bwjun2017 - page 3

June 2017 -
3
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TOURNAMENTS
Zavialova Collects Second Tiara
At 2017 USBC Queens
By Aaron Smith
BATON ROUGE, La. -
Latvia's Diana Zavjalova
claimed her second
t
itle Tuesday, defeating USBC Hall of Famer
Liz Johnson of Deerfield, IL, in the title match, 247-216.
Zavjalova, the 2013 Queens champion, is the
10th player to capture multiple wins at the event
as she averaged more than 251 for her two
games at the Raising Cane's River Center. The
stepladder finals of the 2017 Queens aired on
CBS Sports Network on Tuesday and will re-air
Thursday, May 25 at 7 p.m. Eastern.
The 25-year-old right-hander started the title tilt
with Johnson, also a two-time Queens champion,
with five consecutive strikes, gaining the early
advantage as Johnson opened in two of her first five
frames.
After missing a 10 pin in the fifth frame, Johnson rolled
four consecutive strikes to force Zavjalova to mark for
the win. Zavjalova delivered a strike to seal the victory
and $20,000 top prize.
"I've bowled really well on TV in the past and really just
wanted to have fun while I was out there," said Zavja-
lova, who claimed her second Professional Women's
Bowling Association Tour title with the win. "I wanted to
have fun no matter what, and I just happened to have
amazing ball reaction and struck a lot. It definitely
boosted my confidence getting out to a strong start, and
I tried not to pay attention to anything but me."
Zavjalova consistently has been near the top of the
standings each week since the PWBA Tour relaunched
in 2015, including a win at the 2015 PWBA Minnesota
Open.
However, that consistency did not translate into cham-
pionship-round appearances for Zavjalova during the
2016 season, despite making match play 11 times,
which tied for second overall.
Zavjalova experienced a similar start to the 2017 sea-
son at the QubicaAMF Sonoma County Open, falling
one spot short of making the championship round, fin-
ishing in fifth place.
She broke through the following week at the PWBA
Storm Sacramento Open, earning the No. 3 seed for the
stepladder finals. .
"It almost took a year to get over what happened last
season," Zavjalova said. "I bowled so well but didn't
make a single show. It was heartbreaking to start the
season the same way, but I knew once I made a show
and got the monkey off my back, I would make more
and have the chance to get back in the winner's circle.
Every single win is sweet and awesome and special in
its own way, but this one is sweeter because of last sea-
son."
Zavjalova struck nine times in her semifinal win against
Singapore's Cherie Tan, winning 256-179. Tan finished
in third place.
Cherie Tan converted a 10 pin in the final frame of the
second stepladder match to defeat teammate Jazreel
Tan of Singapore, 214-203. Jazreel Tan held the early
lead after striking on five of her first six offerings, but she
left back-to-back splits in the seventh and eighth frames.
Jazreel Tan finished fourth.
The opening match of the stepladder included a near-
perfect performance from Cherie Tan as she started with
10 consecutive strikes on her way to 289-210 victory
over Marissa Thomas of Louisville, Kentucky. Thomas,
who made her Queens debut this year, finished fifth.
A total of 162 players bowled 15 games of qualifying
over three days to determine the 63 players who joined
defending champion Bernice Lim of Singapore in the
double-elimination match-play bracket.
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