By Bill Vint
PBA Media Relations

HOUSTON – EJ Tackett of Huntington, Ind., and Liz Johnson of Palatine, Ill., survived a dramatic final game to win the 19th PBA/PWBA Storm Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles title at Copperfield Bowl Sunday, sending Australia’s Jason Belmonte and Chicago’s Diandra Asbaty to their third consecutive runner-up finish.

Tackett, PBA’s 2016 Player of the Year, and Johnson, one of two women ever to win a PBA Tour title, led the tournament through 17 games before being overtaken by Belmonte and Asbaty. Trailing Belmonte and Asbaty by 10 pins going into the final match, victory in the tournament was going to be decided by whichever team won the game.

Thanks in great part to a bold move by Johnson to an extreme outside angle on the left lane while continuing to play an inside angle along with the rest of the field on the right lane, she gave her team the edge with a 212-192 margin over Asbaty. Tackett was unable to strike in his 10th frame, but Belmonte, needing a double for the win, left a 10 pin on his first shot in his 10th frame. While Belmonte out-scored Tackett, 214-208, but it wasn’t quite enough. Tackett and Johnson, bowling as partners for the first time in the event, won the final match, 420-406, and earned 30 match play bonus pins to post a composite 20-game total of 8,797 pins to win by a 34-pin margin.

“I’m ecstatic,” said Tackett, who earned his 11th PBA Tour title and second of the 2018 Go Bowling! PBA Tour season. “I’m so happy for Liz. I’m so proud to be part of this win. There was not a single person in this building who could have done what she did in that last game. It was absolutely amazing watching her play outside on one lane, inside on the other.

“There are only two people in the world who can do what Liz did – her and Norm Duke. That's one reason she is the greatest woman bowler of all-time."

“I’m pretty numb,” Johnson said of her 20th PWBA title. “It’s taken me 17 years to win here. People say ‘You’ve won everything,’ but this is a major title to me. I’m so proud. This is my favorite tournament of the year.

"This has always been an event unlike any we bowl all year and it’s getting bigger and bigger,” she added. “When I started bowling this event I think I was one of the only ones coming from out of town. Now players come from all over the country and all over the world.”

PBA Tour players will return to competition in a pair of PBA Xtra Frame on FloBowling events in August – the PBA Xtra Frame Gene Carter’s Pro Shop Classic at Mid-County Lanes in Middletown, Del., Aug. 17-19, followed by the PBA Xtra Frame Kenn-Feld Group Classic at Pla-Mor Lanes in Coldwater, Ohio, Aug. 24-26.

Both events will be live stream exclusively on PBA’s online channel, PBA Xtra Frame on FloBowling. For subscription information, visit FloBowling.com.

The Professional Women’s Bowling Association continues its 2018 schedule in the Pepsi PWBA St. Petersburg-Clearwater Open at Seminole Lanes in Seminole, Fla., Aug. 2-4.

PBA/PWBA STORM STRIKING AGAINST BREAST CANCER MIXED DOUBLES
(a part of the 2018 Go Bowling! PBA Tour schedule)
Copperfield Bowl, Houston, Texas, Sunday

Final Standings (after 20 team games, including match play bonus pins)
1, Liz Johnson, Palatine, Ill./EJ Tackett, Huntington, Ind., 8,797, $16,000.
2, Diandra Asbaty, Chicago/Jason Belmonte, Australia, 8,763, $8,000.
3, Danielle McEwan, Stony Point, N.Y./Chris Via, Springfield, Ohio, 8,694, $5,000.
4, Shannon O'Keefe, O'Fallon, Ill./Bill O'Neill, Langhorne, Pa., 8,621, $4,000.
5, Shannon Pluhowsky, Dayton, Ohio/Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., 8,585, $3,000.
6, Erin McCarthy, Omaha, Neb./AJ Johnson, Oswego, Ill., 8,570, $2,650.
7, Missy Parkin, Laguna Hills, Calif./Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., 8,560, $2,450.
8, Leanne Hulsenberg, Pleasant View, Utah/Darren Tang, San Jose, Calif., 8,500, $2,350.

Other Cashers (after 12 team games):
9, Natalie Cortese, Hoffman Estates, Ill./Brad Miller, Raytown, Mo., 5,141, $2,200.
10, Liz Kuhlkin, Schenectady, N.Y./Richard Teece, England, 5,138, $2,150.
11, Tannya Roumimper, Indonesia/Francois Lavoie, Canada, 5,109, $2,100.
12, Angela Chirpich, Urbandale, Iowa/Tom Hess, Urbandale, Iowa, 5,100, $2,050.
13, Katie Garcia, Wichita, Kan./Geoffrey Young, Keller, Texas, 5,089, $2,000.
14, Kayla Pashina, Minnetonka, Minn./Rhino Page, Dade City, Fla., 5,087, $1,950.
15, Tina Williams, Phoenix/Anthony Simonsen, Austin, Texas, 5,031, $1,900.
16, Taylor Bulthuis, Coral Springs, Fla./Jakob Butturff, Tempe, Ariz., 5,039, $1,850.
17, Giselle Poss, Montgomery, Ill./Matt Gasn, Clarksville, Tenn., 5,005, $1,800.
18, Verity Crawley, England/Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, 5,004, $1,750.
19, Misaki Mukotani, China/Nobuhito Fujii, Japan, 5,001, $1,700.
20, Bryanna Cote, Red Rock, Ariz./Stuart Williams, England, 4,998, $1,650.
21, Kerry Smith, Lititz, Pa./John Furey, East Windsor, N.J., 4,976, $1,600.
22, Sydney Brummett, Fort Wayne, Ind./Kris Prather, Plainfield, Ill., 4,961, $1,550.
23, Daria Kovalova, Ukraine/Joshua Roca, Wichita, Kan., 4,954, $1,500.
24, Christina Kinney, Las Vegas/Robert Lawrence, Del Valle, Texas, 4,950, $1,450.
25, Lindsay Boomershine, Perry, Utah/Kyle Troup, Taylorsville, N.C., 4,949, $1,400.
26, Josie Barnes, Hermitage, Tenn./Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, 4,942, $1,350.
27, Sierra Kanemoto, Dayton, Ohio/Andrew Anderson, Holly, Mich., 4,940, $1,300.
28, Birgit Poppler, Germany/Jason Sterner, Cocoa, Fla., 4,939, $1,250.
29, Kayla Bandy, Salisbury, Md./Nathan Bohr, Wichita, Kan., 4,912, $1,190.
30, DeeDee Jeffery, Little Rock, Ark./Mykel Holliman, Memphis, Tenn., 4,903, $1,140.
31 (tie), Holly Harris, Wichita, Kan./Devin Bidwell, Wichita, Kan., and Haley Richard, Tipton, Mich./Nick Pate, Inver Grove Heights, Minn., 4,899, $1,065.
33, Carol Norman, Houston/Pete McCordic, Katy, Texas, 4,863, $990.
34, Cassandra Shivers-Williams, Adelphi, Md./Fero Williams, Adelphi, Md., 4,833, $940.
35, Diana Zavjalova, Latvia/Adam Pogge, Austin, Texas, 4,800, $880.
36, Jeanne Naccarato, Tacoma, Wash./Chris Warren, Grants Pass, Ore., 4,798, $840.
37, Jackie Carbonetto, Clarksville, Tenn./Tom Daugherty, Riverview, Fla., 4,782, $780.
38, Shannon Sellens, Copiague, N.Y./Anthony Pepe, East Elmhurst, N.Y., 4,769, $740.
39, Stephanie Schwartz, Racine, Wis./Steve Lemke, Nacogdoches, Texas, 4,764, $720.
40, Kiyoko McDonald, Allen, Texas/Clint Johnson, Fort Worth, Texas, 4,758, $700.