Malott, Svensson Take Advantage of Misfortunes to Advance in PBA Playoffs

Round of 16 competition begins Monday, April 22 at 9 p.m. ET p.m. on FS1       

PORTLAND, MAINE (April 15, 2019) – Ten-time PBA Tour winner Wes Malott of Pflugerville, Texas, and seven-time titlist Jesper Svensson of Sweden took advantage of 10th-frame misfortunes by their opponents to advance to the Round of 16 in the inaugural PBA Playoffs at Bayside Bowl.

Malott, the No. 15 seed, and Svensson, No. 23, along with No. 11 Kyle Sherman of O’Fallon, Missouri, and seven-time Tour winner and No. 14 seed Dom Barrett of England, won their Round of 24 single-game elimination matches, that aired on FS1 Monday to advance to the Round of 16 where they will join four earlier winners – three-time Tour titlist Andres Gomez of Colombia; six-time titlist Rhino Page of Orlando, Fla.; three-time winner Kyle Troup of Taylorsville, North Carolina, and 2019 Scorpion Championship winner Kris Prather of Plainfield, Illinois.

The winner of the Playoffs, which features the top 24 players in competition points after the first 13 Go Bowling! PBA Tour tournaments of the season, will earn a $100,000 first prize.

Malott won his match against No. 18 qualifier three-time tour winner Josh Blanchard of Mesa, Arizona, when Blanchard – needing a nine-count on his fill ball in the 10th frame to win – threw the ball wide leaving the 1-2-4 to lose the match, 212-211.

“My heart goes out to Josh, but we’ve all been there and I know how he feels,” said Malott. “Even though I hated it for Josh, I still felt like I deserved to win because I fought hard to put the pressure on him to get back in the match.

“At the start of the match I was way too quick,” Malott said of his slow start in the match. “With the electric atmosphere here it’s easy to get too pumped up, so I had to calm down. I’m just glad I was able to do what I had to do to get back in the match.”

Svensson won his match against No. 10 seed four-time tour winner Marshall Kent of Yakima, Washington, 206-190 but was also aided in his win by Kent. Holding a five-pin lead heading into the 10th frame, Kent, who missed a 10 pin earlier in the match, left a 4-9 split on his first shot and was unable to convert. Svensson, a left-handed two-hander, took advantage, closing the game with three strikes for the win.

In the other two Round of 24 matches, Barrett, a seven-time tour winner, handily won his match against No. 19 Brad Miller of Lees Summit, Missouri, 237-187, and Sherman won his match against No. 22 DJ Archer of Spring, Texas, 203-182, to also advance to the Round of 16. 

Round of 16 and Round of 8 matches will be televised by FS1 on consecutive Monday nights at 9 p.m. ET beginning April 22, reducing the field to four survivors who will return to Portland for the semifinal and final rounds June 1-2, with both shows airing live on FOX at noon Eastern.

The format for the Rounds of 16 and 8 will change to a Race to 2 Points format where each game won is worth one point. If the players split the first two games, a ninth and 10th frame tie-breaker will be used to award the deciding point. The eight Round of 24 winners will take on the top eight Playoffs qualifiers – Jason Belmonte, Jakob Butturff, Norm Duke, Anthony Simonsen, EJ Tackett, Sean Rash, Bill O’Neill and Tom Daugherty – who earned byes to automatically advance to the Round of 16.

To view the PBA Playoffs bracket click here:

https://www.pba.com/Content/Images/playoffs/2019_PBA_Playoff_Bracket.pdf

PBA PLAYOFFS RESULTS

Bayside Bowl, Portland, Maine (second half of Round of 24 aired Monday on FS1. Winners advance to Round of 16)

Match 5 – Jesper Svensson, Sweden, def. Marshall Kent, Yakima, Wash., 206-190.

Match 6 – Kyle Sherman, O’Fallon, Mo., def. DJ Archer, Spring, Texas, 203-182.

Match 7 – Dom Barrett, England, def. Brad Miller, Lees Summit, Mo., 237-187.

Match 8 – Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, def. Josh Blanchard, Mesa, Ariz., 212-211.

Round of 16 pairings (Race to 2 Points based on one point per game won)

Match 9 – Kyle Troup, Taylorsville, N.C., vs. Jason Belmonte, Australia (airs April 22).
Match 10 – Kris Prather, Plainfield, Ill., vs. Tom Daugherty, Riverview, Fla. (airs April 22).
Match 11 – Rhino Page, Orlando, Fla., vs. Anthony Simonsen, Little Elm, Texas (airs April 29).
Match 12 – Andres Gomez, Colombia vs. EJ Tackett, Bluffton, Ind. (airs April 29).

Match 13 – Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, vs. Jakob Butturff, Tempe, Ariz. (airs May 6).

Match 14 – Jesper Svensson, Sweden, vs. Bill O’Neill, Langhorne, Pa. (airs May 6).

Match 15 – Dom Barrett, England, vs. Norm Duke, Clermont, Fla. (airs May 13).

Match 16 – Kyle Sherman, O’Fallon, Mo., vs. Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill. (airs May 13).