Cristian Azcona edges EJ Tackett, Sam Cooley knocks out Tom Daugherty
Milford, Conn.—No. 15 seed Cristian Azcona and No. 11 seed Sam Cooley both overcame game-one losses to force and win tie-breaking roll-offs and advance to the Kia PBA Playoffs semifinals. Azcona eliminated 10th-seeded EJ Tackett and Cooley upset No. 3 seed Tom Daugherty. Azcona and Cooley will face each other in the semifinals Saturday at 11 a.m. ET on Fox Sports’ FS1.
In a race-to-two-points format, each game is worth one point. If the players are tied after two games, a ninth-and-10th-frame roll-off decides the winner of the match.
After dropping game one to Tackett, Azcona put up seven strikes in the second game on his way to a 240-214 win to necessitate a roll-off. Azcona began the roll-off with a strike, which Tackett matched. Tackett finished first, striking in the 10th and then leaving a 4-8. Taking just the 4 pin on his spare attempt, Tackett finished with a score of 47, forcing Azcona to strike and get nine pins to win. That’s exactly what Azcona did, advancing to the semifinals.
Likewise, Cooley lost the first game to Daugherty but tied the match with a victory in game two. Despite trailing early in the second game, Cooley strung five consecutive strikes in the middle of the game to overtake Daugherty for a 236-218 win.
As the higher seed, Daugherty elected to bowl first in the roll-off, starting with a spare. Cooley posted a score of 37, requiring Daugherty to roll nine, spare, nine to win. Instead, Daugherty left the 2-4-10 split and failed to convert, leaving Cooley with a 37-26 victory and the final spot in the semifinals.
The Kia PBA Playoffs semifinals, featuring Azcona against Cooley and Kyle Troup taking on François Lavoie, air live on Fox Sports’ FS1 Saturday, May 15 at 11 a.m. ET.
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
Roll-off – 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 Results (Sunday, Apr. 25 on FS1)
No. 4 François Lavoie def. No. 13 Dick Allen, 2-1
Game 1 – Lavoie def. Allen, 266-185
Game 2 – Allen def. Lavoie, 258-238
Roll-off – Lavoie def. Allen, 59-50
No. 12 Bill O’Neill def. No. 5 Jakob Butturff, 2-1
Game 1 – Butturff def. O’Neill, 257-193
Game 2 – O’Neill def. Butturff, 227-222
Roll-off – O’Neill def. Butturff, 49-39
Round of 16 Results (Saturday, May 1 on FS1)
No. 15 Cristian Azcona def. No. 2 Chris Via, 2-0
Game 1 – Azcona def. Via, 258-226
Game 2 – Azcona def. Via, 238-215
No. 10 EJ Tackett def. No. 7 Kris Prather, 2-1
Game 1 – Tackett def. Prather, 267-170
Game 2 – Prather def. Tackett, 205-188
Roll-off – Tackett def. Prather, 38-26
Round of 16 (Sunday, May 2 on FS1)
No. 3 Tom Daugherty def. No. 14 Jason Sterner, 2-1
Game 1 – Daugherty def. Sterner, 245-204
Game 2 – Sterner def. Daugherty, 225-213
Roll-off – Daugherty def. Sterner, 39-39 (10-9)
No. 11 Sam Cooley def. No. 6 Jesper Svensson, 2-1
Game 1 – Svensson def. Cooley, 268-248
Game 2 – Cooley def. Svensson, 223-223 (9-9, 10-9)
Roll-off – Cooley def. Svensson, 35-16
Quarterfinals (Sunday, May 9 on FS1)
No. 1 Kyle Troup def. No. 9 Thomas Larsen, 2-0
Game 1 – Troup def. Larsen, 260-204
Game 2 – Troup def. Larsen, 239-199
No. 4 François Lavoie vs. No. 12 Bill O’Neill
Game 1 – O’Neill def. Lavoie, 190-182
Game 2 – Lavoie def. O’Neill, 217-188
Roll-off – Lavoie def. O’Neill, 46-40
Quarterfinals (Monday, May 10 at 8 p.m. ET on FS1)
No. 15 Cristian Azcona def. No. 10 EJ Tackett, 2-1
Game 1 – Tackett def. Azcona, 257-213
Game 2 – Azcona def. Tackett, 240-214
Roll-off – Azcona def. Tackett, 49-47
No. 11 Sam Cooley def. No. 3 Tom Daugherty
Game 1 – Daugherty def. Cooley, 226-209
Game 2 – Cooley def. Daugherty, 236-218
Roll-off – Cooley def. Daugherty, 37-26
Semifinals (Saturday, May 15 at 11 a.m. ET on FS1)
No. 1 Kyle Troup vs. No. 4 François Lavoie
No. 11 Sam Cooley vs. No. 15 Cristian Azcona
Kia PBA Playoffs Championship (Sunday, May 16 at 2 p.m. ET on FOX)
Winner of Troup/Lavoie vs. Winner of Cooley/Azcona
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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