PWBA Tour heads to Detroit area this week

CANTON, Mich. - The Professional Women's Bowling Association Tour season heads into the home stretch this week when the PWBA Detroit Open begins Friday.

The PWBA Detroit Open, which will take place at Super Bowl, is the final standard event before the PWBA Tour season ends with the U.S. Women's Open and PWBA Tour Championship next month.

The field of 120 of the best female bowlers in the world will take part in 12 games of qualifying Friday before the top 16 advance to round-robin match play Saturday. The event concludes with the stepladder finals at 6:30 p.m. Central on Saturday. All rounds will be broadcast live on Xtra Frame.

The Detroit metro area is home to the largest concentration of United States Bowling Congress members in the country and former Team USA member Sarah Lokker of nearby New Baltimore, Michigan, is excited the PWBA Tour is coming to the area.

"It's so exciting having the PWBA Tour come to the Detroit area because the sport of bowling is very strong in this area," said Lokker, who is currently 26th on the PWBA Tour points list. "Being able to compete in front of my friends and family this week will be nice. People here are really supportive of professional women's bowling."

The PWBA Detroit Open will also be a key event in the race for PWBA Player and Rookie of the Year as Stefanie Johnson of Grand Prairie, Texas, enters the event in the top spot in the points list.

Johnson leads with 59,675 points but last week's PWBA Minnesota Open champion Diana Zavjalova of Latvia closed the gap and sits in second with 56,250. Kelly Kulick of Union, New Jersey, is third with 51,000 points, while Liz Johnson of Cheektowaga, New York, is fourth with 47,050.

Bowling fans can watch all the action live on Xtra Frame. For more information, visit XtraFrame.tv. For updates on the PWBA Tour, visit PWBA.com.