Storm Flagship Open
$120,000 STORM FLAGSHIP OPEN
Eastway Lanes, Erie, PA, Feb 24-28, 1998
Williams Jr. Wins First Title Of Year In Erie
The PBA Tour has visited Eastway Lanes in Erie, Pa., for the past eight years. Seven of those years, Walter Ray Williams Jr. has made the championship round. 1998's inaugural Storm Flagship Open was no exception. Williams, the PBA Tour's No. 1 ranked player from Stockton, Calif., easily defeated Steve Jaros in the title match. The 202-746 victory gave Williams his 25th career title and $19,000. "I've never had success like this anywhere, it's just phenomenal," said Williams. "1 don't know what the reason is. It 's the characteristics of the center, maybe it's the way my ball rolls on this surface or maybe It's the fans. Someone said I should move here and run for mayor." Jaros started the title match with three consecutive open frames. He failed to convert the 2-8-10 split in the first and then failed to convert to 1-2-10 "washout" in frame two. He had a much easier spare attempt In the third when he left just the 10-pin, but missed it to the right. Williams was in control until the seventh frame when he gave Jaros a glimmer of hope by failing to convert the 2-4-5. "I don't remember missing any spares;" said Williams. "That was certainly bad timing on my part. You never want to give your opponent an opening. But instead of taking advantage of Williams' mistake, Jaros left the 1-2-4-10 version of the "washout" in frame eight and once again failed to convert, making the final outcome academic. Jaros' runner-up finish, the second time he has done so in Erie (1995), earned him $10,000. Even though Williams won his second title In Erie (1993) and was making his seventh telecast there (a telecast that was seen live locally on WJET-TV Ch. 24 before being replayed on ESPN) he wasn't the crowd favorite. That honor went to the flamboyant veteran Troup. The 48-year-old eight-time champion was making his first TV appearance since 1989 and delighted the crowd with his wild pants and even wilder antics. He rode the momentum in match one to a 247-209 win over Dave Arnold before falling to Jaro's in match two. CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND
PLAYOFF RESULTS-Troup defeated Arnold, 247-209; Jaros defeated Troup, 243-185; Jaros defeated Weber, 203-199; and in the championship game, Williams defeated Jaros, 202-146. 42-GAME TOTALS OTHER CASHERS *-Sullins replaced Ozio after six games of match play. Sullins was penalized the difference between their qualifying totals and the bonus pins Ozio accumulated. Chris Hooper served as alternate for the remaining 18 games ($90). 18-game qualifying leader-Walter Ray Williams Jr., 4322. 24th place-Randy Pedersen, 4029. 40th place-Tom Baker, 3976. PRO-AM CASHERS John Gem, Steve Jaros, Sean Swanson, Len Blakey, Roger Bowker and Ryan Shafer ($50 each). #--Del Ballard Jr., Lonnie Waliczek, Jess Stayrook, Tommy Delutz Jr. and Walter Ray Williams Jr. rolled 300 games ($200 each). | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
