May 3, 2025 Nolan Hughes

Anthony Simonsen and Kyle Troup captured wins in the opening round of the 2025 PBA Playoffs.

Simonsen defeated Ethan Fiore, while Kyle Troup defeated Tim Foy Jr. in their respective matches at Strobl Arena in Thunderbowl Lanes in Allen Park, Mich.

Round 1 of the PBA Playoffs continues at 7 p.m. Eastern time Sunday on FS1: Jesper Svensson will face Jakob Butturff, then Chris Via will meet Ryan Barnes, the first rookie to qualify for the PBA Playoffs.

Simonsen made quick work of Fiore in the opening Race-to-Two match of the PBA Playoffs, sweeping the 20-year-old Fiore in two games, 258-200 and 230-158.

Players will compete on the 37-foot Bat oil pattern on the left lane and the 44-foot Hardwick oil pattern on the right lane throughout the PBA Playoffs.

Simonsen — the youngest player to win one, two, three, four and five majors — delivered high praise for Fiore in his post-game interview, who became the fourth-youngest major champion earlier this month.

“Ethan seems to be a few years ahead of the curve compared to me. He's definitely very impressive, and I think we'll be seeing his name around for quite a while,” Simonsen said. “Tommy Jones made a really good point when I came out on tour. He said, ‘When I was 17-18, I knew how to bowl, but I didn't know how to bowl,’ and I never really processed what he meant (until now). It’s one of those things where I could physically bowl, but I didn't really understand what to do on the lanes (with) moves and things like that.”

Simonsen advances to face the top seed EJ Tackett in the quarterfinals.

“He's the man to beat. He's been kicking our ass for the last three seasons,” Simonsen said. “We're going to try to see if we can tip the scales a little bit in my favor for this event. Obviously, I’m expecting some high scores from EJ. He has a very good understanding of these lanes as well. If I bowl 250 every game, I think I’ll have a good chance so I’ll just keep trying to do that.”

Troup, the only past champion in the 12-player PBA Playoffs field, proved why he’s also the only player to have won the PBA Playoffs twice.

Troup dispatched Foy in two games, doubling in the 10th frame to win Game 1 before firing the front-six strikes en route to winning Game 2.

“Confidence wakes me up every day,” Troup said. “That’s my word for the tournament because I haven't had a lot of it throughout the year. I got to throw a few strikes and win the Battle of the Brands, so that gave me a little bit of confidence on those two lanes (in Strobl Arena). I've just got to believe in myself. A lot of the hard work that I put in this year hasn't paid off yet. I've had a prime example of that in Jesper Svenson last year and this year. He grinds and grinds and grinds and saves the season at the end, so we're hoping for that kind of magic.”

Troup will face Graham Fach, the top left-hander in points this season, in the quarterfinals.

“I’ve got the No. 12 seed beside my name, but I feel like it’s a one,” Troup said. “It's the playoffs. This is all we’ve got. This is it for the year. 100% isn't going to be enough. I've got to dig deeper and try and give even more through these next few rounds.”

The PBA Playoffs feature the top 12 players in competition points this season.

Tackett led the tour with 34,690 points — more than second place Andrew Anderson (18,120) and third place Jason Belmonte (15,365) combined. Fach qualified fourth with 15,181 points, securing the coveted fourth seed.

Tackett, Anderson, Belmonte and Fach each earned a bye to the quarterfinals.

The quarterfinals will air next weekend, May 10-11, followed by the semifinals on May 18.

The finalists will return for the live championship match, featuring a Race-to-Three format, on May 24.

The full TV schedule is available here.

PBA Playoffs TV Schedule

Round 1
No. 9 Anthony Simonsen def. No. 8 Ethan Fiore, 2-0 (258-200, 230-158)
No. 12 Kyle Troup def. No. 5 Tim Foy Jr., 2-0 (224-212, 265-215)

Round 1 - airing May 4 at 7pm ET | FS1
No. 7 Jesper Svensson vs. No. 10 Jakob Butturff
No. 6 Chris Via vs. No. 11 Ryan Barnes

Quarterfinals - airing May 10 at 2pm ET | FS1
No. 1 EJ Tackett vs. No. 9 Anthony Simonsen
No. 4 Graham Fach vs. No. 12 Kyle Troup

Quarterfinals - airing May 11 at 6:30pm ET | FS1
No. 2 Andrew Anderson vs. Svensson/Butturff
No. 3 Jason Belmonte vs. Via/Barnes

Semifinals - airing May 18 at 12pm ET | FS1
Tackett/Simonsen vs. Fach/Troup
Anderson/Svensson/Butturff vs. Belmonte/Via/Barnes

Championship - airing May 24 at 2:30pm ET | FOX (live)