EJ Tackett Continues WSOB Dominance in PBA Chameleon Championship
While the scoring pace in the PBA Chameleon Championship has yielded 20 perfect games thus far, no one in the 200-player PBA World Series of Bowling (WSOB) XVI field has struck at the rate of Canada’s Mitch Hupé and Japan’s Yuma Haraguchi.
Hupé and Haraguchi tied for the qualifying lead on the 41-foot Chameleon oil pattern, averaging a blistering 256.92 for their 12 games to tally a total pinfall of 3,083 (+683). They each finished three pins shy of the 12-game scoring record, which was set by Michael Davidson during the PB Delaware Classic earlier this year.
For their efforts, Hupé and Haraguchi earned a bye to the Round of 16 in PBA Chameleon Championship elimination match play. Lanndyn Carnate, Tun Hakim, Jesper Svensson, Chris Via, Pontus Andersson and Zach Weidman also earned a bye as top-eight qualifiers.
In the Round of 24, which was contested on Sunday night, EJ Tackett and Boog Krol swept their best-of-five-games match, respectively. Tackett and Krol made the Round of 16 in all three animal pattern championships so far in the WSOB.
Thomas Larsen (aided by games of 299 and 296), Andrew Anderson, Tomas Käyhkö, AJ Johnson, Kevin McCune and Zach Wilkins also won their Round of 24 match.
The Rounds of 16 and 8 will take place on Tuesday, March 18, leading to the championship round that day at 4 p.m. PT (7 p.m. ET) on FS1.
The only two animal pattern championships Tackett has yet to win in his career are the Viper and Chameleon Championships. He has won two titles in each of the past two WSOBs.
“Winning a bunch at this tournament over the course of my career definitely makes me feel good every time we walk into this event,” Tackett said. “When it says “WSOB,” I wouldn't say my confidence goes up — one thing I've never really lacked is confidence in myself — but I always like my chances. Because of the amount of games that we bowl and the different things that you have to do every single day to put it together, I've always enjoyed (this event) and it's shown the success that I've had in the PBA World Championship.”
Tackett is a three-time and two-time defending PBA World Champion titleist. He ranks second in the major championship through 36 games of qualifying, which includes qualifying games from the PBA Scorpion, Viper, Chameleon and Shark Championships.
Jason Belmonte, also a three-time champion of the event, sits 18 pins ahead of Tackett. Belmonte has enjoyed a narrow margin over Tackett after each round, specifically for the lead following the past three rounds.
“Jason is one of the greatest that’s ever played the game, and he hasn't really been that for the last 12-15 months. But this year, he's starting to find his way back to being Jason Belmonte again,” Tackett said. “If I'm able to get on the show, I expect Jason to be there as well. I think it would be really cool if we were able to have a title match rematch from (2023). I would look forward to that, but my end goal is to win the tournament and I’m going to show up and bowl to the best of my abilities no matter who it is.”
Despite Tackett’s success thus far in the WSOB, the standard title event of which he is the defending champion — the PBA Shark Championship — has yet to begin.
B-squad begins PBA Shark Championship qualifying at 9 a.m. Pacific/local time. A-squad takes the lanes at 2:30 p.m. PT (5:30 p.m. ET) on Monday. The squads will flip competition times on Tuesday, followed by the Round of 24 at 7 p.m. PT (10 p.m. ET) Tuesday night.
All rounds of PBA WSOB XVI qualifying and match play will be livestreamed on BowlTV.
Round 2 Leaders | PBA Chameleon Championship
- Mitch Hupé, 3,083 (+683)
- Yuma Haraguchi, 3,083 (+683)
- Lanndyn Carnate, 3,036 (+636)
- Tun Hakim, 3,021 (+621)
- Jesper Svensson, 3,000 (+600)
- Chris Via, 2,996 (+596)
- Pontus Andersson, 2,985 (+585)
- Zach Weidman, 2,979 (+579)
Full standings are available here.
Round of 24 Results | PBA Chameleon Championship
No. 17 Thomas Larsen def. No. 17 Gabriel Alvarez, 3-1
No. 24 Andrew Anderson def. No. 9 Nathan Ruest-Lajoie, 3-2
No. 10 Zach Wilkins def. No. 23 Trevor Roberts, 3-1
No. 15 EJ Tackett def. No. 18 Peter Fox, 3-0
No. 19 AJ Johnson def. No. 14 Jason Belmonte, 3-2
No. 11 Kevin McCune def. No. 22 Matt Zweig, 3-1
No. 21 Tomas Käyhkö def. No. 12 Shota Kawazoe, 3-2
No. 13 Boog Krol def. No. 20 Jakob Butturff, 3-0
Round of 16 Matches | PBA Chameleon Championship
No. 1 Mitch Hupé vs. No. 17 Thomas Larsen
No. 8 Zach Weidman vs. . 24 Andrew Anderson
No. 2 Yuma Haraguchi vs. No. 15 EJ Tackett
No. 7 Pontus Andersson vs. No. 10 Zach Wilkins
No. 3 Lanndyn Carnate vs. No. 19 AJ Johnson
No. 6 Chris Via vs. No. 11 Kevin McCune
No. 4 Tun Hakim vs. No. 13 Boog Krol
No. 5 Jesper Svensson vs. No. 21 Tomas Käyhkö
Round 6 Leaders | PBA World Championship
- Jason Belmonte, 8,563 (+1,363)
- EJ Tackett, 8,545 (+1,345)
- Boog Krol, 8,490 (+1,290)
- BJ Moore, 8,490 (+1,290)
- Tim Foy Jr., 8,483 (+1,283)
- Jesper Svensson, 8,408 (+1,208)
- Trevor Roberts, 8,346 (+1,146)
- Mitch Hupé, 8,340 (+1,140)
- Darren Ong, 8,312 (+1,112)
- Zach Wilkins, 8,287 (+1,087)
Full standings are available here.
Tournament Schedule
National Bowling Stadium | Reno, NV
All times Pacific/local
Monday, March 10
9 a.m. — PBA Shark Championship - B-Squad Qualifying Round 1 (six games)
2:30 p.m. — PBA Shark Championship - A-Squad Qualifying Round 1 (six games)
Tuesday, March 11
9 a.m. — PBA Shark Championship - A-Squad Qualifying Round 2 (six games)
2:30 p.m. — PBA Shark Championship - B-Squad Qualifying Round 2 (six games)
Top 24 players advance to elimination match play
Top 1:4 of field advance to PBA World Championship advancer rounds
7 p.m. — PBA Shark Championship - Match Play Round of 24 (best-of-five games)
Wednesday, March 12
12 p.m. — PBA World Championship - Practice
Thursday, March 13
10 a.m. — PBA World Championship - Advancer Round 1 (eight games)
Friday, March 14
10 a.m. — PBA World Championship - Advancer Round 2 (eight games)
Top 16 players advance to PBA World Championship round-robin match play
3 p.m. — PBA Jr. National Championships - Meet and Greet
4 p.m. — PBA Jr. National Championships - Practice
6 p.m. — PBA Jr. National Championships - Match Play
Saturday, March 15
9 a.m. — PBA Jr. National Championships - Match Play
12:30 p.m. — PBA Jr. National Championships - Stepladder Finals (MIXED, U18 Boys and U18 Girls)
3 p.m. on FS1 — PBA Mike Aulby Nevada Classic pres. by Pilgrim’s - Finals
7 p.m. — PBA Jr. National Championship - Finals taping
Free Tickets
Sunday, March 16
9 a.m. — PBA Scorpion Championship - Match Play Round of 16 (best-of-five games)
11:30 a.m. — PBA Scorpion Championship - Match Play Round of 8 (best-of-five games)
Four winners and highest-seeded loser in Round of 8 advance to PBA Scorpion Championship Finals
5 p.m. on FS1 — PBA Scorpion Championship - Finals
Free Tickets
Monday, March 17
9 a.m. — PBA Viper Championship - Match Play Round of 16 (best-of-five games)
11:30 a.m. — PBA Viper Championship - Match Play Round of 8 (best-of-five games)
Four winners and highest-seeded loser in Round of 8 advance to PBA Viper Championship Finals
4 p.m. on FS1 — PBA Viper Championship - Finals
Free Tickets
Tuesday, March 18
9 a.m. — PBA Chameleon Championship - Match Play Round of 16 (best-of-five games)
11:30 a.m. — PBA Chameleon Championship - Match Play Round of 8 (best-of-five games)
Four winners and highest-seeded loser in Round of 8 advance to PBA Chameleon Championship stepladder finals
4 p.m. on FS1 — PBA Chameleon Championship - Finals
Free Tickets
Wednesday, March 19
9 a.m. — PBA Shark Championship - Match Play Round of 16 (best-of-five games)
11:30 a.m. — PBA Shark Championship - Match Play Round of 8 (best-of-five games)
Four winners and highest-seeded loser in Round of 8 advance to PBA Shark Championship stepladder finals
4 p.m. on FS1 — PBA Shark Championship - Finals
Free Tickets
Thursday, March 20
10 a.m. — PBA World Championship - Round-Robin Match Play Round 1 (eight games)
5 p.m. — PBA World Championship - Round-Robin Match Play Round 2 (eight games)
Top five players advance to PBA World Championship stepladder finals
Saturday, March 22
12 p.m. on FOX — PBA World Championship Finals
Free Tickets
More information on the PBA World Series of Bowling XVI is available here.