EJ Tackett of Huntington, Ind., and Liz Johnson of Palatine, Ill., survived a dramatic final game to win the 19th PBA-PWBA Storm Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles title at Copperfield Bowl in Houston, Texas, Sunday, sending Australia’s Jason Belmonte and Chicago’s Diandra Asbaty to their third consecutive runner-up finish.

Featured Photo from left: Storm’s Bill & Barb Chrisman, EJ Tackett, Liz Johnson and host Donna Conners.

Tackett, PBA’s 2016 Player of the Year, and Johnson, one of two women ever to win a PBA Tour title, led the tournament through 17 games before being overtaken by Belmonte and Asbaty.

Trailing Belmonte and Asbaty by 10 pins going into the final match, victory in the tournament was going to be decided by whichever team won the game.

Thanks in great part to a bold move by Johnson to move to an extreme outside angle on the left lane while continuing to play an inside angle along with the rest of the field on the right lane, she gave her team the edge with a 212-192 margin over Asbaty.

Tackett was unable to strike in his 10th frame, but Belmonte, needing a double for the win, left a 10 pin on his first shot in his 10th frame. Belmonte out-scored Tackett, 214-208, but it wasn’t quite enough.

Tackett and Johnson, bowling as partners for the first time in the event, won the final match, 420-406, and earned 30 match play bonus pins to post a composite 20-game total of 8,797 pins to win by a 34-pin margin.

“I’m ecstatic,” said Tackett, who earned his 11th PBA Tour title and second of the 2018 Go Bowling! PBA Tour season. “I’m so happy for Liz. I’m so proud to be part of this win. There was not a single person in this building who could have done what she did in that last game. It was absolutely amazing watching her play outside on one lane, inside on the other.

“There are only two people in the world who can do what Liz did – her and Norm Duke. That’s one reason she is the greatest woman bowler of all-time.”

“I’m pretty numb,” Johnson said of her 20th PWBA title. “It’s taken me 17 years to win here. People say ‘You’ve won everything,’ but this is a major title to me. I’m so proud. This is my favorite tournament of the year.

“This has always been an event unlike any we bowl all year and it’s getting bigger and bigger,” she added. “When I started bowling this event I think I was one of the only ones coming from out of town. Now players come from all over the country and all over the world.”

PBA Tour players will return to competition in a pair of PBA Xtra Frame on FloBowling events in August – the PBA Xtra Frame Gene Carter’s Pro Shop Classic at Mid-County Lanes in Middletown, Del., Aug. 17-19, followed by the PBA Xtra Frame Kenn-Feld Group Classic at Pla-Mor Lanes in Coldwater, Ohio, Aug. 24-26.

Both events will be live stream exclusively on PBA’s online channel, PBA Xtra Frame on FloBowling. For subscription information click here.

The Professional Women’s Bowling Association continues its 2018 schedule in the Pepsi PWBA St. Petersburg-Clearwater Open at Seminole Lanes in Seminole, Fla., Aug. 2-4.

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PBA-PWBA Storm Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles

Final Standings (after 20 team games, including match play bonus pins)

1, Liz Johnson, Palatine, Ill./EJ Tackett, Huntington, Ind., 8,797, $16,000
2, Diandra Asbaty, Chicago/Jason Belmonte, Australia, 8,763, $8,000
3, Danielle McEwan, Stony Point, N.Y./Chris Via, Springfield, Ohio, 8,694, $5,000
4, Shannon O’Keefe, O’Fallon, Ill./Bill O’Neill, Langhorne, Pa., 8,621, $4,000
5, Shannon Pluhowsky, Dayton, Ohio/Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., 8,585, $3,000
6, Erin McCarthy, Omaha, Neb./AJ Johnson, Oswego, Ill., 8,570, 2650
7, Missy Parkin, Laguna Hills, Calif./Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., 8,560, 2450
8, Leanne Hulsenberg, Pleasant View, Utah/Darren Tang, San Jose, Calif., 8,500, 2350

Other Cashers (after 12 team games):
9, Natalie Cortese, Hoffman Estates, Ill./Brad Miller, Raytown, Mo., 5,141, $2,200
10, Liz Kuhlkin, Schenectady, N.Y./Richard Teece, England, 5,138, $2,150
11, Tannya Roumimper, Indonesia/Francois Lavoie, Wichita, Kan., 5,109, $2,100
12, Angela Chirpich, Urbandale, Iowa/Tom Hess, Urbandale, Iowa, 5,100, $2,050
13, Katie Garcia, Wichita, Kan./Geoffrey Young, Keller, Texas, 5,089, $2,000
14, Kayla Pashina, Minnetonka, Minn./Rhino Page, Dade City, Fla., 5,087, $1,950
15, Tina Williams, Phoenix/Anthony Simonsen, Austin, Texas, 5,031, $1,900
16, Taylor Bulthuis, Coral Springs, Fla./Jakob Butturff, Tempe, Ariz., 5,039, $1,850
17, Giselle Poss, Montgomery, Ill./Matt Gasn, Clarksville, Tenn., 5,005, $1,800
18, Verity Crawley, England/Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, 5,004, $1,750
19, Misaki Mukotani, China/Nobuhito Fujii, Japan, 5,001, $1,700
20, Bryanna Cote, Red Rock, Ariz./Stuart Williams, England, 4,998, $1,650
21, Kerry Smith, Lititz, Pa./John Furey, East Windsor, N.J., 4,976, $1,600
22, Sydney Brummett, Fort Wayne, Ind./Kris Prather, Plainfield, Ill., 4,961, $1,550
23, Daria Kovalova, Ukraine/Joshua Roca, Wichita, Kan., 4,954, $1,500
24, Christina Kinney, Las Vegas/Robert Lawrence, Del Valle, Texas, 4,950, $1,450
25, Lindsay Boomershine, Perry, Utah/Kyle Troup, Taylorsville, N.C., 4,949, $1,400
26, Josie Barnes, Hermitage, Tenn./Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, 4,942, $1,350
27, Sierra Kanemoto, Dayton, Ohio/Andrew Anderson, Holly, Mich., 4,940, $1,300
28, Birgit Poppler, Germany/Jason Sterner, Cocoa, Fla., 4,939, $1,250
29, Kayla Bandy, Salisbury, Md./Nathan Bohr, Wichita, Kan., 4,912, $1,190
30, DeeDee Jeffery, Little Rock, Ark./Mykel Holliman, Memphis, Tenn., 4,903, $1,140
31 (tie), Holly Harris, Wichita, Kan./Devin Bidwell, Wichita, Kan., and
Haley Richard, Tipton, Mich./Nick Pate, Inver Grove Heights, Minn., 4,899, $1,065
33, Carol Norman, Houston/Pete McCordic, Katy, Texas, 4,863, $990
34, Cassandra Shivers-Williams, Adelphi, Md./Fero Williams, Adelphi, Md., 4,833, $940
35, Diana Zavjalova, Latvia/Adam Pogge, Austin, Texas, 4,800, $880
36, Jeanne Naccarato, Tacoma, Wash./Chris Warren, Grants Pass, Ore., 4,798, $840
37, Jackie Carbonetto, Clarksville, Tenn./Tom Daugherty, Riverview, Fla., 4,782, $780
38, Shannon Sellens, Copiague, N.Y./Anthony Pepe, East Elmhurst, N.Y., 4,769, $740
39, Stephanie Schwartz, Racine, Wis./Steve Lemke, Nacogdoches, Texas, 4,764, $720
40, Kiyoko McDonald, Allen, Texas/Clint Johnson, Fort Worth, Texas, 4,758, $700