February 8, 2022 Jef Goodger

The first of four THE STORM CUP events takes place at JAX60

Jackson, Mich.—Two days after Anthony Simonsen claimed the U.S. Open championship, the 2022 Guaranteed Rate PBA Tour season moves to JAX60 for THE STORM CUP: David Small’s Best of the Best Championship. The two-day event will be live streamed exclusively on FloBowling, beginning today at 11 a.m. ET and culminating with the stepladder finals tomorrow night at 6:30 p.m. ET.

Here are some of the storylines coming out of the U.S. Open and heading into THE STORM CUP: David Small’s Best of the Best Championship:

THE STORM CUP

THE STORM CUP: David Small’s Best of the Best Championship is the first of four events making up the 2022 THE STORM CUP. Following competition in Jackson, Kokomo, Ind., Lubbock, Texas and Colorado Springs, Colo., the player with the most THE STORM CUP points will earn a $10,000 bonus. Second place will receive $5,000, third place $4,000 and fourth and fifth place $3,000 each.

Each THE STORM CUP event will feature 12 games of full-field qualifying, with the top 24 players bowling four more games to determine the top 16, who bowl two more games to cut to eight. After two more games, the top four players advance to the stepladder finals.

Darren Tang won last year’s version of THE STORM CUP, leading all players in PBA Summer Tour points.

Simonsen Going for Back-to-Back Wins

Qualifying second for the U.S. Open stepladder finals, Anthony Simonsen defeated Jason Belmonte in the semifinal match and tournament leader EJ Tackett in the championship match to claim the trophy. It was Simonsen’s ninth PBA Tour title and third major, making him the youngest player ever to win three majors (he was already the youngest player to win one and two majors). He’s second to Belmonte in PBA Playoffs points through two events and could potentially take the lead in Jackson.

Tackett Won’t Relent

Although he finished second in the U.S. Open, Tackett led all qualifiers into the stepladder, besting eventual winner Simonsen by 502 pins throughout qualifying and match play. Tackett will look to get back to striking today in Jackson in an effort to win his 15th PBA Tour title. Tackett has had a lot of success in THE STORM CUP events in the past few years, including winning THE STORM CUP in 2017.

Belmonte Making Stepladders

Two events into the season, Jason Belmonte is the only player to have qualified for both top fives. He qualified second and won the PBA Players Championship, then qualified fifth and advanced to the semifinals before finishing third in the U.S. Open. There are only four spots available in Jackson and Belmonte will do whatever he can to get one of them.

THE STORM CUP: David Small’s Best of the Best Schedule

JAX60 – Jackson, Mich.
All rounds streamed live on FloBowling

Tuesday, February 8
11 a.m. ET – Qualifying Round 1 (6 games)
5 p.m. ET – Qualifying Round 2 (6 games)

Wednesday, February 9
10 a.m. ET – Round of 24 (4 games)
1:30 p.m. ET – Round of 16 (2 games)
3:30 p.m. ET – Round of 8 (2 games)
6:30 p.m. ET – Stepladder Finals

About the PBA

The Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) is the world’s preeminent organization dedicated to the sport of bowling and its professional competition, with thousands of members and millions of fans throughout the world. The PBA plays host to bowling’s biggest tournaments from the PBA Tour, PBA Regional Tour, and PBA50 Tour. In 2020, the PBA launched PBA Jr., a club for elite youth bowlers under the age of 17 and the PBA Pinsiders, a membership for fans of the sport. For more information, please visit PBA.com.

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