Tackett, Belmonte to meet in Main Event PBA Tour Finals finale

21 June, 2017

PBA National Tour

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EJ Tackett of Huntington, Ind., dominated the Group Two finals match against Tommy Jones of Simpsonville, S.C., setting up a showdown with Australia’s Jason Belmonte to decide the title in the inaugural Main Event PBA Tour Finals at Main Event Entertainment in Orlando, Florida.

The Group Two finals aired Tuesday on CBS Sports Network. The Main Event PBA Tour Finals will air next Tuesday at 9:30 p.m. EDT.

Tackett (above), PBA’s reigning Player of the Year and a seven-time PBA Tour title winner at age 24, soundly defeated Jones (left) in a two-game, total pinfall match, 470-396, to advance to the championship match along with Belmonte, who eliminated Sweden’s 22-year-old Jesper Svensson, 482-479, in the Group One final match.

The Main Event PBA Tour Finals is a new event featuring the top eight PBA members in total earnings over the past 30 months, divided into two pods of four players for a combination of round-robin match play and stepladder matches.

Belmonte (right) earned his place in the elite field of eight by leading all PBA players in total earnings over the past two-and-a-half years with $352,967 while Tackett was second with $319,690.

While Belmonte had to dispatch three opponents, including Svensson, to win the Group One berth in the finals, Tackett only had to beat one player, but Jones appeared poised to pull off the same kind of upset Belmonte accomplished.

After struggling through the four-game match play portion of the event, Jones came into the Group Two stepladder round as the no. 4 qualifier. In the opening match, Jones nipped no. 3 Dom Barrett (left) of England, 214-212, when Barrett left the 4-7-10 split in the 10th frame for his only mistake in the match.

Fueled by his good fortune in match one, Jones was nearly perfect in the semifinal match against no. 2 qualifier Ryan Ciminelli (right) of Cheektowaga, N.Y., winning, 290-248. Jones’ only flaw was leaving a 10 pin in the first frame, which he converted.

It looked like Jones was going to continue his torrid pace against Tackett in the two-game final match, striking on four of his first five shots to take a 31-pin lead after five frames. But then he missed a 10 pin in the sixth frame and failed to convert the 3-4-6-7 split in the sixth. Tackett missed a 4 pin in his fourth frame, but then threw six consecutive strikes to erase his deficit and take a 26-pin lead after game one, 236-210.

Tackett (left) then blew the match open, starting game two with four strikes while Jones couldn’t solve the changing lane conditions. Two big splits resulted in open frames for Jones and Tackett rolled to a 234-186 win to lock up his berth in the Main Event PBA Tour Finals championship match, where he’ll face an adversary he has yet to beat in a nationally-televised title match.

“I bowled a good game against Ryan (Ciminelli) and then EJ broke the lanes down a little different,” Jones said. “His rev rate is so high and I moved right into his traffic, and from there I didn’t make very good choices.”

“We both had our struggles but I was able to figure it out a little better than Tommy. That’s the way it is sometimes,” Tackett said. “I wound up playing a little deeper than him – maybe just a board or two – but it was enough to make him start guessing a little bit. A couple of shots got a little high, but at that point it was just a matter of making better shots.”

Belmonte, a nine-year PBA Tour veteran at age 33, was PBA Player of the Year three straight years before Tackett ended his streak in 2016. The Australian two-handed star owns 14 PBA Tour titles including eight majors. One of the majors was the 2014 USBC Masters when he defeated the top-seeded Tackett in the title match. Belmonte also defeated Tackett, the no. 1 qualifier, in the 2014 Oklahoma Open title match.

Going into the Main Event title match, Belmonte and Tackett have each won two titles in 2017. In addition to a $30,000 first prize, one of the two will become the PBA Tour’s first three-title winner in 2017 and take an early edge in the PBA Player of the Year race heading into the second half of season.

Jason Belmonte advances to Main Event PBA Tour Finals title match
Tackett, Svensson earn No. 1 berths for Main Event Stepladder Rounds
Svensson, Tackett pace opening round at Main Event Orlando
PBA returns to CBS Sports Network with Main Event Tour finals

Main Event PBA Tour Finals

Group One Stepladder Round:
Match One (loser earned $3,000):
Jason Belmonte, Australia, def. Anthony Simonsen, Austin, Texas, 262-215
Semifinal Match (loser earned $3,000):
Belmonte def. Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., 255-221
Group One Final Match (two games, total pinfall):
Belmonte (257-225) def. Jesper Svensson (258-221), Sweden, 482-479
Belmonte advances to the championship match; Svensson advances to the third- and fourth-place match.

Group Two Stepladder Round:
Match One (loser earned $3,000):
Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., def. Dom Barrett, England, 214-212
Semifinal Match (loser earned $3,000):
Jones def. Ryan Ciminelli, Cheektowaga, N.Y., 290-248
Group Two Final Match (two games, total pinfall):
EJ Tackett, Huntington, Ind. (236-234) def. Jones (210-186), 470-396
Tackett advances to the championship match; Jones advances to the third- and fourth-place match.

Championship Finals Pairings:
(to air on CBS Sports Network on June 27 at 9:30 p.m. EDT)
Third-Fourth Place Match: Jesper Svensson vs. vs. Tommy Jones
Championship (three games, total pinfall): Jason Belmonte vs. vs. EJ Tackett.

Herbert Bickel