Chris Barnes Maintains Lead at PBA50 World Championship
Jackson, Michigan – For the second year in a row, Chris Barnes will go into the final day at the 2024 PBA50 World Series of Bowling II as the leader at the World Championship, looking to defend his major title. He knows it will not be easy because the Earl Anthony 43-foot oil pattern has been hard to conquer.
He started his Sunday with a 4-2 record in Round 1 of round-robin match play, then went 3-3 in Round 2. He currently has an 88-pin lead over Mario Quintero who sits in second place with an overall World Championship score, including bonus pins, at +1,221. Behind him is Brad Angelo at +1,182, Mika Koivuniemi at +1,161 and Brian Dennis at +1,143 in the top five.
“They are just difficult. Other than Mario who seems to throw a lot of strikes right out of the gate and Brian Dennis tonight, too,” Barnes. “They are ugly. It seems like everybody is on the rollercoaster a little bit. It is hard to get any consistent runs going.”
After finishing 12 games on Sunday evening, Barnes joined a group to celebrate Janawicz’s Saturday night win at the PBA50 Petraglia Championship. He would not be surprised to see Janawicz make the stepladder finals.
“This is the big one. That is the final feather for him (if Janawicz wins the World Championship he completes the Senior Super Slam). If he grabs this that is just a wrap (on Janawicz winning Player of the Year),” Barnes said. “He is in better shape than everybody else. He did not bowl on Tour, so his body hasn’t broken down. His biggest advantage is he still throws it like he is 35 and that is a difficult thing to do at 50 or 60. It took him a whole year to get to where he is dominating on a weekly basis.”
In addition to Janawicz, Barnes also expects to see good friend, Koivuniemi, who has made four straight stepladder appearances, in the finals. Barnes has been impressed by Koivuniemi — his former PBA Tour roommate — as well as the new faces that made cuts and are still in the running for a major championship.
“I am my own worst enemy. I always thought JJ should come out here and then Mika was laying around and I said, ‘What are you doing. Why are you not bowling?’ Now we all finish one spot lower behind him, too,” Barnes joked. “I need to stop recruiting. If you are active at 50, this is a new lease on life. I think we will see more and more who are pretty good that opted for a different life. A lot of them proved this week there is some opportunity out there.”
Barnes and the remaining 18 bowlers will begin the final six round-robin matches starting at 10 a.m. ET on Monday. The top five will advance to the stepladder finals scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. The first-place winner will receive $25,000 and a major title to add to their career achievements. You can watch all of the action on BowlTV.
“I’ve got to get out of the block strong those first couple of games and I am going to have a two-or-three-prong attack at it. There is not a lot of time to get through a lot of options,” he said. “Hopefully, I catch some pairs that transition the way I want them too instead of not.”
PBA50 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS (with bonus pins)
- Chris Barnes, 8,509 (+1,309)
- Mario Quintero, 8,421 (+1,221)
- Brad Angelo, 8,382 (+1,182)
- Mika Koivuniemi, 8,361 (+1,161)
- Brian Dennis, 8,343 (+1,143)
- John Janawicz, 8,291 (+1,091)
- Jason Couch, 8,215 (+1,015)
- Paul Koehler, 8,141 (+941)
- Ryan Shafer, 8,047 (+847)
- Tom Hess, 7,979 (+779)
- Bo Goergen, 7,924 (+724)
- Brian Diede, 7,903 (+703)
- Eugene McCune, 7,876 (+676)
- Parker Bohn III, 7,850 (+650)
- Tony Oliva, 7,840 (+640)
- Mark Clark, 7,770 (+570)
- Brian Schambler, 7,695 (+495)
- Eddie Byrd, 7,555 (+355)
More information on the PBA50 World Championship is available here.