DATE: Monday, November 3, 1997              TAG: 9711030086

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C6   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: By BILL LEFFLER, CORRESPONDENT 

DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                        LENGTH:   63 lines

HEALTHY MONACELLI SPREADS THE PAIN THE VENEZUELAN HAS A 45-PIN LEAD IN QUALIFYING FOR THE EBONITE CHALLENGE.

What a difference a day makes.

On Saturday, Amleto Monacelli struggled through the pro-am portion of the Ebonite Challenge.

On Sunday, Monacelli, a 17-time winner on the PBA Tour, outshot a field of 158 in the first two qualifying rounds of the four-day tournament at AMF Western Branch, posting a 12-game pinfall of 2,846.

And just 24 hours earlier, Monacelli was wondering if he would even be able to compete. He suffered with a painful throwing arm on Saturday.

``I wasn't sure I would be able to bowl in the tournament,'' he said. ``It's a muscle problem, I think. Then I went out and rolled the 12 qualifying games without a single bit of pain.''

Instead, the pain was inflicted upon his PBA mates. He had six-game blocks of 1,466 and 1,380 to build a 45-pin lead over Brian Voss of Atlanta, who had 2,801.

Steve Hoskins of Tarpon Springs, Fla., moved into third place with 2,791, followed by Guppy Trout of Taylorsville, N.C., with 2,735.

Walter Ray Williams Jr., the reigning Player of the Year and the tour's top money-winner, is sixth with 2,721, trailing Norm Duke of Clermont, Fla., at 2,725.

Monacelli, averaging 237, says his bowling game ``is very good now, and my mental game is excellent. Now I'm just hoping for another day like this one tomorrow. The arm problem has bothered me on and off all year.''

A native of Barquisimeto, Venezuela, Monacelli came to this country to be a pro bowler 15 years ago. He learned the game in a center in his hometown owned by his father and managed by his brother.

``In my heart, I always wanted to be a pro bowler,'' said Monacelli, 36. ``I dreamed about being the best bowler in the world. Now I feel like I might be in the top five or six.''

He's not far from the $2 million mark in career earnings and has been PBA Player of the Year twice already.

Monacelli blocks from his mind thoughts of being the top qualifier or the tournament winner.

``Those kind of thoughts come at the very end,'' he said. ``Right now, it's all concentration and execution for me.''

A highlight of qualifying was a 300 game rolled by Justin Hromek of Andover, Kan. All 12 strikes by the righthander were buried in the 1-3 pocket. The perfect game enabled Hromek to move from 35th in the first block to 18th.

NOTES: Qualifying concludes today with six games. Shifts are scheduled at 9 a.m. and 12:15 p.m. The top 24 scorers advance to match play beginning at 6:45 p.m. . . . The field was reduced from 160 when one bowler withdrew with a shoulder injury and Kurtis Evans was involved in an auto accident en route to the tournament. . . . Williams, who is seeking his 25th career win, said, ``I didn't make the right adjustments, but I thought the lanes were pretty easy out there.'' . . . Pro-am results will be announced later in the week after average checks. More than 1,000 spectators turned out for the pro-am. . . . The last time the PBA Tour was here, in 1969, the top prize was $6,000, won by Tommy Tuttle. The winner this year gets $21,000. ILLUSTRATION: BETH BERGMAN NAKAMURA/The Virginian-Pilot

Amleto Monacelli averaged 244 over six games in the first round of

the Ebonite Challenge at Pinboy's in Western Branch. The final round

of qualifying is today; the top 24 advance to match play tonight.

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