May 2, 2026 Nolan Hughes

Twelve players have secured a berth in the PBA Chameleon Championship finals, the second title event of the PBA World Series of Bowling XVII.

Jason Belmonte led the 10-game qualifying round on Saturday at Bowlero Brooklyn Park in Minneapolis.

Belmonte, along with Darren Tang, Jason Sterner and Jakob Butturff, each earned a one-round bye in the single-elimination bracket finals, which will air Sunday, May 10 on CBS Sports Network.

Additional advancers include Kyle Sherman, Santtu Tahvanainen, Tobias Börding, Anthony Simonsen, Mitch Hupé, Boog Krol, Deo Benard and Riley Woodard.

Complete standings are available here.

Only four players in PBA history have won the same animal pattern championship multiple times in their career: Scott Norton on Chameleon, Tom Daugherty on Scorpion, EJ Tackett on Shark (the past two years), and Belmonte on Chameleon.

Belmonte is the only player to have won an animal pattern championship three times, prevailing in the 2011, 2019, and 2020 PBA Chameleon Championships.

“I don't typically like Chameleon, so it's surprising to me when you said that I've won it, not just before but a couple of times,” Belmonte said. “I think this week in particular, catching the (right pairs) is a huge advantage. It’s the difference between 250-260 and 170-180. When you have (a good pair) and you find it, you have to figure out a way to get as many strikes as you can. I was very lucky that I was able to do that in six of the 10 games that I bowled today.”

Belmonte also made a big move in the PBA World Championship, which includes qualifying games across the Cheetah, Chameleon, Scorpion and Shark Championships. The World Championship is also another WSOB event the Australian has won three times in his career.

He sat in 95th place after the first five games on Cheetah, climbed to 38th after the second round on Cheetah, and now ranks third overall through 20 games in the major championship.

“I think the key is to always remind yourself that you might bowl a bad game right now, and maybe this is going to hurt your chances for the smaller tournament, but getting that double in the 10th, making that 10-pin spare in the 10th, getting all of those pins makes a huge difference,” Belmonte said. “That's typically how I've attacked the World Championship through my career, and I've had a lot of success here at the World Series and in the World Championship. It's because I don't give away any pins if I can help it. I really do value every frame.”

Darren Tang earned the No. 2 seed for the bracket finals, a fitting result for the 32-year-old.

Tang bowled his entire life and first nine years as a pro as a one-handed player. He switched to two-handed early in the 2025 season because he didn’t feel like he could compete for titles with his one-handed game, despite the fact that he owns a PBA Tour title in the 2021 Bowlerstore.com Classic.

“In the past, I've had a lot of things kind of bother me, like injuries, overthinking, and never really feeling like I was good enough physically to compete out here,” Tang said. “Now that I've got the additional power paired with what I needed to do to be competitive one-handed, I think it's starting to show a little bit. I've been pretty good mentally at not really thinking about wanting to do this or that as a two-hander. Obviously, I'm here to try to make shows and try to win, but I’m really trying to focus on bowling. I've been doing a pretty good job last month, so we finally did it.”

Tang finished outside the top 50 in his first two singles events while bowling two-handed last season. He finished 16th in the next tournament, added a 12th place finish in the PBA Tournament of Champions, and closed out the season with a third place finish in the mixed doubles event.

Tang ranks 23rd in points with seven cashes and through the first 10 events of 2026. He finished sixth in New York and 10th in the TOC during the past month, showing signs of this breakout performance.

When he first made the switch, Tang said he didn’t expect to see noteworthy results until 2027. He said his timing has been the key to accelerating the development process. 

“I have early timing one-handed. I think I'm more naturally two-handed (in terms of timing), so it was a lot easier for me to pick it up and actually work on things. Things clicked a lot faster,” Tang said. “I really noticed it when I took about two weeks off, came back, it was like I never left. When I bowled one-handed, it would take me two or three days to get back in sync. I think there's a lot of mental capacity that's been freed up to actually just focus on bowling, so it's all just starting to click.”

Another player who has been desperately searching for a breakout performance is Kyle Sherman, who advanced to his first show as a player this season.

Sherman is the new color analyst for the PBA Tour, teaming up with play-by-play commentator Rick Allen for the PBA on CW broadcasts.

Juggling two hats has not hindered Sherman’s performance on the lanes. A nagging lower-back injury, however, has.

Sherman said he withdrew from last week’s TOC because of the back injury and has contemplated doing so at multiple points during the early stages of this WSOB.

“I feel like when I get into a groove like this, where I got close to making a couple shows, my back goes out on me,” said Sherman, while actively holding his ailing back. “That's the battle I've been fighting. I'm trying to keep my head up, because you never know. Literally right before this tournament, I was sitting in my car. I'm thinking I’ve got 40 games in four days, and I can barely walk. This is the most daunting thing. I didn’t even know if I was going to start this tournament.”

“But you know what?” Sherman continued. “I'm going to go until I can't. I'm really happy I did. It's frustrating, but I'm going to keep at it. I'm a bowler. This is what we do.”

Spencer Robarge leads the PBA World Championship through 20 games. He has averaged 230 for his first 20 games on the Cheetah and Chameleon oil patterns.

Tang, Belmonte, Cam Crowe and Bill O’Neill round out the top five in the major championship.

Qualifying in the PBA Scorpion Championship (and the continuation of PBA World Championship qualifying) continues on Sunday.

Each five-game round will begin at 11 a.m. CT (12 p.m. ET) and 6 p.m. CT (7 p.m. ET).

All qualifying rounds will be livestreamed on BowlTV.

During each animal pattern finals, the semifinal round will feature two concurrent matches each game.

  • Game 1: No. 8 seed vs. No. 9 seed + No. 5 seed vs. No. 12 seed
  • Game 2: No. 7 seed vs. No. 10 seed + No. 6 seed vs. No. 11 seed
  • Game 3: No. 1 seed vs. No. 8/9 seed + No. 4 seed vs. No. 5/12 seed
  • Game 4: No. 2 seed vs. No. 7/10 seed + No. 3 seed vs. No. 6/11 seed

The four winners of each match will advance to the championship round, beginning on May 9 at 6 p.m ET, which will be a continuation of the bracket. The title match will be a Race-to-Two format.

The PBA World Championship represents the culmination of each animal pattern.

The top third of the entire field across all 40 qualifying games will advance. Ten more games will determine the 16-player match play field for the PBA World Championship.

After 66 games in the PBA World Championship, the top nine players will advance to the televised championship rounds on June 13.

The June 13 semifinal and championship round will be a continuous nine-player stepladder finals.

PBA Chameleon Championship Standings | 10 Games
  1. Jason Belmonte, 2,318 pinfall, 231.8 average
  2. Darren Tang, 2,299, 229.9
  3. Jason Sterner, 2,289, 228.9
  4. Jakob Butturff, 2,274, 227.4
  5. Kyle Sherman, 2,259, 225.9
  6. Santtu Tahvanainen, 2,229, 222.9
  7. Tobias Börding, 2,228, 222.8
  8. Anthony Simonsen, 2,218, 221.8
  9. Mitch Hupé, 2,216, 221.6
  10. Boog Krol, 2,208, 220.8
  11. Deo Benard, 2,201, 220.1
  12. Riley Woodard, 2,196, 219.6
  13. Ryan Barnes, 2,195, 219.5
  14. Bill O'Neill, 2,193, 219.3
  15. Tim Foy Jr., 2,191, 219.1
  16. Anthony Neuer, 2,184, 218.4
  17. Kevin McCune, 2,182, 218.2
  18. Michael Davidson, 2,179, 217.9
  19. Sean Lavery-Spahr, 2,177, 217.7
  20. Blake Walsh, 2,176, 217.6

Complete standings are available here.

PBA World Championship Standings | 20 Games
  1. Spencer Robarge, 4,600 pinfall, 230.00 average
  2. Darren Tang, 4,520, 226.00
  3. Jason Belmonte, 4,516, 225.80
  4. Cameron Crowe, 4,514, 225.70
  5. Bill O'Neill, 4,508, 225.40
  6. Jason Sterner, 4,507, 225.35
  7. Packy Hanrahan, 4,486, 224.30
  8. Tim Foy Jr., 4,474, 223.70
  9. Brandon Bonta, 4,463, 223.15
  10. Ryan Barnes, 4,445, 222.25
  11. Kris Prather, 4,439, 221.95
  12. Deo Benard, 4,432, 221.60
  13. EJ Tackett, 4,412, 220.60
  14. Boog Krol, 4,410, 220.50
  15. Tomas Käyhkö, 4,407, 220.35
  16. Blake Walsh, 4,402, 220.10
  17. Sean Lavery-Spahr, 4,400, 220.00
  18. Thomas Larsen, 4,399, 219.95
  19. Nick Pate, 4,394, 219.70
  20. Riley Woodard, 4,385, 219.25

Complete standings are available here.

PBA Chameleon Championship Matches

Matches will air live Sunday, May 10 at 4/6 p.m. ET on CBS Sports Network

  • Anthony Simonsen vs. Mitch Hupé + Kyle Sherman vs. Riley Woodard
  • Tobias Börding vs. Boog Krol + Santtu Tahvanainen vs. Deo Benard
  • Jason Belmonte vs. Simonsen/Hupé + Jakob Butturff vs. Sherman/Woodard
  • Darren Tang vs. Börding/Krol + Jason Sterner vs. Tahvanainen/Benard
PBA World Series of Bowling XVII Schedule

Sunday, May 3 — Bowlero Brooklyn Park — BowlTV
11 a.m. (12 p.m. ET) — Scorpion Championship Qualifying Round 1 (5 games)
6 p.m. (7 p.m. ET) — Scorpion Championship Qualifying Round 2 (5 games)

Top 12 players advance to televised rounds on May 11

Monday, May 4 — Bowlero Brooklyn Park — BowlTV
11 a.m. (12 p.m. ET) — Shark Championship Qualifying Round 1 (5 games)
6 p.m. (7 p.m. ET) — Shark Championship Qualifying Round 2 (5 games)

Top 12 players advance to televised rounds on May 12
Top 1:3 of field advance in PBA World Championship

Tuesday, May 5 — Bowlero Brooklyn Park — BowlTV
9 a.m. (10 a.m. ET) — World Championship practice session
12 p.m. (1 p.m. ET) — World Championship Advancers Round 1 (5 games)
5 p.m. (6 p.m. ET) — World Championship Advancers Round 1 (5 games)

Top 16 players advance to World Championship round-robin match play

Wednesday, May 6 — Bowlero Brooklyn Park — BowlTV
11 a.m. (12 p.m. ET) — World Championship Match Play Round 1 (8 games)
5 p.m. (6 p.m. ET) — World Championship Match Play Round 2 (8 games)

Top nine players advance to World Championship televised rounds on June 13

Saturday, May 9 — Lucky Strike Lakeville — CBS Sports Network
2 p.m. (3 p.m. ET) — PBA50 Ballard Championship finals
3 p.m. (4 p.m. ET) — PBA Cheetah Championship semifinals
5 p.m. (6 p.m. ET) — PBA Cheetah Championship finals

Sunday, May 10 — Lucky Strike Lakeville — CBS Sports Network
2 p.m. (3 p.m. ET) — PBA50 Monacelli Championship finals
3 p.m. (4 p.m. ET) — PBA Chameleon Championship semifinals
5 p.m. (6 p.m. ET) — PBA Chameleon Championship finals

Monday, May 11 — Lucky Strike Lakeville — CBS Sports Network
5 p.m. (6 p.m. ET) — PBA50 Petraglia Championship finals
6 p.m. (7 p.m. ET) — PBA Scorpion Championship semifinals
8 p.m. (9 p.m. ET) — PBA Scorpion Championship finals

Tuesday, May 12 — Lucky Strike Lakeville — CBS Sports Network
5 p.m. (6 p.m. ET) — PBA50 World Championship finals
6 p.m. (7 p.m. ET) — PBA Shark Championship semifinals
8 p.m. (9 p.m. ET) — PBA Shark Championship finals

Saturday, June 13 — Thunderbowl Lanes — CBS and Paramount+
11 a.m. ET — PBA World Championship semifinals
1 p.m. ET — PBA World Championship finals