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Report of the TV show day of PBA national tournament held in Wichita, KS. I bowled Dave D'Entroment after Dave beat Patrick Healey in the wildcard match. The pair on TV was the tightest of any lanes that I bowled on during the week. I had played the lanes around 15 at the arrows going out to about 2 to 4 most of the week, but during the elimination matches the lanes got tighter and I played around 11-12 out to about 2 to 3. During the TV match I used the same ball I used during my last 2 elimination matches. I was trying to play around 9 at the arrows going out to about 2 or 3. Even with all of the practice I had before the match I didn't realize that the left lane was as tight as it was. I managed to start with the first 5 strikes against Dave while he started with a high shot in the first frame and a spare on his 3-6-10 leave. Dave left a weak 10 in the 3rd frame and ended up striking on the rest of his shots. In the 6th frame I went light on the left lane and almost left a rip 7-10 getting a break in having the head pin knocking out the 10 pin. In the 7th frame I went high tripping out the 4-7-10. Again in the 8th frame I was light, but got some good pin action for a strike. I threw a great shot in the 9th frame for a flush strike. I needed 2 strikes in the 10th to lock up the match. I knew that I needed to get the ball higher in the pocket, but I was afraid to move right thinking that it might hook to much and go high. I moved my feet ½ board right trying to get it up to the poccket and again it went light leaving a weak 10. I moved another ½ board right on the fill ball and still went light, but struck. Dave needed 2 strikes in the 10th frame and threw nice shots for the win. Dave went on the win the title against Chris Barnes 202-179 as they both struggled.
In my TV match I had 9 strikes out of 11 shots. I had 1 strike while missing the pocket, a tripped 4-7-10. I missed the pocket 1 time. My strike % on pocket shots was 8 out of 10 pocket shots or 84%. I had no opens. Against me Dave had 10 strikes out of 12 shots. He didn't have any strikes when he missed the pocket. He did miss the pocket 1 time. His strike % on pocket shots was 10 out of 11 pocket shots or 91%. He had no opens. He picked up the 3-6-10 that he left. Dave had the better carry, but my carry was pretty good also. The main difference is that I wasn't quite lined up on the left lane and I wasn't able to get the light strike in the 10th frame. No offense to the other players, but it was nice to see Dave win as he has gone through some rough times over the last few years. Hopefully I can do as well in the rest of the season, but I will be happy if I can make 4 or 5 more TV finals and a win or two. Walter Ray |