Seattle Event Set to Kick Off New Year and Second-Half of 2001-2002 Season

SEATTLE (December 17) – The Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) Tour will stay close to home for the first event of 2002, the PBA Earl Anthony Memorial Classic. The event will be contested from Wednesday, January 2, through Sunday, January 6, at Tech City Bowl in Kirkland, Washington.

The event is unique for the PBA in several ways. For one, this is the first time the PBA has held an event in Seattle since it was purchased by three former Microsoft executives in April of 2000. Second, the event has been renamed for PBA legend Earl Anthony, who was originally from Tacoma, Washington, and passed in August of 2001.

The finals of the PBA Earl Anthony Memorial Classic will be televised live on ESPN, from 1 – 2:30 p.m. (ET), Sunday, January 6. Preceding the telecast of the finals, there will be a special presentation to Anthony's family to honor the 41-time PBA titleholder and hall of famer. In addition, during the week bowlers participating in the event will wear a commemorative patch with the No. 41.

The PBA Tour has gone through some noticeable changes since the Tour was last in town in 1993. Two of the most recent changes with the 2001-2002 PBA season are the new tournament format and the drastically increased prize fund. The format, which now includes single-elimination match play, was changed to create compelling competition that is exciting and dramatic for fans throughout the week.

To begin the tournament, all bowlers will compete in nine games of qualifying. Only the top 64 bowlers advance to the second nine-game round of qualifying, after which a cut to the top 32 will be made.

Beginning with the final 32, single-elimination competition will commerce. The bowlers must win best-three-out-of-five game matches to stay alive in the tournament. After three complete rounds of head-to-head matches, four athletes will remain and will advance to the ESPN finals along with the athlete who owned the best individual record in the tournament without advancing to the final four. This athlete will be deemed the wild card and will face the athlete among the final four who lost the most matches during head-to-head competition in match one of the live ESPN finals. Match two of the finals will consist of the two qualifiers from the other half of the bracket. The winner of match one will then face the remaining four qualifier in match three. Winners from match two and three will then meet in the title match to vie for the title and the top prize of $40,000 (almost doubled from 1993's first-place prize in Seattle of $21,000).

The first-place prize is not the only dramatically increased money. The entire prize fund has been increased 140% and pays out to 64th place.

The overall look of a PBA tournament has also been revamped. The bowling center will be transformed into an arena-type setting prior to the final 16. Fans will be able to watch the compelling single-elimination matches from

bleachers on both sides of the lanes. The live ESPN finals will have added excitement with a new facelift to the set and more in-depth player profiles, allowing fans across the country to learn more about the everyday lives of their favorite PBA stars.

The PBA Tour visited Seattle from 1962 – 1993 and this is the first year that Tech City Bowl will host the tournament. Many former Seattle champions are scheduled to compete in the event including PBA Hall of Famer and former PBA Player of the Year (1999) Parker Bohn III, who won his first of 27 career titles in Seattle in 1987, nine-time PBA title holder Danny Wiseman, who won here in 1993 and Jess Stayrook (1989).

Other notables currently on the roster include reigning PBA Player of the Year Norm Duke, PBA Hall of Famers Brian Voss, who currently lives in Atlanta but is from Seattle and Walter Ray Williams Jr., who owns 34 PBA titles.

Also entered in the tournament is PBA Hall of Famer and Washington local (Vancouver) Ernie Schlegel. Schlegel owns six PBA titles and is the PBA's newest millionaire, after surpassing the $1 million mark in career earnings in December 2001 in the U.S. Open, Fountain Valley, Calif. Along with Schlegel, other PBA professionals from Washington that will compete are Rohn Morton (Vancouver), Hugh Miller (Seattle) and Bob Davidson (Seattle)

Fans can attend the professional's practice session on Wednesday, January 2 and can participate in the Pro-Am competition that follows. This is an excellent opportunity for fans to compete alongside the pros, as well as get autographs and photographs with the stars of the PBA Tour. Ticket prices for the event will vary throughout the week and range from $5 - $25. Anyone interested in attending Pro-Ams or the event during tournament week should contact Tech City Bowl at (425) 827-0785.

Complete tournament schedule listed below: (All times local)

WHAT: PBA EARL ANTHONY MEMORIAL CLASSIC

WHERE: Tech City Bowl, 13033 NE 70th Place, Kirkland, WA 98033, (425) 827-0785

WHEN: Wednesday, January 2 through Sunday, Jan. 6

PRO-AMS:

Wed., Jan. 2:

4:00, 6:00 & 9:00 p.m.

PRACTICE SESSION:

Wed., Jan. 2:

A squad practices from noon – 1:00 p.m.

B squad practices from 2:00 – 3:00 p.m.

QUALIFYING:

Thurs., Jan. 3 :

A squad bowls nine games at 9:00 a.m.

B squad bowls nine games at 5:00 p.m.

(CUT TO TOP 64)

Fri., Jan. 4:

Top 64 bowl nine games at 10:00 a.m.

(CUT TO TOP 32)

SINGLE ELIMINATION MATCHES:

Fri., Jan. 4:

Round of 32 – 16 matches bowl best-of-five at 6:00 p.m.

(CUT TO 16)

Sat., Jan. 5:

Round of 16 – Two matches bowl best-of-five at 8:00 a.m.; subsequent matches will immediately follow, two at a time

(CUT TO 8)

Round of 8 – Two matches bowl best-of-five at 5:00 p.m.; two matches immediately follow

(CUT TO TOP FOUR PLUS WILD CARD)

ESPN TELECAST:

Sun., Jan. 6:

Five-man finals live on ESPN from 10 – 11:30 a.m.