September 2016 -
11
New Hui Fen Wins 2016
Smithfield PWBA Tour Championship
By
MIDLOTHIAN, Va.
– Singapore‟s New Hui Fen cap-
tured the 2016 Smithfield Professional Women‟s Bowl-
ing Association Tour Championship at Uptown Alley on
Sunday.
New defeated her Team Singapore teammate Cherie
Tan in the championship match, 258-235, to win her
first PWBA title, which also was a major. The champi-
onship round was broadcast live on CBS Sports Net-
work.
The exciting all-Singapore final was the highest-
scoring match of the day as New started with five con-
secutive strikes, before a 4 pin in the sixth frame de-
railed her chance at perfection.
After tossing one strike during the first four frames,
Tan closed the gap with strikes in frames five through
nine, which forced New to strike or spare in the last
frame to win the final event, and fourth major of the
2016 PWBA season. New left a 10 pin on the first shot
of her 10th frame and converted the spare to claim the
victory and the $20,000 prize.
“I think this win will impact many other players like
how Joseph Schooling has impacted all of Singapore
with his win in swimming at the Olympics,” New said.
“What he said was really true, „even people from the
smallest country can do great things.‟ So, I believe our
neighboring countries will look at us and say „wow, if
they can do it, so can we.‟”
The PWBA Tour experienced an influx of international
talent this season with Team Singapore playing a big
role in the second year of the re-launched Tour.
New capped off a season that included third-place
finishes at the Nationwide PWBA Sonoma County
Open and PWBA Storm Sacramento Open, and a
fourth place finish at the U.S. Women‟s Open.
In the process, New became the fourth player from
Singapore over the last two seasons to win a PWBA
event or major championship.
Jazreel Tan won the 2015 PWBA Lubbock Sports
Open, Bernice Lim won the 2016 United States Bowling
Congress Queens and Cherie Tan captured the 2016
PWBA Storm Sacramento Open.
Despite competing in just six events this season, New
earned enough competition points to secure another
coveted title – 2016 PWBA Rookie of the Year.
The 24-year-old right-hander entered the Smithfield
PWBA Tour Championship needing to defeat fellow
rookie Jennifer Higgins of Westerville, Ohio, in the
opening round of match play and Danielle McEwan of
Stony Point, New York, in Round 2, to secure enough
points to win the award.
New is the first international rookie of the year since
Australia‟s Cara Honeychurch in 2000.
New earned her spot in Sunday‟s championship
match by defeating two-time PWBA champion Rocio
Restrepo of Louisville, Ohio, 213-189. Tan knocked off
Liz Johnson of Cheektowaga, New York, 199-195, in
the first semifinal.
Despite the loss, Johnson, a USBC Hall of Famer,
claimed her second consecutive PWBA Player of the
Year award. The race for the postseason honor came
down to Johnson and Restrepo, with Restrepo needing
to win the Tour Championship to claim the award.
With Restrepo‟s loss in the second semifinal, Johnson
became the first player since Wendy Macpherson in
2000 to win the award in consecutive years.
This year, Johnson led the Tour in points, earnings
and tied for the lead in championship-round appear-
ances. She also won two events this season, the
PWBA Las Vegas Open and her fifth career U.S.
Women‟s Open title.
“It was another incredible year,”
Johnson said. “I‟m very excited,
very fortunate and very happy I
had the year I did. It‟s such a
strong field of amazing young
ladies, who are just going to get
better. It makes you step up your
game, and I have to stay strong
mentally and physically. I‟m very
proud, and I‟m very happy.”
PWBA members qualified for the Tour Championship
by either winning a title during the 2016 season or
earning enough competition points. All 2016 PWBA
Tour champions (who were PWBA members at the
time of their victory) received an automatic invitation to
the Tour Championship, and the remainder of the 16-
player field was filled out through the PWBA points list.
