ARLINGTON,Texas - The PWBA Tour Championship is the final tournament of the 2018 PWBA Tour season and will be held at Richmond Raceway in Richmond, Virginia. The Old Dominion Building at Richmond Raceway will host the pinnacle event for the second consecutive year, while the city of Richmond will serve as the backdrop for the third consecutive year.

The invitation-only event brings together 16 of the top players from the 2018 season. PWBA members qualified for the PWBA Tour Championship by either winning a title during the 2018 season or earning enough competition points. All 2018 PWBA Tour champions, who were PWBA members at the time of their victory, received an automatic invitation to the Tour Championship, with the remainder of the field filled through the PWBA points list.

As we inch closer to the start of the event, let’s look at some of the history and facts surrounding the PWBA Tour Championship:

Host cities and venues: Since the relaunch of the PWBA Tour in 2015, the PWBA Tour Championship has been held in three cities – Arlington, Texas (2015), Midlothian, Virginia (2016), and Richmond, Virginia (2017 and 2018).

The International Training and Research Center, home to USBC Team USA, was the host venue in 2015. Uptown Alley hosted the tournament in 2016 in the event’s first trip to the Richmond area. Richmond Raceway, specifically the Old Dominion Building, has hosted the event in conjunction with the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series since 2017.

Defending champion: Shannon O’Keefe returns to Richmond as the defending champion, the No. 1 seed and with the honor of being the 2018 PWBA Player of the Year. She locked up the award at the 2018 QubicaAMF PWBA Players Championship.

Past champions: Along with O’Keefe, Singapore’s New Hui Fen (2016) and Danielle McEwan (2015) are recent winners of the PWBA Tour Championship.

Seeds to win: In 2015 and 2017, McEwan and O’Keefe, respectively, each won the title as the No. 5 seed. In 2016, New Hui Fen rolled through the bracket as the No. 11 seed to capture the title and along the way claimed the 2016 PWBA Rookie of the Year award. Each player went 5-0 in bracket play to win the coveted title.

16th seed: Singapore’s Cherie Tan has the best finish as a 16th seed. In 2016, she reached the title match before losing to Team Singapore teammate New Hui Fen, 258-235.

Champions and post-season honors: Since 2015, New Hui Fen is the only player to win both the PWBA Tour Championship and either PWBA Player or Rookie of the Year. In 2015, Stefanie Johnson, the PWBA Rookie of the Year, was the Tour Championship runner-up. Three-time PWBA Player of the Year Liz Johnson finished third in 2015, 2016 and 2017. Daria Pajak, the 2017 PWBA Rookie of the Year, finished tied for 11th.

Eight players: Since 2015, eight players have qualified and competed each year in the PWBA Tour Championship. Those players are (in 2018 seed order): (1) Shannon O’Keefe, (2) Danielle McEwan, (3) Stefanie Johnson, (4) Liz Johnson, (8) Rocio Restrepo, (11) Diana Zavjalova, (12) Kelly Kulick and (15) Shannon Pluhowsky.

No top seeds in the finals: The benefit of being the No. 1 or No. 2 seed is that the player is seeded directly into the semifinals of the PWBA Tour Championship, but that hasn’t translated into a title. In fact, a top seed has never advanced to the finals. As the No. 2 seed, Stefanie Johnson (2015) and Kelly Kulick (2017) advanced to the title match but lost.

No 300s: There have been no 300 games rolled during the PWBA Tour Championship. The highest game is 279, which four players have rolled. New Hui Fen (2016, Round 1 vs. Jennifer Higgins), Shannon O’Keefe (2; 2017, Round 1 vs. Birgit Poppler; Round 2 vs. Sin Li Jane), Diana Zavjalova (2017, Round 2 vs. Verity Crawley)

Tour Championship debuts: 2018 PWBA Rookie of the Year Jordan Richard, the No. 6 seed, and No. 16 seed Lindsay Boomershine are making their PWBA Tour Championship debuts.

Most games bowled in one event: Singapore’s Cherie Tan holds the record for the most games bowled in one event with 17 games in 2016. In the first three rounds, which were best-of-five matches, each of her matches went to a deciding fifth game. She then won her semifinal match to reach the title tilt, where she lost to New Hui Fen.

Surprises: Liz Johnson has bowled just one game in each of her three appearances at the PWBA Tour Championship, failing to advance to the finals in each year. She has bowled just three total games, but that will change this season as Johnson will compete in at least one best-of-five match as the No. 4 seed.

Best career win-loss record: Shannon O’Keefe has a career match-play record of 9-2 at the PWBA Tour Championship, highlighted by a 5-0 record en route to the 2017 title.

Highest averages by year: 2015 – Danielle McEwan, 224.42 (12 games), 2016 – New Hui Fen, 227.73 (15 games), 2017 – Shannon O’Keefe, 238.61 (13 games)

Highest career averages: New Hui Fen, 227.73 (15 games), Shannon O’Keefe, 225.37 (37 games), Diana Zavjalova, 222.75 (16 games), Danielle McEwan, 221.12 (24 games), Shannon Pluhowsky, 218.59 (27 games)

Most match-play wins: Shannon O’Keefe (9), Danielle McEwan (6), New Hui Fen (5), Cherie Tan (4), Shannon Pluhowsky (4)

(SEE BELOW)
PWBA TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY FOR 2018 PARTICIPANTS:

Shannon O’Keefe – No. 1 seed

Year	Seed	Games	Pinfall total	Average	Record	Finish
2015	9	11	2,374	215.82	2-1	T-5
2016	6	13	2,863	220.23	2-1	T-5
2017	5	13	3,102	238.61	5-0	Won title
Total		37	8,339	225.37	9-2

Danielle McEwan - No. 2 seed

Year	Seed	Games	Pinfall total	Average	Record	Finish
2015	5	12	2,693	224.42	5-0	Won title
2016	3	4	886	221.5	0-1	T-7
2017	4	8	1,728	216	1-1	T-5
Total		24	5,307	221.12	6-2

 

Stefanie Johnson - No. 3 seed

Year	Seed	Games	Pinfall total	Average	Record	Finish
2015	2	2	436	218	1-1	2nd
2016	8	7	1,493	213.28	1-1	T-7
2017	15	4	870	217.5	0-1	T-11
Total		13	2,799	215.30	2-3

 

Liz Johnson - No. 4 seed

Year	Seed	Games	Pinfall total	Average	Record	Finish
2015	1	1	224	224	0-1	3rd
2016	1	1	195	195	0-1	3rd
2017	1	1	222	222	0-1	3rd
Total		3	641	213.66	0-3

 

Liz Kuhlkin - No. 5 seed

Year	Seed	Games	Pinfall total	Average	Record	Finish
2015	14	6	1,143	190.50	1-1	T-7
2016	Did not qualify
2017	Did not qualify
Total		6	1,143	190.50	1-1

 

 

Jordan Richard - No. 6 seed
Making PWBA Tour Championship debut

 

Bryanna Coté - No. 7 seed

Year	Seed	Games	Pinfall total	Average	Record	Finish
2015	13	Four	755	188.75	1-1	T-7
2016	14	Five	1,028	205.6	1-1	T-7
2017	Did not qualify
Total		Nine	1,783	194.77	2-2

 

Rocio Restrepo - No. 8 seed

Year	Seed	Games	Pinfall total	Average	Record	Finish
2015	8	14	2,762	197.28	2-1	T-5
2016	2	1	189	189	0-1	4th
2017	7	3	635	211.66	0-1	T-11
Total		18	3,586	199.22

        

Josie Barnes - No. 9 seed

Year	Seed	Games	Pinfall total	Average	Record	Finish
2015	Did not qualify
2016	15	5	1,033	206.6	0-1	T-11
2017	Did not qualify
Total	15	5	1,033	206.6	0-1

Erin McCarthy - No. 10 seed

Year	Seed	Games	Pinfall total	Average	Record	Finish
2015	10	9	1,637	181.88	1-1	T-7
2016	Did not qualify
2017	Did not qualify
Total		9	1,637	181.88	1-1

Diana Zavjalova - No. 11 seed

Year	Seed	Games	Pinfall total	Average	Record	Finish
2015	4	4	800	200	0-1	T-11
2016	9	4	846	211.5	0-1	T-11
2017	3	8	1,918	239.75	1-1	T-5
Total		16	3,564	222.75	1-3

Kelly Kulick - No. 12 seed

Year	Seed	Games	Pinfall total	Average	Record	Finish
2015	3	11	2,241	203.73	2-1	4th
2016	7	5	963	192.6	0-1	T-11
2017	2	2	450	225	0-1	2nd
Total		18	3,654	203	2-3

Maria Jose Rodriguez - No. 13 seed

Year	Seed	Games	Pinfall total	Average	Record	Finish
2015	Did not qualify
2016	13	3	556	185.33	0-1	T-11
2017	9	3	654	218	0-1	T-11
Total		6	1,210	201.66	0-2

 

Missy Parkin - No. 14 seed

Year	Seed	Games	Pinfall total	Average	Record	Finish
2015	12	3	571	190.33	0-1	T-11
2016	Did not qualify
2017	12	7	1,545	220.71	1-1	T-7
Total		10	2,116	211.6	1-2

 

Shannon Pluhowsky - No. 15 seed

Year	Seed	Games	Pinfall total	Average	Record	Finish
2015	6	5	988	197.60	0-1	T-11
2016	4	8	1,773	221.62	1-1	T-5
2017	6	14	3,141	224.35	3-1	4th
Total		27	5,902	218.59	4-3

 

Lindsay Boomershine - No. 16 seed
Making PWBA Tour Championship debut