Denmark’s Carsten Hansen Wins PBA-WBT Storm Lucky Larsen Masters Title

Seventh-year PBA member nearly perfect in earning his first PBA Tour title

HELSINGBORG, Sweden (Sept. 8, 2019) – Denmark’s Carsten Hansen, a 26-year-old seventh-year Professional Bowlers Association member, was nearly perfect Sunday in defeating American two-handed player Chris Via of Springfield, Ohio, 289-247, to win the PBA International-World Bowling Tour Storm Lucky Larsen Masters at Olympia Bowling for his first PBA Tour title.

Hansen, a PBA member since 2012 and a veteran of several PBA World Series of Bowling since then, dominated the Lucky Larsen Masters. He was the qualifying leader, earned the top berth in the four-man stepladder finals and then threw 10 strikes to start the championship match before missing his chance for a 300 game when he left the 3 pin on his 11th shot.

Hansen won a title in a PBA Regional doubles event in Las Vegas in 2013 but had never finished higher than ninth place in a PBA Tour event (2014 PBA Cheetah Championship).

Via, who also was bowling for his first PBA Tour title, recorded his best career finish after eliminating fellow American players Jake Peters of Henderson, Nevada, in the first stepladder match, 245-238, and Michael Tang of San Francisco, 247-200, in the semifinal match.

The Helsingborg tournament – named in honor of Swedish PBA star Martin Larsen – involved multiple six-game qualifying squads to arrive at 52 finalists. Qualifiers 17-40 plus 12 other special qualifiers bowled the four-game Step One, with the top 16 advancing to Step Two along with qualifiers 1-18. The 34 players in Step Two bowled a six-game block, with the top 18 advancing to Step Three for another six-game round. The top four based on 12-game totals from Steps 2 and 3 determined the stepladder finalists.

Two PBA International-WBT events remain on the 2019 Go Bowling! PBA Tour schedule along with the FloBowling ATX Invite and the U.S. Open. The WBT Thailand Open will take place in Bangkok Sept. 27-Oct. 4 and the Kuwait Open at Kuwait Bowling Center in Kuwait City Oct. 31-Nov. 6. The ATX Invite is a special non-title, non-points event that will take place Sept. 21 at Dart Bowl in Austin, Texas. The U.S. Open, the final major championship on the 2019 schedule, will be held Oct. 23-30 at Victory Lanes Family Entertainment Center in Mooresville, North Carolina.

PBA INTERNATIONAL-WORLD BOWLING TOUR STORM LUCKY LARSEN MASTERS

Olympia Bowling, Helsingborg, Sweden, Sunday

Final Standings:

1, Carsten Hansen, Denmark, $15,408.

2, Chris Via, Springfield, Ohio, $11,299.

3, Michael Tang, San Francisco, $8,218.

4, Jake Peters, Henderson, Nev., $6,163.

Stepladder Results:

Match One – Via def. Peters, 245-238.

Semifinal Match – Via def. Tang, 247-200.

Championship – Hansen def. Via, 289-247.

Step Three Cashers (after 12 games; top 4 advanced to stepladder finals):

1, Hansen, 2,890.

2, Tang, 2,838.

3, Via, 2,800.

4, Peters, 2,799.

5, Matt McNiel, Minneapolis, 2,771, $4,622.

6, Teemu Putkisto, Finland, 2,763, $3,595.

7, Nick Pate, Inver Grove Heights, Minn., 2,750, $3,082.

8, Tomas Käyhkö, Finland, 2,746, $2,568.

9, AJ Johnson, Oswego, Ill., 2,741, $2,260.

10, Thomas Larsen, Denmark, 2,719, $2,054.

11 (tie), Dom Barrett, England, and Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., 2,693, $1,798.

13, Anthony Pepe, Elmhurst, N.Y., $1,695.

14, AJ Chapman, Manchester, Iowa, 2,656, $1,644.

15, Joline Persson Planefors, Sweden, 2,654, $1,592.

16, Stuart Williams, England, 2,607, $1,541.

17, Karl Wahlgren, Sweden, 2,544, $1,515.

18, Khaled Aldebayyan, Kuwait, $1,489.

Step Two Cashers (did not advance, after 6 games):

19, Arnar Jonsson, Sweden, 1,282, $1,464.

20 (tie), Mitch Hupé, Canada, and Niko Oksanen, Finland, 1,271, $1,425.

22, Daniel Fransson, Sweden, 1,269, $1,387.

23, Oscar Rodriguez, Colombia, 1,249, $1,361.

24, Martin Paulsson, Sweden, 1,232, $1,335.

25, Tony Wong, Hong Kong, 1,231, $1,310.

26, Kyle Troup, Taylorsville, N.C., 1,226, $1,284.

27, Kris Prather, Plainfield, Ill., 1,222, $1,258.

28, Sandra Andersson, Sweden, 1,219, $1,233.

29, Andrew Cain, Phoenix, Ariz., 1,200, $1,207.

30, Darren Tang, Las Vegas, 1,183, $1,130.

31, Rasmus Edvall, Sweden, 1,181, $1,079.

32, Jarno Lahti, Finland, 1,173, $1,027.

Step One Cashers (did not advance, after 4 games):

33, Edwar Rey, Colombia, 844, $1,002.

34, Saleh Salem, Kuwait, 842, $976.

35, Patrik Nilsson, Sweden, 841, $950.

36, Victoria Johansson, Sweden, 837, $924.

37, Mattias Olsson, Sweden, 833, $899.

38, Mikkel Sorensen, Denmark, 829, $873.

39, Artemy Hudiakov, Latvia, $847.

40, Francois Lavoie, Canada, 826, $822.

41, Michael Mak, Hong Kong, 811, $796.

42 (tie), Pyry Puharinen, Finland, and Kim Bolleby, Thailand, 797, $763.

44 (tie), Brad Miller, Lee’s Summit, Mo., and Jan Macek, Czechoslovakia, 795, $706.

46, Patrick Hanrahan, Wichita, Kan., 789, $668.

47, Jusso Rikkola, Finland, 780, $642.

48, Viktor Albihn, Sweden, 775, $616.

49, Christer Rapp, Sweden, 771, $591.

50, Tannya Lopez, Mexico, 759, $565.

51, Osku Palermaa, Finland, 744, $539.

52, Mikael Andersson, Sweden, 639, $514.