AUSTRALIAN SENSATION JASON BELMONTE TO BOWL NEXT TWO PBA EVENTS

[Rowey the li'l lefty]

AUSTRALIAN SENSATION JASON BELMONTE TO BOWL NEXT TWO PBA EVENTS
Seattle, Wash. - 11/24/2008

Australian bowling sensation Jason Belmonte (Orange, New South Wales) will follow up his stellar performance at the PBA World Championship in Wichita, Kan. earlier this year on the 2008-09 Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour. Belmonte, famous for his unorthodox two-handed bowling style, will compete in the next two tournaments on the PBA schedule, the CLR Carmen Salvino Scorpion Championship, Nov. 26-30, in Vernon Hills, Ill., and the PBA Cheetah Championship, Dec. 3-7, in Cheektowaga, New York.

"To be awarded these exemptions makes me feel very honored,” Belmonte said. “The opportunity the PBA has given me is something I will take with both hands (excuse the pun). I can't wait to bowl and be a part of these next two events. The PBA is the greatest bowling tour in the world, it's where I want to be. This is just a small chance I get to prove to myself that it's where I belong as a bowler."

Belmonte was granted a Commissioners Exemption into the tournaments. He will be placed directly into the field of 64 for both events.

“Jason’s unique abilities and transcendent personality justify this somewhat unusual action,” said PBA Commissioner and CEO Fred Schreyer. “Bowling fans worldwide are eager to see how he will measure up on bowling’s biggest stage against the greatest bowlers in the world.”

The 25-year-old Belmonte has enjoyed success on stateside lanes: he led qualifying at the PBA World Championship by 240 pins after 27 games in October 2008 where he went on to finish 10th.

Internationally, Belmonte has made a name for himself with wins on both the European and Asian Bowling Tours. In 2006 he became the first non-European to lead the EBT rankings midway through the season and he is the first bowler to have qualified for the World Ranking Masters in two separate zones (Europe and Asia) finishing seventh in both. He was also named the 2007 World Bowling Writers Bowler of the Year.

The finals of both the CLR Carmen Salvino Scorpion Championship and the Cheetah Championship will be broadcast live on ESPN at 1 p.m. EST on Sunday, Nov. 30 and Dec. 7, respectively.

This article can be found at...

http://pba.com/news/feature.asp?ID=989

Good luck Belmo! Keep on doing Australia proud like you've done so many times in the past. Hope to hear of a win soon

Hoooroo

Rowey

 

[AdrianS]

The response to this over on the PBA forums is mixed to say the least. Hopefully he can get on TV and maybe snatch a title

 

[emmtee83]

For mine, excluding the seasoned Pro's out there on tour, Jason IS the best bowler in the world, and the PBA is exactly where he belongs.

The titles will flow for him, the more he experiences the tournaments and the sooner he gets used to the enormous amount of games he needs to throw on tour, week in and week out.

Good luck to ya mate, the Aussie battler within will shine....and it's because of this quality, you already have an edge over the Yanks!

 

[jhk67]

There is plenty of commentary on the PBA forums about Belmo's exemption. Quite a few people are saying he should have gone through the Tournament Qualifying Round (TQR) like everyone else whilst others believe he is an asset to the sport in America and around the world who will get more ratings and therefore more sponser $$$ for the PBA. The people against are referring to this rule:

PBA Rules and Regulations

7.3.6

Commissioner's Exemption. A weekly PBA TQR exemption may be withheld
at the discretion of the Commissioner and will be announced no later than two
(2) weeks prior to the start date of the event.

Now yes they are technically correct as Belmo was given the exemption less than a week before the tournament. However there is this thing called common sense. Common sense for me supercedes all existing rules and regulations because without it, then we as a bowling community here and around the world cannot move forward.

Belmo is a credit to the sport, he gets people interested in Tenpin Bowling and he is an obscenely talented bowler. World bowler of the year twice, multiple tournament wins around the world, multiple 300 games on TV and crushed the field in qualifying in the PBA world championship. Most of these people on the PBA forum are just sour grapes that he can just walk straight through to the main field.

One last thing, if Belmo went to the qualifying, he would get through and the person who missed out by one spot would not doubt be wondering "Why didn't they give him an exemption?". With Belmo getting the exemption, it has opened up the field in the Qualifying.

Thats my 2 cents.

 

[jason_doust]

Good on him if he can get out of the TQR. As a foreign player, it saves him a lot of money and emotional stress. The tour is hard. It's that bit harder being on tour as a foreigner because it's all quite unfamiliar. (Where to go, where to eat, where to stay, all that stuff around the event.) I would like to see him take on a few TQR's to prove his mettle and silence his critics, but hey, he's got an exemption, so good luck to him.

Then again, if he can win a title, he doesn't need to worry about TQR's next season! Or he can do what Rhino did last year and just keep making shows from the TQR. It's a great opportunity and I'm genuinely excited for him.

Either way, get into it Jason!

 

[exPatBowler]

There was also great coverage on Belmo in this month's US Bowler magazine. Clearly the USBC and the PBA see him as bringing something new and exciting to the sport.

Re" "the Aussie battler within will shine....and it's because of this quality, you already have an edge over the Yanks!" - I have green and gold malaria as well but lets not kid ourselves that we are the only nation that produces people with stamina/guts/pride/persistence/resilience etc.. While I would agree that Belmo is equal or better in that department than most, its nothing to do with nationality. That said, while there are lots of guys on the PBA tour with more than a little edge over Belmo based on their experience, its only a matter of when (not if) we will see him in a PBA TV final round and holding the winners trophy!

 

[exPatBowler]

Well, Belmo has made it through to the match play round of 32 with his first exemption. He's in 24th place with a 231.5 average and ahead of some big names including Norm Duke, Tommy Jones, Sean Rash, Patrick Allen and Rhino Page. He continues to prove he can compete in the PBA.

 

[gregb]

Good luck today Jason,

These are big averages for the Scorpion pattern.


http://www.pba.com/livescoring/qual_results.aspx?RoundID=1092

 

[exPatBowler]

Wow, after a slow start (202 Vs Pete Weber) Belmo just shot 280, 277 in games 2 & 3 - pretty impressive!

 

[exPatBowler]

Looks like a couple of changeovers made the difference today and Belmo missed the round of 16, finishing 29th. Next week is another tournament!