Sunday, August 31, 2008

World Champs- Sinlges

With a great chance to win a gold in the all events, my heart rate in the morning before my squad was a little faster than normal haha

All i wanted to do was bowl well and let what ever happens happen.

I started the first 9 frames great....from there it was all down hill. I opened 4 out of 6 10th frames, 3 due to bad shots, missed a bunch of spares and got more and more frustrated as the day went on.
Looking back at it all now, i think i could of shot 50-80 over no worries. But as it happened 40 under was what i ended up with.

I was extremely upset with my performance and spent the next 30 minutes (after i finished) cursing myself in a hidden room in the ball park :)

With all that said, I still had to keep my head high, masters was the day after and i needed my head to be clear

Will let you know how i went in the masters

Belmo

Friday, August 29, 2008

World Champs- teams day 2

We needed a big day as a team to make the TV show.
The first game was the worst start possible. Bowling on a pair where 9 urethane bowling balls were used, the backend was so tight that if you were not perfect at the breakpoint, the ball never hooked.
We battled as best we could through out the day but our first game just put us in too big of a hole.
Individually i bowled well and gave myself a great chance to medal in the all events.
720 with some bad breaks, but my confidence is now on a high.

Singles event on long oil, anything can happen

Belmo

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

World Champs- trios

The trios event has now finished and bad news for Australia, there were no medals won in this event.

Walshy, Frawls and I had a chance going into today. We started great 720, then the wheels came off. With a game to go, we could still get there but we needed plenty of strikes.
The lanes had changed from pair to pair a fair bit, but the last pair fooled us.

The idea was to move inside with a stronger ball and just ping it at the gutter, the problem was that we had all played further right and didnt know that the shot was further left till it was too late.

I shot 651 today and gave away a few pins in bad shots. I was happy though because it could of been much much worse.

Still our heads must stay high and now we look forward to the teams event. The long oil in the teams starts tomorrow so ill be sure to let you know how I go.

Belmo

Monday, August 25, 2008

World Champs- Doubles and trios

Doubles was the first event I was to play. I was paired up with Jason Walsh and together I thought if we bowled well we could get into the top 4 and win a medal.

We started the practice we both had a great look. Walshy bowled great and so did I. The difference between us was that we beat me by 40 pins.
I shot 179 and left the 9 pin 3 times, the 10 pin 5 times, the 2 pin once and a 2-8-10. The normally dont complain about carry because if you leave these pins that many times it means you need to change something. Silly thing was I did everything in 10 frames to strike. I moved, slowed down, speed up, changed roll....it truly was amazing.
But the luck (or bad luck I had) didnt stop there. The next 2 games I missed the pocket 3 times and had 3 pocket spilts, a few more 9 pins and a bunch more 10 pins.
I was frustrated and i am sure that the frustration and the doubt in my mind about the carry added to constant misfortune. Walshy and I didnt have a chance at the medal so we relaxed a little and started to bowl much better. I got to 130 something over and Walshy got to 50 something.
Kept us alive for all events and gave us a little more confidence for the trios.

The doubles was won by the USA who beat Sweden in one of the greatest matches I have seen. Cant wait to watch the tape and remember it all over again :)

The trios was on the long. I was with Walshy and Frawls and again, we knew if we bowled well we would have a great chance to set ourselves up for a medal. The trios was 3 games on long oil and 3 games on short oil.
Today was only the long oil part.
The long oil is far from long. The oil volume is basically nothing and what oil there is on the lane evaporates within a few frames.

We shot -16 for our 3 games as a team and are 100 off to the pace. We need a massive day on the short oil, but with some luck and great bowling...... I know we will win a medal.
My striking shoes need to be on tight and tomorrow when I walk into the bowling centre my attitude on how to attack the pins will be much much different.

Will keep you up dated

Belmo

Friday, August 22, 2008

World Championships- Official Practice

This is it..... The big one.

This is the the tournament that everyone wants to bowl their best. It has the most prestige and now with the Pro's allowed to play, winning a gold (or any medal for that matter) will be all the sweeter.

The Australian is made up of 6 guys, Andrew Frawley, Jason Walsh, Mac Stewart, Glen Loader, Jarrod Lean (my room mate) and myself. Its a very well balanced team and I really think if we bowl our best, anything can happen.
The official practice was today and we got a taste of the duel patterns. The short played much easier than we all though. With the last 4 boards giving everyone free hook, the scores are going to be extremely high. The long on the other hand was much more tricky. The oil would move very fast and the heads would dry up after a few games.
The shot seems to be on the long, left and the shot on the short is where it always is, way out side.

Most teams experienced similar ball reactions to ours, so we know that everyone is in the same boat, its going to be a matter of who puts their striking shoes on better than anyone else.

The doubles start tomorrow, Im paired up with Jason Walsh and together we have a good chance of doing great. All we need is the luck to go our way and for us to do the rest.

Will keep you posted our the results go and how I played.

Be good and wish me luck

Belmo

Friday, August 1, 2008

barcelona - The whole story- part 2

Just thought i would let you all know that i missed the next cut by a mere 3 pins.
It kills me when i miss by such a little margin. I look back at all the things i could of done, but thats bowling. It will teach me to make every spare and always take the count.

Hall of famer Pete Weber did what Pete Weber does best......win
It was a remarkably close game, Paul Moor of England needed to strike out in the 9th and 10th to shut pete out, but missed the 9th, giving Pete a chance.....he took it.

On a more lighter note, my wife decided to make an outrageous bet. if Nicole Sanders, a young lefty, who also made the TV final was to win, the bet was that Kimberly was to run around the bowl naked.
Much to her delight, but not everyone else's Nicole lost to Pete in the first match and Kimberly got to keep her clothes on.

Its amazing what crazy bets you make after you have a couple of cocktails :)

Be good

Belmo