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Anthony Simonsen Leads Top 16 DHC PBA Japan Invitational Qualifiers into Match Play

Defending champion E.J. Tackett advances to match play in 10th place

TOKYO, Japan (Jan. 27, 2018) – Three weeks after celebrating his 21st birthday, Anthony Simonsen of Austin, Texas, averaged 227 for his 12 qualifying games Saturday at Tokyo Port Bowl to lead the field of 16 finalists into Sunday’s match play finals of the DHC PBA Japan Invitational, the first tournament of the 2018 Go Bowling! PBA Tour season.

Simonsen, a three-time PBA Tour titlist, rolled games of 200, 215, 231, 243, 244, 248, 211, 218, 245, 229 and 238 in Saturday’s two six-game qualifying rounds for a total of 2,724 pins and an 83-pin lead over Ryan Ciminelli of Clarence, N.Y. Reigning PBA Player of the Year Jason Belmonte of Australia was in third place, seven pins behind Ciminelli, and defending DHC PBA Japan Invitational champion EJ Tackett of Huntington, Ind., advanced to match play in 10th place, 156 pins behind Simonsen.

Simonsen, who has been bowling abroad for the past month, said he arrived in Japan full of confidence.

“This is my fourth tournament internationally in the last month,” the Texas two-handed player said. “I bowled an event in Ireland last week and was fortunate to walk awaywith a win. I also won an event in Korea in late December so I feel like I’m definitely on my game right now and looking forward to extending my winning streak this week.”

The PBA is providing live coverage of the DHC PBA Japan Invitational on its video streaming service, Xtra Frame. Two eight-game round-robin match play rounds will air at6:20 and 10:40 p.m. EST today followed by the five-player stepladder finals at 3:30 a.m. EST Sunday.

For fans who prefer a more convenient time to watch, each XF segment from Japan will be available on demand in Xtra Frame’s “What’s New” section within approximately an hour of the live stream, and in the XF archives shortly thereafter.

Xtra Frame subscriptions are available in a variety of packages: three-day ($3.99), 30-day ($7.99) and Xtra Frame Season Ticket (a full-year’s coverage at an average cost of $1.25 per week). Subscriptions are available by visiting “xtraframe.tv” and clicking on the “subscribe now” link. New monthly or Season Ticket subscribers are automatically entered into PBA’s monthly sweepstakes where they have chances to win a new high-performancebowling ball from Brunswick, DV8 or MOTIV.

DHC PBA JAPAN INVITATIONAL

Tokyo Port Bowl, Tokyo, Japan, Saturday

Final Qualifying Round Standings (after 12 games; top 16 advanced to round-robin match play; top five after 28 games advance to stepladder finals):

1, Anthony Simonsen, Austin, Texas, 2,724.
2, Ryan Ciminelli, Clarence, N.Y., 2,641.
3, Jason Belmonte, Australia, 2,634.
4, Kyle Troup, Taylorsville, N.C., 2,630.
5, Rhino Page, Orlando, 2,626.
6, Dom Barrett, England, 2,620.
7, Shuichi Heki, Japan, 2,582.
8, Marshall Kent, Yakima, Wash., 2,581.
9, Jesper Svensson, Sweden, 2,578.
10, EJ Tackett, Huntington, Ind., 2,566.
11, Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., 2,555.
12, An Junsang, South Korea, 2,543.
13, Shota Kawazoe, Japan, 2,540.
14, Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., 2,536.
15, n-Yuhi Shinbata, Japan, 2,534.
16, Yannaphon Larpapharat, Thailand, 2,524.
Failed to advance:
17, Bill O’Neill, Langhorne, Pa., 2,504.
18, Francois Lavoie, Canada, 2,492.
19, n-Tomoyuki Sasaki, Japan, 2,490.
20, w-Liz Johnson, Palatine, Ill., 2,488.
21, Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, 2,460.
22, n-Yuta Saito, Japan, 2,432.
23, Kiyohito Komori, Japan, 2,406.
24, Nobuhito Fujii, Japan, 2,371.

25, w-Yuki Akiyoshi, Japan, 2,368.
26, n-w-Yuri Sato, Japan, 2,365.
27, n-Iwao Mori, Japan, 2,360.
28, n-Yuki Murahama, Japan, 2,345.
29, Parker Bohn III, Jackson, N.J., 2,329.
30, w-Hiroko Shimizu, Japan, 2,325.
31, Hiroki Takada, Japan, 2,317.
32, Junichi Yajima, Japan, 2,303.
33, n-Kosuke Shirai, Japan, 2,296.
34, w-Hiromi Matsunaga, Japan, 2,289.
35, n-Takahiro Sato, Japan, 2,278.
36, n-w-Kana Minowa, Japan, 2,260.
37, n-Atsushi Ibuki, Japan, 2,257.
38, n-Hiroki Nakane, Japan, 2,256.
39, n-Masaki Noda, Japan, 2,243.
40, n-w-Misaki Mukotani, Japan, 2,237.
41, w-Akiko Suzuki, Japan, 2,231.
42, n-w-Manae Kameshima, Japan, 2,224.
43, n-Arifumi Higa, Japan, 2,192.
44, n-w-Mirai Tanihara, Japan, 2,190.
45, n-Akira Watanabe, Japan, 2,167.
46, w-Nana Iida, Japan, 2,153.
47, Shota Amakasu, Japan, 2,143.
48, n-Akifumi Matsushita, Japan, 2,070.

w-denotes woman; n-denotes non-PBA member.

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