October 5, 2020 spopp

 

Denmark player defeats Pennsylvania's BJ Moore to win PBA Scorpion Championship

 

Centreville, Va. – Denmark's Carsten Hansen defeated BJ Moore, 216-193, in the PBA Scorpion Championship to win the final event of Storm World Series of Bowling XI, which started in March in Las Vegas and concluded at Bowlero Centreville on FS1 Monday night.

It wasn't Hansen's first Go Bowling PBA Tour title. That win came a year ago in Sweden at the PBA International-World Bowling Tour Storm Lucky Larsen Masters. But this Scorpion victory, coming in his first appearance on American national television, was as special, perhaps more so.

"It was my childhood dream to win on this stage I saw on TV as a kid," Hansen, 27, said. "That was what I wanted to try and do, and now to have done it, it is just amazing."

With his win on the 42-foot Scorpion pattern, Hansen joined a veritable 'who's who' of European Professional Bowlers Association players who have made a name for themselves at the PBA World Series of Bowling.

Starting with Finland's Osku Palermaa in 2010 at WSOB II, a strong group of Europeans have become PBA stars after bursting on the scene to win their first PBA title on American TV at the World Series. England's Stuart Williams and Dom Barrett each won in 2011 at WSOB III. Jesper Svensson of Sweden did it in 2015 at WSOB VII, and Richie Teece of England in 2017 was the latest at WSOB IX.

"It's what I have been fighting for my whole life. All the long hours in the bowling center or the gym. Trying to understand bowling balls or lanes," said Hansen. "Now, knowing all that hard work wasn’t all for nothing, is just amazing."

Hansen was joined in the Scorpion finals seeding round by a final four headlined by 26-year-old, 7-time PBA champ Jakob Butturff, one-time champion BJ Moore and Darren Tang, still searching for his first win after failing to cash in on a Cheetah Championship finals appearance earlier this week. 

Hansen won the top seed in the stepladder with a 224, but the drama was for the No. 2 seed as Moore and Tang tied at 217. Moore won the one-ball roll-off, 10-9, to secure the top seed.

Tang disposed of Butturff in the first match, 214-160, as Butturff missed two spares during the match before also missing a meaningless third spare in the 10th. 

In the semifinal match, Moore finished by stringing the last nine strikes to eliminate Tang, 255-213.

But Moore's run of strikes ended in the final. He could not muster a double, as Hansen marched to victory with a workmanlike clean game. Three 10-pin leaves were all that stood between him and the first seven strikes. 

The longest WSOB ever is now complete. Jason Belmonte won the main event PBA World Championship at the event's original host, South Point Bowling Plaza in Las Vegas, back in March before the event was halted due to COVID-19. The animal pattern events were picked up in Virginia with strict safety guidelines including no fans on site. Sean Rash won the PBA Cheetah Championship, Belmonte the PBA Chameleon Championship and Hansen in the Scorpion.

Hansen, a right-hander, has been a PBA member since 2012, competing primarily in World Series PBA events because of the opportunities the WSOB presents with multiple events at one location. He won a PBA regional doubles title with Palermaa at the World Series in 2013, but this win on TV against a field as deep and strong as the 120 that entered WSOB XI could signal a new star. 

"I think this is going to change a lot for me mentally, knowing I can do this," Hansen said. 

Hansen did not earn enough PBA points in 2020 to qualify for the PBA Playoffs, the season-culminating event featuring the top 24 in season points which begins its exciting six-show run of survive-and-advance single-elimination matches this Saturday at 8 pm ET on FOX. 


PBA SCORPION CHAMPIONSHIP

Storm WSOB XI

Bowlero Centreville


Final Standings

1, Carsten Hansen, Denmark, $25,000

2, BJ Moore, Greensburg, Pa., $13,000

3, Darren Tang, San Francisco, $7,000

4, Jakob Butturff, Temp, Az., $6,000


Playoff Results

Seeding Round – Hansen, 224; Moore, 217 (10); Tang, 217 (9); Butturff, 191.

Match 1 - Tang def. Butturff, 214-160.

Semifinal - Moore def. Tang, 255-213.

Championship – Hansen def. Moore, 216-193.


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 Go Bowling! PBA Tour, PBA Regional Tour, and PBA50 Tour. In 2019, the PBA was acquired by Bowlero Corporation, the world’s largest owner and operator of bowling entertainment centers with more than 300 locations throughout North America. For more information, please visit PBA.com.