Sunday, July 27, 2008

Barcelona - The whole story

Ok i didn't get a chance to write here till now, so i will explain everything.....

I drove from Nice with Kimberly and Celia on Wednesday morning and bowled a squad that night. I was tired and really shouldn't have bowled, but did anyway.
The lanes are tough....which is great to see. It has been a while since I have seen such a tough pattern and good shot making was very important. I scored awful the first set, better the 2nd set and then shot 1300 my 3rd attempt to qualify.
The format though makes you take 1/2 your qualifying score, so I wanted to try and improve on my 1300. I would always have 1 low game on 1 pair (lanes 11-12) and it would cost me 40 pins every time.
11 has no backend and 12 has a bunch. The lowest scoring pair in the house by far. But it was ok. 1300 was plenty and now i just needed to bowl well in the final.

Sunday morning and I felt good. I bowled great the first game and shot 201. Three 10 pins on the left lane and no doubles till the 10th. The scoring pace has been low so a 200 was a good start.
My next pair was my arch enemy. 11-12. I started 9 spare double and felt like this was my chance. I bowled what I thought was a good shot and left a 2-10, to add to my frustration I wrapped the 2 around the 10. Next frame on the left lane I left a pocket 7-10 and then finally a ringing 10. 170 was all i could get too.
Man I HATE THAT PAIR!!!!!!! Killed me everytime and after bowling on them 4 times I still have no clue how to beat it.
The 2 next games I bowled about as good as I could. Lanes softened up and getting to the pocket was easy, In 2 games I left three 10 pins, three 7 pins, a 9 pin and two 7pins. I shot 234, 237 and I think im 10 short. The 2nd squad is about to start and I now have to wait.
But I'm a realist and another hit some where in my games would of put me in the cut for sure I think.

My only hope is that a few players in the next squad trip and hurt themselves :) (if that actually does happen, I want it known that I had nothing to do with it haha)

Some better news, I was invited to play the Federations Cup which is the Asian Zone Vs American Zone vs European Zone event (kind of like a smaller version of the World Ranking masters). Asia was unable to field enough player because of the extremely late notice of the event, and well since I am living just around the corner I was asked to make up the team.
I dont know a single thing about the event, so when I know more Ill let you know

Till next time

Be good

Belmo

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

San Marino Open

Hey guys,

I am very sorry for the late read here. There have been many problems with the internet at the bowl and the hotel. San Marino is not known for its internet cafes either haha.

San Marino is a little country with in the Italian boarder. Small is an understatement. The city boasts a massive population of about 30,000 and takes roughly 45 minutes to drive around it haha.

What it does have is some amazing views. The city itself has been built on a massive hill. Im not sure how high up we were, but the view from the top of the hill was incredible.

Kimberly and I were looking forward to this event for 2 reason. The first was that we had never been, and the 2nd was that we were to be driving down with some of our best friends.

Timmy Mack and Mike Fagan road with me and Kimberly drove down with our new good friend Celia (from Nice). A road trip it was. Road trips are great for laughing, singing old old old songs and talking about bowling. 6 hours and we were there.

I bowled the first squad and bowled okay. The lanes were not as easy as I heard they were. (Pete Weber, Jens Nickle both had massive 1500 plus scores) i shot something like 1330 and to be honest i felt like i bowled 1430. The next squad was a waste of time really. After driving all day, bowling 1 squad already, my legs were not up to bowling a 2nd squad, but you know me, i love to throw money away haha

I put a touch of polish on my ball after the 2nd squad in hope that the next squad i played, the ball would match up better. I was right. The T-Road looked great on the day and on the lane and i shot 1422.

That score was then enough to qualify with 2 byes and i was put directly into the matchplay part of the event.

I won my first round match against Marilyn Planchard got off to a good start 258 to her 202 then lanes then got a little tricky for both of us but because of my lead after the first game Marilyn couldn't make up the difference. It is never easy playing against a lady because of their 8 pin handicap and it never is easy playing against a fellow countryman, she may not be an Australian but right now France is my second home. My 2nd match in the round of 8 did not go so well. 213-150 were my two scores. Tomas Gross beat me and went on to loose to Remi Ong in the final.
In my match against Tomas, the lanes just broke down so fast and every move i made ended up leaving me with something awful to try and spare. Lost is the best word to describe how i felt while i was bowling.

I finished the event in 5th and was happy with how i played, till my last game, but thats bowling........cant win them all right???

Im driving to Barcelona today and hopefully there they have better internet coverage.

Till next time

Be good

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Storm Dutch Open Part 2

My apologies to everyone..... I had accidently typed in Belgium Open finals and not the Storm Dutch Open.....I was in HOLLAND this week :) Sorry

I stayed in the top 8 with my qualifying score so I had the luxury of sleeping in a little.
1pm was tee off time and when I walked into the bowl and saw my first match, I knew I would need every little bit of strength to get me through it.

OSKU PALERMAA Vs JASON BELMONTE.

It's a paring that should be in the title match but because of bowling and its stupid formats we were to bowl each other the first round of the match play.
Just a side note, has Roger Federer and Nadel ever played a first round against each other?? Hmmm......

We were not alone on 5 and 6, Martin Larsen and Tore Torgensen was the other match......again nice format and draw!

It was a best of 3 match and I knew Osku was only going to bowl better the more games we played. It was important that I won in 2 games.

THE FIRST GAME:
We went blow for blow really....it was neck and neck going into the 9th frame. I was working on some strikes and Osku left a 3 pin in the 9th to give me the chance to get up and in the 10th and shut him out.
Osku was up first and he needed a spare to force me to strike and a double to force me to double.
Osku left a 4-9, it was his best shot, but for how hard he throws it, something should of taken one of the pins.
I stepped up knowing that if I strike I win the game. SOLID 9.
Osku needed to spare the 4-9, which he missed narrowly, leaving me the simple spare for the win.

THE SECOND GAME:
The lanes started to burn up a lot. With Osku, Me, Martin and Tore on the same pair, the lanes was breaking down fast. I left a 4 in the first frame and then made a large move left, hoping if I slowed it down, I would stay away from everyone and my line would not change.
The 6th frame was the turning point of the match. Osku had 4 strikes and a 9 spare, I had a 9 spare and 5 in a row. Osku then left the most amazing pocket 7- 10 I have ever seen. Pins went flying and somehow the 7-10 stayed upright.
That gave me a little room and I relaxed a little more. I struck out for 290 and Osku did the same for 256.

The toughest guy in the field was gone and I felt like now I had the best chance to win.

My next match was against Paul Moor. The right lane had a awful rack and re-racking was useless.
Paul started poorly and shot 180 something, I had 210 or something like that. But I was more worried about my carry. I left all but the 8 pin and my reaction although looked good, the pins were standing far too much for how many times I thought I smashed the pocket, striking was not easy.

Paul made a ball change and shot 300, making it 1-1. I made a ball change hoping that my strike % would increase and for a second I thought it did.
Strike, 9 spare, double. He had 1 open, 1 spare and 1 strike in the first 4 frames.
Then it started to get a little crazy. Paul struck on 2 shots thats should of been spares, even possibly splits, and I left a solid 9, 7 and 10 in middle of strikes and other spares.
Paul need a mark in the 10th and struck and I of course struck out when it didnt matter.

I was really cranky, I know I cant complain about the format, its the same for everyone, but I really do wish that the Europeans would open their eyes and see that bowling is a game about repetition and skill. Not who gets who on which pair.
Bowling in Europe is great because the level of bowlers is so high, now if only the powers that be let those bowlers show off their skill in more than 3 games, people might want to come and watch some more.
(I say this, but last EBT event when I came in 2nd I wasn't bitching even though it was the same format....haha....I know i am a bad loser)

Anyway....thats my complaining out of the way.
I was happy I bowled and I felt like I bowled well......Thats all you can do.

Kimberly and I must say thank you to the staff at the bowl and the pro shop for all their help. We were treated very kindly and its that kind of welcome that makes us want to come back more and more.....

The next event Ill be bowling is in San Marino in a couple of weeks

Will let you know how I go....

Belmo