NORMAN, Okla. – Malaysia’s Esther Cheah shot 249 and 238 in her two stepladder final matches to leave Sooner Bowling Center in Norman, Oklahoma, as the 2024 Professional Women’s Bowling Association Oklahoma Regional champion.
Cheah qualified second with an eight-game total of 1,637 and was one of only three bowlers to end qualifying averaging 200 or above on the 41-foot oil pattern. Joining Cheah in the stepladder was Brittney Kinney of Columbia City, Indiana (1,593), Shelby Davis of LaPorte, Texas (1,600) and top qualifier Raina Davis of Oklahoma City (1,687).
In the semifinal match, Cheah went up against the left-handed Shelby and immediately put her foot on the gas, striking from frames two through seven after converting a 10 pin to start the game. Shelby kept up with Cheah after opening in frame one, getting more comfortable and throwing better shots, waiting to seize an opportunity.
That opportunity never came however, as Cheah was able to shut out Shelby with a 249-234 victory to move on to the title match. Shelby earned $600 for her third-place finish.
In the title match, Cheah faced off against Raina, a member of the Savannah College of Art and Design-Savannah bowling team that placed third at the Intercollegiate Team Championships this past April.
Cheah continued her great bowling, starting the game with the first four strikes while Raina struggled early. Raina began to come back in the match with her own four-bagger in frames five through seven while Cheah threw good shots that just didn’t strike in frames five and eight.
The ninth frame was essentially the deciding frame in the match, as a high-flush 4 pin for Raina stopped her striking streak. Raina converted the spare before going strike, eight, spare to finish the game at 216, meaning Cheah just needed good count on her first ball of the 10th frame to win.
She did exactly that, leaving the 3-6-10 combo and converting it before punctuating the victory with a strike on her fill ball for 238. For her second-place finish, Raina earned $800.
Cheah, along with PWBA Player of the Year frontrunner Sin Li Jane, have been traveling and competing together on the PWBA National Tour this season, and Cheah can now add her own trophy to put on the shelf with Sin’s three titles.
“It’s nice to be able to have a trophy to go along with her (Sin) trophies,” Cheah said with a laugh.
Cheah earned $1,600 and an automatic spot into match play at the PWBA Regional Showdown December 5-7 at Aloma Bowl in Winter Park, Florida. Her focus is not on that, however, as she hopes that she can make a run in Detroit during PWBA Tour Championship week August 6-13.
“I’m still processing the win,” said Cheah. “I haven’t really been bowling that well all season, but I feel I’ve been improving each tournament. Winning this proves to myself that I am getting better and hopefully I continue bowling well in Detroit.”
Kinney and Shelby opposed each other in Match 1 of the stepladder finals and Kinney could not find a good look, striking only twice and opening four times to end with a 143. Shelby had a four-bagger in the middle of the match and moved on with a 188. Kinney earned $500 for her fourth-place finish.
The PWBA Tour will be in Houston July 31–August 3 for the Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles event with the Professional Bowlers Association. Cheah will be competing with PBA Tournament of Champions winner Marshall Kent for that event.
