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| Tuesday, April 14, 2009 |
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Bowling For Dollars
By Chris Dollarhite Tuesday, April 14, 2009 9:22 PM :: 31 Views :: Sports
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John Maloof played the part of David and slayed Goliath.
Maloof, playing for his first regional win, outdueled Hall of Fame professional Tom Baker to win the championship trophy in the PBA South "Wild Magnolia" Martinsville Senior Open last Sunday at Sportlanes.
Playing out of Hall Park, Md., Maloof proved to be anything but aloof as he mowed down 53 other competitors to win the tourney and $1,500. "That was definitely one of the best moments of my career," said Maloof during a phone interview. "There were just a ton of great players in the tournament and, you know, to outplay everyone, especially Mr. (Tom) Baker, it's just very humbling. I'm just very, very happy about it."
Baker was one of the obvious favorites before the tourney started-and for good reasons. He's a Professional Bowling Association Hall of Famer and has 10 career PBA Tour titles including a Major title in 2004 when he won the PBA World Championship. Maloof found himself trailing by seven pins heading into the next-to-last frame. The calm veteran managed to combo his eighth frame with another strike and then added two more in the 10th to mathematically eliminate Baker. Maloof rolled a 210 in his final game and averaged a 204.53 in nine games for the tournament.
Barry Ingram of Danville placed third for $650 while Martinsville’s Jim Ashworth represented the area nicely with a 13th-place finish and a check for $475.
By Chris Dollarhite
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