April 27, 2021 Jef Goodger

 

The remaining Round of 16 matches air this weekend with players vying for the $100,000 top prize and WWE championship title belt

 

Milford, Conn.—The 2021 Kia PBA Playoffs continue this weekend with the second half of the Round of 16 bracket airing on Fox Sports’ FS1. Saturday at 11:30 a.m. ET, Chris Via will bowl against Cristian Azcona and Kris Prather will take on EJ Tackett. Sunday at 7 p.m. ET will feature Tom Daugherty versus Jason Sterner and Jesper Svensson facing Sam Cooley.

No. 2 Chris Via vs. No. 15 Cristian Azcona

Via’s win in the U.S. Open was his first career PBA Tour title and also catapulted him to the No. 2 seed for the PBA Playoffs. Via has finished in the top five in five of the last seven major championships in which he’s competed. He’ll battle Cristian Azcona, who finished fourth in the U.S. Open. Azcona’s win over Jason Sterner in the opening match of the U.S. Open stepladder finals was especially important as it guaranteed Azcona a berth in the PBA Playoffs. When Jason Belmonte withdrew from the Playoffs, Azcona moved up one spot into the No. 15 position.

No. 7 Kris Prather vs. No. 10 EJ Tackett

Prather, the 2019 PBA Playoffs champion, won his fourth career title earlier this season in the PBA Roth/Holman Doubles Championship at World Series of Bowling XII, teaming with Andrew Anderson. Also at the WSOB, Prather finished sixth in the Guaranteed Rate PBA World Championship, second in the Cheetah Championship and third in the Scorpion Championship. Tackett was the only player to make all five cuts at the WSOB, finishing third in both the World Championship and Roth/Holman Doubles Championship.

No. 3 Tom Daugherty vs. No. 14 Jason Sterner

Daugherty earned the No. 3 seed for the PBA Playoffs due to his performance at World Series of Bowling XII, where he won his first career major title in the Guaranteed Rate PBA World Championship and his fourth PBA Tour title in the PBA Scorpion Championship. Sterner, who began a late-season run in the World Series with a fourth-place finish in the Chameleon Championship, solidified his berth in the PBA Playoffs with two top fives in majors: fourth in the USBC Masters and fifth in the U.S. Open.

No. 6 Jesper Svensson vs. No. 11 Sam Cooley

Svensson qualified first but finished second in the USBC Masters, giving him three top-10 finishes in majors this season (he was tied for sixth in the Players Championship and fourth in the Tournament of Champions). Svensson also finished fourth, with Kyle Troup, in the Roth/Holman Doubles Championship. Cooley won his first career PBA Tour title in the Cheetah Championship at WSOB XII, during which he also finished ninth (with Andres Gomez) in the Roth/Holman Doubles Championship and 22nd in the World Championship. In the final two events prior to the Playoffs being finalized, Cooley finished sixth in both the USBC Masters and U.S. Open.

The winner of the PBA Playoffs, which conclude May 16 on FOX Broadcast Channel, will earn $100,000 and a custom WWE championship title belt.

Kia PBA Playoffs Upcoming Television Schedule

Saturday, May 1 at 11:30 a.m. ET on FS1 – Round of 16
Sunday, May 2 at 7 p.m. ET on FS1 – Round of 16
Sunday, May 9 at 8 noon ET on FS1 – Quarterfinals
Monday, May 10 at 8 p.m. ET on FS1 – Quarterfinals
Saturday, May 15 at 11 a.m. ET on FS1 – Semifinals
Sunday, May 16 at 2 p.m. ET on FOX - Championship

Kia PBA Playoffs Champions Since 2019

2019 – Kris Prather
2020 – Bill O’Neill

About the PBA

The Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) is the world’s preeminent organization dedicated to the sport of bowling and its professional competition, with thousands of members and millions of fans throughout the world. The PBA plays host to bowling’s biggest tournaments from the PBA Tour, PBA Regional Tour, and PBA50 Tour. In 2020, the PBA launched PBA Jr., a club for elite youth bowlers under the age of 17 and the PBA Pinsiders, a membership for fans of the sport. For more information, please visit PBA.com.

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