By JEF GOODGER
PBA Communications
LUBBOCK, Texas — Jesper Svensson averaged 236 through 12 games of qualifying to lead the top 24 into the final day of THE STORM CUP: PBA Lubbock Sports Open at South Plains Lanes. Svensson won his 11th Guaranteed Rate PBA Tour title earlier this season in The Storm Cup: David Small’s Best of the Best Championship and sits third in The Storm Cup points entering the Lubbock Sports Open.
At +422, twelve pins behind Svensson, is two-time PBA Tour champion Kyle Sherman, who won his first singles title in the PBA Cheetah Championship on Monday. Reigning PBA Player of the Year Kyle Troup is third at +377 and Jason Belmonte is fourth at +368. Belmonte has already won three titles this season, including The Storm Cup: David Small’s Kokomo Championship, and is on top of Cup points list.
Defending champion Shawn Maldonado bowled 300 in game two and qualified eighth at +357. Three other players—Darren Tang, EJ Tackett and Chris Barnes—also bowled a perfect game and all made the cut to the top 24.
Missing the cut was Nick Pate, who had been the only player to qualify for the stepladder finals in each of the previous two Cup events. The top five players after all four The Storm Cup events will receive a bonus, with the overall leader earning $10,000.
The top 24 players in the Lubbock Sports Open advanced to Round of 24 qualifying and will bowl four games beginning Sunday at 10 a.m.before a cut to the top 16. Those players will bowl two more games and cut to the top eight, who will bowl two final games of qualifying to determine the four players competing in the stepladder finals, which will begin at 4:30 p.m. Sunday.
TOP 10 THROUGH 12 GAMES
1, Jesper Svensson +434
2, Kyle Sherman +422
3, Kyle Troup +377
4, Jason Belmonte +368
5, Tommy Jones +367
6, Dom Barrett +364
7, Tom Daugherty +358
8, Shawn Maldonado +357
9, Brad Miller +354
10, Sean Lavery-Spahr +347