The tournament logo for the Lucas Oil PBA Bear Open at AMF Bowlero Lanes in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin looked more like a Grizzly than a Koala, but the Bear Open event set the stage for another PBA title for Aussie bowling star Jason Belmonte.
29 year-old Belmonte from Orange, New South Wales notched up his seventh title on the professional Tour when he overcame Chris Barnes 235 to 211 in a thrilling televised final of the Geico Summer Swing series in Wisconsin, USA on Sunday.
Earlier in the week, Belmonte had charged from tenth place in the last round of matchplay to capture the top stepladder finals berth in the Lucas Oil PBA Bear Open, ahead of 43-year-old Barnes, a 14-time PBA Tour champion. Three challenging “animal” lane conditions – Badger, Wolf and Bear – were introduced for the Geico PBA Summer Swing: the 40-foot Bear lane conditioning pattern, a scoring environment similar to the U.S Open lane condition is considered the most difficult in bowling.
“My goal when I came over here was to do well on all of the patterns,” Belmonte said last week. “I just missed on the first one (Badger). The second one (Wolf) was – what’s a good word – disaster? But I never gave up, even during the Wolf. “I needed to dig a little deeper … and hopefully I can cap it off with one more good game on TV and add another “W”, he added prophetically.
The win consolidates Belmonte’s lead in the 2012-2013 PBA Points standings and promises increased public interest and media attention when he competes in this year’s Schweppes Melbourne Cup at Oz Tenpin, Chirnside Park this weekend. Belmonte is due back in Sydney on Wednesday and will then drive to Melbourne with his wife and two children to defend the title he won in Melbourne at the same time last year.
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story courtesy of Tenpin Bowling Australia Ltd








