This will be a little long, but it will cover The Samho Korea Cup victory and the Japan Storm Fair -

Side note – you can also click on the pictures to enlarge them

KOREA:

I flew to Korea for 2 reasons. The first was to do some coaching clinics with Sean Rash and Parker Bohn on a few US Military Bases. Sean, Parker and I had a really great time working together. Both guys are funny and have a bunch of stories to tell. Most days we discussed the PBA Tour or bowling in general. It’s nice to talk about our game in a positive manner and both these guys are always trying to think of ways to better our sport.
We traveled by car mostly to the bases but one time we took the high speed train. When i say high speed i mean HIGH speed, about 300km/h.
That didnt stop Parker though from catching a few Z’s on the ride home – had to take a picture because, and i’ll think you’ll agree, he looked hilarious

Sean is a rare breed of bowler. He oozes confidence and has the ability to back up that confidence with pure talent, he true meaning of a power player. Parker on the other hand is your classic touring pro. Simple and elegant game and a wealth of experience, hence why I bugged him as often as i could with questions. Parker was ranked in the top 10 bowlers of PBA history, but i think whats more impressive is he would be in the top 10 nicest guys to ever roll a ball.
Together we helped kids of all ages, troops of all averages and those who work on the bases. Everyone was unreal to work with. So nice and polite. They loved to have fun and learn.
It can be quite emotional talking to the troops, even though I am not American, i respected these American troops and thanked them for their services. Sean and Parker of course felt that emotion even more than I did because they were helping defend their country.
After 4 days work with these guys, we then moved on to competing against each other in the Sam Ho Korea Cup.

The Sam Ho Korean Cup is the biggest event on the Korean Professional Bowlers Association  (KPBA) tour schedule, many Korean and Japanese pro’s plus not only was Sean and Parker there, but so were to another 10 PBA pro bowlers.
My best result in this event was 3rd – which was 3 years ago. since then, I have always had a little trouble making it to the final 12 the past couple years, so this year i wanted to change that.

I finished qualifying in 5th position. This qualified me for the next 6 games of the top 36. I dropped to 6th after those 6 games and didnt really bowl well. I now had 12 games round robin to get into the top 5 for the TV show.
I was 310 pins away from 1st and about 60 pins out side the top 5.
The round robin started and im telling you, I bowled like i was possessed. Everything i did, every move i made was the right move and I was in perfect rhythm. Plus i was lofting the ball half way down the lane. Which is always fun.
I bowled games of :

I went from 6th, 310 pins from first, to the top position 178 pins clear of 2nd. Like i said, I was possessed.
The top 5 included 2 Koreans, one Pro and one amateur and 3 PBA Tour players, (Sean Rash, Tommy Jones and myself)
I then had one more game to win to be crowned the champion.
I watched the matches prior to me and  who should bowl the title match with – Sean Rash.  A week ago he was my friend, helping me work, now he was my enemy on the lanes.
We both bowled a really good game but neither of us could strike. Solid 7’s, 9’s, 10’s galore from us both.
It came down to the 10th frame and I needed a strike to shut him out – I stepped up, focused on what i needed to do and let the ball go perfectly. Messenger onto the 10 pin for the win.
30,000,000 Korean WON and a KPBA tour title – awesome
For those who want to see what 30 Million WON looks like – here is a picture

30 million Korean Won works out to be about $25000 US – but it looks better in Korean WON dont your agree?

Almost forgot – something i saw that im sure doesnt happen very often. My hotel was in a pretty cool place, lots of restaurants and shopping. Well one morning Wes Malott, Timmy Mack and I were walking to get some dinner when we noticed a massive hole in the road. Apparently there was some construction going on in the middle of the night and the road collapsed – Crazy. Below is a picture of it – have you ever seen anything like it?

Told you it was huge -

JAPAN
Storm Fair – a week long demonstration and coaching tour that we do once a year. 4 groups of Storm Staff PBA stars travel around Japan showing off our new products and help coach those who come. The flight from Korea to Japan was a little funny – but it was at Wes Malott’s expense. Companies who make areoplanes really never did think about guys who are a big as Wes. I died laughing watchng him try and eat and drink and sit – here is a picture of what i mean – tell me it’s not funny.

The Japanese are by far the nicest race of people in the world. Their traditions reflect the respect and kindness of their people.
The days are long, we start at 8am and finish at about 11pm – its long and hard (thats what she said – had to throw that in there) but worth it.

Our schedule looked like this -
8am – wake up
830am – drive to the next city
12pm – product demo/coaching
3pm-  drive to the next city
6pm – product demo/coaching
8pm – 3 game pro am
midnight – BED!
Next day – repeat.

I traveled with Timmy Mack, Hank Boomershine, Tak (our translator) and the sales rep/driver Mr. Inawaga ( wish i knew how to spell his name). This made the trip even better because all these guys are awesome. Lots of funny stories and lots of funny moments. One such funny moment was a picture i saw.
I found this picture in a bathroom in one of the bowling centres – thank god they had it there, otherwise I would of been clueless as what to do

I really love Japan.
The last pro am was probably the best – right before we started a group of high school kids were bowling a random game of bowling. When i walked in, one of the guys knew who i was. Very excited to see me, he came running up, ripped his shirt open and said “Sign here” – caught me off guard a little, but happily said yes…. Took a picture too

Funny right?
This pro-am had a awesome atmosphere to it – 36 lanes, 6 bowlers per pair, heaps of people watching behind and every strike we bowled was like it was the best thing they had ever seen.
We finished the Storm Fair that night with a awesome traditional dinner called Shabu Shabu. ITS UNREAL. Love it.
3am rolled around quickly and then it was all done. Storm Fair completely over. Sad i guess, even though the days were long and tough, i always have a great time there. In saying that, I was also very happy it was over for one main reason – I was able to fly home and see my girls.
Over 3 weeks away from the family and I can tell you that it felt like 3 years.

My next trip away will be when i leave for the World Series of bowling and to be apart of my coaching company The International Art of Bowling (which i will write all about next week – so look out for that)
Till then boys and girls
Be good

Once apon a time, the ABF tour was worth a fair bit of money each round – now though, there is no money, only ranking points. These points are tallied from the entire season and a Tournament of Champions – Grand Slam is bowled. Now this is worth a fair bit of money. Last time i was able to bowl in the ToC – it was worth $25000 Aud – I finished 2nd that year.
So whilst there may not of been any money this week, I still wanted to get the valuable 75 ranking points to help me maybe  make the ToC round.

My first round match
Joshua Chow (Hong Kong) – Josh is a very good up and coming lefty. Josh and I had never met before, so it would be interesting to see how he would bowl.
He started off quite good, a turkey and 2 spares in his first 5 frames. But from there it went down hill for the kid. Finishing off with a 195. I bowled great. 280. A 2 pin the only pin stopping me from shooting 300.
It nice to win your first match and also let the other players know that it will be hard to beat me.

My next match was against Surasak MANUWONG from Thailand – Pair was a tough one and i got a few more breaks tha he did 205-178

The Semi final was not so close – I had the front 7 and my opponent Rudy GOENAWAN from Indonesia struggled the entire match – 265-173

The final match was awesome – Oscar from Indonesia bowled a great game – having the early lead, he needed the first hit in the 10th to shut me out. He bowled a great shot only to leave a 7 pin.
I needed to step up and get 2 in the 10th to win.
Ive never bowled such amazing shots before in the 10th. 2 of the most perfect balls ever to win 245-238. I was extremely happy.
75 ranking points and now a chance to make the TOC finals.

Hopefully i make it and hopefully i can win that event too.

Be good everyone

Those were my games today. I have to tell you guys about the 183 in the 2nd game. It was by far the worse game ive ever bowled in my entire life. Including games I bowled as a 4 year old haha.
I started perfect strike, then 3 off the right, missed the spare. Then 4 split, then double, one brooklyn, the other perfect. Then I took out the 4-6-8-9 (at this point Im thinking about putting my head in the ball return, letting the ball just knock me out) – some how i managed to another couple strikes, both brooklyns though, to get myself to 183.
The pair was fine, im sure of it, the guy before me shot 243 and the guy after me shot 248. Awful, just awful.
Anyway – found the real Jason Belmonte again and started bowling well. I never got a chance to shoot a big game, but i was very consistent. Spared everything, just couldnt knock them over in a string.
The solid 8 waved at me a first times in the 10th and a bunch of 7 pins. I felt good though. I was making slight adjustments, trying to get a string, but either a not so good shot or a crappy pin on the back row would stand.

I finished 218 and thought I had jumped into 3rd. Which would of been a wonderful little bonus, but another spinner made a run and shot 243 his last game to leap frog me by 2 annoying pins. That 183 game isnt so funny now though haha.
Top 6 make the step ladder and I finished 4th.
Now in Asia, the step ladder runs like this
4,5,6 all bowl (meaning 4th place can fall to 6th – trust me ive argued for years about getting them to change that rule, but it falls on deaf ears) – the winner then plays 2nd and 3rd – again, 2nd can fall to 4th, blah stupid rule. Then the winner plays the top seed who has to be beaten twice.

My first match i had to play Zulmazran Zulkili from Malaysia (who made the last 16, 2 years ago at the PBA World Championship) and Biboy Rivera from the Philippines (who has won the Masters gold medal at the WTBA World Mens Championship) – tough match.
Now the best part of this story.
Warm up on a fresh pair – we get 4 balls warm up. After waiting for about 40 minuets for scores to get finalised, we are told our pair and then we bowl 2 balls on each lane. The fresh is tough enough, not to mention the pairs are tricky. Then we only get 4 balls. We all started our extensive practice session and we then had a lane break down – took 20 minutes to fix. The normal thing to do would be to allow us another couple shots each to warm back up right? Nah – not in Asia haha. Blah!
So we start the game and half way through I have a great chance to take the lead – i bowled a great double, then a solid 9 poked his head in there, then a strike, then a 4-9, then a strike, then a 4-9-10. The right lane was about 8 boards drier, but by the time i worked it out, Zule got up in the final frames and did his job and shut us out. I then needed a double in the 10th to stay in 5th and I got it.  216-192-188
The eventual winner was Hsieh Jing Liang – one of the worlds best spinners.
So in the end, not so bad – 5th on a pretty tough condition against some of Asia’s best. Plus i havent really bowled much since the tour, so its nice to get some match practice.

Will be lovely to get home now – I miss my girls so much. I cant wait to give my daughter and wife the biggest kiss each.
Thanks for following guys
Till the next event – Be good and bowl great!

The building is a tricky one to bowl in. Pair to pair is so tough to read. One pair, i had the left lane about 20 boards drier. I was throwing the ball past the arrows, over the left gutter and on the right lane i was slow rolling the ball.
Something was not right with 11-12.

Ok, so this is how it went.

Can you tell the worse pairs. The condition is not as dry (on most lanes) as I thought it would be. I did get to the left gutter by the 4th game, but it held up for most of the day. The low games was a mixture of poor bowling and tricky to read pairs.
On those pairs, it seemed the more i moved left, the more it hooked and the faster and harder I threw it,  the worse carry I got. Patience is a virtue i suppose.

Be that as it may, im sitting in 4th, 1 pin from 3rd, 47 from 2nd and 140 from 1st.  (all results can be found at www.abf-online.org)
The guy leading is a great spinner, so he will be hard pressed to catch, the good spinners (when they are bowling well)of the world rarely shoot under 190 on any condition, so i’ll need to have my striking shoes on and my sparing shoes for that matter.

be sure to read this time tomorrow, Hopefully i’ll have great news that I won. Fingers crossed

The bowling centre here is fairly tricky. Each pair has subtle differences that can change a 230 feel to a 160 game in a hurry.
This is a multiple re-entry event, 4 games.
The lane condition is quite tough (always is here in Indonesia). Not much room out there. The other thing is that the oil is a little thin, making you move quite quickly.

I started trying to play a little right (15 to 10), trying to play safe. I was using a very old Invasion. After 5  frames I knew safe wasnt going to cut it. Normally 860 will make the cut, but i felt like this look was good for 820. So i did what I do best, moved left.
Struck out for 226 using a stronger Invasion – kept creeping left next game and got a lucky break in 8th and then struck out for for 259.
This was a great start. 85 over after 2 when the lanes are tricky.
I needed a double in the 10th in the 3rd game to push my overall total to over 100 over. I had a little bit of trouble on the left lane this game, made my move and threw the ball.
3-6-7-10. I then put the 3 pin around the 7 for an open in the 10th – 190
It always seems easy to shoot 200 before a game, just stay clean and grab one double and there you go – its all i had to do make the cut.
An early tripple, then a late tripple helped me on my way to a much wanted 230 game. I finished 910 for my 1st attempt which puts me in 2nd postition with 2 days left of qualifying.
Ill take a day off tomorrow then might bowl one more squad before the finals.
All in all, a good day. Happy with myself – haha

Be good everyone

will let you know how it all goes

I have had some great history in this building.
My first trip here I was lucky enough to win this event, then the following year for the Asian Bowling Federation Tournament of Champions i finished in 2nd .

Indonesia is a wonderful place. The people here treat bowlers like stars.
Im traveling with great mate George Frilingos. We were picked up at the airport in a private car last night, our luggage was taken care of for us. We drove to the bowl to drop off our gear. Didnt lift a finger there either.
We then were escorted  to our hotel where we checked in, again not lifting a finger. We are always offered by the organisers if they can take us somewhere, always making sure we are happy and that we have what we want. Its so refreshing to be in a country where bowling is treated like a sport, not  a pass time.

I LOVE WHAT I DO – sometimes i dont say it enough

The bowling centre is huge. 60 lanes, split into half, separated by a stair case.

The lane condition is quite tough.  Big out of bounds, not much volume of oil, making my moves happen much faster. The fans come in droves, so many people enjoy watching bowlers from all over Asia. I believe we have over 160 foreign players here. Spinners will be tough to beat, as usual in Asia. The harder the lanes, the tougher it is to beat them.

I will let you know how qualifying goes. its a 4 game block, mulitple re-entry. Normally it takes about 860 to make the cut, so as long as i close all my frames and double in the 10th i’ll be fine.

Talk soon

Orange is about 4 hours drive, so Kimberly and I left the morning of, and arrived into Canberra an hour before I started.

The format:
12 games qualifying, then cut to the top 16. Then it would be a round robin, 15 game final, with 20 pins for a win.
The lane condition was brutal. Any miss left was high and and miss right was missing the head pin.
I did think this benefitted me more, so I wasnt to worried.
What did worry me was the fact that I had to borrow a few balls for the event. I left most of my gear in the USA and I had to borrow 2 balls from one of my best mates from town, Jason Brown.
Not to worry though, I was still positive I could do well.

First 6 games were ok, I was a little over the card and felt like I was getting used to the balls and the pattern. The scoring pace was extremely low, and apart from a couple of left handers who had massive sets, I thought if I could get to about 50 or 60 over for the day I would be placed somewhere near the top of the pack.

The last 6 games of qualifying were horrible. I fell to 30 under and with a game to go, I shot 168.
-62 for the day, the worst I have ever bowled. The lanes were very tough, but there is no excuse for missing easy spares and i may of missed close to 60 pins worth. Normally I am a great spare shooter, but for some reason, i was rushing all my spares and was getting frustrated very quickly.

I slipped my way into the cut in 14th by a couple of pins and now had the huge task in running down the leaders, but with 15 games left and 20 pins for a win, anything could happen.

The next morning I knew that winning my matches was very important, the bonus 20 pins was extremely important if I was to catch the leaders.
0-4…… Not the start i was hoping for.  I slipped to 15th and now winning seemed out of the question.
George Frilingos, took his Virtual Gravity, he wrist guard  and his sand paper up the outside part of the lane, and did what all good lefties do, bowl straight haha
George ended up running away with it and he was the deserved winner on this occasion.
That meant the remaining podium spots were still up for grabs.
I moved well deep, lofting the  left gutter and found some oil. I made a run and was climbing the ladder.
236 win
236 win
228 win
279 win
Plus a few extra 210 plus games with wins.
With the scoring pace still so slow, I moved from 15th to 5th and with a game to go shot 194 with a win and moved into 3rd. Only 4 pins from 2nd.
After being more than 200 away from 2nd, I was very happy with my result and to lose to 2 lefties, well that makes me the best right hander there haha

I was happy in the end with 3rd, but if im going to be one of the best in the world, I will need to bowl more than 2 times in 6 weeks if I am to prove it.
After this awful display of bowling for 95% of the event, it has made me realise that talent can only get you so far, HARD WORK gets you to the top.
Im home now for a month – that month will be spent training hard on and off the lanes and at the same time spending as much time with my little baby girl (when ever she plans to enter this world) as possible.

As soon as I am a daddy I will let you all know….

Till then

be good

jason