Bowling World Newspaper July/August 2021

July/August 2021 - www.bowlingworld.com 43 bowljbt.com 17 Year Old Jillian Martin Leads After Opening Day Of 2021 PWBA BowlTV Classic By Matt Cannizzaro ARLINGTON, TX - Two rounds of head-to-head match play were completed Monday at the 2021 Pro- fessional Women's Bowling Association BowlTV Clas- sic, and Junior Team USA member Jillian Martin of Stow, Ohio, tops the 24-player standings with eight games remaining. The 17-year-old right-hander averaged more than 214 and posted the best match-play record of the day, 13-3, to set the pace at the International Training and Re- search Center. All rounds of competition are being broadcast live on BowlTV. The lead changed hands frequently throughout the day, first belonging to two-time PWBA Tour champion Julia Bond of Aurora, Illinois, who kicked off the action with the third perfect game of the four-event PWBA Summer Classic Series. A half-dozen players occupied the top spot at some point during the 16 games on the 41-foot oil pattern, with Martin being one of them, and she was able to catapult from third place back into the lead with a 241 effort and a victory in her final game Monday night. Martin finished with a 3,821 total and was followed by Latvia's Diana Zavjalova (3,818), England's Verity Crawley (3,725), Jordan Richard of Maumee, Ohio (3,631), and Bryanna Coté of Tucson, Arizona (3,603). "The whole day, I just tried to stick to my process, make good shots and stay calm, and at the end, I was fortunate enough to find a look very different from the end of the first block," said Martin, who ended the day's first eight-game block with 166. "I made the best shots I could and finished with a big game, which was pretty cool." The 24 bowlers qualified for the BowlTV Classic, the final tournament of the 2021 Summer Classic Series, based on their 18-game qualifying totals from the PWBA Go Bowling Classic and PWBA International Bowling Campus Classic (nine games each). Martin averaged 210.33 over the two days of qualify- ing and finished 17th in the BowlTV Classic rankings. She finished tied for 13th in the Go Bowling Classic and 22nd in the IBC Classic, cashing in both events. "I'm not too disappointed in the first two events be- cause I know there were a few things that were so close to being right where I wanted them to be, and that when they clicked, it would feel really good, and I feel like that kind of happened out here today," Martin said. "In the first event, I just barely missed the cut, and a couple bad shots and missed spares cost me. In the second event, I missed the opportunity to close out a couple games and left splits, which was at least 75 pins. I just need to learn from those things and continue to get better." All pinfall dropped heading into the BowlTV Classic, and total pinfall, plus bonus pins for each win or tie in match play, will determine the five players for Tues- day's stepladder finals, which will be broadcast live at BowlTV.com at 9 p.m. Eastern. Martin understands the need to take advantage of the times she has a great look and grind when she doesn't, as well as how important bonus pins are in the match- play format. "Games 3 and 4, I bowled on the same pair and had some trouble with one of the lanes, but I was able to grind through those games and get two Ws, which is really important in this format," Martin said. "Tomorrow, I'll come in with the same thought process and keep going after those wins. I think if I can have another good day, we should be able to make the show and have a chance to go out and win a title." Martin was the recipient of a special exemption into the Summer Classic Series from the USBC and Bowl- ing Proprietors' Association of America. The opportunity was due in part to her memorable per- formance at the 2021 PWBA Kickoff Classic Series, also at the ITRC, where she turned in finishes of eighth, second and third and rolled a 299 game live on BowlTV along the way. She is looking to become the youngest bowler in his- tory to win a national PWBA event, a record owned by USBC and PWBA Hall of Famer Wendy Macpherson, who won the U.S. Women's Open at 18. The 2021 PWBA Summer Classic Series brought 56 players, representing more than a dozen countries, to the ITRC. Germany's Birgit Noreiks took home the title at the Go Bowling Classic for her first individual win and second victory overall, while former Team USA member Jen Higgins of Lewis Center, Ohio, won the IBC Campus Classic on Saturday for her first PWBA Tour title. The Summer Classic Series also included the 2021 PWBA Dallas/Fort Worth Regional, won by past Junior Team USA member Taylor Bailey of Joliet, Illinois, a member of the 2021 PWBA Tour rookie class. 2021 PWBA BowlTV Classic At the International Training and Research Center Arlington, Texas Monday's results MATCH PLAY (16 games, 30 bonus pins for a win, 15 bonus pins for a tie) 1, Jillian Martin (n), Stow, Ohio, 13-3-0, 3,821. 2, Diana Zavjalova, Latvia, 12-4-0, 3,818. 3, Verity Crawley, England, 9-7-0, 3,725. 4, Jordan Richard, Maumee, Ohio, 9-7-0, 3,631. 5, Bryanna Coté, Tucson, Ariz., 9-7-0, 3,603. 6, Valerie Bercier, Muskegon, Mich., 9-7-0, 3,586. 7, Daria Pajak, Poland, 8-8-0, 3,575. 8, Misaki Mukotani, Japan, 8-8-0, 3,571. 9, Sydney Brummett, Fort Wayne, Ind., 9-6-1, 3,551. 10, Ashley Rucker (n), Bartlesville, Okla., 9-7-0, 3,550. 11, Erin McCarthy, Elkhorn, Neb., 11-5-0, 3,548. 12, Birgit Noreiks, Germany, 9-7-0, 3,513. 13, Danielle McEwan, Stony Point, N.Y., 8-8-0, 3,493. 14, Jen Higgins, Lewis Center, Ohio, 8-8-0, 3,465. 15, Liz Johnson, Niagara Falls, N.Y., 8-8-0, 3,448. 16, Lauren Pate, Fairview Heights, Ill., 8-8-0, 3,440. 17, Giselle Poss, Maitland, Fla., 7-9-0, 3,413. 18, Dasha Kovalova, Ukraine, 8-8-0, 3,395. 19, Kelly Kulick, Union, N.J., 5-11-0, 3,372. 20, Julia Bond, Aurora, Ill., 5-11-0, 3,320. 21, Maria José Rodriguez, Colombia, 4-12-0, 3,318. 22, Tannya Roumimper, Indonesia, 4-12-0, 3,310. 23, Rocio Restrepo, Uniontown, Ohio, 4-11-1, 3,285. 24, Stephanie Zavala, Downey, Calif., 7-9-0, 3,263. News Flash - Jillian Martin Wins The 2021 PWBA BowlTV Classic! Jillian is the youngest bowler in history to win a national PWBA Event! July 12, 2021 Congrats to Ohio bowler Jillian Martin Bowled on her first 300 while qualifying at Junior Gold. More on the Junior Gold in the next issue of Bowling World Bowling World‘s QR Code.