The SLLM final four is set, and one thing is certain: someone will leave Olympia Bowling on Monday night with the first PBA Tour title of his career.
Sweden’s Carl Eklund and Albin Gullstrand, Finland’s Tomas Käyhkö and
England’s Raymond Teece survived a long Sunday in Helsingborg to claim the
four places in Monday’s televised finals at the
Storm Lucky Larsen Masters.
None of them has won on the PBA Tour before.
The day began with the 55 players who advanced from 27 qualifying squads. Thirty competed in Final Step 1, with the top 15 joining the 25 players who had earned a bye into Final Step 2. That round reduced the field to 16, and two rounds of three-game total-pinfall matches eventually left only four.
When the quarterfinal pairings were set, Monday appeared headed for a
star-filled finish.
Local hero and 2024 SLLM champion Jesper Svensson was
still alive, alongside PBA Player of the Year contenders EJ Tackett and Zach
Wilkins.
Three games later, all three were out.
Eklund Erases Svensson’s Early Lead
Svensson looked firmly in control after opening with 258 against Eklund’s
207. Eklund won the second game 224-200, but still entered the last game 27
pins behind.
The 20-year-old then took over. He closed with 255 while
Svensson slipped to 194, turning a difficult start into a 686-652 victory.
Käyhkö Holds Off Wilkins’ Comeback
Tomas Käyhkö produced the highest three-game total of the quarterfinals against
Wilkins. His opening 278 gave him a 41-pin advantage, but Wilkins answered
with 248 in Game 2 and cut the gap to only four.
Käyhkö showed no sign of
panic, finishing with 247 to win 736-713. The Finn is the only full-time PBA
Tour player in the final four and reached Monday by defeating two Tour
champions, Santtu Tahvanainen and later Zach Wilkins.
Gullstrand Sends Tackett Home
The biggest surprise of the night came from Gullstrand.
The two-handed
left-hander never trailed Tackett, building a seven-pin lead after the first
game before firing 275 in the second.
Tackett could not find an answer and eventually finished with 183, while Gullstrand completed a convincing 714-639 victory over
the three-time reigning PBA Player of the Year.
Teece Ends Pinteric’s Dream Run
Raymond Teece, on the other hand, had to work much harder to end the run of qualifying winner Tomo Gaber
Pinteric.
Games of 197, 199 and 208 gave the Englishman a 604-580 win, but
the result was not secure until the closing frame.
Pinteric had already
eliminated PBA Tour champion Andrew Anderson in the previous round and once
again showed that his 1,488 qualifying score was no coincidence - he finished
just one frame short of his first televised finals appearance.
First-Time Champion Guaranteed on Monday
Monday’s semifinals will put Eklund against Teece, and Gullstrand against Käyhkö. By the end of the night, one of those four will walk out of Olympia Bowling holding the biggest bowling trophy of his career.
Both semifinals will be one-game matches, and the two winners will return for a one-game championship match.
The action begins at approximately 7 p.m. local time. Every game will be streamed live on the Storm Lucky Larsen Masters YouTube channel.
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