The 2014 PBA Tour season heads down the homestretch when the PBA Cheetah Championship presented by PBA Bowling Challenge Mobile Game finals return to ESPN on today at 1 p.m. ET. The Cheetah Championship will be the first of seven consecutive GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling VI events to air on Sundays on ESPN.

The Cheetah finals will feature Liz Johnson of Cheektowaga, N.Y., who became the first woman to qualify for two PBA nationally-televised finals by qualifying fourth for Sunday’s three-player “shootout” format first match. She will be trying to join Kelly Kulick as the second woman to win a PBA Tour title. Kulick won the 2010 PBA Tournament of Champions to become the Tour’s first woman titlist. Johnson narrowly missed becoming PBA’s first woman champion when she finished second in the 2005 Banquet Open, losing to Tommy Jones, 219-192, in the title match.

Joining Johnson in the all-New York shootout round from the brand new 60-lane South Point Bowling Plaza, are two-time PBA Tour title winner Brad Angelo of Lockport and 26-year-old rookie Anthony Pepe of Elmhurst, who will be trying for his first Tour title in his first career TV appearance.

The player who bowls the highest score in the shootout round will advance to the championship match against top qualifier Dick Allen of Columbia, S.C., who will be trying for his fourth Tour title.

Contested on PBA’s Cheetah lane condition pattern, the Cheetah Championship is the first of five PBA title events originating from the World Series. Following the Cheetah finals will be the Viper Championship (Dec. 21); Chameleon Championship (Dec. 28) and the Scorpion Championship (Jan. 4).  The PBA World Championship will wrap up the PBA Tour’s 2014 season with a live telecast on Sunday, Jan. 11 from the South Point Bowling Plaza at 1 p.m. ET.

ESPN’s coverage of the PBA World Series will continue with the PBA Challenge presented by the International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame, featuring PBA50 Tour, PBA Regional, PBA Women’s Regional and Teen Masters finalists on Jan. 18 at 3 p.m. ET, followed by the World Bowling Tour Men’s and Women’s Finals presented by the PBA on Jan. 25 at 1 p.m. ET.

For a video preview of the Cheetah Championship click on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXC89HrbVYk

Road to the PBA World Championship Finals:

The Cheetah Championship was the first of four qualifying events for the PBA World Championship, the third major and final tournament of the 2014 season.

Wes Malott of Pflugerville, Texas; Mike Fagan of Fort Worth, Texas; Ronnie Russell of Marion, Indiana; Todd Book of Russells Point, Ohio, and Stuart Williams of England advanced to the World Championship finals based on 52 games of qualifying and match play during the GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling VI.

After the seven-game Cheetah qualifying round, Malott was in 8th place, Book was 13th, Fagan was 14th,Williams was 30th and Russell was tied for 62nd.

Bowling fans can catch all the World Series of Bowling action through the PBA Network which includes wall-to-wall coverage of an expanded schedule of live events on Xtra Frame, player interactions through Facebook and Twitter, mobile gaming, original programming, archived events and immediate news updates 24/7 on varying communications devices anywhere in the world. For additional PBA Network information visit http://www.pba.com/PBANetwork/