Belmonte eyes PBA title at Columbus Bowl

Jason Belmonte is Australian to the bone, but the professional bowler from New South Wales has made a second home for himself on Ohio’s oiled lanes.

The four-time player of the year on the Professional Bowlers Association tour captured his third title in Ohio on Sunday by winning the Tournament of Champions in suburban Akron.

He’ll shift to Columbus this week for the PBA Players Championship at Wayne Webb’s Columbus Bowl, where Belmonte has been dominant the past two seasons. The tournament kicks off Tuesday with a 10 a.m. qualifier.

Six-game qualifying rounds will be held Wednesday morning and evening and Thursday morning, with the top 24 bowlers advancing to roundrobin match play, which begins with eight games Thursday night.

Match play continues on Friday with eight games each in the morning and evening, with the top five players advancing to Sunday’s stepladder finals. Those will be held at 1 p.m. and be televised on FS1.

Belmonte, 35, has to be considered among the favorites this week. He won the Players Championship in 2017 at Wayne Webb’s and a year ago was dominant in qualifying to earn the top seed for the televised finals.

He was beaten in the final, however, dropping a 259-239 decision to fifth-seeded Tom Smallwood. Belmonte did team with Bill O’neill for the doubles title.

He added a title later in the 2018 season in Detroit and on Sunday added the Tournament of Champions at AMF Rivieria Lanes in Fairlawn. It was Belmonte’s third TOC title and 10th major win overall, tying legends Earl Anthony and Pete Weber for the most all-time.

“Now that I’ve won 10 I can’t wait to get to 11,” Belmonte said. “If I get to 11, I’ll be able to put my total focus on bowling and not so much on the records.”