By BILL SNIER
FAIRLAWN — It has been 10 years since Mika Koivuniemi had set foot in AMF Riviera Lanes.
“I decided to come back for the hall of fame,” the 58-year-old Professional Bowlers Association Hall of Famer said Thursday. “I’m friends with all four of them,.”
Friday evening at the Hilton Garden Inn, a new class of inductees will join the PBA Hall, including current players Sean Rash and Bill O’Neill, former player George Branham III and former PBA media director Dave Schroeder.
But, since he was going to be in town, Koivuniemi decided to go ahead and bowl the PBA Tournament of Champions this week.
“Since I was going to be here, why wouldn’t I bowl?” the 14-time PBA champion, including three major wins, said. “I’ve been practicing and preparing myself for the senior (PBA50) tour.
“I really didn’t have any expectations coming in.”
But his goals now have changed for the player known as “Major” Mika during his regular Tour career for his showings in major tournaments.
Averaging 226.89 over 18 qualifying games, the Finland-born Traverse City, Mich., right-hander finished 17th to make the cut to match play — joining first-year senior Tom Daugherty as the lone PBA50 players left in the field.
He has compiled a 10-6 match-play mark through two rounds to sit in 11th place, just 16 pins out of ninth place and a spot in the first of two stepladder finals Saturday.
“Absolutely,” Koivuniemi responded when asked if he was surprised at his position. “It’s amazing. I know I can bowl, but I cannot make my ball hit like these kids nowadays.
“I was bowling extremely well and I told myself if I can keep holding on and holding on, I had a chance in that last block.”
Although this format — 18 qualifying games and 24 match-play games — is not as long as some of the ones Koivuniemi used to bowl, it has taken its toll.
“I’m feeling it a little bit, but I’m still fine,” the 2011 TOC champion, who won that major in Las Vegas, said. “It’s been challenging like for everyone else. Luckily, I haven’t had too many bad games.”
He was able to survive a 141 during the second gams of the final qualifying block, following it with 245 and 278 to get back on track. He has used his Hammer Hammerhead ball for 31 of his 34 games so far.
“I’m just trying to make small moves. I probably should have changed out the last game, but I thought I could still make it strike,” said Koivuniemi, who won a record $250,000 for his lone TOC win. “By then, it was too late to change.
“I was able to survive that 140 game and made the cut so I’m playing with house money right now. I felt I was throwing the ball well and if everything goes right … well, I’m still here.”
Koivuniemi retired from the PBA Tour in 2015 and accepted the head coaching position for the United Arab Emerites national team. He left the position in 2023 and returned for the PBA50 Tour in 2024, bowling most of the events.
Last season, he cashed in all 10 of his events, making eight stepladder finals and finishing as the runner-up three times. But his lone PBA50 Tour win was the 2018 U.S. Senior Open — ironically, another major.
“I don’t practice like I used to. I maybe go four or five days a week and maybe three or four games a day,” Koivuniemi said. “I just hope I can perform well (tonight) and give myself a chance and not give away matches.
“I just have to find a way to win matches and stay close.”
FACH MOVES UP LADDER
Winning matches also will be the key for 33-year-old Urbana left-hander and native Canadian Graham Fach, who got to as high as second but struggled his last two matches to sit sixth heading into tonight’s final match-play round.
“I backed up a little bit that last squad. It’s important to win those matches. Those 30 bonus pins add up fast and are usually the difference between a big check and smaller check,” said Fach, who holds the top match-play mark of 11-5 through two blocks.
After averaging 232.5 over his first six games and going 5-1 in that span, the two-time PBA Central Region Player of the Year with 13 career regional titles shot just 149 and 175 his last two matches Thursday morning — both losses.
“You have to throw good shots and, if you win, you have to win with big scores because these guys are so good,” said Fach, who earned his second career PBA Tour title in the 2025 season opener in Delaware. “You have to be smart and throw good shots. It’s a major, so you have to do that.”
This is a week where left-handers seem to have the upper hand. Currently six of the top 10 in the standings — Fach, Jesper Svensson, Jakob Butturff, Patrick Hanrahan, Keven Williams and Matt Sanders — are lefties, bowling on the 2025 Don Johnson 40 oil pattern.
“It’s a week-to-week thing out here. Sometimes, when you see it, you have to take advantage of it,” Fach said. “There are going be weeks that you don’t, and you’re going to be at the bottom.”
Fach admittedly has enjoyed little success at AMF Riviera Lanes.
“It has not been great for me. I think I’ve made one other match-play appearance here,” Fach said. “Even in local stuff and regionals, it’s always been a hard house to bowl in.”
His goal now is to bounce back from his final two games of the early shift and put on a run.
“I just have to reset. That block ended really poorly,” Fach said. “I have to come back refreshed for the last eight.”
NOTEBOOK
BACK ON TOP: After dropping to as low as fourth during match play, qualifying leader EJ Tackett leads again after two match-play rounds. Tackett, the 2017 TOC champion in Edmond, Okla., and 2024 runner-up, averaged a block-high 239.75 Thursday morning and went 4-4 in match play to stand at 8,237 total pinfall, 22 pins ahead of Svensson (8,215). Svensson, who went 8-0 during the opening round of match play Wednesday to take the lead, was 1-7 Thursday morning while averaging just 217.12. But he never game up the lead until Game 8 as his lead diminished. AJ Johnson, who had the block’s lone 300 in Game 3, is third (8,108, 10-5-1 record), followed by Butturff (8,060, 7-8-1) and Patrick Hanrahan (8,051, 8-8). “No matter how many pins I’m ahead, it’s irrelevant. You have to keep the pedal down and keep moving forward and win some matches and hold off the rest of the field,” Tackett said.
NEEDING HELP: Four-time TOC winner Jason Belmonte, who had to push Wednesday to reach match play by finishing his final game with five strikes, is 9-7 and sits 14th with 7,782.He shot 246 and 258 his final two games — both wins — to move up the ladder. He still is 145 pins out of the cut. But Belmonte also had to make a big run here en route to the 2023 TOC title. “Belmo got himself into match play and I’ve seen this act before … squeezing in and finishing in second or third place on the TV show,” Tackett said. “Don’t count him out.”
NOTEBOOK: Kevin McCune, who led after the second qualifying round, holds the final spot for the nine-man stepladder championship round with 7,927, just 13 pins ahead of Round 1 qualifying leader Sanders (7,926) and 26 ahead of Koivuniemi. … Last week’s winner, 20-year-old Ethan Fiore, has tumbled to 24th place with a 5-10-1 match-play mark. His high game of the morning block was 239, with games of 162 and 141. … Sanders is one of three pre-tournament qualifiers (PTQ) remaining. Others are Matt Zweig (17th, 7,753) and Bailey Mavrick (23rd, 7,464). … Daugherty, who just turned 50 this season, is 21st (7,607). … Tonight’s final match-play round begins at 6 p.m. with eight more games to determine the championship round finalists. Tickets are $10.