MONDAY ON FS1:  Belmonte vs. Prather and Simonsen vs. Gomez in PBA Playoffs Round of 8 Matches at 9 p.m. ET

PORTLAND, Maine (May 16, 2019) – The stretch drive for a return trip to Bayside Bowl for the semifinal and final rounds of the inaugural PBA Playoffs June 1-2 begins Monday on FS1 with No. 1 seed two-hander Jason Belmonte taking on No. 9 Kris Prather and No. 4 Anthony Simonsen meeting No. 21 Andres Gomez in Round of 8 matchups.

The Round of 8 matches will once again use the Race to 2 Points format where one point is awarded for each of two games in the match. If both players win a game, the tie will be broken by a ninth and 10th frame roll-off to determine the winner. 

After Monday’s FS1 Round of 8 telecast, the other two spots for the semifinals will be determined after No. 7 Bill O’Neill vs. No. 15 Wes Malott and No. 6 Sean Rash vs. No. 14 Dom Barrett Round of 8 matches air May 27 on FS1 at 9 p.m. ET.

Belmonte won three titles including the PBA Tournament of Champions and PBA World Championship for his 10th and record 11th major titles on his way to the top of the points list to earn the No. 1 seed. To get to the Round of 8 he won a Round of 16 match against No. 17 Kyle Troup.

Prather, who won the PBA Scorpion Championship at World Series of Bowling X for his first Go Bowling! PBA Tour title, advanced to the Round of 8 by defeating No. 24 Darren Tang in the Round of 24 and No. 8 Tom Daugherty in the Round of 16.

Simonsen, the winner of the PBA Players Championship for his fourth career tour title and second major, won his Round of 16 match against No. 13 Rhino Page, and Gomez, with a season’s best runner-up finish in the Chameleon Championship, advanced with wins in the Round of 24 against No. 12 Dick Allen and No. 5 EJ Tackett in the Round of 16.

To view a PBA Playoffs bracket click on

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

PBA PLAYOFFS SCHEDULE

Bayside Bowl, Portland, Maine

Round of 8 Pairings (Race to 2 Points format. Winners earn berth in semifinals to be televised live on FOX June 1 at noon ET)

Match 17 – No. 1 Jason Belmonte, Australia vs. No. 9 Kris Prather, Plainfield, Ill. (airs May 20).

Match 18 – No. 4 Anthony Simonsen, Little Elm, Texas vs. No. 21 Andres Gomez, Colombia (airs May 20).

Match 19 – No. 7 Bill O’Neill, Langhorne, Pa. vs. No. 15 Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas (airs May 27).

Match 20 – No. 6 Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill. vs. No. 14 Dom Barrett, England (airs May 27).