The 2013 PBA World Series of Bowling from the South Point Hotel in Las Vegas kicks off with another landmark PBA Tour event when the Cheetah Championship airs on ESPN Sunday Dec. 1 at 1 p.m. ET.

For the first time in history, viewers will have a visual reference for PBA lane conditioning oil application and the challenges players face, thanks to the introduction of a lane oil with a blue tint for the televised finals. The application of lane conditioning oil has long been a mystery and even an abstract science to many viewers of PBA Tour competition on television. The PBA, in cooperation with its official lane maintenance provider Brunswick, formulated and tested the innovative blue oil that was applied exclusively on the pair of Brunswick lanes installed in South Point’s Exhibition Hall B for the finals.

For coverage of PBA’s use of blue oil at WSOB V check out features on Yahoo Sports and Popular Science:

https://www.thepostgame.com/blog/dish/201311/pba-use-blue-dye-illustrate-oil-its-lanes

https://www.popsci.com/article/technology/blue-oil-bowling-lanes-shows-how-you-roll?src=SOC&dom=fb

The Cheetah Championship will also mark the third time in PBA history – and the first time in World Series of Bowling history – that a woman has qualified for a PBA Tour telecast. International standout Clara Guerrero of Colombia is the fourth seed and will face eight-time Tour champion Wes Malott of Pflugerville, Texas, in the opening stepladder match. Only Kelly Kulick, the 2010 PBA Tournament of Champions winner, and 2005 Banquet Open runnerup Liz Johnson have previously qualified for PBA Tour TV finals.

The winner of the Malott vs. Guerrero match will have his/her hands full because the finals also include PBA Hall of Famers Pete Weber, the No. 2 qualifier, and top seed Parker Bohn III.

Malott won his eighth Tour title and first major in Bowling’s U.S. Open in July when he defeated Jason Belmonte, 214-156, for the title at Western Bowl in Columbus, Ohio.

Weber, who is a contender for 2012-13 PBA Player of the Year honors, captured a historic PBA Tournament of Champions win in April tying Earl Anthony for most major wins with 10. The oldest player to win PBA’s signature event at age 50 also recorded his 37th career title, tying Norm Duke for third place on the PBA Tour’s all-time titles list. Weber also has seven other top 10 finishes including a third in the U.S. Open during the 2012-13 season.

Bohn, who ranks sixth on the all-time titles list with 33, won the 2012 PBA World Championship to conclude PBA World Series of Bowling IV last November.

Another unique feature included in the Cheetah Championship telecast will be the first of four “PBA League Challenges” that will be included as part of the WSOB V Cheetah, Viper, Chameleon and Scorpion Championships.

The first event will be a “blind bowling” challenge which will require PBA League franchise players Sean Rash, Mike Fagan, Norm Duke, Chris Barnes, Belmonte, Bill O’Neill, Osku Palermaa and Weber to bowl a ninth and 10th frame with their view of the pins obstructed by a large curtain suspended over the lanes. The highest pinfall total for the ninth and 10th frames will win the initial segment.