SMYRNA, Tenn. – Malaysia’s Sin Li Jane defeated Singapore’s Cherie Tan, 257-208, to claim her second Professional Women’s Bowling Association Tour title of the 2024 PWBA season, and third career title in Smyrna, Tennessee, at the Smyrna Bowling Center. Sin had won the PWBA Bowlers Journal Rockford Open on May 11.
Both Sin and Tan never lost sight of the pocket in their match, but Sin was able to string together two 4-baggers to clinch the win. The left-handed Tan left three 7 pins in the first six frames and only had one double all game. After the match, Sin had nothing but praise for her opponent, who had led nearly the entire event.
“Cherie is a great competitor and I know that any time I go against her, the scores will be high and it will be a tough match,” said Sin. “I just had to focus on throwing good shots.”
Sin started the stepladder finals as the No. 3 seed and faced off against Lauren Russo of Ballwin, Missouri, who was seeking her first PWBA title.
Sin and Russo were unable to have success carrying corner pins early on, with only two strikes between them through five frames. Both players found a groove after that point, and heading into the 10th frame, it was neck and neck.
Russo ended the game first, going strike, nine, spare to finish at 215, meaning that Sin needed at least a mark to move on to the semifinal match. Sin aced the first ball of the 10th and knocked all 10 pins over and got count to finish at 221, leaving Russo with a fourth-place finish and earning $2,500.
Waiting for Sin was England’s Verity Crawley, who last won in 2021 at Smyrna Bowling Center, and looking to defend the building for her third PWBA title.
Pin carry was not an issue in this match, as both Sin and Crawley had four strikes through the first five frames, but both players uncharacteristically miss single-pin spares to keep it close heading into the final frame of the match.
Crawley had the opportunity to shut out Sin, but a 10 pin that could have been a 7-10 split if not for a messenger left the opportunity open for Sin once Crawley ended the game at 224. The first strike in the 10th frame sealed the win for Sin, ending at 235. Crawley earned $4,000 for her third-place finish, while Sin faced off against Tan in the title match, eventually coming away with the title.
Sin now becomes the frontrunner for the PWBA Player of the Year as the only player to be a two-time winner this season, and has come back from an extended hiatus of the PWBA Tour tearing up the competition through three events bowled.
“That would be great, I hadn’t thought about that,” said Sin. “If that were to happen, it would be incredible.”
The stepladder finals started with Russo and Shannon Pluhowsky of Dayton, Ohio, where Russo started hot and never let up over the winner of the first event of the PWBA season, taking down Pluhowsky, 258-212. Pluhowsky earned $2,000 for her fifth-place finish.
PWBA action continues Friday at 11 a.m. Eastern with the PWBA BowlTV Classic, following the same format as the Greater Nashville Open, with stepladder finals scheduled to start Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Eastern.
The combined qualifying totals of the Greater Nashville Classic and BowlTV Classic will determine the 24 competitors for the Music City Classic beginning on Sunday, who will bowl three rounds of round-robin match play over two days before the stepladder finals. All competition will be streamed live on BowlTV.
