ESPN and the PBA nailed it Sunday during the annual World Series Bowling competition

The PBA returned Sunday afternoon with the airing of the Cheetah Championship, held at the at South Point Hotel, Casino and Bowling Center on ESPN. As a part of the World Series of Bowling and for the first the first time in history, the world was able to see what some of the world’s best bowlers – including Pete Weber, Wes Mallot, Clara Guerrero, and Parker Bohn – face on the lanes when a blue-dye is added to the lanes.

Sunday’s Cheetah Championship marks the third time in PBA history — and the first time in World Series of Bowling history — that a woman, Clara Guerrero, is a a part of the competition telecast. Guerrero, of Columbia faced Wes Malott in the first match of the stepladder finals. Pete Weber was No. 2 seed and Parker Bohn III was No. 1. And this historic event didn’t disappoint viewers.

Wes Mallot defeated Clara Guerrero, 214-208, in the opening match — despite being 15-pins down heading into the eighth frame — and was almost perfect in beating PBA Hall of Famer Pete Weber, 288-242, to advance to the title match.

The telecast also added the first of four “PBA League Challenge” segments, challenging eight PBA League “franchise” players to demonstrate skills in various competitions. The first being a “blind bowling” competition, in which a large curtain was pulled over the lanes, hiding the pins and leaving only the first part of the lanes visible. Each player bowled a 9th and 10th frame and Pete Weber, who represented the New York City WTT KingPins, won with four strikes for a perfect score of 60.

After the win, Weber said,

“I didn’t have to shoot any spares, so what’s the big deal? I spot at the foul line, so shooting spares wouldn’t have been a problem if I had needed to shoot at one. I never even saw the screen.”

The next PBA League Challenge will be the “speed challenge”, held during the Viper Championships this Sunday. The competition will require the bowlers to roll as many strikes as possible in 90 seconds.

For more information about the World Series of bowling, the new blue-dyed lanes, and the PBA League Challenge events, visit http://www.pba.com/Tournaments/WorldSeries