Champion crowned at PBA World Championship

20 November, 2017

PBA National Tour

4459

Ads

Spoiler alert: These scores may not have been broadcast on television yet.

The champion in the PBA World Championshipwas determined on Sunday, Dec. 19, to conclude the PBA World Series of Bowling IX at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nevada.

2017 PBA World Championship finalists, from left: Jesper Svensson, Jason Belmonte, Ryan Ciminelli, Kyle Troup and Matt Sanders.

The crown jewel of the GEICO PBA World of Series IX, presented by Eldorado Reno Resorts Properties, the PBA World Championship, was taped for telecast on ESPN on Dec. 31 at 1 p.m. EST.

As top qualifier for the PBA World Championship, Jesper Svensson of Sweden earned the right to select which of the four PBA animal patterns he wanted the field to confront during the stepladder finals, and he selected the Chameleon 39 pattern.

Svensson, already a seven-time PBA Tour winner after winning the PBA Cheetah Championship, was trying for his second PBA major title after winning the 2016 PBA Tournament of Champions, while second-seeded Jason Belmonte, a 15-time Tour winner, was trying for his ninth major, which would put him alone in third place among the PBA’s all-time major title winners. Neither player had won the PBA World Championship before.

Belmonte was also trying for his third major title of the season winning the Barbasol PBA Players Championship and 2017 United States Bowling Congress Masters earlier this year.

Joining two-handers Svensson and Belmonte in the stepladder final were seven-time Tour winner Ryan Ciminelli of Cheektowaga, N.Y., who is also trying for his second major, after winning the 2015 U.S. Open; two-time Tour winner Kyle Troup of Taylorsville, N.C., another two-hander, who won his lone title in 2017 together with Svensson in the Mark Roth/Marshall Holman PBA Doubles Championship; and PBA Rookie of the Year contender Matt Sanders of Evansville, Ind., who won his first PBA Tour title earlier this season in the Billy Hardwick Memorial Open.

Four champions crowned in PBA WSOB IX “Animal Pattern” Championships
USA vs. The World to air Sunday, Dec. 10, on ESPN
Germany’s Tobias Börding wins inaugural PBA Don Carano WSOB Award
Belmonte advances to Scorpion finals for second Animal Pattern telecast appearance
Svensson, Belmonte headline all-international Cheetah finals field
Kent, Daugherty, Teece and Brown advance to Shark Championship finals
Liz Johnson among PBA Chameleon Championship finalists
World Bowling Tour Men’s Finals field set, order of matches pending
Jesper Svensson earns top qualifier honors for PBA World Championship finals
Jesper Svensson takes commanding PBA World Championship
Mexico’s Arturo Quintero leads PBA Scorpion Championship qualifying
Denmark’s Thomas Larsen leads PBA Cheetah Championship qualifying
Japan’s Shota Kawazoe leads PBA Shark Championship qualifying
Tom Smallwood averages 243.9 to lead PBA Chameleon Championship qualifying
PBA returns to Reno for GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling IX
PBA announces Ultimate Fan Experience Packages for GEICO WSOB IX
2017 PBA Tour Schedule & Champions

PBA World Championship – Stepladder Finals

ESPN delayed telecast airs on Sunday, Dec. 31 at 1 p.m. ET.

Championship Round:
1. Jason Belmonte, Australia, 495 (2 games), $60,000
2. Jesper Svensson, Sweden, 225 (1 game), $30,000
3. Ryan Ciminelli, Cheektowaga, N.Y., 450 (2 games), $25,000
4. Kyle Troup, Taylorsville, N.C., 428 (2 games), $20,000
5. Matt Sanders, Evansville, Ind., 248 (1 game), $15,000

Playoff Results:
First Match: No. 4 Troup def. No. 5 Sanders, 10-7, in roll-off after a 248-248 tie
Second Match: No. 3 Ciminelli def. Troup, 193-180
Semi-final Match: No. 2 Belmonte vs. Ciminelli, 9-7, in roll-off after a 257-257 tie
Championship: Belmonte def. No. 1 Svensson, 238-225.

Herbert Bickel