COM (Special

Event), USBC International Training Center, Arlington, Texas (ESPN

telecast April 11, 1 p.m.)



April 6-8 (tentative) PBA Women’s Series Showdown presented by BOWL.COM

(Special Event), USBC International Training Center, Arlington, Texas

(ESPN telecast to be announced)



January-April PBA Xtra Frame League (Special Event), singles league for 32 top PBA

Tour stars. Matches will be bowled in Medford, Dublin, Fountain Valley,

Omaha, Columbus, Norwich and West Babylon for online broadcast

on pba.com’s Xtra Frame live streaming video service