A MEMORABLE FINALE
A set of finals worthy of all the time and
effort going into the organization and
operation of the 5th WTBA World Ranking
Masters was witnessed by a packed crowd on
the concourse of the Kegel Training Center
in Lake Wales on Saturday afternoon.
 Both ladies' and men's finals ran the full
distance, thrilling the crowd and the
upcoming TV audience around the world when
the taped show is aired in many locations.
Also, the unique format of having the
finalists playing on two different lane
conditions, short on lane 9 and long on lane
10, brought even more tense and exciting
competition.
Action commenced with the ladies and
featured Clara Guerrero of Colombia against
Malaysia's Wendy Chai. As the higher seed,
the Colombian chose to start the match on
the short oil pattern, 35 feet, and both
players stayed on the same lane, a format
which stayed throughout both finals.
It was advantage Malaysia as Chai got into
the strike zone right away and emerged the
victor of the first game, 235-219. "Chai's
best performance will be on the long
pattern," revealed coach Chris Batson, "but
that was not to be as Guerrero came back
with a string of strikes to take the game,
214-195. Expectations of the Asians for Chai
to get back into the pocket when returning
to the short oil were dashed as Guerrero
slung more strikes and left the Malaysian
stranded. 223-157 settled the issue in favor
of Guerrero and she stands atop the podium
as the 2005 WTBA World Ranking Masters
champion.
The men's tussle featured two Finns, Kimmo
Lehtonen and Jouni Helminen. Both good
friends who know the intricacies of each
others games through and through. The
forecast was for the games to go right down
to the final balls of the tenth frame but
Lehtonen coasted to victory on the short oil
pattern, 204-159. Helminen reveled in a
strikefest through the second game,
switching to the long oil lane and hit 253
to Lehtonen's 216 to force the match into
overtime.
TV commentator and pro bowler Brian Voss
forecast early that Lehtonen would clinch
the match on short and that came true very
early in the final game. Helminen was all
over the place, rolling gutter balls in the
eighth and ninth frames and nearly made it
three in a row when the ball somehow clung
to the outside board in the tenth. Victory
for an exultant Lehtonen, 202-151, and to
prove his excitement he performed a
cartwheel on the approach to please the
crowds.
Without any doubt, the credit for the
fantastic success of this year's event must
go to John Davis, CEO of Kegel. The facility
is beyond belief and the organization and
hospitality unmatched.
Next year, the action moves to the Middle
East, hosted by the good folk of Kuwait,
then to Qatar in 2007.
Will it come back to Lake Wales, Florida in
2008? We can only hope.
FINALS:
LADIES:
| |
Name |
Nat. |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Total |
|
Name |
Nat |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Total |
|
 |
Wendy Chai |
MAS |
235 |
195 |
157 |
1 |
vs |
Clara Guerrero |
COL |
219 |
214 |
223 |
2 |
 |
MEN:
| |
Name |
Nat. |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Total |
|
Name |
Nat |
1 |
2 |
3 |
Total |
|
 |
Kimmo Lehtonen |
FIN |
214 |
216 |
202 |
2 |
vs |
Jouni Helminen |
FIN |
159 |
253 |
151 |
1 |
 |
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For further information, contact Keith Hale:
keithhale679@aol.com
|
