PROFESSIONAL Bowlers Association leading man Jason Belmonte, arguably one of the best on the planet, has plenty of motivation to take out this weekend’s 2016 Audi-QubicaAMF Orange Open.

It’s not just because he got beaten in 2015’s corresponding event either, finishing second behind Scott Robertson.

“I’ve got a bit of extra motivation again because I’ve decided to donate any money I win from the event to the junior development program here in Orange, which is run by Jason Brown,” Belmonte said.

“Unfortunately I rarely get the opportunity to help the kids here personally because I am on the road so much, so I like being able to give back this way.

“I was lucky enough to have the luxury of mum and dad owning the bowling centre, but obviously in any sport most kids don’t have those luxuries.

“The fact is, to work your way to higher levels you have to be spending money on equipment, coaching, travel and all that sort of thing.

“So many kids in rural, country areas are unable to do it, so to be able to give back even a little bit and get the chance to bowl in my home-town as well is really great.

“Obviously I need to win to do that though, so I’ll be thinking of the kids (to motivate me) if things don’t go to plan.”

He’s confident of things going to plan though, from when play begins at 9am on Saturday. The competition will run until 6.30pm that night and resume at 9am on Sunday, before the presentation at 1pm that afternoon.

“Absolutely I am. The young guy who beat me last year, Scott Robertson, bowled really, really well and I think I took the competition for granted a little bit,” Belmonte said.

“I was below-par from what I normally expect of myself, but I think I came into it a [bit complacent]. This year I’ve done plenty of hard work for it, I’m excited.

“It’s an absolute pleasure to be able to come back and bowl at home, this is an event I look forward to every year,”

“You know, normally I’m on a plane for 30 hours to get to competitions so it’s really refreshing to be able to drive six minutes up the road to bowl in a tournament.”

The 2016 Audi-QubicaAMF Orange Open runs as a scratch tournament, with the highest pinfall at the end of the two days taking home the winner’s cheque.

Ten games are competed on Saturday with the best 32 scores progressing to Sunday’s final day of competition.