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By PHIL GULICK
© St. Petersburg Times, published January 20, 2001
SEMINOLE -- A field of 60 teams is expected for the ABC Brunswick World Team Challenge, which opens at 9 this morning at Seminole Lanes.
The new format will see five-person teams roll a pair of three-game blocks, with one of four teams advancing to the Baker format rounds on Sunday. Teams that don't cash in during the regular tournament get a second chance Sunday morning. Admission is free.
The top four qualifying teams after today will be seeded in the final. The remaining teams will roll 10 Baker games at 9 a.m. Sunday. The top four qualifiers will join the four seeded teams in two-game match play to determine the final three teams. In Baker format, each player rolls two frames a game with total pins determining the winner.
The prize fund is about $21,900 with a $5,000 payoff to the winning team, plus merchandise and expenses paid to the grand championship. There will be a lesser payoff to the winner of the "second chance" event. A $1,000 bonus goes to the winning team provided it has bowled together as a team for at least 54 games during the past or current season.
The event opens a 15-city national tour ending with the grand championship later this year, featuring the winners of each tour stop, plus invited foreign squads.
The defending champion, Contour Power Grips from Milwaukee, has broken up and will not return. Two of its players, Dennis Rakauskas and Brian Brazeau, will compete with PBA regional pros Adam Colton, Ryan Boyd and Tony Biondi.
Two-time Seminole Lanes champion Top of the Line Pool Service from Clearwater returns with James Campbell, Tom Milton, Ed Perry, Jeff Bellanger and Joe Viscomi.