Darren Ong, Jason Belmonte Continue Excellent Starts to PBA WSOB XVI
Singapore’s Darren Ong shot another perfect game — his third of the PBA World Series of Bowling XVI — en route to leading PBA Viper Championship qualifying on Friday at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nev.
Ong led the 201-player field through 12 games of qualifying on the 38-foot Viper oil pattern with a total pinfall of 2,897 (+497). The 29-year-old averaged more than 241 to earn a bye to the Round of 16 in the second title event of the WSOB.
EJ Tackett, Boog Krol, Tom Daugherty, Kris Prather, Matt Ogle, Thomas Larsen and Jean Perez (who won a one-game roll-off over William Berggren) also earned a bye to the Round of 16, which will take place March 17.
The ninth through 24th qualifiers competed in the Round of 24, featuring best-of-five-games matches, on Friday night.
Jason Belmonte, who finished one pin shy of earning a bye, secured his second Round of 16 berth of the WSOB with a three-game sweep over Nick Borgaro.
“Since going home in the break and coming back, I definitely feel rejuvenated,” Belmonte said. “Honestly, for me, it's just about feeling good. When I feel good, the ball feels good off my hand and the pins do what they're supposed to do. This week, I’m very happy to be here and I'm really enjoying the way the ball is coming off my hand.”
Belmonte returned to the winner’s circle earlier this season, winning the PBA Roth/Holman Doubles Championship with Bill O’Neill. The win ended a near-two-year title drought, though Belmonte felt he came close to winning on several occasions.
“I think there's a big difference between not winning while not having a chance, and not winning while having been one shot away from winning,” Belmonte said. “I felt like (the latter) was the case last season. I've looked at it from the perspective of ‘You're so close, the universe is just playing a few tricks on you at the moment and you’ve just got to fight through that.’ The doubles win with Bill has definitely helped because it allows me to forget about it.”
Belmonte also leads the PBA World Championship through 24 qualifying games, racking up a total pinfall of 5,614 (+814) through four rounds on Scorpion and Viper. Qualifying scores from the PBA Scorpion, Viper, Chameleon and Shark Championships combine for the PBA World Championship.
“For the first time in a long time, I’ve given myself an opportunity to just enjoy being at the top,” Belmonte said. “My job this week is to finish what I've started, and I've given myself every opportunity now to do really well, not only in the other two animal events, but also in the World Championship.”
The Rounds of 16 and 8 in the PBA Viper Championship will take place on Monday, March 17. The winners of each bracket and the highest-seeded loser in the Round of 8 will advance to the championship round that day at 4 p.m. PT (7 p.m. ET) on FS1.
Qualifying begins for the PBA Chameleon Championship on Thursday.
A-squad takes the lanes at 9 a.m. PT (12 p.m. ET) followed by B-squad at 2:30 p.m. PT (5:30 p.m. ET). The squad order will reverse for Sunday’s second round of qualifying.
Belmonte, who is on A-squad, said he is not a big fan of the multiple-squad format.
“Forget about score discrepancies, we haven’t bowled on the Chameleon for five days, so (B-squad) is going to have a really good look at how we play the lanes, what's working and what's not working,” Belmonte said. “As the week goes on, whoever bowls second probably has a little bit more of an advantage because you're going to see that first score. I’m up first tomorrow and I suppose if I’ve got three spares to start, I’m going to quickly see who's got a triple and see if I can't copy them.”
All rounds of PBA WSOB XVI qualifying and match play will be livestreamed on BowlTV.
Round 2 Leaders | PBA Viper Championship
- Darren Ong, 2,897 (+497)
- EJ Tackett, 2,883 (+483)
- Boog Krol, 2,864 (+464)
- Tom Daugherty, 2,852 (+452)
- Kris Prather, 2,821 (+421)
- Matt Ogle, 2,800 (+400)
- Thomas Larsen, 2,790 (+390)
- Jean Perez, 2,780 (+380)
Full standings are available here.
Round of 24 Results | PBA Viper Championship
No. 16 Stu Williams def. No. 17 Bailey Mavrick, 3-1
No. 24 Trevor Roberts def. No. 9 William Berggren, 3-1
No. 10 Zach Wilkins def. No. 23 Verity Crawley, 3-2
No. 15 Patrick Dombrowski def. No. 18 Andrew Anderson, 3-2
No. 14 Jesper Svensson def. No. 19 BJ Moore, 3-2
No. 11 Jason Belmonte def. No. 22 Nick Borgaro, 3-0
No. 12 Chris Barnes def. No. 21 Frank Snodgrass, 3-1
No. 20 Trevor Ashby def. No. 13 Bill O’Neill, 3-1
Round of 16 Matches | PBA Viper Championship
No. 1 Darren Ong vs. No. 16 Stu Williams
No. 8 Jean Perez vs. No. 24 Trevor Roberts
No. 2 EJ Tackett vs. No. 15 Patrick Dombrowski
No. 7 Thomas Larsen vs. No. 10 Zach Wilkins
No. 3 Boog Krol vs. No. 14 Jesper Svensson
No. 6 Matt Ogle vs. No. 11 Jason Belmonte
No. 4 Tom Daugherty vs. No. 20 Trevor Ashby
No. 5 Kris Prather vs. No. 12 Chris Barnes
Round 4 Leaders | PBA World Championship
- Jason Belmonte, 5,614 (+814)
- EJ Tackett, 5,603 (+803)
- Tim Foy Jr., 5,602 (+802)
- BJ Moore, 5,595 (+795)
- Boog Krol, 5,536 (+736)
- Matt Ogle, 5,523 (+723)
- Darren Ong, 5,495 (+695)
- Trevor Roberts, 5,439 (+639)
- Patrick Dombrowski, 5,409 (+609)
- Jesper Svensson, 5,408 (+608)
Full standings are available here.
Tournament Schedule
National Bowling Stadium | Reno, NV
All times Pacific/local
Saturday, March 8
9 a.m. — PBA Chameleon Championship - A-Squad Qualifying Round 1 (six games)
2:30 p.m. — PBA Chameleon Championship - B-Squad Qualifying Round 1 (six games)
Sunday, March 9
9 a.m. — PBA Chameleon Championship - B-Squad Qualifying Round 2 (six games)
2:30 p.m. — PBA Chameleon Championship - A-Squad Qualifying Round 2 (six games)
Top 24 players advance to elimination match play
7 p.m. — PBA Chameleon Championship - Match Play Round of 24 (best-of-five games)
Monday, March 10
9 a.m. — PBA Shark Championship - B-Squad Qualifying Round 1 (six games)
2:30 p.m. — PBA Shark Championship - A-Squad Qualifying Round 1 (six games)
Tuesday, March 11
9 a.m. — PBA Shark Championship - A-Squad Qualifying Round 2 (six games)
2:30 p.m. — PBA Shark Championship - B-Squad Qualifying Round 2 (six games)
Top 24 players advance to elimination match play
Top 1:4 of field advance to PBA World Championship advancer rounds
7 p.m. — PBA Shark Championship - Match Play Round of 24 (best-of-five games)
Wednesday, March 12
12 p.m. — PBA World Championship - Practice
Thursday, March 13
10 a.m. — PBA World Championship - Advancer Round 1 (eight games)
Friday, March 14
10 a.m. — PBA World Championship - Advancer Round 2 (eight games)
Top 16 players advance to PBA World Championship round-robin match play
3 p.m. — PBA Jr. National Championships - Meet and Greet
4 p.m. — PBA Jr. National Championships - Practice
6 p.m. — PBA Jr. National Championships - Match Play
Saturday, March 15
9 a.m. — PBA Jr. National Championships - Match Play
12:30 p.m. — PBA Jr. National Championships - Stepladder Finals (MIXED, U18 Boys and U18 Girls)
3 p.m. on FS1 — PBA Mike Aulby Nevada Classic pres. by Pilgrim’s - Finals
7 p.m. — PBA Jr. National Championship - Finals taping
Free Tickets
Sunday, March 16
9 a.m. — PBA Scorpion Championship - Match Play Round of 16 (best-of-five games)
11:30 a.m. — PBA Scorpion Championship - Match Play Round of 8 (best-of-five games)
Four winners and highest-seeded loser in Round of 8 advance to PBA Scorpion Championship Finals
5 p.m. on FS1 — PBA Scorpion Championship - Finals
Free Tickets
Monday, March 17
9 a.m. — PBA Viper Championship - Match Play Round of 16 (best-of-five games)
11:30 a.m. — PBA Viper Championship - Match Play Round of 8 (best-of-five games)
Four winners and highest-seeded loser in Round of 8 advance to PBA Viper Championship Finals
4 p.m. on FS1 — PBA Viper Championship - Finals
Free Tickets
Tuesday, March 18
9 a.m. — PBA Chameleon Championship - Match Play Round of 16 (best-of-five games)
11:30 a.m. — PBA Chameleon Championship - Match Play Round of 8 (best-of-five games)
Four winners and highest-seeded loser in Round of 8 advance to PBA Chameleon Championship stepladder finals
4 p.m. on FS1 — PBA Chameleon Championship - Finals
Free Tickets
Wednesday, March 19
9 a.m. — PBA Shark Championship - Match Play Round of 16 (best-of-five games)
11:30 a.m. — PBA Shark Championship - Match Play Round of 8 (best-of-five games)
Four winners and highest-seeded loser in Round of 8 advance to PBA Shark Championship stepladder finals
4 p.m. on FS1 — PBA Shark Championship - Finals
Free Tickets
Thursday, March 20
10 a.m. — PBA World Championship - Round-Robin Match Play Round 1 (eight games)
5 p.m. — PBA World Championship - Round-Robin Match Play Round 2 (eight games)
Top five players advance to PBA World Championship stepladder finals
Saturday, March 22
12 p.m. on FOX — PBA World Championship Finals
Free Tickets
More information on the PBA World Series of Bowling XVI is available here.