Thomas Larsen also advances, defeating Anthony Simonsen in two games
Milford, Conn.—No. 1 seed Kyle Troup needed a tie-breaking roll-off to get past 16th-seeded Andrew Anderson and advance to the 2021 Kia PBA Playoffs quarterfinals. Troup won the first game in a race-to-two-points format in which one point is awarded to the winner of each game. Anderson returned the favor in game two, necessitating the ninth-and-10th-frame roll-off.
Troup, the 2021 PBA Players Championship winner, began the first game with four consecutive strikes to build a lead, but Anderson fought back with five straight strikes late in the game. In the 10th frame, Anderson left a 10 pin on his fill ball, giving Troup an opportunity to win by filling 20 pins in the 10th. Troup struck and spared to take game one, 234-233.
Anderson, who won the PBA Roth/Holman Doubles Championship earlier this season with Kris Prather, also trailed early in the second game, but a string of five consecutive strikes starting in the fifth frame led to a 225-212 victory for Anderson.
Troup, the higher seed, opted to have Anderson start the ninth-and-10th-frame roll-off. Anderson spared, giving Troup a chance to win before Anderson bowled his 10th frame. Troup rolled three straight strikes and an eight count to lock up the match and move into the quarterfinals.
In the quarterfinals, Troup will face USBC Masters champion Thomas Larsen, who defeated 2020 PBA Playoffs runner-up Anthony Simonsen in both games to advance out of the Round of 16. Larsen struck in eight of the first nine frames in game one and was able to fight off a late charge from Simonsen. Larsen took the first game by six pins, 244-238.
Larsen began the second game with the front nine. Only a 9 pin on his first shot in the 10th prevented Larsen from achieving perfection, who won game two, 279-224. In his two games, Larsen rolled 18 strikes in 20 frames.
The Kia PBA Playoffs Round of 16 continues tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. ET on Fox Sports’ FS1 and will feature François Lavoie versus Dick Allen and Jakob Butturff against defending PBA Playoffs champion Bill O’Neill.
The winner of the PBA Playoffs will receive a PBA Tour title, $100,000 and an official WWE championship title belt.
Viewers can live stream the PBA on the FOX Sports and FOX NOW apps or at FOXSports.com. Select highlights will be available on @FOXSports social handles across Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. International fans can watch live on FloBowling.com.
Round of 16 Results (Saturday, Apr. 24 on FS1)
Bowlero Milford, Milford, Conn.
No. 1 Kyle Troup def. No. 16 Andrew Anderson, 2-1
Game 1 – Troup def. Anderson, 234-233
Game 2 – Anderson def. Troup, 225-212
Rolloff – Troup def. Anderson, 58-26
No. 9 Thomas Larsen def. No. 8 Anthony Simonsen, 2-0
Game 1 – Larsen def. Simonsen, 244-238
Game 2 – Larsen def. Simonsen, 279-224
Round of 16 (Sunday, Apr. 25 at 1:30 p.m. ET on FS1)
No. 4 François Lavoie vs. No. 13 Dick Allen
No. 5 Jakob Butturff vs. No. 12 Bill O’Neill
Round of 16 (Saturday, May 1 at 11:30 a.m. ET on FS1)
No. 2 Chris Via vs. No. 15 Cristian Azcona
No. 7 Kris Prather vs. No. 10 EJ Tackett
Round of 16 (Sunday, May 2 at 7 p.m. ET on FS1)
No. 3 Tom Daugherty vs. No. 14 Jason Sterner
No. 6 Jesper Svensson vs. No. 11 Sam Cooley
Quarterfinals (Sunday, May 9 at noon ET on FS1)
No. 1 Kyle Troup vs. No. 9 Thomas Larsen
Lavoie/Allen vs. Butturff/O’Neill
Quarterfinals (Monday, May 10 at 8 p.m. ET on FS1)
To be determined after Round of 16
Semifinals (Saturday, May 15 at 11 a.m. ET on FS1)
To be determined after quarterfinals
Kia PBA Playoffs Championship (Sunday, May 16 at 2 p.m. ET on FOX)
To be determined after semifinals
About the PBA
The Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) is the world’s preeminent organization dedicated to the sport of bowling and its professional competition, with thousands of members and millions of fans throughout the world. The PBA plays host to bowling’s biggest tournaments from the PBA Tour, PBA Regional Tour, and PBA50 Tour. In 2020, the PBA launched PBA Jr., a club for elite youth bowlers under the age of 17 and the PBA Pinsiders, a membership for fans of the sport. For more information, please visit PBA.com.
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