USBC Senior Championships shares stage with Open Championships

RENO, Nev. - After more than four months of nearly non-stop competition, the USBC Open Championships will have a lighter schedule this week in order to share bowling's biggest stage with the USBC Senior Championships, which will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The event will feature a Women's and Open division, with bowlers competing in five age classifications (Super Seniors: 75 and older, Class A: 70-74, Class B: 65-69, Class C: 60-64 and Class D: 55-59). In order to qualify for this national event, competitors must have won their state association's senior handicap all-events title.

More than 400 competitors will be on the tournament lanes at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nev., vying for a share of more than $40,000 in prize money. The field includes 2000 USBC Senior Queens champion Rose Smith of Las Vegas and 63-year-old Sim Dysart of Hancock, Maine, who recently made headlines when he took home the top prize in his first national TV appearance at the $250,000 Bowling Shootout against Professional Bowlers Association stars Pete Weber and Chris Barnes.

The rest of the field is made up of bowlers from 48 states (only Wyoming and Rhode Island are not represented) and Canada. Mariano Debusca of Alea, Hawaii, last year's Class A winner in the Open Division, is the only champion from 2006 who qualified for the 2007 event too.

Competition officially begins on Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m. with the first of two three-game qualifying blocks. This is a handicap singles event, and the top three bowlers in each classification after six games will qualify for Wednesday's stepladder roll-off.

The history of the Senior Championships, which is presented by the Eldorado Hotel Casino, dates back to the early 1960s, and from 1982 until 2002, the event was held on the championships lanes at either the Open Championships or the USBC Women's Championships. In 2003, the Senior Championships found a permanent home in Reno and has been held at the Stadium each year since.

Presenting sponsors for the 2007 USBC Open Championships are Eldorado, Silver Legacy and Circus Circus Hotel/Casinos in Reno, Nev. Other participating sponsors are Kegel, official lane maintenance provider, Sands Regency Casino and Hotel, official brackets sponsor and supporting sponsors Atlantis Casino Resort and Spa and Harrah's Casino and Hotel.

By Matt Cannizzaro and David Ellis USBC Communications