Mika Koivuniemi Leads PBA50 World Championship
Bloomington, Minnesota – The legend of “Major Mika” Koivuniemi continues. During Wednesday’s Advancers Round of the 2026 PBA50 World Championship, Koivuniemi took over the lead.
Koivuniemi was able to bounce back from two undesirable performances in his mind just a few days prior. He was the top seed after qualifying for the Ballard Championship on Sunday then on Tuesday, he was trying to defend his title at the Petraglia Championship. After making the stepladder finals in all four tournaments at the World Series of Bowling in 2024, he has high expectations.
“I wanted to make TV shows. I had one opportunity and JJ (John Janawicz) beat me. That was a big disappointment and last night (Petraglia Championship) was a big disappointment,” he said. “I was in a good position going into the night block for a chance, but I bowled my worst block. I was disappointed. Luckily, I recovered for today.”
He liked what he saw during practice on the 44-foot oil pattern for the World Championship, knowing he needed to keep his ball speed high and loft it. He shot 247, 255, 208, 228, 248 and 226 for a total pinfall of 1,412. His 36-game total is 8,166, a 226 average.
“This gives me an opportunity to win again and on live TV adds something to that. I always like to be on live shows,” he said. “Hopefully, I will find a way to fight tomorrow, win matches and put myself in a position to make it.”
Koivuniemi has a 26-pin lead over Michael Machuga. Brad Angelo used a perfect game to help him move into third place followed by Jason Couch and Tom Daugherty round out the top five. Couch is the No. 1 seed in the Ballard and Monacelli Championships aiming to make three live TV stepladder finals at the World Series of Bowling IV.
At the end of the Advancers Round on Wednesday, the field was cut to the top 16. The final player in is Dan Higgins Jr. with a total pinfall of 7,807. After only two 300 games were bowled through 30 games of qualifying throughout the four tournaments, Angelo and Mark Clark added perfect games on Wednesday. Clark, who was the defending World Champion, started his day in 39th place but did not advance finishing in 20th.
Two days after earning the No. 3 seed in the Monacelli Championship, Jack Jurek posted the highest block of the day with 1,437. He shot 792 for his last three games. Last year, Jurek won the inaugural PBA60 World Championship.
The remaining 16 players will bowl two eight game blocks of round-robin match play starting at noon Eastern then 6 p.m. ET on Thursday. Thirty bonus pins will go to the winner of each match. At the end of the 16 games, the top three players will make the stepladder finals for the World Championship. On the line is a major championship and the $25,000 first-place prize. The live show will be at 6 p.m. ET on May 12 on CBS Sports Network.
You can watch the round-robin action only on BowlTV.
PBA50 World Championship Advancers (through 36 games) :
- Mika Koivuniemi, 8,166 (+966)
- Michael Machuga, 8,140 (+940)
- Brad Angelo, 8,042 (+842)
- Jason Couch, 8,030 (+830)
- Tom Daugherty, 8,001 (+801)
- Bill Rowe, 7,918 (+718)
- Pete Weber, 7,915 (+715)
- Tom Hess, 7,913 (+713)
- Jack Jurek, 7,907 (+707)
- Andres Gomez, 7,876 (+676)
- John Burkett, 7,872 (+672)
- Chris Barnes, 7,869 (+669)
- Tom Adcock, 7,866 (+666)
- Peter Dohan Jr., 7,846 (+646)
- Brian Leclair, 7,837 (+637)
- Dan Higgins Jr., 7,807 (+607)
Full standings - PBA50 World Championship
More information on the WSOB IV is available here.