The PBA Settles on a New Format for 2001-02 - Brief Article

Bowling Digest, Oct, 2001

THE WAY WE WATCH BOWLING IS changing. In June, the PBA announced a new format for standard tournaments during the upcoming 2001-2002 season.

"This new format will create compelling competition, which we believe will increase ratings, attendance, and PBA.com traffic," PBA commissioner Ian Hamilton says. "The win-or-go-home format is the most exciting for the fans and requires players to perform under intense pressure for the entire tournament."

The format for all standard PBA events will encompass six days, beginning with the Pro Tour Qualifier, which will narrow the field to the regulation tournament size of 128 bowlers. Practice and pro-ams will take place on Day Two, allowing fans to compete with professional partners.

Tournament qualifying will begin on Day Three, as the 128-man field is broken up into two squads that will bowl nine games each in one day. The top 64 scorers, as determined by total pinfall, will advance.

Those 64 survivors will bowl nine more games on Day Four, with the top 32 advancing to the single-elimination bracket, which features best-of-five matches. Bowlers will be seeded in the bracket according to qualifying position (No. 1 vs. No. 32, etc.) to begin head-to-head match play. Between all bracket matches, the lanes will be re-oiled.

Once the field is cut to 16, the bowling setting, with stadium seating placed down both sides of four center lanes. Day Five continues with single-elimination competition. Two matches will take place at one time as the field is pared down from 16 to eight, and to four for the live ESPN televised finals.

The ESPN telecast will feature four single-game matches--the final four bowlers plus a wild-card match. The wild card match will feature the bowler in the top eight who finishes with the best individual match record in the tournament without advancing to the final four facing the player among the final four who lost the most matches during the head-to-head competition. The two qualifiers from the other half of the bracket will compete in Match Two. The winner of Match One will face the remaining final-four qualifier in Match Three. The Championship Match will feature the winners of the two previous matches wing for the title and top prize of $40,000.