EJ Tackett Maintains Lead in PBA World Championship
The PBA World Series of Bowling (WSOB) XVI has shifted competition to the PBA World Championship.
EJ Tackett, the three-time and two-time defending champion of the event, maintained his lead of the major championship on Thursday at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nev.
Tackett shot 1,827 for his first eight games on the 43-foot Earl Anthony oil pattern. He leads the 50 players remaining in the field with a total pinfall of 13,217 (+2,017) through Advancer Round 1, the first of two-eight game qualifying rounds before a cut to the top 16 players for round robin match play.
“I feel like I bowled better than my score,” Tackett said of his Advancer Round 1 performance. “Luckily, I was able to bowl a good last game (278) to kind of save the block. I definitely feel like I pulled better than my score today, but that's the way it goes sometimes. A lot of times, (the solution) is finding a different ball to go through the pins the right way and make the pocket bigger. I might drill a couple balls, see if I can get a couple different shapes going down the lane and see what happens.”
Tackett led the entire WSOB field through 48 games of qualifying, which included the 12-game qualifying rounds from the PBA Scorpion, Viper, Chameleon and Shark Championships. He was the only player in the field to reach the Round of 16 in each of the animal pattern championships.
“It's all about just giving yourself opportunities to win championships, and so far, I’m perfect in that,” Tackett said. “I qualified second in a couple of events, so If I can win my (Round of 16) match on those patterns, I’ve got a pretty good chance at making the show or even being the No. 1 seed. I’ve just got to bowl well and put myself on the show. Hopefully I can bowl well and get a lot of TV time.”
Jason Belmonte, Boog Krol, Matt Ogle and Jesper Svensson each advanced to the Round of 16 in three of four events.
Mitch Hupé led the Advancer Round 1 field with a score of 1,982, a 247.75 average, to climb from 10th to sixth place.
Pontus Andersson, the last player to make the cut, made an even further leap with a block of 1,958. He sits in 29th place and 149 pins behind 16th place, currently held by Lanndyn Carnate (+1,478) .
Andrew Anderson rose from 25th place into 14th place and inside the current cut, while Kris Prather fired two 300 games to move from 44th place to 25th.
Following Advancer Round 2, which begins at 10 a.m. Pacific/local (1 p.m. Eastern) time on Friday, the top 16 players will advance to round-robin match play in the major championship.
Advancing players will bowl an additional 16 games of round-robin match play on Thursday, March 20.
The top five players will then advance to the championship round on Saturday, May 22 at 3 p.m. ET on FOX.
All rounds of PBA WSOB XVI qualifying and match play will be livestreamed on BowlTV.
Advancer Round 1 Leaders | PBA World Championship
- EJ Tackett, 13,217 (+2,017)
- Jason Belmonte, 13,105 (+1,905)
- Jesper Svensson, 13,004 (+1,804)
- Tim Foy Jr., 12,995 (+1,795)
- Boog Krol, 12,953 (1,753)
- Mitch Hupé, 12,937 (+1,737)
- Darren Ong, 12,867 (+1,667)
- BJ Moore, 12,866 (+1,666)
- Chris Via, 12,863 (+1,663)
- Matt Ogle, 12,858 (+1,658)
Full standings are available here.
Tournament Schedule
National Bowling Stadium | Reno, NV
All times Pacific/local
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.