May 7, 2026 Jill Winters

Bloomington, Minnesota – Mika Koivuniemi was nearly unstoppable on Thursday. During the 2026 PBA50 World Championship, he posted a 13-3 match play record, which added 390 bonus pins to his overall pinfall. He earned the No. 1 seed by 435 pins.

“It has been an amazing last couple of days. I am really happy,” Koivuniemi said. “I have never led by that much on the PBA for sure.”

In his first eight-game block of round-robin match play, he shot 286, 237, 258, 300, 197, 235, 234 and 192. He threw 63 strikes on the way to posting a 6-2 record. He came back in the final block going 7-1 in his matches. He had games of 248, 258, 256, 234, 246, 191, 248 and 191. He rolled 59 strikes over those eight games. 

“I think I had the look and I was able to take advantage of it,” Koivuniemi said. “I stayed focused and made a lot of great shots.”

Earlier during the World Series of Bowling IV, Koivuniemi finished in the 4th – 6th position at the Ballard, 12th in the Monacelli and 24th at the Petraglia Championships. Koivuniemi has two PBA50 titles, one being a major at the 2018 Suncoast Senior U.S. Open. 

In second place is Michael Machuga, who was making his PBA50 debut at this event. Machuga finished 11th at the Ballard, 14th in the Monacelli and in the 4th - 6th position at the Petraglia Championships.

The third and final seed to make the World Championship show is the 2025 PBA50 Rookie of the Year Tom Daugherty. He came in fourth place at last year’s World Championship, already improving on that this time around. He has one PBA50 title, which happens to be a major at the 2025 USBC Senior Masters. Daugherty was 20th in the Ballard, 32nd in the Monacelli and 12th at the Petraglia Championships.

The stepladder finals for the World Championship are scheduled for 6 p.m. Eastern May 12 live on CBS Sports Network. The winner will receive $25,000 and a major championship added to their senior bowling achievements. This show and the remaining WSOB IV shows will all take place at a different bowling center, Lucky Strike Lakeville instead of AMF Southtown Lanes.

“Of course, I would love to bowl here (Southtown Lanes) because I feel like nobody could beat me in this building on this pattern,” Koivuniemi said. “But it will be the same for everybody. I am glad to make it on TV for the PBA50.”

Koivuniemi added, “It is tough. You bowl four different patterns, and you cannot really have any big difficulties with any pattern to make this show. Those guys (Machuga and Daugherty) bowled great, too. There are so many great bowlers here. People just don’t understand how good some of these guys are still.”

Before the major championship show, the Ballard Championship will start at 3 p.m. ET on Sat., May 9. The opening match will feature two players who are nursing injuries. Two seed Bill Rowe withdrew from the final two games of the World Championship on Thursday because of a bicep injury, takes on John Janawicz, who withdrew before the Monacelli Championship with a hand injury. Both plan to bowl and the winner will face No. 1 seed Jason Couch.  

The Monacelli Championship takes place at 3 p.m. ET on Sun., May 10. In the opening match, Jack Jurek will meet No. 2 seed Bill Rowe and again the winner will take on top seed Jason Couch. And finally the Petraglia Championship is scheduled for 6 p.m. ET on Mon., May 11. Third seed Andres Gomez will face Ron Hurt with the winner set to take on top seed Tom Hess. All live shows will air on CBS Sports Network.  

PBA50 World Championship Advancers (after 52 games with bonus pins) :

  1. Mika Koivuniemi, 12,367 total pinfall, 13-3 match play record
  2. Michael Machuga, 11,932, 8-8
  3. Tom Daugherty, 11,924, 10.5-5.5

Full standings - PBA50 World Championship

More information on the WSOB IV is available here.

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