May 4, 2025 Nolan Hughes

Jesper Svensson and Chris Via rounded out the quarterfinals field for the 2025 PBA Playoffs with their respective Round 1 victories.

Svensson defeated Jakob Butturff, while Via eliminated Ryan Barnes in their respective Race-to-Two match at Strobl Arena in Thunderbowl Lanes in Allen Park, Mich.

Anthony Simonsen and Kyle Troup also advanced through Round 1 in yesterday’s competition.

The quarterfinals will air May 10 at 2 p.m. and May 11 at 6:30 p.m. Eastern time on FS1.

Svensson again prevailed over Butturff in a rematch of last month’s PBA Tournament of Champions title match.

Butturff won the first game 200-192 before Svensson forced a two-frame roll-off with a 199-197 Game 2 win. Svensson fired four strikes in the roll-off to advance by a 60-39 margin.

“With us both being left-handed, the transition happened a little quicker than usual,” Svensson said. “The left lane got pretty dirty after a while. I felt like we couldn't really figure out a way to consistently hit the pocket. Then I felt like, whenever I hit the pocket, it didn't really strike either on that lane. When we got to the roll-off, I felt like I threw good shots to get the dub.”

Svennson will face Andrew Anderon, the No. 2 seed who will be competing less than an hour from his hometown of Holly, in the quarterfinals.

“He's a great competitor, and one of the best players probably in the clutch here,” Svensson said. “It's going to be hard to feel like I can put enough pressure on him to kind of tap out. That's not going to be the case. He's going to bring the best out of me. Bowling a right-hander, I also get the chance to set up the lanes a little bit more the way I want to. Maybe I have to go in as the underdog, but that's all right.”

In the second match of the show, Via came back from a decisive 279-188 Game 1 defeat to beat Barnes.

Via won the second game 234-185 and struck on his first three shots to win the roll-off, 59-40.

“The transition hit me a little bit quicker than I thought on that long pattern, and I was a little behind (the transition) and I think Ryan was a little further left than I was. A couple of not-great shots were magnified by being on the wrong side of it,” Via said of his poor start. “I was making great shots on the short pattern pretty much the entire time, so I felt super confident and comfortable over there.”

Via said competing on dual oil patterns — the 37-foot Bat pattern on the left lane and the 44-foot Hardwick pattern on the right lane — presents a different, but not necessarily more difficult challenge.

“Even when you’re bowling on the same pattern, both the lanes are playing differently, so you're still playing it lane-by-lane, rather than just playing a pattern,” Via said. “Now, typically you are doing something a little bit closer on both lanes, so execution wise, it might be a little bit easier. With this seven-foot difference in the length of the pattern, you are doing something fairly different, so it makes it a little bit more difficult, but I guess it’s just a different kind of challenge.”

Via will face Jason Belmonte in the quarterfinals on May 11.

“If you always want to beat the best,” Via said. “Obviously EJ has had an incredible couple of years here, but Belmo had that 10-year stretch where he was just unreal. It seems like EJ is kind of starting that 10-year stretch right now, but Belmo is still the goat in my eyes. To be able to take him down would just make it that much sweeter.”

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
No. 7 Jesper Svensson def. No. 10 Jakob Butturff, 2-1 (192-200, 199-197, 60-39)
No. 6 Chris Via def. No. 11 Ryan Barnes (188-279, 234-185, 59-40)

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. No. 7 Jesper Svensson
No. 3 Jason Belmonte vs. No. 6 Chris Via

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

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