
DATE: Thursday, November 6, 1997            TAG: 9711060663

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY BILL LEFFLER, CORRESPONDENT 

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:   79 lines

VENEZUELA NATIVE WINS EBONITE CHALLENGE HIS 18TH PBA VICTORY CAME AT THE PAVILION IN VIRGINIA BEACH.

Amleto Monacelli didn't see the shot that enabled him to win the $25,000 first prize in the nationally televised finals of the Ebonite Challenge.

It was a groan from the crowd of 1,400 at the Pavilion Wednesday night that told him he had won the championship.

``I never watch what my opponent is doing,'' Monacelli said. ``I can't relax when I do that. So I just close my eyes or look someplace else. The noise lets you know if it's a strike or not. I knew.''

Steve Hoskins, the No. 1 seed in the finale, was bowling in the last frame and needed a two strikes and five fill to win. Hoskins got the first strike but then left a wobbling No. 10 pin standing.

This gave Monacelli his 18th Professional Bowlers Association title with a 222-213 victory. Moments earlier Monacelli, a native of Venezuela who bowls out of Bay City, Mich., posted three strikes in his closing frame.

To gain a championship-game berth, Monacelli had to win a unique three-bowler match between the No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 finishers in match play earlier in the week at AMF Western Branch. Monacelli qualified in third place.

Monacelli defeated second-seeded Bob Learn Jr. and fourth-seeded Walter Ray Williams Jr. Monacelli rolled 224. Learn had 193. Williams, the all-time leading money winner on the tour and its reigning Player of the Year, had a mediocre 148, which included an eighth-frame gutter ball.

``It was not my day,'' said Williams, who appeared the most relaxed of the finalists and bantered with fans during the warmups.

The score made it appear Monacelli coasted in this match. But Learn, who won $100,000 with a televised 300 game last year, would have claimed a 225-224 win if an eighth-frame split had been a strike. He closed with four strikes after the split.

The win also qualified Monacelli for the last berth in the $10,000 winner-take-all Ebonite Challenge match between the tour's three point leaders on the Fall tour.

``I knew I had to win the tournament to qualify so that added a little pressure on me,'' Monacelli said. If he had not won, Williams would have been in the special match.

Hoskins and Jason Couch were Monacelli's opponents. Despite a 252, Monacelli was beaten as both Hoskins and Couch had 258s.

In a two-frame rolloff Couch notched a 49-28 victory.

``I didn't come out with any more money than I was guaranteed coming in,'' said Hoskins, who pocketed $13,000 as runner-up in the main tournament. ``But I think this is a good format and the bowling was exciting to the fans and good for the game. I'm naturally disappointed but somebody has to win and somebody has to lose. And the matches were good.''

Couch, 1992 Rookie of the Year, had his wife, mother and baby daughter rooting him on.

``It's a little unsettling to sit back and wait for a chance to bowl for either $10,000 or nothing,'' he said. ``The funny thing is that I didn't have a good feel for the lanes when I was warming up. I changed my ball at the last minute and just let her rip.''

The matches were bowled on two of four special lanes erected in the Pavilion. They were elevated about 2 feet above floor level.

``I love the arena bowling,'' said Monacelli. ``The crowds are large and the people get into it. As long as they aren't screaming while I'm on the approach, none of the noise bothers me.''

Monacelli was throwing kisses to the audience as he accepted the winner's check.

Learn earned $9,000 and Williams got $7,000. ILLUSTRATION: Photo

MARTIN SMITH-RODDEN/The Virginian-Pilot

Jason Couch hot dogs it for the crowd at the Pavilion in Virginia

Beach on Wednesday. About 1,800 fans turned out for the event.

Color photos

MARTIN SMITH-RODDEN photos/The Virginian-Pilot

Amleto Monacelli embraces Steve Hoskins, back to camera, after

winning the Ebonite Challenge. Monacelli won $25,000.

Steve Hoskins needed two strikes and a five fill in the final frame

to win, but left a wobbling 10-pin after getting the first strike.