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This was a match that most would have picked Chris to be the
favorite and in many cases he would be. But I did not see that
being the case with the players on the show this week. Chris can
play up the lane but not as easily as Steve and Brian. Chris has
not been playing as straight as the other two right handers in a
while and with his injuries I would not expect him to try and do
something too uncomfortable. He had been playing straighter than
his opponents in match-play but that wasn't going to be the case
here. You could tell in practice that Chris was having more
challenges lane to lane than Steve and Brian. The strategy for
Steve was to leave some laydown area to the right of where you
practice because the lane transition was easier to follow to the
right than the left. It was obvious to me that Brian saw this as
well, as both Brian and Steve kept most of their practice shots
left of where they wanted to start. Chris really impressed me
with his recognition ability and versatility as I didn't think
he stood much of a chance. Steve took the early lead and applied
the pressure but Chris kept answering. Steve was very impressive
in his own right. He had a solid game plan stuck with it. He was
surprisingly comfortable for somebody who had not been matching
up all year. The ball he used on the show was not the ball he
had used during the week. Steve had used a combination of Strike
Zone, Vapor Zone and Ebonite's V2 solid. Even though the Strike
Zone was his main ball of choice throughout most of the
tournament the Strike Zone he used on the show was different
one. The one he used during the week reacted sooner and forced
Steve left. You can see the ball Steve used in this match in his
player column.
The match was tight late in the game when the right lane went
through transition and both players got a good break to trip 4
pin combinations. The next time up on that lane would prove to
be the difference. When Chris got up on the right lane I was
watching the show from the banquet room with several other guys.
This was not going to be an easy transition move for anybody
even if you are Chris Barnes. I thought he could move left but
changes are the ball will go the same spot unless he over threw
it and that was a ring 10 or worse all week. He could stay where
he was at and throw it harder but the ball he was using was too
jumpy to take that chance. You certainly can't make a ball
change that quickly maybe he could get lucky and trip a 4 again.
I was surprised at his move which appeared to be left and
softer. Off his hand I knew it had no chance unless the gods
were to help him out. I am sure that Chris would have mad a ball
change had he gotten past the first match.
Steve on the other hand was using a much smoother reacting
ball which would not be near as sensitive to transitions. Chris
had missed his opportunity to take the lead and having only to
mark his next time up on the right lane Steve didn't make it
drastic move knowing that the pocket was not a problem with the
right shape of ball reaction. On his fill ball Steve made a
parallel left adjustment looking to keep the ball in a more
direct line towards the pocket and because of his physical game,
lane strategy and ball reaction choices he was able to get by
one of the toughest match play bowlers on tour. |
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