Sunday, November 11, 2007

Road to the world cup- I have never been so proud/upset

There are times in everyone’s life that moments don’t seem quite real.
Ann-Maree Putney (AMP) was bowling on the TV pair and I was with Andrew Frawley sitting 10 lanes to her right watching the bowling on the huge TV screen that had set up.
I told Andrew that for some reason AMP looked like she had for seen the future. So positive, so confident. I knew that she knew, she was going to win.
She has been to the world cup more than anyone else I know, and always makes the TV show. This time, I can see the look in her eyes; this time there was no one in the building that was to take what is rightfully hers.

Strike after strike, she repeated her shots better than I have ever seen her do. There was fire in her belly and she let that fire out through every shot she bowled.

I kind of felt sorry for the Korean..... "Does she know what she is in for?" I said to Andrew.

The 2nd game. So important. She struck, and then again for a double after a few troublesome and stubborn corner pins.
I screamed "that’s our girl". She just didn’t stop striking. Andrew and I were up on our feet every shot, yelling support.
The 10th frame. She let the ball go and it was a little in, get there we yelled. High on the head pin and the 4 pin the last pin to fall.........

I looked at Andrew and jumped on him. WE HAVE ANOTHER WORLD CHAMPION.
I ran to the lanes and gave AMP the biggest hug whispering in her ear," You are such a good girl, im so proud of you."
Years of near finishes, had built up years of torment from this event. AMP is a tough girl, I have never seen her cry, but there were tears of joy flowing.

I had never been so proud of a fellow bowler in my life. I knew what this meant to her and to see her dream come true....well, I have no words to describe how happy I am for her.

My turn:

I watched the men’s matches, hoping to see a pattern developing. I did, Bill Hoffman from the USA was striking alot. But that’s ok; I can strike with the best of them.
I walked out to congratulate Bill for winning his match and say sorry to one of my best friends Andres Gomez. Andres worked so hard to get to the TV show, and his scores do not tell the picture of well he bowled.

I started 148, for the first game of the final..... I was no more nervous than I have been in other events, but for some reason everything looked small. My target, the lanes, I don’t know how to explain it.
I was not so positive in my body language, I was in trouble.
I had asked Andrew to sit with me and be my coach on the lanes. I have trusted Andrew with my bowling and he could possibly be the only person in the world I would ever let sit with me while bowling.
He did what a great coach does. Relaxed me without me even knowing he was doing it. Talking about everything else other than my bowling. We both knew where I had to move to, he just wanted to make sure I was going to throw the ball the way I can.

It worked like a charm. I felt so relaxed while bowling, laughing softly in between shots. The lane started to appear larger and my target was huge. 268 and felt I now have a chance to win.

It's amazing how in every match there is a moment where at the end of the game you look back and say "that changed everything".
Bill tripped the 4-9 and a Brooklyn strike in frames 4 and 5, to give him a turkey.
I felt like someone had taken the wind out of my sails. This was so unlike me. I never worry about the other guy, and I never lose my positive attitude.

I think this is what im more upset with myself about; I let it all get to me. I didn’t show it physically, but mentally I was thinking "why is he so lucky, give me a break".

The 9th frame came and I needed to strike out. I made a move left on the approach and for a change I let it go good, perhaps too good. The ball jumped off the spot and I left a 4- 10. Bill had already won, 3 strikes in the 10th would mean Bill needed -1 on his first shot.

I was so upset. Still am really. I wanted this so bad, but I let fear get into the way. "What if I lose" "What if I leave a pocket 8 pin and he carries everything" These are not the thoughts of someone who truly thinks he will win the world cup. AMP didn’t come close to thinking them.

The old saying, you live and learn, is so true, but along with that saying you need patience.
Im young and I know I will win a world cup in my life time; I just wanted it the easy way.
Never again will I let fear stop me from winning.

I just want to say thank you, on behalf of AMP and myself for all the support via this website or via messages.
We are truly proud to be Australian and it’s a wonderful thought knowing a country is right behind you.

AMP is a WORLD CHAMPION.

And......I will be some day, well that’s the plan!

Jason Belmonte
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Saturday, November 10, 2007

Road to the World Cup- The final

OK....

So i have made the final 3. I bowled amazing in the 8 game, top 24 round. I shot 2038 for 8 games which broke the previous record set by good mate, Osku Palermaa.
Seemed like everytime i let the ball go it wetn right where i wanted it to and i let it go perfect. That gave me a huge lead going into the top8 round robin portion the following day.
I started the round robin a little slow, lost my first match 205-246 to 2nd place Bill Hoffman, with 30 pins for a win, my head started to crunch some numbers and i know in this format, 250 is not impossible to catch.
I couldnt get going, bad ball reaction along with a few bad shots resulted in some poor games.
Bill came within 130 pins with 2 games to go. I made a drastic move on the lane and played much straighter, further to the right.
Good move i think.....
I bowled a perfect 300 and put my number seeded position out of reach.

Now i have to play the winner of Andres Gomez of Columbia and Bill Hoffman of the USA......

Im nervous because i know who ever wins that match will be extremly tough to beat....

Wish me luck

Belmo

Thursday, November 8, 2007

Day 4- Road to the World Cup

Today was so much tougher on the lanes than any other day.
To explain what i mean, pair to pair was again tricky but the lanes were so different to the otehr 3 days it was really confusing.
I bowled great and scored 1400 for 6 games. No games over 257 and no games under 223. I made all my spares and hot the pocket so much more today.
The backends were so tight, carrying the 10 pin was extremley hard.

I increased my lead by a few more pins, which is good, but the way that the other guys are bowling, it would only take an 'ok' day and the boys could run around me.

I have 8 games left of qualifying with the top 24 then a further 8 games round robin with the top 8

If i make my spares and bowl well, ill be there bowling for the title and thats all i want to do.

Belmo

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Day 2- The road to the world cup

OK, so we started at 8am today......

Im not the best person in the morning on the best of days, so when i have to start at 8am with not to much sleep (jet lag is really killing me this time) i felt like it was going to be tough to compete at a level i would be happy with. But like all times when i bowl, i get a little nervous and the body seems to perk up.

I started great....249, 255 and 245, or something like that. Then i hit a couple of pairs which have gained a reputation in the centre as 'crappy'. I shot 190 and 213, then finished off with 222.
I missed 3 makable spares and through a few really bad shots, so i was not very happy with my bowling but my score was much better than i thought it should be.

I play at 8pm tomorrow, so i hope a good night sleep and a little time to unwind will help a bunch.

Will let you know what happens....wish me luck

Belmo

Monday, November 5, 2007

Day 1, off to a good start

Day 1,

The lanes played so different to the practice it was amazing. The oil carried down further and played so much tighter.
I could get to the pocket with out to much drama but because of the carry down, carrying the 10 pin made life a little hard. In saying that, if you hit your tarhet at both the arrows and at the break point, the carry was great. The bowling centre has great carry by nature, so when you threw it good you struck.

I shot 1452 for 6 and felt like i bowled well. A couple of pairs were tricky but in general i felt like each lane did what i thought they would do.

The scoreing pace is much lower than normal world cups and i think that it suits me that way. With the tight lane pattern and seeing how importing sparing everything is, i feel i have a great chance to do well.

But each day is a new day and in this game 2 days are never the same, so lets hope i bowl well

Will let you know

Belmo

Sunday, November 4, 2007

Road to the Bowling World CUP

Hey all,

Sorry for the delay in this. Russia has not the internet advancements as many other countries i go to, so finding time to find some internet has not been easy, but as of today the bowling centre has opened some free wireless.

It took me over 30 hours to get to St. PetersBurg, Russia, but the prize that awaits is so worth the time spent cramped on a 747 QANTAS plane.

The city is full of rich history and culture. When i get some more time ill explain more in depth.

We finished the practice session today, the lanes are ok. Easy like they have been over the years at the world cup, but the biggest difference is the oil and the pairs. The oil carries down the lane extremely fast and pair to pair is a little tricky. in saying that the scores will still be very high but i dont think anyone is going to break and records this year.

i start bowling at 12pm my time, so ill let you know how i go when im done.

I´ll also write a little story in the sites when i can....some amazing buildings and churches here

Cheers

Belmo