Duke, Rash Make Playoffs Debut To Close Out Round Of 16
Duke, Rash Make Playoffs Debut To Close Out Round Of 16
Duke takes on Dom Barrett, while Sean Rash battles Kyle Sherman as the Round of 16 comes to a close at the PBA Playoffs.
PORTLAND, Maine – Norm Duke’s return to the winner’s circle has been one of the biggest stories of the 2019 PBA Tour season. Tonight, he makes his debut in the PBA Playoffs.
Duke takes on Dom Barrett, while Sean Rash battles Kyle Sherman as the Round of 16 comes to a close with a show taped in April for broadcast tonight. The show airs at 9 p.m. Eastern and will be broadcast for U.S. audiences on FS1 while international fans can watch on FloBowling.
Here are the two matches for tonight’s PBA Playoffs show:
No. 3 Norm Duke vs. No. 14 Dom Barrett
Before this season, Duke hadn’t won a PBA Tour title since 2015. So far in 2019, he’s won twice – the PBA Indianapolis Open and the PBA Jonesboro Open.
The PBA Hall of Famer who turned 55 in late March is having his best season in years and has cashed in 11 of 14 events on the PBA Tour. He’s also made the stepladder finals in the only two PBA50 events in which he has competed, both of which came after the taping of tonight’s show.
Duke entered the PBA Playoffs on an incredible hot streak. After winning in Indianapolis and Jonesboro to close out February, he finished fifth at the PBA Chameleon Championship, 11th at the PBA Scorpion Championship and 11th at the PBA World Championship. He then finished 17th at the USBC Masters.
Duke will take on Barrett, who was the first to attempt to play out using a reactive ball in the PBA Playoffs. The move paid off with a 237-187 victory over Brad Miller in the Round of 24.
No. 6 Sean Rash vs. No. 11 Kyle Sherman
Like Duke, Rash is another player who found himself hoisting a title again this season when he won the Mark Roth-Marshall Holman PBA Doubles Championship with Matt Ogle in January.
Rash followed up his win with a second-place finish at the PBA Lubbock Sports Open, where a missed 10 pin cost him a win. He rebounded after that tough loss to have solid showings at the PBA Tournament of Champions (ninth) and the PBA Players Championship (10th).
He enters the PBA Playoffs in a little bit of a slump after missing every cut at the PBA World Series of Bowling and then finishing 68th at the USBC Masters, missing the cut to bracket play.
As for Sherman, he took down DJ Archer, 203-182, in the Round of 16 in a match that came down to the final frame. A pair of strikes, one of them fortunate, in the final frame allowed Sherman to advance.