Detroit’s status as the bowling capital of the world has been given a major reinforcement from the Professional Bowlers Association.
The PBA is planning to announce that all seven tournaments that will constitute the first half of the 2009-10 season, along with ancillary events, will be conducted in suburban Detroit.
Billed as the World Series of Bowling, the events will run from Aug. 1-Sept. 7 with the kickoff tournament, the PBA Motor City Open, Aug. 1-6 at Taylor Lanes, a longtime PBA host.
The rest of the events, including six exempt PBA Lumber Liquidator Tour events, the return of the PBA Women’s series and a revamped PBA Senior Tour World Championship, will be at Thunderbowl Lanes in Allen Park. The concluding tournament will be the PBA World Championship, one of the tour’s four major events.
“We are thrilled to host this revolutionary month in PBA Tour history,” said Thunderbowl proprietor Tom Strobl. “Detroit’s passionate bowling fans are in for a treat.”
Mark Martin, association manager for the Metro Detroit USBC is excited about the tournament marathon.
“Detroit has a long history in bowling and we welcome the PBA for this one-of-a-kind set of events,” Martin said. “The Metro Detroit USBC will gladly work with the PBA and the host centers in making this venture asuccess."
The tournament finals, except for the World Championship, will be taped and aired on ESPN from mid-October to early December, the PBA’s traditional fall season. The series will close with a live telecast of the finals of the World Championship, featuring the four finalists determined at Thunderbowl in September.
Producing multiple television shows in one location will mean significant savings for the PBA and will also save the 200-300 bowlers involved a lot of travel money.
The January-April second half of the tour will follow the tradition pattern with live Sunday telecasts.
The Tour will travel to at least 10 cities for the events, which will include the remaining major championships the United States Bowling Congress Masters (with defending champion John Nolen of Watrford), the PBA Tournament of Champions and the U.S. Open.
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