LAS VEGAS – Danielle McEwan of Stony Point, New York, qualified sixth at the PBA Scorpion Championship at the World Series of Bowling XI in Las Vegas on Tuesday.
A five-time titlist on the Professional Women’s Bowling Association Tour, McEwan averaged 227 for her 10-game qualifying block at the South Point Bowling Plaza. The single-elimination match-play bracket was scheduled to begin March 17 but has been postponed due to COVID-19 safety concerns.
McEwan is the first PWBA player to make a match-play cut at a WSOB event since Liz Johnson qualified 12th for the 2017 PBA Chameleon Championship at the WSOB IX in 2017 at the National Bowling Stadium in Reno, Nevada. Johnson went on to defeat Ryan Ciminelli, Josh Blanchard, Tom Smallwood and Anthony Pepe to claim the title.
As part of the WSOB XI, McEwan also competed in the GoBowling! PBA Cheetah Championship and the PBA Chameleon Championship. The 20 games bowled from those events, combined with the 10 from the PBA Scorpion Championship, gave the competitors a 30-game total that qualified them for the PBA World Championship.
The top 40 advanced to the Cashers’ Round based on 30-game totals, with McEwan averaging 211.1 and falling just short of the cut, finishing in 48th out of 120 competitors.
Fellow PWBA champion Maria José Rodriguez of Colombia also competed in the event, with a high finish of 35th at the PBA Chameleon Championship. Both players advanced to the WSOB XI out of the pre-tournament qualifier (PTQ), in which McEwan shot 300 en route to leading.
McEwan is looking to join Johnson and Kelly Kulick as the only women who have won titles on the PBA Tour. Kulick was the first to do so back in 2010 when she defeated Chris Barnes, 265-195, to win the PBA Tournament of Champions.
