Jesper Svensson (bowler)
| Jesper Svensson | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 15, 1995 |
| Height | 6'4" |
| Bowling Information | |
| Affiliation | PBA, EBT |
| Rookie year | 2014 |
| Dominant hand | Left |
| Wins |
7 PBA Tour 6 EBT |
| 300-games | 5 |
| High game | 300 |
| Sponsors | Storm, Vise Grips |
Jesper Svensson (born February 15, 1995) is a professional ten-pin bowler from Vimmerby, Sweden. He is a member of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA), having joined in 2014, and also competes on the European Bowling Tour (EBT). He has won seven PBA Tour titles overall, including a major title at the 2016 PBA Tournament of Champions. He also owns six EBT titles and one PBA Regional title. He is known for using the two-handed shovel style delivery with a dominant left hand. He uses urethane bowling balls almost exclusively. Svensson is a member of the Storm and Vise Grips pro staffs.[1]
During the 2017 PBA season, ESPN and CBS Sports Network bowling analyst Randy Pedersen gave Svensson the nickname "Iceman" for the Swede's cool, calm demeanor under pressure.
Amateur accomplishments
Before turning pro, Svensson was the 2014 World Youth Masters champion, and won numerous other medals in World Youth competition.[1]
PBA career
2015 season
Svensson won his first career PBA Tour title at the 2015 PBA-WBT Kingdom of Bahrain Open on March 7. He followed that up with a win at the PBA Chameleon Championship on December 18. Svensson was honored as the 2015 PBA Rookie of the Year.
2016 season
Having qualified for his very first PBA Tournament of Champions, Svensson won the event held in Shawnee, Oklahoma on February 7, 2016. In doing so at age 20, he became the youngest-ever winner in this PBA major tournament, which dates back to 1962.[2] Marshall Holman had previously held this distinction when he won the 1976 Tournament of Champions at age 21. Svensson won two more PBA titles in 2016, at the Brunswick Euro Challenge (Munich) and the World Bowling Tour Thailand event (Bangkok), giving him five PBA titles overall.
2017 season
Svensson's sixth PBA title came on April 16, 2017 in the Mark Roth-Marshall Holman PBA Doubles Championship, where he teamed with right-handed two-hander Kyle Troup for the title.[3] As one of the top eight money leaders from the start of the 2015 season through the 2017 USBC Masters, Svensson was invited to participate in the inaugural Main Event PBA Tour Finals in May, 2017. Jesper placed third in the event.[4] On November 19, Svensson won his seventh PBA Tour title in the PBA Cheetah Championship, part of the World Series of Bowling in Reno, NV.[5]
2018
Svensson qualified as the #1 seed in the 2018 PBA Tournament of Champions, but finished runner-up after losing the title match to Matt O'Grady.[6] He was a member of the Go Bowling! Silver Lake Atom Splitters team, which won the PBA League event on April 22, 2018.
Professional accomplishments and records
- 2015 PBA Rookie of the Year
- Youngest-ever winner in the PBA Tournament of Champions (20 years, 357 days)
- First and only player to have five PBA Tour titles by age 21[7]
- Named Sweden's 2016 Rookie Sportsman of the Year[8]
- 2016 PBA George Young High Average Award winner (226.07 average over 324 PBA Tour games)[9]
World Series of Bowling
Wins (2)
| Year | Championship | Final score | Runner-up | Earnings ($) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Chameleon Championship | 267-193 |  |
20,100 |
| 2017 | Cheetah Championship | 245-194 |  |
20,000 |
Results timeline
Results not in chronological order.
| Tournament | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cheetah Championship | 24 | 18 | 43 | 1 |
| Viper Championship | 41 | 114 | NH | NH |
| Chameleon Championship | 63 | 1 | 11 | 5 |
| Scorpion Championship | 69 | 118 | 3 | 24 |
| Shark Championship | NH | NH | 129 | 7 |
"T" = Tied for a place
PBA career statistics
Statistics are through the last complete PBA season.
| Season | Events | Cashes | Match Play | CRA+ | PBA Titles | Average | Earnings ($US) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 218.17 | 3,150 |
| 2015 | 9 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 225.81 | 57,870 |
| 2016 | 18 | 11 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 226.07 | 138,380 |
| 2017 | 16 | 12 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 226.88 | 128,816 |
+CRA = Championship Round Appearances
Personal
In addition to bowling, Svensson enjoys soccer and ice hockey.[1]
References
- 1 2 3 "PBA Profile, Jesper Svensson". PBA.com. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
- ↑ "Jesper Svensson Becomes Youngest Tournament of Champions Winner". bowling.about.com. February 28, 2016. Retrieved March 4, 2016.
- ↑ "Kyle Troup, Jesper Svensson Make History in Winning Roth/Holman PBA Doubles Championship". pba.com. April 16, 2017. Retrieved April 17, 2017.
- ↑ Vint, Bill (June 27, 2017). "Indiana's EJ Tackett Wins Inaugural Main Event PBA Tour Finals for Third 2017 Title". Retrieved July 5, 2017.
- ↑ Vint, Bill (December 24, 2017). "Jesper Svensson, EJ Tackett Keep Youth Movement in Motion with PBA Cheetah, Scorpion Championship Wins". Retrieved December 25, 2017.
- ↑ Schneider, Jerry (February 11, 2018). "Matt O'Grady Defeats Jesper Svensson to Win 53rd PBA Tournament of Champions". Retrieved February 12, 2018.
- ↑ Vint, Bill (August 23, 2016). "PBA Fall Swing Returns to Detroit's Historic Thunderbowl Lanes September 4-11". PBA.com. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
- ↑ Vint, Bill (January 20, 2017). "PBA Spare Shots: Jesper Svensson Named Sweden's "Rookie Sportsman of the Year"". PBA.com. Retrieved January 23, 2017.
- ↑ Vint, Bill (January 26, 2017). "PBA Spare Shots: Sweden's Jesper Svensson Wins 2016 George Young PBA High Average Honors". PBA.com. Retrieved February 7, 2017.