March 22, 2022 Jef Goodger

 

The last of four THE STORM CUP events is being held at Harmony Bowl

 

THE STORM CUP: PBA Colorado Springs Open is the final event of the four-event THE STORM CUP series, with players competing for a PBA Tour title as well as a share of the bonus prize fund for the top five players over the course of the four events. Qualifying begins tomorrow at noon ET and a champion will be crowned in the stepladder finals Thursday at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Belmonte's Grasp on THE STORM CUP

After his win Sunday in THE STORM CUP: PBA Lubbock Sports Open, Jason Belmonte is in the best position to claim the $10,000 bonus for winning THE STORM CUP. He’s won two of the first three THE STORM CUP events (two of his four titles already this season) and can only be caught by three people: Jesper Svensson, who won the first THE STORM CUP event, EJ Tackett, who finished second to Belmonte in Lubbock, and Nick Pate, who qualified for the first two THE STORM CUP stepladder finals.

Belmonte leads Svensson, Tackett and Pate by more than 3,000 points, which is the amount awarded for second place, but all players are within 5,000 points, which goes to the winner of each event. The only way for Svensson or Tackett to claim THE STORM CUP—which Tackett won in 2017—is to win the Colorado Springs Open and have Belmonte finish fifth or lower for Svensson or 13th or lower for Tackett. If Tackett wins in Colorado Springs and Belmonte finishes 12th, they would be tied for THE STORM CUP. Pate can only win THE STORM CUP by winning the event and having Belmonte finish 41st or lower.

All players are vying for one of the top five spots and a share of the bonus prize fund. In addition to $10,000 for the winner, second place gets $5,000, third place $4,000 and fourth and fifth place $3,000 each. If there are any ties, the money for each position will be split (for example, if Belmonte and Tackett tie, they’ll each receive $7,500).

It’s still possible, albeit unlikely, a player who has yet to earn a single point in THE STORM CUP could crack the top five. Doing so would require a win as well as several of the current contenders finishing near the bottom in Colorado Springs.

Slight Format Change

The previous three THE STORM CUP events featured three eliminator rounds on day two, but the Colorado Springs Open will have two. After 12 games of full-field qualifying on Wednesday, the top 24 will bowl six games Thursday to cut to the top 12. Those players will then bowl six more games to decide the four stepladder finalists.

THE STORM CUP Points Leaders Through Three Events

  1. Jason Belmonte, 10,420
  2. Jesper Svensson, 7,140
  3. EJ Tackett, 6,610
  4. Nick Pate, 5,760
  5. Dom Barrett, 4,880
  6. Packy Hanrahan, 4,390
  7. Kyle Troup, 3,740
  8. Bill O’Neill, 3,570
  9. Brad Miller, 3,290
  10. Sean Lavery-Spahr, 2,810

THE STORM CUP: PBA Colorado Springs Open Schedule

Harmony Bowl – Colorado Springs, Colo.
All rounds streamed live on FloBowling

Wednesday, March 23
1 p.m. ET – Qualifying Round 1 (6 games)
7 p.m. ET – Qualifying Round 2 (6 games)

Thursday, March 24
Noon ET – Round of 24 (6 games)
4:30 p.m. ET – Round of 12 (6 games)
8:30 p.m. ET – Stepladder Finals

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.