May 1, 2026 Nolan Hughes

The best bowlers in the world have convened at Bowlero Brooklyn Park for the PBA World Series of Bowling XVII.

Five PBA Tour titles will be awarded during the event, including a major in the AMF PBA World Championship.

In each of the four animal pattern championships — Cheetah, Chameleon, Scorpion and Shark — players will bowl 10 games of qualifying. The top 12 players will advance to the televised bracket finals, airing May 9-12 on CBS Sports Network.

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, which will be a continuation of the bracket. The title match will be a Race-to-Two format.

The World Championship includes qualifying games from each of the four animal pattern championships. The top 40 players after those 40 games will advance, then bowl 10 more games on a fifth oil pattern to determine the 16-player field for round-robin match play.

After all 66 games are completed, the top nine players will advance to the stepladder finals, which will be held Saturday, June 13 at Thunderbowl Lanes in Allen Park, Mich.

All qualifying rounds will be livestreamed on BowlTV.

The full TV schedule for the WSOB is available here.

More information on the PBA WSOB XVII is available here.

 
AMF PBA World Championship

LIVE STANDINGS

Through the first 50 games of the World Championship, which includes 10 games on each of the Cheetah, Chameleon, Scorpion, Shark, and Earl Anthony oil patterns, the three-time defending champion finds himself in familiar territory.

EJ Tackett has averaged more than 226 to lead the field. The three-time defending World Champion, looks to become the first player to win a PBA Tour tournament in four consecutive years.

“Of course, I've thought about it,” Tackett said of winning a fourth consecutive World Championship title, “It fueled me to practice more. No matter what happens, I’ll know that at the end of the season that I did everything I possibly could. There was no laziness. I put everything I had into (my preparation). I can hang my head high that I did everything I possibly could, whether it works out or not.”

“I'm here to do a job, and that job is to win. If I'm able to do that, there might be some cool stuff that comes along with it. But at the end of the day, I have to stay focused on trying to win that championship and not worry about the other stuff. If you go do your job and you win, that stuff usually takes care of itself.”

Major champions in Chris Via, rookie sensation Brandon Bonta, Jason Belmonte, Kris Prather and Bill O’Neill round out the next five positions in the major championship.

Two eight-game rounds of round-robin match play on Wednesday will determine the nine players advancing to the stepladder finals, which will be held June 13 at Thunderbowl Lanes in Allen Park, Mich.

Match play will begin at 12 p.m. CT (1 p.m. ET) and 6 p.m. CT (7 p.m. ET) on BowlTV.

World Championship Standings | 50 Games

  1. EJ Tackett, 11,316 pinfall, 226.32 average
  2. Chris Via, 11,259, 225.18
  3. Brandon Bonta, 11,222, 224.44
  4. Jason Belmonte, 11,174, 223.48
  5. Kris Prather, 11,105, 222.1
  6. Bill O'Neill, 11,077, 221.54
  7. Darren Tang, 11,025, 220.5
  8. Jason Sterner, 11,016, 220.32
  9. Zach Wilkins, 10,997, 219.94
  10. Thomas Larsen, 10,933, 218.66
  11. Mitch Hupé, 10,922, 218.44
  12. Ryan Barnes, 10,912, 218.24
  13. Patrick Dombrowski, 10,892, 217.84
  14. Packy Hanrahan, 10,887, 217.74
  15. Hayden Stippich, 10,881, 217.62
  16. Deo Benard, 10,875, 217.5
  17. Santtu Tahvanainen, 10,872, 217.44
  18. Kyle Sherman, 10,871, 217.42
  19. Tommy Jones, 10,858, 217.16
  20. Cam Crowe, 10,834, 216.68
  21. Sean Rash, 10,832, 216.64
  22. Ronnie Russell, 10,829, 216.58
  23. Arturo Quintero, 10,827, 216.54
  24. Tomas Käyhkö, 10,825, 216.5
  25. Tom Smallwood, 10,820, 216.4

Complete standings are available here.

PBA Cheetah Championship

FULL RECAP: Cam Crowe Leads PBA Cheetah Championship

Second-year player Cam Crowe led the field during the first title event of the WSOB, contested on the 35-foot Cheetah oil pattern.

The two-handed lefty was able to utilize his A-game, firing the ball up the lane near the gutter, to average more than 246 and lead the 120-player field.

Cheetah Championship Finalists

  1. Cam Crowe, 2,465 pinfall, 246.50 average
  2. Spencer Robarge, 2,426, 242.60
  3. Matt Sanders, 2,399, 239.90
  4. Zachary Tackett, 2,364, 236.40
  5. Packy Hanrahan, 2,319, 231.90
  6. Bill O'Neill, 2,315, 231.50
  7. Brandon Kreyer, 2,314, 231.40
  8. Brandon Bonta, 2,308, 230.80
  9. Kris Prather, 2,301, 230.10
  10. AJ Johnson, 2,298, 229.80
  11. Hayden Stippich, 2,289, 228.90
  12. Chase Nadeau, 2,287, 228.70

Complete standings are available here.

 
PBA Chameleon Championship

FULL RECAP: Jason Belmonte Leads PBA Chameleon Championship

Jason Belmonte, the Australian star who has dominated the WSOB throughout his career, led the field on the 39-foot Chameleon oil pattern.

Belmonte, a three-time champion on this oil pattern, averaged more than 231 to pace the field.

YouTube sensations Darren Tang and Kyle Sherman also advanced to the televised bracket finals.

This will mark Tang’s first show as a two-handed player. He made the switch early in the 2025 season.

Chameleon Championship Finalists

  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

Complete standings are available here.

 
PBA Scorpion Championship

FULL RECAP: Zach Wilkins Leads PBA Scorpion Championship

Zach Wilkins, perhaps the hottest player on the PBA Tour, led the field on the 43-foot Scorpion oil pattern.

Wilkins won his first career title two weeks ago in the Owen’s Craft Mixers PBA Roth/Holman Doubles Championship with AJ Chapman, then led last week’s Tournament of Champions.

The Canadian averaged north of 233 to narrowly eclipse Chris Via and EJ Tackett for the top seed.

Kris Prather, Darren Tang and Santtu Tahvanainen each advanced to their second animal pattern championship finals of the week.

Scorpion Championship Finalists

  1. Zach Wilkins, 2,334 pinfall, 233.4 average
  2. Chris Via, 2,332, 233.2
  3. EJ Tackett, 2,331, 233.1
  4. Zach Weidman, 2,319, 231.9
  5. Graham Fach, 2,309, 230.9
  6. Jesper Svensson, 2,309, 230.9
  7. Sean Rash, 2,271, 227.1
  8. Thomas Larsen, 2,244, 224.4
  9. Kris Prather, 2,231, 223.1
  10. Santtu Tahvanainen, 2,230, 223.0
  11. Nate Stubler, 2,230, 223.0
  12. Darren Tang, 2,215, 221.5

Complete standings are available here.

 
PBA Shark Championship

FULL RECAP: Ronnie Russell Leads PBA Shark Championship

In his potential swan song as a full-time PBA Tour player, 46-year-old Ronnie Russell led all players on the 48-foot Shark oil pattern to lead Shark Championship qualifying.

“It's pretty awesome,” Russell said. “It’s been such a long road of struggling mentally and physically. I could not figure it out. That's why I announced my retirement today, because it's getting rough to be out here. Kids like Alex (Horton), they're hard to beat. There's no learning curve anymore. They come out and start beating everybody.”

Via qualified second in back-to-back events, making him the only player to qualify in a bye position multiple times during the WSOB.

Rookie sensation Brandon Bonta usurped two-time defending Shark Champion EJ Tackett for the fourth qualifying position with a late barrage of strikes. Tackett preserved his three-peat bid as the fifth qualifier.

Shark Championship Finalists

  1. Ronnie Russell, 2,366 pinfall, 236.6 average
  2. Chris Via, 2,337, 233.7
  3. Patrick Dombrowski, 2,318, 231.8
  4. Brandon Bonta, 2,310, 231
  5. EJ Tackett, 2,299, 229.9
  6. Hayden Stippich, 2,290, 229
  7. Tobias Börding, 2,282, 228.2
  8. Packy Hanrahan, 2,281, 228.1
  9. Tommy Jones, 2,265, 226.5
  10. Alex Horton, 2,259, 225.9
  11. Kyle Sherman, 2,254, 225.4
  12. Mitch Hupé, 2,253, 225.3

Complete standings are available here.

PBA World Series of Bowling XVII Schedule

Thursday, April 30 — Bowlero Brooklyn Park
10 a.m. (11 a.m. ET) — Official practice session (Cheetah and Chameleon oil patterns)
2 p.m. (3 p.m. ET) — Official practice session (Cheetah and Chameleon oil patterns)

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

Top 12 players advance to televised rounds on May 9

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

Top 12 players advance to televised rounds on May 10

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 40 players 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)
6 p.m. (7 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)
6 p.m. (7 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