HOUSTON- Danielle McEwan of Stony Point, New York, and Anthony Simonsen of Las Vegas took home titles at the Professional Bowlers Association/Professional Women’s Bowling Association Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles Tournament for the second straight year, held at Copperfield Bowl in Houston.
It was not nearly the climb for them this year compared to the 2023 edition of the event, where they qualified 30th heading into the semis and did not seal the victory until the very last game after being down over 250 pins after qualifying. This year, they qualified ninth and entered the finals as the leaders, lost only three matches and separated themselves from the pack during Game 10 of the finals and taking first by over 230 pins.
“We were in a better spot going into Sunday, the press wasn’t there because we weren’t chasing anybody,” said Simonsen, referring to last’s year chase down to win. “We did get a little comfortable and had a couple bad games, we realized we should start striking before it’s too late.”
Simonsen averaged over 219 in the finals while McEwan notched an average over 210, holding the other competitors at bay with decisive wins in match play, allowing them to collect crucial bonus pins. Communicating clearly about the changing conditions, Simonsen and McEwan were able to navigate a treacherous transition to secure a comfortable victory
“We just kept talking about what was going on out on the lanes and making sure we were making the right moves and seeing the picture clearly,” said McEwan.
The turning point came in Game 10 where Simonsen and McEwan entered with a narrow lead, but defeated the second place team of defeated England’s Dom Barrett and Latvia’s Diana Zavjalova for a de-facto position round and built a cushion.
“That was huge in the sense that we basically had two position-rounds in three games, so it was good for us to get a good start there and make them start pressing,” said Simonsen.
This is McEwan’s ninth PWBA Tour title and third SABC Mixed Doubles win in four years, while Simonsen earned his third PBA title of the season and 16th PBA Tour title overall.
Next year’s Beauties and Beasts competition is set after qualifying was completed, as the top five individual scores from the men and women will compete in a pre-tournament competition. On the men’s side, Alec Keplinger (1,721); Brad Miller (1,710); Cameron Crowe (1,703); Dom Barrett (1,678); and Sean Riccardi (1,661) will compete, while the women’s side includes Stefanie Johnson (1,649); Sin Li Jane (1,582); Erin McCarthy (1,576); Liz Johnson (1,558); and Hope Gramly (1,557).
The PBA and PWBA tours will continue July 31 for the Jonesboro Trios in Jonesboro, Arkansas, which will also include the PBA50 for a first of its kind event, where after two rounds of qualifying for each tour, the top 16 from each tour will be put together for baker-style match play.
For McEwan, the win gave her a confidence boost as she heads to Detroit for the final stop of the PWBA Tour season.
The 2024 PWBA Tour season concludes in Detroit with the PWBA Tour Championship Week starting August 6.
“Bowling this week definitely gave me a little bit of confidence and hopefully I can take that (to Detroit).”
