Personal information | |
---|---|
Nickname | Iceman |
Born | Vimmerby, Sweden | 15 February 1995
Years active | 2014–present |
Height | 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) |
Sport | |
Country | Sweden |
Sport | Ten-pin bowling |
League | PBA, EBT |
Turned pro | 2014 |
Achievements and titles | |
World finals | 6 European Bowling Tour 4 PBA Tour (international) |
National finals | 12 PBA Tour (1 major) 2015 PBA Rookie of the Year 2016 PBA George Young High Average Award |
Jesper Svensson (born 15 February 1995) is a Swedish professional bowler. He has been a member of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) since 2014, and also competes on the European Bowling Tour (EBT). He has won twelve 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 non-reactive urethane bowling balls almost exclusively. Svensson is a member of the Storm[1] and Vise Grips pro staffs.[2]
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.
Before turning pro, Svensson was the 2014 World Youth Masters champion, and won numerous other medals in World Youth competition.[2]
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 in the PBA Chameleon Championship at the PBA World Series of Bowling on December 18. Svensson was honored as the 2015 PBA Rookie of the Year.[3][4]
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.[5] 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.[3]
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.[6] 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.[7] 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.[8]
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.[9] He was a member of the Go Bowling! Silver Lake Atom Splitters team, which won the PBA League event on April 22, 2018.
Svensson won his eighth PBA Tour title at the PBA-WBT Thailand Open. After qualifying as the top seed, Jesper defeated American Sean Rash in the final match.[10]
On February 29, Svensson won his ninth PBA Tour title at the 2020 Roth-Holman Doubles Championship held in Indianapolis with doubles partner Kyle Troup. This was the second doubles title for the Svensson-Troup duo, who previously won the event in 2017. Later that day, Svensson won the 2020 PBA Indianapolis Open. As the #1 seed for the stepladder finals, he defeated Shawn Maldonado in the championship match 245–226 to claim his tenth PBA Tour title, which now makes him title-eligible for the PBA Hall of Fame.
Svensson was winless in the 2021 PBA Tour season.
On February 9, 2022, Svensson won his eleventh PBA Tour title in the David Small's Best of the Best Championship, held in Jackson, Michigan. Having qualified as the top seed, he defeated fellow lefty Packy Hanrahan in his lone finals match by a score of 248–216 to claim the victory.[11]
In the 2022 PBA Playoffs, the 14th-seeded Svensson stunned #3 seed E. J. Tackett two points to one to advance to the Round of 8. He was then defeated by #6 seed Tommy Jones, also by a two points to one score.
Svensson made four match play rounds and one championship round appearance in a winless 2023 PBA Tour season.
Svensson qualified as the #10 seed for the 2024 PBA Playoffs. He defeated #7 seed Matt Russo, #2 seed Marshall Kent and #6 seed Kyle Troup to make it to the final match against #9 seed David Krol. The two players each won one game in the "race to two points" final, but Krol won the ninth/tenth frame roll-off, 48–40, to deny Svensson the title.[12] On September 1, 2024, Svensson earned his 12th PBA Tour title, winning the Storm Lucky Larsen Masters in Helsingborg, Sweden.[13]
Major tournament wins are in bold text.
Year | Championship | Final score | Runner-up | Earnings ($US) |
---|---|---|---|---|
2015 | Chameleon Championship | 267-193 | Pascal Winternheimer | 20,100 |
2017 | Cheetah Championship | 245-194 | Thomas Larsen | 20,000 |
Results not in chronological order.
Tournament | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cheetah Championship | 24 | 18 | 43 | 1 | NH | 14 | 36 | 14 | 15 | |
Viper Championship | 41 | 114 | Not Held | |||||||
Chameleon Championship | 63 | 1 | 11 | 5 | NH | 5 | 38 | Not Held | ||
Scorpion Championship | 69 | 118 | 3 | 24 | NH | 6 | 85 | 13 | 3 | |
Shark Championship | Not Held | 129 | 7 | Not Held | 63 | 50 | ||||
Doubles Championship | NH | Not Included | 4 | 35 | NI |
"T" = Tied for a place
Statistics are through the last complete PBA season.
Season | Events | Cashes | Match Play | CRA+ | PBA Titles | Average | Earnings ($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 |
2018 | 15 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 212.95 | 60,323 |
2019 | 23 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 213.23 | 76,058 |
2020 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 223.72 | 88,650 |
2021 | 12 | 8 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 215.77 | 102,100 |
2022 | 13 | 10 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 217.5 | 66,900 |
+CRA = Championship Round Appearances
In addition to bowling, Svensson enjoys soccer and ice hockey.[2]