by Jerry Schneider

The GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling VI gets underway Friday, Oct. 24 with live Xtra Frame coverage of the PBA Challenge presented by the International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame qualifying rounds that will provide fans with a snapshot of PBA’s diversity and star power competing to make an ESPN show.

The PBA will conduct eight-player, eight-game round-robin match play qualifiers for the PBA50 Tour, PBA Regional and PBA Women’s Regional Tours to determine two finalists in each group who will advance to the PBA Challenge Finals on Nov. 2 in the new South Point Bowling Plaza. The special telecast, which also will include a Teen Masters Grand Championship match and a unique “Knock-Out Round” finale, will be taped for telecast on ESPN on Sunday, Jan. 18, at 3 p.m. ET.

All three PBA Challenge match play qualifiers will be covered live on pba.com’s online bowling channel Xtra Frame on Oct. 24, starting at 5:15 p.m. ET (2:15 PT) from the South Point Bowling Center.

The field for the PBA50 Tour Finals qualifier will feature the top eight players from the 2014 PBA50 Tour competition points list: two-time PBA50 Player of the Year Walter Ray Williams Jr., four-time PBA50 Player of the Year Tom Baker, 2014 PBA50 Player and Rookie of the Year Norm Duke, 2014 PBA50 Tour winners Pete Weber, Parker Bohn III and Amleto Monacelli, three-time PBA50 Tour winner Harry Sullins and two-time PBA50 Player of the Year Ron Mohr.

The field for the Regional Tour qualifier will feature the top points leaders from eight PBA Regions (East, South, Central, Midwest, Southwest, West, Northwest and Japan) as of the Oct. 12 deadline: Ryan Shafer (East), Connor Pickford (South), 2012-13 PBA Rookie of the Year EJ Tackett (Central), Tom Hess (Midwest), Shawn Maldonado (Southwest), David Haynes (West), Josh Blanchard (Northwest) and Pat Nolan (Japan).

The eight PBA Women’s Regional Tour qualifiers will be: Kristina Wendell (East), Christina Hardee (South), Liz Johnson (Central), Amanda Green (Midwest), Clara Guerrero (Southwest), Missy Parkin (West), Lindsay Boomershine (Northwest) and Yuka Tsuchiya (Japan).

The PBA Challenge qualifying events will be part of a new Xtra Frame Season Ticket package which will provide new Xtra Frame subscribers with full coverage of both the 2014 and 2015 World Series of Bowling, and up to 15 months of Xtra Frame access for the price of 12 months’ service. The XF Season Ticket will provide fans with more than 60 hours of live coverage of each World Series, and a 24/7 package of more than 300 hours of live “online television” at a subscription price of $64.99. Everyone who enrolls in the XF Season Ticket program by no later November 30 will receive access to Xtra Frame through December 31, 2015, plus a copy of the 2015 PBA Yearbook (an additional $10 bonus value).

All three PBA qualifying events will be contested on the PBA World Championship lane condition.

The Teen Masters Grand Championship match will feature boys’ division winner Michael Coffey of Melbourne, Florida, bowling girls’ division winner Kelly Skalacki of Coram, New York. The winner will receive a $6,500 scholarship. Coffey and Skalacki earned their berth in the final through Teen Masters qualifiers held over the summer.

The PBA Challenge telecast will conclude with the special Knock-Out Round, where the four match winners will roll one ball per round, with the lowest score eliminated until one player remains.