NEXT STEP: Orange's Jason Belmonte is returning home to prepare for the AMF Australian Masters this month. Photo: GETTY IMAGES
JASON Belmonte will need to excel at home in order to make the World Bowling Tour finals this year.
The Orange bowler is sixth on the WBT standings with only the top three men from the 2011 and 2012 seasons making the finals.
The final WBT event will be the 2012 Australian Masters later this month and this will decide who has qualified for the finals.
Belmonte will be looking to bounce back in Australia after finishing 16th at the PBA Tour-World Bowling Tour Thailand 2012 event on Monday.
The defending champion was slow out of the blocks in qualifying to be 14th but this put him straight into round three of the finals.
He bowled a further six games there and his 1278 total allowed him to be 12th and scrape into the next round.
The two-handed bowler struggled to 1266 for six games to finish 16th.
“Felt like I was stuck in 2nd gear all day,” Belmonte posted on Facebook.
“Disappointed about my performance but understand why my score was what it was today. Onwards and upwards I say.”
Korea’s Cho Young-Seon took out the Thailand title ahead of America’s Chris Barnes.
Finland’s Mika Koivuniemi is leading the WBT men’s standings with 383 points.
American’s take up the next three positions with Mike Fagan (342), Chris Barnes (288) and Sean Rash (244) up there.
Findland’s Osku Palermaa, another two-handed bowler, is fifth with 218 points and Belmonte is sixth on 189.
The AMF Australian Masters will be held at AMF Rooty Hill in Sydney from October 26-27 and is set to attract some of the world’s top bowlers.