With three Professional Bowlers Association Tour titles already in his portfolio for the 2016 season, EJ Tackett of Huntington, Ind., has dramatically improved his chances to win PBA Player of the Year honors by advancing to the final rounds in all five PBA Tour title events in the GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling VIII.

Tackett (pictured above and right), with 2016 PBA Tour titles in the PBA Xtra Frame Storm Open in Carpentersville, Ill., the PBA Bear Open in Detroit and the PBA Team Challenge in Las Vegas, Nev., is among the 24 players who have advanced to the best-of-five-game match play elimination rounds in the Cheetah, Chameleon, Scorpion and Shark animal pattern championship events which will be contested Tuesday through Thursday.

He also advanced to the PBA World Championship match play finals as the tournament leader.

Mitch Beasley of Clarksville, Tenn., and BJ Moore III (left) of Greensburg, Pa., were the only other WSOB players to advance in all five events. Both are trying for their first PBA Tour titles.

A four-time PBA Tour title winner, the 2013 PBA Rookie of the Year is still trying for his first major title after finishing second in the 2014 USBC Masters and 2015 Rolltech PBA World Championship, when he led both events but lost in the title matches.

Sweden’s Jesper Svensson (right), the other three-time PBA Tour title winner in 2016 (including the FireLake PBA Tournament of Champions), advanced to the elimination rounds in the Chameleon Championship and the Scorpion Championship. He also made it into the World Championship match play finals, but wasn’t in position to make the TV finals.

Two-time winners in 2016 who still have a chance to improve on their title totals include Anthony Simonsen (left), Austin, Texas (Cheetah Championship, Scorpion, Shark and World Championship), and Sean Rash (below right), Montgomery, Ill., (Cheetah and PBA World Championship).

Ryan Ciminelli, Cheektowaga, N.Y., and Jakob Butturff, Chandler, Ariz., didn’t advance in any of the five events.

The leading contenders in the PBA Rookie of the Year race are Canadians Graham Fach and Francoise Lavoie, who both have won PBA major titles in 2016. Fach can’t win another title, but Lavoie is still among the finalists in the Chameleon, Shark and World Championships.

All of the remaining match play elimination rounds in the World Series will be covered live, exclusively by PBA’s online live-streaming service, Xtra Frame. For more information, click here.

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GEICO PBA WSOB VIII – Animal Pattern Match Play Pairings

Best-of-five-game single elimination match play; all times are Pacific; w-denotes woman

PBA Cheetah Championship

National Bowling Stadium, Reno, Nev., Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2016

Round of 24 (Tuesday, 10 a.m.)
Francois Louw, South Africa, vs. Walter Ray Williams Jr., Oxford, Fla
Anthony Simonsen, Austin, Texas, vs. Dave Wodka, Beavercreek, Ohio
Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, vs. Marshall Kent, Yakima, Wash
Mike Wolfe, New Albany, Ind., vs. Joe Paluszek, Bensalem, Pa
Matt O’Grady, South Amboy, N.J., vs. Andrew Graff, Las Vegas
Mitch Beasley, Clarksville, Tenn., vs. Darren Tang, San Francisco
Ron Mohr, N. Las Vegas, vs. Richie Teese, England
Dom Barrett, England, vs. Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C

Round of 16 (Tuesday, 1 p.m.; winners advance to Round of 8)
Brad Miller, Maryland Heights, Mo., vs. Louw-Williams winner
Brandon Novak, Chillicothe, Ohio, vs. Simonsen-Wodka winner
Greg Ostrander, Freehold, N.J., vs. Barnes-Kent winner
EJ Tackett, Huntington, Ind., vs. Wolfe-Paluszek winner
Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., vs. O’Grady-Graff winner
w-Daria Pajak, Poland, vs. Beasley-Tang winner
BJ Moore III, Greensburg, Pa., vs. Mohr-Teese winner
Pascal Winternheimer, Germany, vs. Barrett-Jones winner

Round of 8: Thursday, Dec. 8, 10 a.m.
Semifinal Round: Saturday, Dec. 10, noon (live streamed on ESPN3; taped to air on ESPN on Sunday, Dec 18, 1 p.m. ET)
Championship: Immediately following semifinal round.

PBA Chameleon Championship

National Bowling Stadium, Reno, Nev., Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2016

Round of 24 (Tuesday, 4:30 p.m.)
Patrick Dombrowski, Parma, Ohio, vs. Dave Wodka, Beavercreek, Ohio
Zeke Bayt, Westerville, Ohio, vs. Marshall Kent, Yakima, Wash
Martin Larsen, Sweden, vs. EJ Tackett, Huntington, Ind
Chris Warren, Grants Pass, Ore., vs. Mitch Beasley, Clarksville, Tenn
Mik Stampe, Denmark, vs. AJ Johnson, Oswego, Ill
Arturo Quintero, Mexico, vs. BJ Moore III, Greensburg, Pa
Pete Weber, St. Ann, Mo., vs. Osku Palermaa, Finland
Sam Cooley, Australia, vs. Jeff Evans, Supply, N.C

Round of 16 (Tuesday, 7:30 p.m.; winners advance to Round of 8 on Thursday, 1 p.m.)
Jesper Svensson, Sweden, vs. Dombrowski-Wodka winner
Mike DeVaney, Winchester, Calif., vs. Bayt-Kent winner
Francois Lavoie, Canada, vs. M. Larsen-Tackett winner
Matt McNiel, Minneapolis, vs. Warren-Beasley winner
Dick Allen, Columbia, S.C., vs. Stampe-Johnson winner
Brandon Novak, Chillicothe, Ohio, vs. Quintero-Moore winner
Patrick Girard, Canada, vs. Weber-Palermaa winner
Thomas Larsen, Denmark, vs. Cooley-Evans winner

Round of 8: Thursday, Dec. 8, 1 p.m.
Semifinal Round: Saturday, Dec. 10, 2:30 p.m. (live streamed on ESPN3; taped to air on ESPN on Saturday, Dec. 24, 1 p.m. ET)
Championship: Immediately following semifinal round.

PBA Scorpion Championship

National Bowling Stadium, Reno, Nev., Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2016

Round of 24 (Wednesday, 10 a.m.)
Anthony Simonsen, Austin, Texas, vs. Martin Larsen, Sweden
Jesper Svensson, Sweden, vs. Thomas Larsen, Denmark
Andrew Graff, Las Vegas, vs. Brandon Novak, Chillicothe, Ohio
AJ Johnson, Oswego, Ill., vs. Eugene McCune, Munster, Ind
Kyle Troup, Taylorsville, N.C., vs. Lonnie Waliczek, Wichita, Kan
Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., vs. Nick Kruml, Downers Grove, Ill
Benjamin Canfield, Tempe, Ariz., vs. BJ Moore III, Greensburg, Pa
Dom Barrett, England, vs. Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas

Round of 16 (Wednesday, 1 p.m.; winners advance to Round of 8 on Thursday, 1 p.m.)
Tom Daugherty, Riverview, Fla., vs. Simonsen-M. Larsen winner
Jason Belmonte, Australia, vs. Svensson-T. Larsen winner
Shawn Maldonado, Houston, vs. Graff-Novak winner
Kris Prather, Milton, Fla., vs. Johnson-McCune winner
EJ Tackett, Huntington, Ind., vs. Troup-Waliczek winner
Sam Cooley, Australia, vs. Jones-Kruml winner
Matt O’Grady, South Amboy, N.J., vs. Canfield-Moore winner
Mitch Beasley, Clarksville, Tenn., vs. Barrett-Malott winner

Round of 8: Thursday, Dec. 8, 4:30 p.m.
Semifinal Round: Saturday, Dec. 10, 4:15 p.m. (live streamed on ESPN3; taped to air on ESPN on Sunday, Dec. 25, 2:30 p.m. ET)
Championship: Immediately following semifinal round.

PBA Shark Championship

National Bowling Stadium, Reno, Nev., Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2016

Round of 24 (Wednesday, 4:30 p.m.)
Martin Larsen, Sweden, vs. Tom Smallwood, Saginaw, Mich
Anthony Simonsen, Austin, Texas, vs. Dom Barrett, England
Mitch Beasley, Clarksville, Tenn., vs. Derek Handy, Redmond, Wash
Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, vs. w-Ingellimar Beasley, Venezuela
Mik Stampe, Denmark, vs. Kyle Troup, Taylorsville, N.C
Markus Jansson, Sweden, vs. Bill O’Neill, Langhorne, Pa
Chris Warren, Grants Pass, Ore., vs. Walter Ray Williams Jr., Oxford, Fla
Dick Allen, Columbia, S.C., vs. Nathan Bohr, Austin, Texas

Round of 16 (Wednesday, 7:30 p.m.; winners advance to Round of 8 on Thursday, 7 p.m.)
BJ Moore III, Greensburg, Pa., vs. M. Larsen-Smallwood winner
Andrew Cain, Phoenix, vs. Simonsen-Barrett winner
Sam Cooley, Australia, vs. M. Beasley-Handy winner
Francois Lavoie, Canada, vs. Barnes-I.Beasley winner
Matt O’Grady, South Amboy, N.J., vs. Stampe-Troup winner
Jason Sterner, Cocoa, Fla., vs. Jansson-O’Neill winner
Pete Weber, St. Ann, Mo., vs. Warren-Williams winner
EJ Tackett, Huntington, Ind., vs. Allen-Bohr winner

Round of 8: Thursday, Dec. 8, 7 p.m.
Semifinal Round: Saturday, Dec. 10, 6 p.m. (live streamed on ESPN3; taped to air on ESPN on Sunday, Dec. 25, 3:30 p.m. ET)
Championship: Immediately following semifinal round.