A GREAT surprise and a FANTASTIC job from Gary Hulsenberg Storm VP & Mike DeVaney 2-Time PBA Champion, who 'Live Streamed' and did the commentary for the final matches of this weekends 3-Region Tournament.  If you haven't watched yet, I hope you will (Facebook - Storm Bowling)... shortly after the broadcast, 41,000 viewers had already seen (& heard) the 9-Tap Tour on the National Stage for the first time!  By morning, that number had surpassed 50,000.  Storm also awarded 3 Jerseys, one in each of the Saturday Squads.  The names were randomly drawn and it worked out that each Region had a Winner... Lieda Lundquist LV, Kevin Asato HI & Chuck Gonsalez PS each will get a nice looking Storm Jersey.  A Whopping 166 entries included Members coming from as far as London, England... along with 'locals' from Texas, Hawaii, California, Oregon, Washington & Nevada.  The HUGE turnout produced 33 Finalists, with a 'low to cash' of $150.00 and a Champion earning a sweet $3,100.00. Jeanierose Tabulina PS, who joined the Tour back in 2002, made use of her years of experience, shooting the high series of the weekend, an awesome 1083, earning her the 'Top Qualifier' Jacket.  Huyen Thai PS was on fire all weekend, not only reaching the Final 4, but also Winning BOTH Sweepers worth an extra $260.00, while he was getting a feel for the lane conditions.  Top honors for the 9-Tap Jackpot went to Kenny Burnside PS for his 5-Taps, earning him $250.00for his effort.  

FINALS: There were many Finals Head-to-Head matches that weren't decided until some clutch 10th frame shots... the Championship Match was one of them, but none better than the Semi Final between Josh Marlo LV 255 & Steve Cid HI 267.  Like all Champions, you usually get a few breaks along the way.  Steve Cid had many 'Close Calls' along the way tohis FIRST Tour Title.  He was the #33 Seeded Qualifier (of 33)... he was either the low or next to low to survive the first two rounds in the Finals... and several of his head-to-head matches weren't decided till the 10th frame.  But, like a true CHAMPION, he made the most of his opportunities, including when he needed a mark in the 10th to earn the Title... he got ALL THREE strikes to Win in style!  And he did it with the camera rolling, in front of a worldwide audience (feedback from as far as Australia & Sweden).  Steve was also true to our Sponsors, wearing his DEXTER SST 8 shoes and using his STORM 'Timeless' ball.  His full Winner's Pot entry, provided him a hefty $3,100.00 payday.  He offered his THANKS to wife Rowena, fellow Hawaii bowler John Hata (his bowling mentor), Hawaii DirectorKawika Kaea and the whole Tour crew.  CONGRATS Steve on a memorable 1st Tour Title!

In 2nd Place, Lieda Lundquist LV was in a Red-Hot 'Zone' in the Finals.  Her expectations were not quite as high as her scores were, as evidenced by her $10.00 in the Winner's Pot, which limited her 2nd Place Winnings to a still very sweet $1,100.00.  The other $450.00 in Winners Pot money, was passed down to the 3rd-4th & 5th-8th place finishers, which is unique to our Winner's Pot 100% payout.  Lieda was really excited and she can be proud of her great performance throughout the Finals!

In 3rd Place: Joshua Marlo LV & Huyen Thai PS were on a very nice roll of their own, until they ran into two HOTTER semifinal opponents!  Each of them took home a HEFTY $755.00 check for their performance.  Ironically, Joshua's biggest game in the the Finals, came in his Semifinal loss to eventual the Champion 267-255.  Joshua Qualified as the #5 Seed giving him one of the SIX 1st Round Byes.  Huyen was 'on a roll' from the first Sweeper he Won Friday night averaging 255 (incl 9 pins hdcp), then averaging 247 to Win the 2nd Sweeper and a 245 avg to Qualify for the Finals.  He had games of 213 & 238 prior to his tough Semi loss to Lieda.

Special Thanks & Shout-Out to each of our Regional Tour Directors and especially our support Staff... Char & Linda on the Brackets, Lynetta, Margie (on her Birthday) and Frances at the Check-In table, Donnie & Daryl Floor Directors and especially U'ilani (Kawika & Frances Daughter) who was the Master of everything we needed over the weekend!!