GREEN BAY, Wis. - Taking time off from something you love never is easy, but not rushing back to competition has been the right decision for Lindsay Boomershine of Perry, Utah, who leads after the opening day of qualifying at the 2017 Go Bowling Professional Women's Bowling Association Players Championship.
The 31-year-old right-hander started and finished Thursday's 12 games at The Ashwaubenon Bowling Alley with bookend games in the 240s, averaging more than 219 overall to lead the 67-player field with a 2,633 total.
"It has been hard not being out here every week this season, but I know it's important to listen to your body and not rush the progress," said Boomershine, who had her first child with husband, Hank, in February and has been plagued by a knee injury in the months since. "The time off has helped me rest and get my mind right, get in some workouts and work on eating better to lose some weight. I've been working hard, and things are going great."
Boomershine is bowling in her third event of the 2017 PWBA Tour season and tossed three strikes in her final frame Thursday to edge recent PWBA Fountain Valley Open champion, Kelly Kulick of Union, New Jersey, by three pins (2,630). Boomershine shined at the 2017 United States Bowling Congress Queens, the first major of the season, where she was the top qualifier for match play.
Kulick also has been on the mend this year, but from an emotional and mental perspective after her mother's death in December, along with real-life priorities, and she quickly has been gaining momentum heading into the second half of the PWBA Tour season.
She followed up her win at the Fountain Valley Open by qualifying for the finals of the Pepsi PWBA Lincoln Open, which will be taped for delayed broadcast Sunday in Green Bay.
"After making the Lincoln show, I'm really starting to feel sharper, and my outlook and mentality are much brighter, too," Kulick said. "The pattern this week is allowing me to play to my strength, playing in and faster, and I feel like my ball does the right thing in this building, so I feel good about things right now."
Kulick was followed Thursday by Amanda Greene of Romney, West Virginia, (2,557) and a quartet of players from Malaysia, Siti Rahman (2,545), Syaidatul Hamidi (2,532), Esther Cheah (2,522) and Shalin Zulkifli (2,499).
The final two players from the Malaysian contingent this week also are in the top 20 after 12 games.
Sin Li Jane, who is the top seed for the finals of the PWBA Wichita Open and PWBA Lincoln Open, is ninth at the PWBA Players Championship with a 2,488 total, and Natasha Roslan is just outside the cut number in 20th place with a 2,405 total.
With six games of qualifying to go, the final spot in match play (top 18) belongs to 2012 USBC Queens champion Diandra Asbaty of Chicago with a 2,432 total.
Competition at The Ashwaubenon Bowling Alley continues Friday at noon Eastern. The winner this week will claim the second major title of the season, along with a $20,000 top prize.
All 67 competitors at the 2017 PWBA Players Championship will bowl 18 games of qualifying over two days to determine the 18 bowlers who will advance to round-robin match play, which will get underway Friday evening and conclude Saturday afternoon.
After 36 games, total pinfall, including bonus pins from match play, will decide the four players who will compete in Sunday's live stepladder finals.
Defending champion Clara Guerrero of Colombia is 10th after the opening day of competition with a 2,470 total.
Three additional shows will be taped Sunday in Green Bay for delayed broadcast on CBS Sports Network.
The finals of the PWBA Wichita Open, Pepsi PWBA Lincoln Open and PWBA Greater Detroit Open will be taped for broadcast on July 4, 11 and 18, respectively.
All rounds of competition leading up to the stepladder finals of the 2017 Go Bowling PWBA Players Championship will be broadcast on Xtra Frame, the exclusive online bowling channel for the Professional Bowlers Association. To subscribe to watch the action on Xtra Frame, visit XtraFrame.TV.
