RENO, Nev. (Nov.  13, 2017) – Sweden’s left-handed, two-handed star, Jesper Svensson, gained a meager two pins over challenger Jason Belmonte of Australia after the Chameleon 39 qualifying round as the PBA World Championship entered its four-phase cashers’ round Monday at the National Bowling Stadium.

The PBA World Championship is the crown jewel of the GEICO PBA World Series of Bowling IX, presented by Eldorado Reno Resorts Properties, and the final major championship of the PBA’s 2017 season. WSOB IX is also a part of the 2017-18 Go Bowling! PBA Tour schedule.

The 22-year-old Svensson, who entered the PBA World Championship as the qualifying leader, rolled games of 237, 247, 245, 237 and 269 on the 33-foot Chameleon lane condition to outscore Belmonte by three pins for the round. Svensson, who is averaging at a 240.64 pace, had a 45-game total of 10,829 pins. Belmonte, a right-handed two-handed player, was at 10,637 pins.

Svensson is trying for his second PBA major title; Belmonte is after major title number nine, which would put him alone in third place among the PBA’s all-time major title winners. Neither player has won the PBA World Championship.

In third place heading into Monday evening’s Shark 45 round was another two-hander, Kyle Troup of Taylorsville, N.C., with 10,547 pins. Tom Smallwood of Saginaw, Mich., was in fourth place with 10,455 pins followed by Ryan Ciminelli of Cheektowaga, N.Y., at 10,396.

The PBA World Championship cashers’ round will conclude with the Cheetah 33 and Scorpion 42 five-game rounds Tuesday at 1 and 5 p.m. The top five bowlers after a total of 60 games will advance to the World Championship finals on Sunday, Nov. 19 at noon PST (live streamed on ESPN3, taped for telecast on ESPN on Dec. 31 at 1 p.m. EST.

All preliminary rounds of WSOB IX are being covered live on PBA’s Xtra Frame online video streaming channel, and all competition throughout the WSOB also will be covered in real time game-by-game detail on pba.com’s “live scoring” feature.

All times listed are Pacific Standard.

PBA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

(a part of the 2017-18 Go Bowling! PBA Tour)

National Bowling Stadium, Reno, Nev., Monday

Cashers’ Round 1 Standings (after Chameleon round, 45 of 60 games completed):

1, Jesper Svensson, Sweden, 10,829.
2, Jason Belmonte, Australia, 10,637.
3, Kyle Troup, Taylorsville, N.C., 10,457.
4, Tom Smallwood, Saginaw, Mich., 10,455.
5, Ryan Ciminelli, Cheektowaga, N.Y., 10,396.
6 (tie), Matthew Sanders, Evansville, Ind., and Bill O'Neill, Langhorne, Pa., 10,373.
8, Matthew McNiel, Minneapolis, Minn., 10,344.
9, Thomas Larsen, Denmark, 10,335.
10, Muhammad Rafiq Ismail, Malaysia, 10,314.
11, Brad Angelo, Lockport, N.Y., 10,313.
12, BJ Moore III, Greensburg, Pa., 10,307.
13, Anthony Pepe, Elmhurst, N.Y., 10,289.
14, Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., 10,287.
15, Dick Allen, Columbia, S.C., 10,263.
16, Glenn Pedersen, Norway, 10,260.
17, Dom Barrett, England, 10,243.
18 (tie), w-Liz Johnson, Palatine, Ill., and Francois Lavoie, Canada, 10,241.
20, Tom Daugherty, Riverview, Fla., 10,222.
21, Sam Cooley, Australia, 10,219.
22, Rhino Page, Orlando, Fla., 10,216.
23, Norm Duke, Clermont, Fla., 10,209.
24, Shota Kawazoe, Japan, 10,204.
25, Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, 10,191.
26, Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., 10,185.
27, Trey Ford III, Bartlesville, Okla., 10,181.
28, EJ Tackett, Huntington, Ind., 10,169.
29, Zacharay Wilkins, Canada, 10,165.
30, Marshall Kent, Yakima, Wash., 10,155.
31 (tie), Nick Kruml, Downers Grove, Ill., and Tobias Boerding, Germany, 10,104.
33, Chris Warren, Grants Pass, Ore., 10,100.
34, Brandon Novak, Chillicothe, Ohio, 10,098.
35, Josh Blanchard, Mesa, Ariz., 10,093.
36, Chris Via, Springfield, Ohio, 10,092.
37, Arturo Quintero, Mexico, 10,088.
38, Anthony Simonsen, Austin, Texas, 10,064.
39, Francois Louw, South Africa, 10,038.
40, Daniel Fransson, Sweden, 10,015.
41, Chris Loschetter, Avon, Ohio, 10,010.
42 (tie), Richie Teece, England, and Kristopher Prather, Plainfield, Ill., 10,009.
44, Kim Bolleby, Thailand, 10,006.
45, Cristian Azcona, Puerto Rico, 10,003.
46, Darren Tang, San Francisco, 9,999.
47, Stuart Williams, England, 9,981.
48, Connor Pickford, Plano, Texas, 9,975.
49, DJ Archer, Friendswood, Texas, 9,935.

300 Game: Chris Warren.