From staff, wire reports
The final title event of the 2025 PBA Tour is set to begin in Helsingborg, Sweden.
The Storm Lucky Larsen Masters, held at Olympia Bowling, is the lone international title event of the season.
All rounds will be livestreamed on the Storm Lucky Larsen Masters YouTube channel.
Sweden’s own Jesper Svensson is the defending champion. The Swede finished runner-up two years ago to AJ Johnson before earning an emotional, redemptive victory over Teodor Samuelsson last year.
“Even though I’ve played a lot of big tournaments in the (United States), this is the one I really wanted to win,” Svensson said. “I don’t know how to put it into words right now. I’m unbelievably proud of myself. It’s truly special.
“To all my American friends: You are tough to beat over there in the states — but this is my house.”
Player of the year implications
Svensson ended this year’s PBA Tour regular season by winning the PBA Tournament of Champions and PBA Playoffs, catapulting himself into the Chris Schenkel PBA Player of the Year discussion.
EJ Tackett, who won four titles with two major championships, has the statistical lead in that award race. Andrew Anderson’s two titles and second-place finish in points places him among the front runners as well.
Jason Belmonte, Graham Fach, Ethan Fiore and Chris Via should also find themselves on the Player of the Year ballot.
There are a handful of players who enter the Storm Lucky Larsen Masters with a chance to become eligible for the ballot, which requires either two titles or one title and a top-10 earnings finish that season.
Ryan Barnes and Kyle Troup sit just outside the top 10 in earnings and have not won a title this season. However, a win in Sweden should propel either player into the top 10 in earnings and secure POY eligibility.
A win would represent quite the honeymoon for Troup, who is getting married on Aug. 23. Troup also won the event in 2018.
Barnes also is eligible for Harry Golden PBA Rookie of the Year honors.
Gary Haines won the USBC Masters in March, but currently sits outside the top 10 in earnings. A second title would automatically qualify himself for the ballot, and a top-two finish (with Barnes and Troup not winning) would likely get the job done as well.
Tim Foy Jr., Jakob Butturff and Anthony Simonsen rank currently among the top-10 earners, but lack a title and are not scheduled to compete in Sweden as of Aug. 21.
Format
The Storm Lucky Larsen Masters features a unique qualifying format. There are 27 six-game qualifying squads to be held from Aug. 22-30. Players can bowl multiple squads.
There will be 55 advancing players once qualifying is completed. The No. 26-40 qualifiers as well as 15 special qualifiers (outlined here) will compete in Final Step 1, a six-game round with all previous pinfall dropped.
The top 15 players from Final Step 1 will meet the top 25 overall qualifiers in Final Step 2, another six-game round with all previous pinfall dropped.
The top 16 players will advance to the elimination match play bracket, which features three-game total pinfall matches in the Round of 16 and Round of 8 followed by single-game matches in the semifinals and finals.
The winner will receive 165.000 SEK (about $17,150 USD).
PBA CENTRAL REGION
Non-member Aidan Furukawa, a Savannah College of Art and Design sophomore fro Sunbury and 2023 Junior Gold champion and former Junior Team USA member, claimed his second PBA regional title Thursday during the PBA Dave & Diane Kill Central Open at Delphos Recreation Center in Delphos.
The event was the second of three in the race for the Brunswick Cup, with the final event beginning Saturday in Coldwater.
Furukawa, a two-handed right-hander and the No. 1 seed for the stepladder finals, defeated No. 2 seed Matt Kuba 258-192 to claim the win.
“While there are a few things I could clean up I’m ready to go out and give it my all at the next regional in Coldwater to end my summer before heading back to school,” Furukawa said in a Facebook post. “Can’t thank everyone enough who helped me this week as I felt like I had a lot of help. First off thank you to my mother for driving me out and supporting me the whole tournament. Thank you to TV Bowling supply for helping me get a last minute ball as well as Jason Lundquist for a last minute drill in. Thank you Tyler DeJonge for sticking around to help bounce ideas and see some lane play. Also huge thanks to my good friend Trevor for coming back to watch me and support me. And lastly thank you to the whole staff over at Delphos Bowling for hosting such a great tournament.”
Hayden Stippich topped Jean Perez 244-211 in the opening game of the finals before falling to Kuba 246-216 in the semifinals.
PBA Tour champion Kris Prather was the eight-game qualifying leader with 1,893 total pinfall, with Furukawa sitting third with 1,879.
Furukawa then took over the top spot following the eight game Cashers’ round with 3,745 after leading Thursday’s shift with 1,866. He finished 78 pins ahead of Cuba.
Among area players, Parma’s Patrick Dombrowski finished sixth overall. Ethan Fiore, who captured the first Brunswick Cup event this week, finished fifth. Furukawa, being a nonmember, was not eligible for points.
Also cashing in the 68-player field was Scott McIntire Jr., who finished 20th.
See complete results here: https://www.leaguepals.com/league-info?id=6821245a25eb482a1d8e9a2e
The final event of the Brunswick Cup run is set for Saturday and Sunday with the PBA Bowlerstorecom Central Classic at Play-Mor Lanes in Coldwater. Eight-game qualifying squads are set for 8 a.m., 1:30 and 7 p.m. Saturday.