Bowling World Newspaper July/August 2021

18 www.bowlingworld.com - July/August 2021 New Squad Schedule For USBC Open Championships LAS VEGAS - The USBC announced that a new squad schedule will be put into place for the next three editions of the USBC Open Championships , begins 2022. The change was a result of tracking start and finish times during the 2021 USBC Open Championships, along with bowler feedback during a variety of daily sched- ules in recent years. The adjustments are being made with on-time squads and bowler experience as the top areas of focus. The new schedule will eliminate the late-night doubles and singles squad and end each day with a combination squad that will use half the facility for team competition and half for doubles and singles. Team bowling in 2022, 2023 and 2024 will take place at 2 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. (combo), and doubles/singles squads will be held at 7 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 6 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. (combo). The event will continue to feature two oil patterns - one for the team event and one for doubles/singles - and fresh oil for every squad. Since the new schedule will limit the maximum number of teams per day to 84, the 2022 tournament will be extended by two weeks and allow for a capacity of more than 10,600 teams. It will run from March 12-July 16 (last team date), which is 128 consecutive days of competition. If demand warrants, the tournament can be ex- tended as far as July 31. Captains of teams already signed up for the 2022 Open Championships that will be affected by the time changes will be notified by email. The Open Championships will return to the South Point Bowling Plaza in 2022 and 2024, and the 2023 event will be held at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, NV. Verity Crawley Wins First Title At 2021 PWBA Greater Nashville Open by Aaron Smith SMYRNA, TN. – After several close calls during her first four seasons on the Pro- fessional Women‘s Bowling Association Tour, England‘s Verity Crawley broke through for her first victory Saturday at the PWBA Greater Nashville Open. The 26-year-old right-hander won three matches in the stepladder at Smyrna Bowl- ing Center on the way to the title and $10,000 top prize, defeating Poland‘s Daria Pajak in the final, 245-168. The championship round was broadcast live on BowlTV.com . Crawley had recorded four runner-up finishes on tour prior to her win Saturday, including a loss to Pajak, one of her tour roommates, in the championship match of the 2017 PWBA Greater Detroit Open. ―I‘ve been working so hard and knocking on the door and been so close to break- ing through,‖ said Crawley, who made her third championship-round appearance of the season. ―It‘s an amazing feeling to know all the hard work paid off and that I deserve to be here. I used to not have the confidence that I could win, and it‘s something I‘ve worked on a lot. It‘s always special when you can share these mo- ments with friends, and I‘m very thankful for their support.‖ Crawley averaged 244 in her three wins Saturday, which included victories over Germany‘s Birgit Noreiks (246-214) and Shannon O‘Keefe of Shiloh, Illinois (241- 220), before recording the win against Pajak. She was able to get ahead early in each match, rolling at least five strikes in her first six frames to build the advantage. In the title tilt, Crawley was ahead by 55 pins after six frames, benefiting from a pair of opens and only one strike from Pajak. She already had locked up the win by the time she stepped up for her final frame. ―I just had really good ball motion and wanted to take advantage of that,‖ Crawley said. ―When you see your ball do the right thing, all you want to do is make the best shots possible and hope it works out in your favor. I was just focused on executing and making good shots. I didn‘t want to walk away with wanting to take back any shots. I wanted to be happy with every shot and really stay in the moment.‖ Both Crawley and Pajak faced visa issues that kept them out of the United States and prevented them from competing during the first part of the 2021 season, and Crawley has used that experience in changing her mindset while competing. Prior to Saturday‘s victory, Crawley had recorded four top-10 finishes in her first six events this season, including back-to-back fourth-place finishes at the United States Bowling Congress Queens and PWBA BVL Open. ―My mindset changed when I went back to England in January and was unable to practice for three months,‖ Crawley said. ―When I came back to the U.S., I had three weeks to prepare for the PWBA Tour and had no expectations heading into that first event, but I was genuinely so happy to compete. I love being out here on tour and love bowling, and I haven‘t been as stressed about making cuts or anything like that. I haven‘t been thinking about those things because I just want to be here and bowl. I will have to head back to England after the Louisville stop because of my visa, so I‘m really happy to be able to bring this trophy back to my parents after next week.‖ Crawley‘s run through the ladder almost did not take place, as she entered the final game of qualifying outside of the top four spots. She was able to jump ahead of Alexis Neuer of Milton, Pennsylvania, with a 207 game and hold off a late charge from Valerie Bercier of Muskegon, Michigan, who rolled 267 in the final game. Crawley was the No. 4 seed with a 5,131 total, with Bercier (5,121) and Neuer (5,120) finishing in fifth and sixth place, respectively. Pajak, who was looking for her second PWBA Tour title and making her first cham- pionship-round appearance of 2021, put together a phenomenal run on this week‘s 39-foot condition during the final two rounds of qualifying Saturday to earn the top seed for the stepladder with a 5,166 total. The 2017 PWBA Rookie of the Year rolled 257 in the final game of the Round of 32 to advance to the final qualifying round in 11th place. She moved from 11th to first in the first five games of the final round and edged O‘Keefe by three pins after 24 games to lead qualifying. O‘Keefe, the two-time reigning PWBA Player of the Year, was making her second consecutive championship-round appearance, and third overall, after a runner-up finish at last week‘s PWBA Albany Open. The 14-time PWBA Tour titlist finished her semifinal match against Crawley with four consecutive strikes, starting in the eighth frame, followed by a nine-count on her fill ball, to force her to knock over nine pins in the final frame to advance. Crawley struck on her first delivery in the 10th frame to deny O‘Keefe the chance for a sec- ond title this season. (Continued on next page) Bowl to Save the Rhinos Bowl to Save the Rhinos Our Next Event The 4th Annual Reno Bowls For Rhinos and Cheetahs too, will be held on September 18, 2021 at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno! "You can make a difference. This year's Bowling For Rhinos is happening Satur- day September 18 at the National Bowling Stadium: from 4-9PM . Admissions is strictly donation only with a recommended donation of $10.00/person/game. Our Paypal donate button is ready for you now at www.renobowlsforrhinos.com . Also a link is at the bottom of this release. Not so long ago there were eight (8) species of rhinos roaming the planet, some species with tens of thousands of individuals. Now we are down to five (5). Of these two, the Javan and Sumatran each have less than 100 individuals each. Two of the remaining three black and Southern Whites-in the not so distant past were out- standing comeback successes. Yet in the past ten years increased and highly so- phisticated poaching is seeing up to a fifteen percent drop in these populations. Only the East Indian one-horned rhino is holding steady in its comeback from less than 100 animals to 3,300. Help us help them. In our previous three events we raised a total of $17,000.00. Every penny of this money has gone directly to cutting edge conser- vation projects in Africa and Asia.* Bring your friends and family. Bowl in our beautiful National Stadium. Bid on our marvelous array of Silent Auc- tion items and try your luck at winning one of your unique and one of a kind Grand Prize Raffle items. Donate Here and we will see you on September 18th.

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