Amleto Monacelli

Monacelli joined the PBA in 1982, and he won his first PBA Tour event in the 1987 Japan Cup. Amleto's style typified that of the modernizing game of bowling, as he was one of the first bowlers to successfully use the powerful cranker-style release. In the 1989 season he won four titles, including the Touring Players Championship (his only major on the standard PBA Tour), on his way to winning the Harry Smith Points Leader and PBA Player of the Year awards. This marked the first time an international player had won PBA Player of the Year honors. (Mika Koivuniemi of Finland and Jason Belmonte of Australia have since also earned this distinction.) Monacelli repeated as Player of the Year in 1990, a year in which he also won the George Young High Average award.

Monacelli failed to qualify for a PBA exemption in the 2007–08 and 2008-09 seasons, but regained his exemption for 2009-10. He appeared in the TV finals at the 2009-10 PBA Chameleon Championship. A forearm injury led to a disappointing 142 score and a loss in his opening match.[2]

Monacelli won his 20th PBA title in January 2016, at the site of his first, in Japan's Tokyo Port Bowl for the DHC PBA Japan Invitational. Qualifying as the #2 seed, Monacelli defeated Chris Barnes in the semifinal, then went on to defeat England's Dominic Barrett in the final. Ending an 11-year title drought on the standard PBA Tour, the 54-year old Monacelli became the third-oldest player to win a PBA Tour title, behind John Handegard (age 57) and Buzz Fazio (winner of two titles at age 56).[3] With Norm Duke winning a 2019 standard PBA Tour title a month shy of his 55th birthday, Monacelli is now fourth on this list.[4]

Monacelli's 20 total titles place him tied for 13th on the all-time list with Dick Ritger, Tommy Jones, and Wayne Webb. He has won over $2.5 million (U.S.) on the PBA Tour (through 2016), making him one of only seven PBA bowlers in history to surpass $2 million in career earnings. He was ranked #21 on the PBA's 2008 list of "50 Greatest Players of the Last 50 Years," and has rolled 58 perfect 300 games in PBA Tour events.

The PBA recognized Monacelli in 1997 by inducting him into the PBA Hall of Fame, making him the first international player so honored. In a 1999 edition of El Nacional, a Venezuelan newspaper, Monacelli was ranked as the fourth best Venezuelan athlete of the 20th Century. He was inducted into the USBC Hall of Fame in 2012.[5]

Major titles are shown in bold type.

1. 1987 Japan Cup (Tokyo, Japan)
   
2. 1988 Showboat Invitational (Las Vegas, Nevada)
   
3. 1989 Miller Lite Challenge (Tucson, Arizona)
   
4. 1989 Wichita Open (Wichita, Kansas)
   
5. 1989 Budweiser Touring Players Championship (Taylor, Michigan)
   
6. 1989 Cambridge Credit Mixed Doubles w/Tish Johnson (Reno, Nevada)
   
7. 1990 Columbus Professional Bowling Classic (Columbus, Ohio)
   
8. 1990 Wichita Open (Wichita, Kansas)
   
9. 1990 Cambridge Credit Mixed Doubles w/Tish Johnson (Reno, Nevada)
   
10. 1991 Quaker State Open (Grand Prairie, Texas)
    
11. 1991 True Value Open (Peoria, Illinois)
    
12. 1992 Choice Hotels Summer Classic (Edmond, Oklahoma)
    
13. 1992 Taylor Lanes Open (Taylor, Michigan)
    
14. 1994 Leisure’s Long Island Open (Sayville, New York)
    
15. 1994 Greater Lexington Classic (Lexington, Kentucky)
    
16. 1995 Oranamin C Japan Cup (Tokyo, Japan)
    
17. 1997 Mobil 1 Classic (Bay City, Michigan)
    
18. 1997 Ebonite Classic (Chesapeake, Virginia)
    
19. 2005 Jackson-Hewitt Tax Service Open (Fairlawn, Ohio)
    
20. 2016 DHC PBA Japan Invitational (Tokyo, Japan)

The son of Italian and Hispanic parents, Monacelli speaks fluent Italian, Spanish, and English. He was an accomplished soccer player in his teen years, but increased his participation in bowling when his parents took ownership of a bowling center in Venezuela. By age 17, he decided to pursue bowling full-time and make it his career.

• Amleto Moncelli Bio at PBA.com (archived March 31, 2016)