Summer is usually a quieter time for bowling, but this week the lanes in Houston will be anything but quiet.
The PBA and PWBA will come together at Copperfield Bowl for the annual SABC Mixed Doubles, bringing 160 teams and many of the biggest names from both professional tours into the same competition.
The event begins Thursday with two official practice sessions before the
return of Beauties vs. Beasts, featuring five players from each division based
on the 2025 qualifying standings. Five teams of two will compete in a five-game
Baker-format contest for a share of the $4,000 prize fund.
The teams are Erin McCarthy and Keven Williams, Jordan Snodgrass and Alec Keplinger, Josie Barnes and Justin Knowles, Diana Zavjalova and Deo Benard, and Sin Li Jane and Shawn Maldonado.
Main-event qualifying will follow on Friday and Saturday, with the champions decided on Sunday.
Each mixed doubles team will bowl seven qualifying games. The top quarter of the field will advance to Sunday’s semifinals.
The remaining teams will then bowl four more games, after which the field will be reduced to the top 12. Those teams will enter round-robin match play to decide the 2026 champions.
Last year, Bryanna Coté and Chris Via won the title. Via returns to defend it, but Coté will not compete this year as she recovers from surgery.
Via will instead partner with Shannon Pluhowsky.
The SABC Mixed Doubles will be streamed live on BowlTV. Coverage begins with Beauties vs. Beasts on Thursday at 5 p.m. ET and continues through Sunday’s finals.
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