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KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Tenpin Bowling Congress have hired American Rick Benoit as the national team's technical specialist ahead of the Guangzhou Asian Games in November.

Turnersville, NJ, United States - Adam Baer of Gettysburg, Pa., became the latest PBA member to qualify for the $1 million PBA Tournament of Champions when he won his first PBA Regional title Aug.

With a nod of approval, the old record holder handed off his achievement to the new owner.

It all started when "merger-mania" struck the bowling industry in 2005, and Carver County bowling proprietors could feel change was coming.

PBA REGIONAL ROUNDUP powered by XTRA FRAME:

Adam Baer of Gettysburg, Pa., became the latest PBA member to qualify for the $1 million PBA Tournament of Champions when he won his first PBA Regional title Aug. 29 in the PBA East Region’s Mil-Ray Foods Open at Brunswick Zone Turnersville in Turnersville, N.J.

Baer defeated Terry Decker Jr. of Philadelphia, Pa., 238-210, to win $2,500 and an invitation to enter the Champions field at the Tournament of Champions at Red Rock Lanes in Las Vegas, Jan. 15-22. Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour exempt player Ryan Ciminelli of Cheektowaga, N.Y., finished third and 12-time PBA national champion Danny Wiseman of Baltimore finished eighth.

In the PBA Midwest Region, 2007 USBC Masters champion Sean Rash of Wichita, Kan., earned his third career PBA Regional title and $2,500 Sunday in the PBA Midwest Region Premier Bowling & Entertainment Center Open in Pleasant Hill, Iowa. Rash won the 20-game, total pinfall event by 68 pins over Mike Steil of Wheeling, Ill. Former exempt player Derek Sapp of Keokuk, Iowa, finished third. PBA Hall of Famer Pete Weber of St. Ann, Mo., and fellow exempt player Steve Jaros of Yorkville, Ill., finished fifth and sixth, respectively.

In the Central Region, Chris Loschetter Avon, Ohio, won his seventh career PBA Regional title and $2,700 in the 25th Annual Bud Light Fort Wayne Open at Georgetown Bowl in Fort Wayne, Ind. Loschetter defeated Nick Kokenos of St. Clair Shores, Mich., 182-180, for the winner. Reigning PBA Rookie of the Year Anthony LaCaze of Melrose Park, Ill., finished third, and exempt players Ronnie Russell of Marion, Ind.; Mika Koivuniemi of Hartland, Mich., and Brian Kretzer of Dayton, Ohio, finished fourth, fifth and ninth, respectively.

Bobby Johnson of Chillicothe, Ohio, won the joint PBA Central/Midwest BowlingGift.com Senior Open at Georgetown Bowl in Fort Wayne, Ind., when he defeated John Deloney of Troy, Ill., 200-179, for his first Senior Regional title of the year and the second of his career. He also earned $1,700.

In the South Region Spartanburg, S.C., Open covered by “The Bowling Doctor” Jeff Mark on PBA.com’s Xtra Frame, Chris Collins of Savannah, Ga., won his second career PBA Regional title and $2,300 on Aug. 29 at Paradise Lanes. Collins topped Scott Newell of Deland, Fla., by 77 pins in the 21-game, total pinfall event. Former exempt player Jason Sterner of McDonough, Ga., finished third. PBA Tour title holders Michael Machuga of Erie, Pa., and Ritchie Allen of Columbia, S.C., finished fourth and fifth, respectively.

Kevin Mitchell of Tulsa, Okla., successfully defended his Southwest Region Greenville Open title at DB’s Entertainment & Sports Grill in Greenville, Texas, on Aug. 21, defeating David Newcomer of Pearcy, Ark., 277-234, for $2,300 and his sixth career Regional title. Two-time PBA Tour champion Rick Lawrence of Waxahachie, Texas – now a Senior Tour-eligible player - finished 10th.

In the West Region, Marv Sargent of Temecula, Calif., earned his eighth career Regional title and $2,400 in the Pain Center Arizona Open at Johnson Lanes in Sun City West. Sargent beat former exempt player Ben Laughlin of Phoenix, 235-185, in the championship match. Former exempt player P.J. Haggerty of Clovis, Calif., finished fifth.

On the Labor Day Monday, Sept. 6, edition of Xtra Frame, final-day coverage of the PBA South Region Mooresville Open will be video streamed from George Pappas Victory Lanes in Mooresville, N.C. Xtra Frame coverage continues on Oct. 3 with final-day webcasting from the PBA South Region Camp LeJeune Open from Bonneyman Recreation Center in Camp LeJeune, N.C.

All PBA title holders (National, Senior, Regional, Senior Regional, Women's Series champions) who are PBA members in good standing as of Sept. 1 are eligible for the 2011 PBA Tournament of Champions.

SENIOR JACKSON OPEN RAISES $300,000 IN 18 YEARS FOR HOSPICE

Thanks to the support of tournament sponsors, Airport Lanes, tournament organizer and fundraiser Mel Wolf and many others, the Senior Jackson Open - the final stop of the 2010 PBA Senior Tour season – has now raised more than $300,000 for charity partner Allegiance Hospice in Jackson over the 18 years the event has been conducted at Airport Lanes.

In addition to sponsors, money is raised through raffles during pro-ams and throughout the event. “It’s a lot of work but it’s worth it,” said Wolf, a PBA Senior Tour titlist. “I think our pro-am is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, on the Senior Tour. The community really gets behind this event and everyone is great.”

THE BEST PROFESSIONAL bowlers in the Southeast visited Royal Z Lanes recently, but the winner didn't have very far to travel.

This Labor Day weekend ESPN Classic is running a PBA 300 Game Marathon (Sunday, September 5, to be exact...click here for the complete schedule listing).

Of the eight shows they picked, there are definitely some good ones, but I thought I'd get you bowling fans warmed up with a list of my top 10 favorite treys in PBA history. Here goes:

#10 - WES MALOTT: 2009 KING OF BOWLING
After missing the last show of the season and needing a little help from Mike Scroggins (and a stone 8-pin by Chris Barnes) to win Player of the Year, Big Wes had the opportunity to prove he was worthy of the lofty award. The King of Bowling made-for-TV event was his stage and Malott bowled like a king.

Tossing not one, but TWO 300 games in his five-week run, The Big Nasty averaged a cool 272.6 in demolishing five of the top 10 players in the world by an average of more than 50 pins a game. So which one of the two perfectos makes the list? I'm partial to the second because it ended the series with an exclamation point, but I also kind of liked the post finale roar Wes gave out after the first. You decide after watching below.

#9 - JACK BIONDOLILLO: 1967 FIRESTONE TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS
Journeyman pro Jack Biondolillo immortalized himself in the annals of PBA history by tossing the league's first televised 300 game.

Oh, and did we mention that it was on ABC-TV in front of more than 10 million viewers during the most prestigious tournament of the year? Not a bad way to do it, Jack. Plus the $10K bonus was pretty decent coin back in the day.

#8 - RHINO PAGE: 2009 JAPAN CUP
Rhino Page was looking to buy his first home after his second successful season on tour, and fretted to best buddy Patrick Allen that he just wished he had $100K to make a nice down payment. A few weeks later Rhino made the TV finals of the Japan Cup, where he tossed the event's first televised 300 to earn a nice bonus of...you guessed it, $100K.

Check out the 10th frame below with the original Japanese commentary. You can also hear Mike J. Laneside and The Bowling Doctor call this one on Xtra Frame in the PBA Telecasts Archive.

#7 - NORM DUKE: 2003 EARL ANTHONY CLASSIC
In an arena setting that was attended by a couple thousand (plus each of the new PBA owners), Norm Duke put on a striking clinic against Walter Ray Williams, Jr.

The diminutive Duke fired 12 straight shots right up the gutter and jumped straight up in the air when the pins flew straight back on the final shot. His exuberant jump into the arms of Walter Ray (who, frankly, was a pretty good sport considering he must be getting a little tired of seeing all these 300 games shot against him on TV) was what made this one truly memorable.

#6 - TONY REYES: 2006 MOTOR CITY CLASSIC
After several years competing as a very solid tour player, Tony Reyes was still in search of his first PBA win. One of the most popular players among the guys on tour, everyone was rooting for Tony to get that first title. When he finally did, he did it in style, tossing a 300 game in the semifinals against Parker Bohn III to set up his first (and only) career victory.

#5 - MIKE AULBY: 1993 WICHITA OPEN
This 300 game by the classy Hall-of-Fame lefty is still tied for the highest-scoring TV match in PBA history. Needing perfection to hold off the hard-charging David Ozio (who shot 279 with a nasty blower-7 pin in the 8th as his only miss), Aulby flushed three in the tenth for the title and a $10,000 bonus. Plus, extra manly points for shooting it in that pink shirt!

#4 - PARKER BOHN III: 1998 ABC MASTERS
Competing in a three-man match where only the winner would advance, Parker Bohn III took on two fellow lefties for the right to face Mike Aulby for the title. What better way to do that then by shooting 300 for a $10,000 bonus? Of course, Aulby wouldn't let Parker win his first major that week, taking advantage of a letdown by the now 32-time champ to get the win. Parker would have to wait until the 2001 Masters to get that first (and so far, only) major title.

#3 - PETE McCORDIC: 1987 GREATER LA OPEN
I have to admit that this one here may be my personal favorite. I actually attended this tournament all week long as a wide-eyed 13-year-old kid and then watched the show on Saturday afternoon during my junior league. There was a huge build-up of pressure because it had been so long since the last TV 300 (13 years since Jim Stefanich's 300 in 1974) and there was now a huge $100,000 bonus from True Value hardware. The images of McCordic shaking like a leaf on the 11th and 12th shots was a perfect complement to the excellent call by Chris Schenkel and Bo Burton.

#2 - BOB LEARN JR.: 1996 FLAGSHIP OPEN
Maybe the best PBA telecast of all time. 5,000-plus crazed fans. An arena setting. Hometown favorite and all-time 300-game king Bob Learn Jr. putting on one of the greatest displays of striking ever. Plus all of his opponents pushing him to the limit by averaging in excess of 260.

The show started off with a bang with Learn facing 49 year-old legend Johnny Petraglia. Needing the first strike in the 10th to win the match (Petraglia finished with 279), Learn got that and more, rolling his 52nd career 300 (at the time, the most ever) but, as Chris Schenkel exclaimed, "this one is by far the most valuable." $100,000 worth, thanks again, to True Value.

Side note: Check out the college preppy sweater Ron Palombi Jr. was rocking whilst sitting next to Learn's wife. SWEEEEET!

#1 - JOHNNY PETRAGLIA: 1994 PBA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
And our number one favorite 300 televised game of all time comes courtesy of the man who suffered the loss in our previous entry. After disappearing from the PBA limelight for almost a decade, all-time great and Triple Crown winner Johnny Petraglia returned to TV to make the finals in the 1994 PBA National Championship.

A sentimental crowd favorite, Petraglia bowled against reigning PBA Player of the Year Walter Ray Williams Jr. in the day's second match. Rolling strike after strike, Petraglia, who famously gaffed on the 12th shot of a possible 300 back in 1978, had a chance for redemption (and a $100,000 bonus) when he stepped up for the 12th shot here.

After delivering the coup-de-grace, Petraglia's emotional outburst and post-match interview expressing relief that his kid's college was now "taken care of" was as emotional as it gets. All hail Johnny P! The king of all TV 300 shooters!

As usual, there are a number of 300 games that were indeed memorable, but missed out on my list. Definitely Jim Stefanich, Johnny Guenther and Bob Benoit stick out right at the top of my list of honorable mentions. What other 300 games do you remember? Your comments are welcome below.