STANDINGS
NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev. - On the strength of a 7-1 record during Friday's opening round of match play at the 2019 U.S. Women's Open, Indonesia's Tannya Roumimper has taken the overall lead at Texas Star Lanes.
The 28-year-old right-hander averaged more than 217 during the first of three match-play rounds at the 2019 event to move to the top of the standings with an 8,250 total, including bonus pins.
Roumimper is 113 pins ahead of Danielle McEwan of Stony Point, New York, who is second with 8,407.
Julia Bond of Aurora, Illinois, is third with 8,381, and Latvia's Diana Zavjalova is fourth with 8,367. Six-time U.S. Women's Open champion and United States Bowling Congress Hall of Famer Liz Johnson of Palatine, Illinois, is fifth with 8,362.
Defending U.S. Women's Open champion Liz Kuhlkin of Schenectady, New York, went 5-3 on Friday to jump from 22nd to 10th with an 8,233 total.
Roumimper made the stepladder finals at the USBC Queens last month, finishing in fourth place, and again is looking strong at the second major championship of the 2019 Professional Women's Bowling Association Tour season.
Roumimper felt she was successful at the Queens because she was able to start fresh after every three-game total-pinfall match. Although the U.S. Women's Open rewards the most consistent performers over the course of 56 games, Roumimper is using every frame this week as an opportunity to refocus and restart.
"I'm really focusing on just one frame at a time," Roumimper said. "One frame, and then it's done and time to move on. Pair to pair has been really tough, so I'm trying to stay patient, make my spares and get every single pin I can."
She recently worked with Team USA assistant coach Mark Baker prior to the start of the PWBA Fountain Valley Open to also refresh her physical game, and she believes the combination of that tune-up and a favorable format for her game is showing in the standings.
"It's really hard to work on your game on tour, but you need to because some of the patterns can cause bad habits," Roumimper said. "It was really nice to just go back to basics and refresh my game and fix everything. I don't want to get ahead of myself, because we still have 16 games to go, but I feel like I'm performing well in majors because it's a marathon. I can be patient and like the format, and I think that helps my confidence, too."
The field at the 2019 U.S. Women's Open started with 108 players and was cut to the top 36 after three eight-game qualifying rounds. The 36 advancers returned to Texas Star Lanes on Friday for eight additional games to determine the 24 competitors heading to match play.
Johnson held the lead after 32 games with a 6,703 total. Puerto Rico's Estefania Cobo rolled 243 in her final game to earn the final spot in match play, finishing with a 6,379 total, a 199.34 average.
Match play will resume Saturday at 1 p.m. Eastern with the final two blocks, including a position round. The five finalists will be determined by total pinfall, including bonus pins, for 56 games.
The stepladder finals will take place Sunday at 5 p.m. Eastern, with the champion claiming the $20,000 top prize and coveted green jacket.
Each round of the 2019 event leading up to the stepladder finals will be broadcast at BowlTV.com.
