2024 PBA Scorpion Championship Round One and Two

S. Samek

Justin Knowles had a disappointing ending to his run at the PBA Cheetah Championship. After leading through 15 games of qualifying he was upset in the round of 16 in the bracket by 16th seed Alec Keplinger. However, Knowles must have a short memory, because just a day later he is back on top.

After the first five games, or round one of the Scorpion open Knowles is in first place. He shot a 1266 five game total, averaging 253 and is +266 pins.

Jason Belmonte finds himself in second place with a 1252 total after five, 14 pins outside the top spot. Patrick Hanrahan then sits in third place with a 1240 total including a perfect game during game four, the only one of the first five games.

Jesper Svensson is in fourth with a 1216 and James Blomgren and Keven Williams are tied for fifth place with 1216 pins. Blomgren shot a 280 in game five in route to his current standing.

After five games the cut line to the top 16 places for the match play bracket is averaging 231 with Sam Cooley and Jakob Butturff both occupying that spot with a 1159 five game total. Ryan Ciminelli is the first one out of the cut line, just eight pins behind with 1151.

Round Two

Ildemaro Ruiz Jr. started off the second round with a 300, the second one of the tournament. Matt Russo also rolled a perfect game during game nine. However, Ruiz Jr is quite a bit outside of the standings in 62d place even with the big game. Russo sits in 11th place at the moment.

However, it was Hanrahan moving from third to first during the round. He is averaging 243 with a 2432 total. Svensson saw a big jump during the second round as well moving from fourth to second, just a couple of sticks behind at 2430.

Williams was tied for fifth but rose to third with a 10-game total of 2409. In fourth place is Blomgren, who moves up a spot with 2404, so he now trails Williams by five pins.

The final member of the top five after two rounds is Graham Fach. He shot 2377 for 10 games to take fifth place. Knowles fell from the top spot to seventh place.

The cut line for the top 16 is 2315 after 10 games and the last spot is Kyle Troup’s for the time being. However, he is just one pin behind EJ Tackett for 15th place.

Butturff finished the round in 18th place, while Ciminelli finished the round in 19th place with them falling out of the cut line during the evenings five games. Cooley fell from near the cut line to 42nd place after going just +five during the block.

The final five games of qualifying are this mourning, with the top 16 making the cut to match play tonight.