2025 PBA Playoffs Semifinals

S. Samek

The PBA playoffs semifinal round was contested this weekend. Let’s recap the action and see who is moving on to the championship finals.

Top seed EJ Tackett faced fourth seed Graham Fach in the first semifinal. Game one saw Tackett strike on nine of 11 shots en route to a 250-193 win over Fach.

Game two was a bit different. Through four frames they threw a combined one strike and Fach held a single-pin lead at 66-65. Fach would continue to struggle throwing strikes, while Tackett seemed to figure it out. He threw six strikes on this next seven shots to clinch a 210-190 win. This gave him the 2-0 sweep in the race to two format and allowed him to advance to the PBA Playoffs Championship finals.

In the second semifinal sixth seed Chris Via faced seventh seed Jesper Svensson.

Game one was a bit on the lower scoring side. A bit of bad carry from Svensson where he left five single pins kept it close. However, Via was unable to capitalize as a 10th frame split allowed Svensson to escape with a 202-186 win.

Game two saw Svensson strike a lot. He threw the first six in a row on his way to a 248 game. He would best Via 248-172 to take the 2-0 sweep in the race to two points format.

This sets up the finals as a matchup between the top seed Tackett and the seventh seed Svensson. The championship match is a race to three format instead of the usual race to two points we saw during the bracket. It will take place on Saturday May 24th, 2025, at 2:30 pm Eastern time. Who will be victorious? Tune in and find out!