The 2011 Duckpin World Classic, another jewel in the crown of Hagerstown proprietor Frank Turner, was nothing short of a masterpiece for bowling drama and top notch performances. The landmark event, hosted at Southside Bowl in Hagerstown, Maryland was a defining moment in time for the sport of bowling as a whole, in that the field of qualifiers included such a wide variety of great performers. There was something for everyone in the star-studded cast that made up the 48-man finals, as there were veterans from years past, as well as up and coming stars, not to mention Canadians from afar amongst the out-of-towners, and the locals from Hagerstown.
Kenny Herrell of Germantown, Maryland—long time participant in the DPBA—broke through the ice for his first tour win and in doing so joined a list of bowlers in an elite club—those who have won a pro tour stop worth $10,000 or better. Herrell defeated Severn, MD's Chuck Paris in the final, 174-123 in what was a close match in the early to middle stages of the contest. For those few who may not have been aware of Herrell's prowess as a bowler, it all came to the forefront during the epic of the World Classic weekend
Kenny bowled on the grueling final shift of the preliminary round. The Saturday evening, 6:30 pm squad was particularly taxing on the bowlers due to the outside heat and humidity that made its way into Southside Bowl by evening. But Herrell, a 30-year veteran of the pro tour who always keeps himself in tip-top physical shape, endured the conditions and dealt out an impressive 1133 score for his 8-game block. With the cut ending up being 1110, Kenny made it comfortably into the Sunday finals
In the 169-man field, 48 players were to advance from the preliminary rounds into the Sunday finals. The cut for the top 48 was a bit on the low side at 1110, but in a tournament carrying duckpin bowling's largest purse, it's only fitting that the bowlers should have to work for the big payout.
There was something different—and also something extremely special—upon this editor's arrival and entrance into Southside Bowl on the day of the finals that just gave a person a refreshing feeling of impending intrigue and quality entertainment on its way.
The DPBA implemented a new format for the Sunday finals, different from that of the traditional stepladder method of determining a champion. Divisional play remained the same, with the expanded count of 48 players being divided into 8 divisions of 6 competitors. But the difference in this event is that the top 2 players in each division would advance into a 'Round of 16' bracket elimination format. The new format sent one of the division qualifiers into the upper half of the 'Sweet 16' tournament bracket, and the other division qualifier was put in the lower half. So it was possible that the 2 advancers from a division could end up meeting in the championship game.
Among the 48 qualifiers was an impressive number of Canadian fivepin stars, including some new faces to the duckpin tour this year. The Canadians who made it to the Round of 16 were Jason Medhurst and Peter Brown. Other qualifiers from Canada included Martin Talbot, Jason Procher, Scott Dumoulin, and Mitch Davies, who made his 2nd consecutive cut for 2011.
Two bowlers tallied perfect 5-0 records at the end of the match play round—Buddy Turner and Chris Kruger. But the best pinfall efforts amongst division qualifiers were Erik Loteczka and hometown favorite, Jimmy Burns, both rolling 787 scores for their 5-game blocks.
Advancing from the Round of 16 to the 8-man Quarter-Finals: Kenny Herrell def. Brian Vest, Cecil Saroopchand
With the inaugural round of the new 16-man elimination format out of the way, thoughts of
The Final Four was now established and the matchups were most compelling. Would Kenny Herrell advance one
In the match between Kenny Herrell and Peter Brown, it was a match of two tough warriors, with spares
In the other Final Four matchup, if there ever was a case of 'The Irresistible Force'
The Final Four had now produced the finalists—Kenny Herrell vs. Chuck Paris. The winner would attain
Kenny Herrell--a true sportsman of the game, is also probably the most animated player in bowling.
One of the noteworthy bowling stories involving Herrell that this editor witnessed first-hand was
Herrell is one of the few bowlers who would scarcely be considered an underdog in any head-to-head
