Lowe: Greats face youth in women's open

• By KENT LOWE
• Special to The Advocate
• Published: Sep 29, 2008 - UPDATED: 6:23 a.m.

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It may not quite be the final four that was expected when the round of 16 began in the United States Women’s Open, but when the taped finals are shown Sunday on ESPN it will feature two of women’s bowling all-time greats against two young potential future stars.

The leading qualifier, one of the greatest long-time stars of the women’s game, Carolyn Dorin-Ballard advanced through in Sunday’s show and will join another veteran, former U.S. Open winner Kim Terrell-Kearney in the semifinals. Terrell-Kearney after the tour days ended is currently still very much in the bowling game as the head bowling coach at Delaware State.

The new names in the finals will be Malaysian star Shalin Zulkifli and the lone left-hander Trisha Reid. Zulkfli certainly represented the influx of foreign stars that competed in the tournament, maybe signaling something similar to the many Asian stars on the LPGA tour.

Two things seem obvious in the qualifying telecasts. First, the PBA “Cheetah” pattern did not appear to react to the lane conditions at Brunswick Zone XL in Romeoville, Ill., compared to how it played at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno in 2007. Bowlers had to play as deep at the two or three boards to get the reaction that they needed. Where 299 and 270 games were being shot and surprising everyone with the great scoring conditions, this year has been more games where missed spares or bad shots determined matches.

Second, last year the finals were bowled live on television and the condition seemed to change after a 30-plus day between sessions. This time the finals were bowled on the day after the qualifying so the results are known and this time they were published on bowl.com, the USBC’s web site. I’m not going to give it away for those who want to watch it, but suffice it to say if you want to see a little history in the sport of bowling, you might want to be watching at 1 p.m. Sunday on ESPN for something that has never happened in our sport.

Denny’s out as sponsor

Well, at least they will be in a couple of days. The PBA and Lumber Liquidators have agreed to a three-year, multi-million dollar title sponsorship replacing the Denny’s restaurant chain beginning Oct. 1 through the 2010-11 Tour season.

The deal includes the unveiling of a new, integrated PBA Tour logo in all PBA controlled communication, telecasts, promotions and publicity. Lumber Liquidators will promote the PBA to millions of guests at its 140 stores. Lumber Liquidators will receive naming rights, besides the tour, to two events including the U.S. Open.

As part of the agreement, Lumber Liquidators will sponsor six bowlers — Patrick Allen, Tommy Jones, Rhino Page, Parker Bohn III, Michael Fagan and Brian Kretzer — during each season. Sponsored bowlers will wear the Lumber Liquidators logo on their shirt backs and right sleeves and throw specially-made spare balls emblazoned with the Lumber Liquidators logo.

Denny’s, the PBA Tour’s title sponsor for the past three seasons (2005-06, 2006-07 and 2007-08), will still remain an official sponsor of the PBA Tour. They will sponsor the longstanding Denny’s Dick Weber Open in Fountain Valley, Calif., Feb. 3-8, 2009.

The 2008-09 Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour kicks off on ESPN with the Chris Paul PBA Charity Invitational presented by the brands of Ebonite International on Oct. 19. Live coverage of the 2008-09 Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour begins Oct. 26 with the PBA World Championship, in Wichita, Kan.

Some great bowling in the leagues this week, topped by the 804 which almost included the rare 800-300 double as Mark Saale at Don Carter’s had an 804 series and a 299 game. Lyndsey Flowers at Don Carter’s had the best series for the ladies with a 645 (235) high game. Great junior scores were also turned in as Chris Bankston had a 645 (258) and Robert West a 630 (216). A 748 by Tim Toler (257 high game) was the best in the senior leagues.