Top 20 PBA Bowlers 2023: #20 - Santtu Tahvanainen
Photo Credit: Professional Bowler’s Association
Welcome to The Stone 8’s 2023 Pre-Season PBA Bowler Power Rankings, where we will look at the outlook of the twenty best bowlers in the world going into the season and project where they will rank amongst their peers.
Every time I make a list like this, I feel like I have one placement that seems too low, and one placement that feels aggressively high. In these rankings, somehow Finnish sensation Santtu Tahvanainen ended up being both of these.
Tahvanainen, whose name translates roughly to “Defender of Mankind”, began his journey in the PBA at the 2022 World Series of Bowling, where right off the bat, he and his partner Brain Robinson, placed top 10 in the Roth/Holman doubles championship. In qualifying, Tahvanainen finished fourth in total pins among individuals in the tournament, only behind EJ Tackett (eventual titleist at the 2022 event), Matt Ogle (winner of the 2019 event) and Jason Belmonte (winner at the 2018 event).
Tahvanainen bowled well at the other World Series events, finishing 24th at the Cheetah Championship, 68th in the Scorpion Championship, 65th in the Shark Championship and 55th in the World Championship. While these placements may not be eye-catching, this was his first chance to make a mark in America, and he put the other pros on notice.
The coming out party for Tahvanainen however was the Colorado Springs Open, a Storm Cup event. Tahvanainen had the run of a lifetime at the event, notching his first PBA 300 game en route to qualifying 2nd in a pool among the very best pros. In the title match of the stepladder finals, Tahvanainen fell to surefire future Hall of Famer and Player of the Year contender Dom Barret, but for many bowling fans, the Colorado Springs Open was Tahvanainen’s event.
The PBA League was where Tahvanainen made a mark on the national stage. He was selected by Norm Duke to join the Dallas Strikers squad, one headlined by a triple headed monster of (future) Hall of Famers in Duke, Tommy Jones and Bill O’Neill. While the defending repeat champions and home team Portland Lumberjacks took home the Elias Cup, the most exciting narrative of the tournament was the story of the Strikers. During the Elias Cup Finals broadcast, New York Kingpins manager, hall of famer and part time analyst Carolyn Dorin-Ballard proclaimed Tahvanainen as the next coming of Jason Belmonte, which definitely turned some heads.
In league qualifying, Tahvanainen had the 2nd most strikes of any bowler in the Carter division, only behind teammate Matt Ogle. This insane run deemed him eligible for the strike derby, an event where he posted a respectable 5 strikes in the allotted time.
Finland has had a surprisingly dominant run in bowling in the past couple decades. Mika Koivuniemi is viewed as one of the best ever, with many calling him “Major Mika” due to his constant success in major tournaments. Osku Palermaa, another Finnish legend, is one of the original 2 handed bowlers, being the first to use the style in a televised event at the 2004 US Open, well before Jason Belmonte came to America. Finland has a very elite club of PBA bowlers, and Tahvainen is well along the path of joining them.
There is always an added pressure on the reigning PBA Rookie of the Year. Some first year bowlers succumb to this pressure and find themselves in a sophomore slump, while others immediately enter the Player of the Year discussions. We are not sure where Tahvanainen will find himself, however no matter what, he will be a name to watch in the PBA in the coming years.
2022 Stats:
Titles: 0
Highest Finish: 2nd (Colorado Springs Open)
Tour Points: 5,305
Earnings: $31,350
Average: 216.28