Jesper Svensson wins fifth PBA title in Bangkok

12 August, 2016

Tournaments World Bowling Tour

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Jesper Svensson of Sweden defeated Sam Cooley of Australia, in the TV final of the 2016 World Bowling Tour Thailand tournament Friday at Blu-O Rhythm & Bowl Siam Paragon bowling center in Bangkok, Thailand, to earn the one million Baht top prize or roughly $32,250 U.S. Dollar.

Due to an agreement between World Bowling and the Professional Bowlers Association, the 21-year-old two-handed lefty also earned his fifth career PBA title.

According to the tournament rules, Svensson as the No. 1 seed had to be defeated twice to win the title. He started the title match with three consecutive strikes while Cooley (pictured right) opened in his first frame to take a 30-pin lead and never looked back. The Swede, who was on Team Europe that won the Weber Cup (tenpin bowling version of golf’s Ryder Cup) last week, struck out in the 10th frame to seal the victory.

Svensson secured the No. 1 seed for the stepladder finals by closing Round Four with the tournament’s second 300 game. Cooley matched that feat with the third 300 game to earn the No. 2 seed.

The Aussie, who received 500,000 Baht for second place, eliminated local favorite Yannaphon Larpapharat of Thailand in the semifinal match, 222-205, for the right to bowl Svensson for the title.

Yannaphon (left), seeded third, ousted Anthony Simonsen of the United States in the quarterfinal, 199-170, to end Simonsen’s hope for his third PBA title this season. The 19 year-old two-handed player, who has won three gold medals in doubles, team and masters at the World Bowling World Youth Championships in Lincoln, Nebraska, became the youngest player to win a PBA major at 19 years and 39 days when he triumphed in the USBC Masters.

Larpapharat pocketed 300.000 Baht for third place and Simonsen took home 200.000 Baht for fourth place.

To reach the quarterfinal match, Simonsen eliminated three-time defending PBA Player of the Year Jason Belmonte of Australia and current World Bowling Tour men’s point ranking leader, Martin Larsen, Sweden, 210-202-195.

In the opening match, Belmonte edged Thailand’s Peerawich Rungcharoen and Annop Arromsaranon, 195-188-181, to advance.

Belmonte received 100.000 Baht for fifth place, Larsen got 90.000 Baht for sixth place while Peerawich and Annop garnered 85.000 and 80.000 Baht, respectively, for eighth and ninth place.

The 2016 World Bowling Tour Thailand tournament was held from August 6-12 at
Blu-O Rhythm & Bowl inside the Siam Paragon Shopping Mall in Bangkok, Thailand.

The tournament offered total prize fund of 4,215 million Baht or approximately 131,967 U.S. Dollar. The winner received 1 million Baht or roughly $32,260 and was awarded a World Bowling Tour title and a Professional Bowlers Association title, if won by a PBA member. Women received 8 pins handicap each game.

Total 42 bowlers survived the qualifying (Round 1), including the top 7 qualifiers, the two highest Thai bowlers outside the top 7 (ranked 8 & 9), the next 28 qualifiers (ranked 10-37), the next two Thai bowlers outside the top 37 (ranked 38-39) plus the top 3 of the one-game Desperado Squad (ranked 40-42).

Players ranked 1-8 received two byes and players ranked 9-24 got one bye. Bowlers ranked 25-42 advanced to the second round to bowl six games from scratch with the top 10 advancing to Round 3.

Those 10 and qualifiers 9-24 bowled another six games from scratch. The top 12 bowlers met the top 8 qualifiers in Round 4. The remaining 20 players bowled another six-game block from scratch to cut to the top 7 plus the next Thai bowler (ranked 8) for the stepladder finals.

In the first round, the No. 6, 7 and 8 seed squared off. The winner took on No. 4 and 5 seed in the second match. The winner of that match bowled the No. 3 seed in the quarterfinal. The winner met the No. 2 seed in the semifinal. The winner advanced to the championship match in which the top-seeded player must be defeated twice to win the title.

The WBT Thailand event was the 4th tournament on the 2016 World Bowling Tour, which currently consists of eight regular tournaments, six in the Middle East and one each in Germany and Thailand.

The ninth event and the only WBT “major” this season is the PBA World Series of Bowling VIII to be staged from November 27 through December 11, 2016 at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nev., United States.

Players earn ranking points based on how they finish in each event. “Majors” award double points. The points system is based on a continuous two-year cycle. The top three men and top three women in the annual points list will compete in the season-ending World Bowling Tour Finals (tbd).

World Bowling provides governance to international bowling and is made up of 134 bowling international federations. For more information on the World Bowling Tour, click here.

Photos courtesy of Asian Bowling Federation (ABF).

Svensson, Cooley shoot 300 to earn No. 1 and 2 seed for TV finals
Francis Tan wins both rounds Thursday at WBT Thailand
Francis Tan sets the pace in Round 2 at WBT Thailand
Sean Rash wins qualifying in World Bowling Tour Thailand event
Jesper Svensson defeats Martin Larsen to win the Brunswick Euro Challenge
Stunning victory for 17-year-old Ahmed Al-Awadhi in Bahrain
Danielle McEwan shoots two big games to win the H.H. Emir Cup 2016
2016 World Bowling Tour – Schedule, Champions, Men’s and Women’s Ranking Winners
2016 WBT Point Rankings – Men and Women

2016 WBT Thailand – TV Stepladder Finals

Blu-O Paragon Bowl in Bangkok, Thailand (August 6-12, 2016)

Championship Round:
1. Jesper Svensson, Sweden, 237 (1 game), 1,000.000 Baht ($32,258)
2. Sam Cooley, Australia, 435 (2 games), 500.000 Baht ($16,129)
3. Yannaphon Larpapharat, Thailand, 404 (2 games), 300.000 Baht ($9,677)
4. Anthony Simonsen, United States, 480 (2 games), 200.000 Baht ($6,452)
5. Jason Belmonte, Australia, 397 (2 games), 100.000 Baht ($3,226)
6. Martin Larsen, Sweden, 195 (1 game), 90.000 Baht ($2,903)
7. Peerawich Rungcharoen, Thailand, 188 (1 game), 85.000 Baht ($2,742)
8. Annop Arromsaranon, Thailand, 181 (1 game), 80.000 Baht ($2,581)

Playoff Results:
First Match: No. 7 Belmonte (195) def. No. 8 Peerawich (188) and No. 6 Annop (181)
Second Match: No. 5 Simonsen (210) def. Belmonte (202) and No. 4 Larsen (195)
Third Match: No. 3 Yannaphon def. Simonsen, 199-170
Semifinal Match: No. 2 Cooley def Yannaphon, 222-205
Championship: No. 1 Svensson def. Cooley, 237-213.

Herbert Bickel