Sunday night’s quarterfinal at Olympia Bowling had the feel of David against Goliath. On one side stood the three-time reigning PBA Player of the Year. On the other was a young Swede, backed by the home crowd and still chasing his first PBA Tour title.
But while some victories look almost impossible from the outside, Albin Gullstrand never saw his match against EJ Tackett that way.
Gullstrand had already defeated Swedish League teammate Markus Jansson, and he believed the same performance could take him past Tackett. Three games later, what seemed impossible to many had become reality. Gullstrand won 714-639 and advanced to Monday’s Storm Lucky Larsen Masters semifinals.
The victory carried even more weight after the difficult road that brought him here.
“It means everything to sit here today and bowl today, because I have had a really rough time with sickness in my stomach,” Gullstrand said. “So to sit here and bowl today is amazing.”
Gullstrand earned a direct place in Final Step 2 after finishing qualification in sixth with 1,473. He then secured the No. 14 seed for the three-game total-pinfall matches.
His first opponent was fellow Swede Markus Jansson, his teammate in the Swedish League. Gullstrand won 791-693, even though he lost the first game 299-279. Gullstrand carried the same approach into his quarterfinal against Tackett.
Tackett entered the tournament as one of the biggest names in the field, but Gullstrand believed the matchup gave him a real opportunity.
“I knew that if I did what I did against Markus, I would win, because he didn’t look too good on the fresh,” Gullstrand said. “I knew I had nothing to lose. I just tried to win and do what I do best, and it finally worked.”
“It’s Not Everybody Who Beats Him”
Gullstrand opened the quarterfinal with 237 and then added 275 to take control of the match. A closing 202 gave him a 714 total, while Tackett finished with 639 after games of 230, 226 and 183.
The Swede admitted that facing Tackett brought nerves, but the size of the moment also made the victory more rewarding.
“I was nervous against him. I mean, it’s EJ Tackett. It’s not everybody who
beats him,” Gullstrand said. “So it’s really cool to sit here today, and I
beat EJ to sit here. It means everything.”
Gullstrand will now meet Tomas Käyhkö in a one-game semifinal. The Finn is the only
full-time PBA Tour player among the four semifinalists and reached this stage
by defeating PBA Tour champions Santtu Tahvanainen and Zach Wilkins.
“I think it’s going to be a hard match against Tomas,” Gullstrand said. “But if I do what I do best and he has a little rough day, I think I might have it.”
Carl Eklund and Raymond Teece will meet in the other semifinal.
All three
matches are decided over one game, and every remaining player is looking for
a first PBA Tour title. The finals begin at 7 p.m. local time and will be
streamed live on the
Storm Lucky Larsen Masters YouTube channel.
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