England’s Stuart Williams may have been denied entry to the United States just days before the PBA World Series of Bowling began, but there’s still a strong international contingent on hand at South Point Bowling Center in Las Vegas.
Of the 252 players entered, these players hail from outside the U.S.:
Eric Acon, Venezuela
Jesper Agerbo, Denmark
Robert Andersson, Sweden
Mathias Arup, Sweden
Dominic Barrett, England
Jason Belmonte, Australia
Kenneth Bland Jr., Norway
Mark Buffa, Canada
David Canady, Germany
Reydnier Chavez, Venezuela
Won-Young Choi, South Korea
Ingellimar Contreras, Venezuela
Patrick Girard, Canada
Andres Gomez, Colombia
Paola Gomez, Colombia
Jaime Gonzalez, Colombia
Yong-Jin Gu, South Korea
Jouni Helminen, Finland
Tae-Hwa Jeong, South Korea
Hyun Jin Kang, South Korea
Jun-Yung Kim, South Korea
Ko Woon Kim, South Korea
George Lambert IV, Canada
Chino Lander, Venezuela,
Martin Larsen, Sweden
Thomas Larsen, Denmark
Kimmo Lehtonen, Finland
Peter Ljung, Sweden
Dan MacLelland, Canada
Alicia Marcano, Venezuela
Karen Marcano, Venezuela
Amleto Monacelli, Venezuela
Jaime Monroy, Colombia
Paul Moor, England
Kasey Normandin, Canada
Luis Olivo, Venezuela
Manuel Otalora, Colombia
Osku Palermaa, Finland
Martin Paulsson, Sweden
Jean Perez, Puerto Rico
Ildemaro Ruiz, Venezuela
Won Lak Son, South Korea
Isao Yamamoto, Japan
How are the international players faring thus far?
In the opening event on Monday, two of the bowlers finished among the top 16 to qualify for the match play round of the Brunswick Pro Bowling Cheetah Championship: Canada’s Buffa and England’s Barrett.
On Tuesday, the number of international players advancing increased to three — or four, depending on how you look at it — in the Viper Championship. Finland’s Lehtonen paced the 12-game qualifier with a 2818 total, Colombia’s Gomez qualified fourth, and Venezuela’s Monacelli came in 10th.
What about the “fourth” international player to advance? That would be Finland native Mika Koivuniemi, now a resident of Hartland, Mich., who “Finnished” just a pin behind Lehtonen.
Patrick Allen paced the Cheetah qualifying with 3020 (a 252 average), and also leads the PBA World Championship qualifying with a 24-game total of 5715.
The top eight players after five “animal pattern” qualifying rounds will advance to the World Championship’s series of telecasts in January. With 40 percent of the qualifying games in the books, Allen was followed by Lonnie Waliczek, Norm Duke, Sean Rash, Lehtonen, Michael Haugen Jr. and Chris Loschetter.
Action continues Wednesday with Chameleon Championship qualifying, Thursday with Scorpion Championship qualifying, and Friday with GEICO Shark Championship qualifying.
