By Emil Williams Jr.
ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. - Singapore’s Cherie Tan parlayed a dominant match-play performance into her third career Professional Women’s Bowling Association Tour title on Friday night.
The 34-year-old left-hander defeated Colombia’s Clara Guerrero, 237-213, to win the PWBA BowlTV Classic at Maple Lanes.
Tan collected the $10,000 top prize for her first win of the 2022 PWBA Tour season. The BowlTV Classic was broadcast live on BowlTV.com.
In the title match, Tan, the No. 1 seed, began with three consecutive strikes against Guerrero and looked much like she did during the earlier match-play rounds. Guerrero opened with a strike and followed with two consecutive eight-count spares before striking again in the fourth frame. She remained clean but would not strike again until the eighth frame and posted her first double of the game in the eighth and ninth frames.
Tan added a double in fifth and sixth frame, followed by a 7 pin she converted in the seventh frame for a 34-pin advantage. She tossed another double in the eighth and the ninth, which forced Guerrero to strike out in the 10th to keep her chances of winning alive. Guerrero notched the first strike in the 10th but couldn't strike on the second shot to give Tan the victory.
“It’s great to win and be back in the winner's circle,” said Tan, who won for the third time as the top seed. “I've been feeling pretty good about my game, so I think this is validation that I'm going in the right direction.”
Tan entered this morning’s match play rounds in 11th but flipped the script once match play began. She made the biggest jump in the standings after dominating her way to an 11-1 record, on the strength of two six-game sets of 1,398 and 1,404, an average of 233.5.
“I think it was more of getting comfortable with the shape and the reaction,” Tan said. “And, fine tuning the surfaces on my equipment to match up to the pattern, because I had 12 games to slowly figure it out. My teammates and my coach also suggested I try a different area during practice, and it looked really good, so I carried on with it.”
Tan, along with her Team Singapore teammates, are in the United States to compete in this week’s Classic Series and next week’s U.S. Women’s Open in South Glens Falls, New York. Tan was the runner-up to Josie Barnes of Hermitage, Tennessee, at last year’s event, in which Barnes earned $100,000 for the win, the richest prize in women’s bowling history. The team includes Shayna Ng, New Hui Fen and her sister, Daphne Tan.
Guerrero advanced to the title match by defeating Shannon O’Keefe of Shiloh, Illinois, 216-204. Both players were clean throughout the match, but O’Keefe could not apply pressure in the 10th frame, allowing Guerrero to advance. Guerrero was making her second championship-round appearance while O’Keefe was making her third.
In Match 2, Guerrero defeated Daphne Tan, 217-173. Guerrero proved to be too much throughout the match, and an open in the 10th frame by Daphne sealed her fate.
In the opening match, Daphne defeated Julia Bond of Aurora, Illinois, 228-226. The two players traded four-baggers early, but Daphne had the lead after a missed 2-4-5 spare conversion in the first frame. The match came down to the 10th frame when Bond needed to strike on her first shot to advance, but she left a 10 pin on her first shot.
Both Bond and Daphne were making their first championship-round appearances.
The Long Island Classic Series features three events — the Long Island Classic, BowlTV Classic and BVL Classic.
The Long Island Classic and BowlTV Classic featured the same format. Each event featured 12 games of qualifying to determine the top 12 players for round-robin match play. At the conclusion of match play, the top five athletes, based on total pinfall and bonus pins, advanced to the stepladder finals.
Liz Kuhlkin of Schenectady, New York, won her third career title at the Long Island Classic, defeating Bryanna Coté of Tucson, Arizona, in the title match, 192-190.
The top 24 athletes based on their combined qualifying totals for the Long Island Classic and BowlTV Classic (24 games) determined the advancers to the BVL Classic.
Pinfall will drop at the beginning of the BVL Classic, with all advancers bowling three eight-game blocks of round-robin match play Saturday and Sunday. The top five competitors, based on total pinfall and bonus pins, will advance to the stepladder finals.
The finals of the BVL Classic will be broadcast Sunday at 5 p.m. Eastern on CBS Sports Network, with the winner earning a $10,000 top prize.
Bond, Guerrero, O’Keefe and Daphne Tan qualified for the BVL Classic.
For more information on the PWBA, visit PWBA.com.
2022 PWBA Long Island Classic
At Maple Lanes
Rockville Centre, N.Y.
Friday’s results
FINAL STANDINGS
1, Cherie Tan, Singapore, 237 (one game), $10,000.
2, Clara Guerrero, Colombia, 646 (three games), $5,000.
3, Shannon O’Keefe, Shiloh, Ill., 204 (one game), $3,500.
4, Daphne Tan, Singapore, 401 (two games), $2,500.
5, Julia Bond, Aurora, Ill., 226 (one game), $2,000.
STEPLADDER RESULTS
Match No. 1 – D. Tan def. Bond, 228-226.
Match No. 2 – Guerrero def. D. Tan, 217-173.
Semifinal – Guerrero def. O’Keefe, 216-204.
Championship – C. Tan def. Guerrero, 237-213.
MATCH PLAY
(24 games, 30 bonus pins for a win, 15 bonus pins for a tie)
1, Cherie Tan, Singapore, 11-1-0, 5,624. 2, Shannon O'Keefe, Shiloh, Ill., 9-3-0, 5,481. 3, Clara Guerrero, Colombia, 7-5-0, 5,397. 4, Julia Bond, Aurora, Ill., 7-5-0, 5,286. 5, Daphne Tan, Singapore, 7-4-1, 5,284.
DID NOT ADVANCE
6, Lauren Pate, Ballwin, Mo., 6-5-1, 5,225, $1,750. 7, Lindsay Boomershine, Brigham City, Utah, 5-7-0, 5,084, $1,650. 8, Liz Johnson, Niagara Falls, N.Y., 5-7-0, 5,073, $1,600. 9, Josie Barnes, Hermitage, Tenn., 5-7-0, 5,070, $1,550. 10, Dasha Kovalova, Ukraine, 4-8-0, 4,977, $1,500. 11, Verity Crawley, England, 3-9-0, 4,903, $1,450. 12, Marcia Kloempken (n), Pleasant View, Utah, 3-9-0, 4,741, $1,400.
