Jakob Butturff Tops DHC PBA Japan Invitational Qualifying

Defending champion Dom Barrett advances to match play in fourth place

TOKYO, Japan (April 26, 2019) – Jakob Butturff of Tempe, Arizona, in pursuit of his third title of the 2019 Go Bowling! PBA Tour season, topped the field of 16 finalists who advanced to the match play finals of the DHC PBA Japan Invitational Saturday at Tokyo Port Bowl.

Butturff, who won the PBA Oklahoma Open and the USBC Masters earlier in the year, rolled averaged for a 12-game total of 2,793 pins and a 93-pin lead over Japan’s Tomoyuki Sasaki. Chris Barnes of Double Oak, Texas, the 2015 DHC PBA Japan Invitational winner, was 18 pins behind Sasaki in third place followed by defending champion Dom Barrett of England with a 2,645 total and Japan’s Takuya Miyazawa in fifth with 2,640 pins.

PBA’s live streaming partner, FloBowling, is providing live coverage of the DHC event. Two eight-game round-robin match play rounds will air at 7:30 and 11:50 p.m. EST today followed by the five-player stepladder finals at 4:30 a.m. EST Sunday. First prize is $44,650 plus a PBA Tour title if the winner is a PBA member.

For fans who prefer a more convenient time to watch, each FloBowling segment from Japan will be available on demand shortly after the shows air live. For subscription information, visit flobowling.com.

DHC PBA JAPAN INVITATIONAL

Tokyo Port Bowl, Tokyo, Japan, Saturday

Final Qualifying Round Standings (after 12 games; top 16 advanced to round-robin match play; top five after 28 games advance to stepladder finals):

1, Jakob Butturff, Tempe, Ariz., 2,793.
2, Tomoyuki Sasaki, Japan, 2,700.
3, Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, 2,682.
4, Dom Barrett, England, 2,645.
5, Takuya Miyazawa, Japan, 2,640.
6, Teruyuki Obara, Japan, 2,625.
7, Bill O'Neill, Langhorne, Pa., 2,619.
8, Kris Prather, Plainfield, Ill., 2,616.
9, Andrew Anderson, Holly, Mich., 2,589.
10, Kosuke Shirai, Japan, 2,587.
11, Shota Kawazoe, Japan, 2,562.
12, Isao Yamamoto, Japan, 2,561.
13, Shusaku Asato, Japan, 2,534.
14, Tom Smallwood, Saginaw, Mich., 2,528.
15, EJ Tackett, Bluffton, Ind., 2,520.
16, Jason Belmonte, Australia, 2,519.

Other Cashers (after 12 games):
17, Kyle Troup, Taylorsville, N.C., 2,496, $1,780.
18, Stevie Weber, Japan, 2,479, $1,780.
19, Nobuhlto Fujii, Japan, 2,446, $1,690.
20, Marshall Kent, Yakima, Wash., 2,441, $1,690.
21  (tie), Mai Takasaka, Japan, and Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., 2,422, $1,600.
23, Yuta Saito, Japan, 2,421, $1,510.
24, Takashi Taniai, Japan, 2,386, $1,510.
25, Stuart Williams, England, 2,384, $1,420.
26, Anthony Simonsen, Little Elm, Texas, 2,374, $1,420.
27, Yuka Sasaki, Japan, 2,373, $1,340.
28, Urara Himeji, Japan, 2,368, $1,240.
29, Shuma Sakamoto, Japan, 2,353, $1,340.
30, Hideaki Hata, Japan, 2,348, $1,250.
30, He Yeo Yun, South Korea, 2,348, $1,250.
32, Mai Fujita, Japan, 2,346, $1,250.
33, Hidekazu Wada, Japan, 2,343, $1,250.
34, Hiroko Shimizu, Japan, 2,321, $1,250.
35, Ryoya Tanaka, Japan, 2,310, $1,250.
36 (tie), Manae Kameshima, Japan, and Yuka Tsuchiya, Japan, 2,303, $1,160.
38, Hayato Hijikata, Japan, 2,285, $1,160.
39, Junichi Yajima, Japan, 2,277, $1,160.
40, Tsuguo Tsukahara, Japan, 2,267, $1,160.
41, Misaki Mukoutani, Japan, 2,258, $1,070.
42, Rina Asada, Japan, 2,228, $1,070.
43, Kazuma Noborikawa, Japan, 2,204, $1,070.
44, Susumu Okuoka, Japan, 2,136, $1,070.
45, Yuki Akiyoshi, Japan, 2,128, $980.
46, Mihoko Matsuoka, Japan, 2,120, $980.
47, Akiho Mitzutani, Japan, 2,105, $980.
48, Junko Shiraishi, Japan, 2,103, $980.