Now that we’ve had 24 hours to absorb the drama we saw at the 2018 Storm Lucky Larsen Masters, here are three observations from the event:

Troup, Belmo played the lanes totally different

In the championship match, eventual champion Kyle Troup and defending champion Jason Belmonte had a totally different strategy when it came to attacking the lanes.

Troup used a urethane Storm Pitch Black and played the lanes a little left of 10 at the arrows. He didn’t really pitch it out too far right, allowing him to cover less boards and control the pocket.

Belmonte, meanwhile, elected to use a reactive Hy-Road Nano and hook the lane. He was left of 25 at the arrows, sending it out right of the 10 board at the break point. Ultimately, it was two errant shots – a 2-10 split and a 2-8 – that cost Belmonte the title.

The other players in the stepladder finals – Christopher Sloan and Bill O’Neill – also elected to use urethane balls. Sloan’s ball of choice was the 900 Global Boo-Yah!, while O’Neill went with the Hammer Black Urethane.

You can watch the finals below:

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A brutal event for Andrew Anderson

With two titles so far this season and leading in the PBA points race, Andrew Anderson is very much in the mix in the PBA Player of the Year discussion. But the Lucky Larsen Masters was absolutely brutal for Anderson.

Anderson, who is trying to unseat reigning PBA Player of the Year Belmonte, missed the cut to the finals in Sweden by just two pins. The event featured a re-entry qualifying format and Anderson bowled eight qualifying squads, but the best he could muster was 1,317, leaving him two pins behind the last advancing spot occupied by Sweden’s Rasmus Edvall.

One shot cost Anthony Simonsen

He didn’t know it at the time, but a seven count on his final ball of the tournament ultimately cost Anthony Simonsen a shot at winning the Lucky Larsen Masters on Sunday. On his fill ball in the last game of Finals Step 3, Simonsen left a 2-8-10 split for a 218 game.

Meanwhile, a few pairs away, Ireland’s Christopher Sloan was still finishing up his final game. Sloan ended up opening in the 10^th frame for a 148 game, but it was enough to hold off Simonsen by just two pins. So, had Simonsen struck on his final shot, he would have made the stepladder finals. This is just another example of why every shot matters every time.