Long week of competition at the 2023 U.S. Open presented by 'Go Bowling!' have reached its final stage. The top 24 players from a starting field of 108 have advanced to the match-play stage of the competition and now, after another 24 game match-play, only nine of them have reached the live televised stepladder finals.
Ten European players started their qualifiers on Tuesday, but only three of them are among nine best bowlers of the competition, still in the fight for a major title on the PBA Tour and $100,000 prize cheque.
Tomas Kayhko of Finland secured his spot in the top four finishing second, after tremendous performance in a match-play stage, winning 17 of 24 head-to-head matches and receiving 30 bonus pins for each win. English Richard Teece was just 117 pins behind him finishing 4th, while Thomas Larsen of Denmark (6th) also made it to live televised stepladder finals, but will have to bowl again today for the last remaining spot.
The best male bowler in Sweden Jesper Svensson had a tough time during the last 8 games of match-play, finishing in the 13th position, with only 183 pins behind the cut.
Qualifying leader E.J. Tackett of Bluffton, Indiana, kept his leading position throughout match-play stage, while defending champion Anthony Simonsen finished third.
The players seeded No. 5-9 will compete in a five-person stepladder competition live on FS1 Saturday starting at 10 P.M. CET. The winner of Saturday’s stepladder will join seeds No. 1-4 Sunday for another round of stepladder competition, this one to determine the 2023 U.S. Open champion.
Sunday’s stepladder finals will be broadcast live on FOX at 8 P.M. CET.
