PBA NEWS

ORLANDO, Fla.  – The Professional Bowlers Association’s eight leading players in combined earnings over a span of the past 30 months will begin competition in a new event that will become an annual PBA tradition. CBS Sports Network will air the complete Main Event PBA Tour Finals from Main Event-Orlando on five consecutive Tuesdays at 9:30 p.m. EDT, beginning Tuesday.

The unique competition, which will feature the eight PBA superstars in a unique format, begins with two rounds of head-to-head match play. In the PBA Tour Finals, the eight PBA stars are assigned to two four-man pods for four matches, each including 50 bonus pins for a match win. The four-player pods include Australia’s Jason Belmonte, Sweden’s Jesper Svensson, Texan Anthony Simonsen and Sean Rash of Montgomery, Ill., in Group One, and reigning PB A Player of the Year EJ Tackett of Huntington, Ind.; Tommy Jones of Simpsonville, S.C.;  Dom Barrett of England, and Ryan Ciminelli of Cheektowaga, N.Y., in Group Two.

Round One matches Tuesday will include Rash vs. Belmonte, Svensson vs. Simonsen, Jones vs. Tackett and Barrett vs. Ciminelli. Round Two matches Tuesday will pit Simonsen against Belmonte, Rash against Svensson, Ciminelli against Tackett and Jones against Barrett.

Round Three and position round matches within each group will be shown on the June 6 telecast. The June 13 and June 20 telecasts will feature stepladder finals within each group to determine the finalists for the June 26 finale. At stake is a $30,000 first prize and a PBA Tour title for the winner.

Each of the CBS Sports Network telecasts will be re-broadcast. Check your local listings for times and dates.