Liz Johnson top seed at 2017 USBC Queens
May 22, 2017
BRACKET
BATON ROUGE, La. - United States Bowling Congress Hall of Famer Liz Johnson of Deerfield, Illinois, went undefeated in match play at the 2017 USBC Queens to earn the top seed for Tuesday's championship round.
The stepladder finals will air on CBS Sports Network on Tuesday at 10 p.m. Eastern, and the winner will take home the coveted tiara and top prize of $20,000. The USBC Queens is the first major of the 2017 Professional Women's Bowling Association Tour season.
Johnson, a two-time Queens champion, put together a near-historic run through the double-elimination bracket at the Raising Cane's River Center, averaging more than 237 through her six matches, including a 663-612 win against 2013 Queens winner Diana Zavjalova of Latvia in the winners bracket final to earn the No. 1 spot. Zavjalova will be the No. 2 seed for the finals.
"I made really good ball choices to start and ball changes when I needed them throughout my matches," said Johnson, the 2015 and 2016 Professional Women's Bowling Association Player of the Year. "Mentally, I felt really good, and the physical game came together as well."
Johnson is one win away from adding another historic accomplishment to her storied career. With a victory, she would become the third bowler to win the Queens for a third time, joining fellow hall of famers Mildred Ignizio (1967, 1970, 1971) and Wendy Macpherson (1988, 2000, 2003).
"It's going to be tough no matter who I face," said Johnson, who also rolled the tournament's only 300 game in her opening-round victory against England's Verity Crawley. "I always go into a match thinking I'm up against the best bowler in the world, no matter who it is. That's always been my mindset, so I'm going to bowl the best game I can, since that's all I can do."
Singapore's Jazreel Tan and Cherie Tan and Marissa Thomas of Louisville, Kentucky, are the No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5 seeds for the stepladder, respectively, after advancing through a final shootout round Monday.
Jazreel Tan led the round with a 671 series to earn the third spot. Cherie Tan took the fourth spot with a 611 set, and Thomas edged out Singapore's Shayna Ng for the final spot in a dramatic finish, 587-578.
Finishing first, Ng struck on her first delivery of the 10th frame for a double and converted a 7 pin, forcing Thomas to mark to advance. Thomas left a 3-10 split on her first offering and covered it to secure the fifth spot.
A total of 162 bowlers competed in three five-game blocks of qualifying over three days this week to determine the 63 competitors who joined defending champion Bernice Lim of Singapore in the double-elimination match-play bracket. Lim lost her first two matches Sunday and finished in a tie for 49th place.
Each bracket match leading up to the stepladder included three games, with total pinfall determining which player advanced. The televised portion of the event will be one-game matches.
BATON ROUGE, La. - United States Bowling Congress Hall of Famer Liz Johnson of Deerfield, Illinois, went undefeated in match play at the 2017 USBC Queens to earn the top seed for Tuesday's championship round.
The stepladder finals will air on CBS Sports Network on Tuesday at 10 p.m. Eastern, and the winner will take home the coveted tiara and top prize of $20,000. The USBC Queens is the first major of the 2017 Professional Women's Bowling Association Tour season.
Johnson, a two-time Queens champion, put together a near-historic run through the double-elimination bracket at the Raising Cane's River Center, averaging more than 237 through her six matches, including a 663-612 win against 2013 Queens winner Diana Zavjalova of Latvia in the winners bracket final to earn the No. 1 spot. Zavjalova will be the No. 2 seed for the finals.
"I made really good ball choices to start and ball changes when I needed them throughout my matches," said Johnson, the 2015 and 2016 Professional Women's Bowling Association Player of the Year. "Mentally, I felt really good, and the physical game came together as well."
Johnson is one win away from adding another historic accomplishment to her storied career. With a victory, she would become the third bowler to win the Queens for a third time, joining fellow hall of famers Mildred Ignizio (1967, 1970, 1971) and Wendy Macpherson (1988, 2000, 2003).
"It's going to be tough no matter who I face," said Johnson, who also rolled the tournament's only 300 game in her opening-round victory against England's Verity Crawley. "I always go into a match thinking I'm up against the best bowler in the world, no matter who it is. That's always been my mindset, so I'm going to bowl the best game I can, since that's all I can do."
Singapore's Jazreel Tan and Cherie Tan and Marissa Thomas of Louisville, Kentucky, are the No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5 seeds for the stepladder, respectively, after advancing through a final shootout round Monday.
Jazreel Tan led the round with a 671 series to earn the third spot. Cherie Tan took the fourth spot with a 611 set, and Thomas edged out Singapore's Shayna Ng for the final spot in a dramatic finish, 587-578.
Finishing first, Ng struck on her first delivery of the 10th frame for a double and converted a 7 pin, forcing Thomas to mark to advance. Thomas left a 3-10 split on her first offering and covered it to secure the fifth spot.
A total of 162 bowlers competed in three five-game blocks of qualifying over three days this week to determine the 63 competitors who joined defending champion Bernice Lim of Singapore in the double-elimination match-play bracket. Lim lost her first two matches Sunday and finished in a tie for 49th place.
Each bracket match leading up to the stepladder included three games, with total pinfall determining which player advanced. The televised portion of the event will be one-game matches.