American squads advance to semifinals, guaranteed medals in team competition at 2025 IBF World Cup
January 13, 2025
Team USA women's bowlers (from left to right): Jillian Martin of Stow, Ohio; Bryanna Coté of Tucson, Arizona; Shannon Pluhowsky of Dayton, Ohio; and Lauren Russo of Ballwin, Missouri.
FULL STANDINGS
HONG KONG – When Team USA sends its bowlers around the world to compete, the goal is always to represent America proudly on the lanes and bring home as many medals as possible.
While individual hardware is certainly cherished, the men and women donning the red, white and blue are always quick to point out that team medals mean the most.
As such, the eight athletes representing Team USA at the 2025 International Bowling Federation World Cup were very happy on Monday after both squads advanced to the semifinals in their respective divisions, which guaranteed each quartet no worse than a bronze-medal finish in this year’s World Cup team competitions.
The Team USA women’s foursome of Bryanna Coté of Tucson, Arizona; Jillian Martin of Stow, Ohio; Shannon Pluhowsky of Dayton, Ohio, and Lauren Russo of Ballwin, Missouri, was the first to secure its spot on the podium at Top Bowl (Kai Tak Sports Park, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China) on Monday.
The American women, who entered the quarterfinals as the No. 3 seed, did so by topping No. 6 China by a final score of 3-1 (188-170; 192-196; 237-180 and 237-192) during the best-of-five quarterfinal-round battle.
The win moved Team USA into Tuesday’s arena-setting semifinals, which will be contested at Queen Elizabeth Stadium.
There, the Americans will take on top-seeded Malaysia, which punched its own ticket to the women’s semis by topping No. 8 Sweden by a 3-1 margin (221-200; 187-142; 206-224 and 226-185).
The winner of that bout will bowl for the gold medal against the winner of Tuesday’s other women’s semifinal, which will see No. 7 Singapore face No. 5 Macao.
Singapore reached the medal round by upsetting second-seeded Philippines (3-2 – 197-232; 224-182; 209-205; 225-237 and 203-199) while Macao earned its place via a 3-2 win (166-155; 204-169; 147-174; 158-191 and 170-161) over No. 4 Germany.
The Team USA women did not medal as a team at the 2022 World Cup in Queensland, Australia.
Coté was a member of the 2022 squad, and although she won Women’s Singles gold at the tournament, she remembers the disappointment of not getting to stand atop the podium with her teammates by her side.
The fact that she will get that opportunity this time around, and in an arena-setting no less, made Monday’s triumph particularly special for Coté.
“To be able to bowl for a team medal at the World Cup is absolutely amazing,” Coté said. “After coming so close to medaling in 2022, it’s a great feeling to be able to come back in 2024 even stronger with a great team. We had some battles the last couple of days but found a way to really bowl together and show how much heart this team really has.
“The arena setting is pretty awesome. It was a bit overwhelming walking into such a large arena with only two lanes in the center, but it really made making it to the medal round even more special. Now, we just need to go out there, have fun and hope the pins fall our way.”
Team USA’s men’s squad of Packy Hanrahan of Wichita, Kansas; Kristopher Prather of Romeoville, Illinois; Matt Russo of Ballwin, Missouri; and Chris Via of Blacklick, Ohio, will be hoping for the same.
However, that group won’t be looking to finish off a comeback story; instead, it will be trying to complete a successful title defense. That’s because the American men came to the 2025 World Cup as the defending Men’s Team champions after having won the 2022 event in Australia.
The American men have certainly looked more than up to the task thus far in Hong Kong, and Monday’s performance was no exception.
The Team USA men, who advanced to the Round of 16 as the No. 1 seed in Men’s Team Group A, breezed past Thailand – the No. 8 seed from Group B – averaging better than 217 per game during their 3-1 (208-197; 213-176; 210-212 and 238-179) opening-round victory.
That was apparently just a warmup for the Americans, however, as Hanrahan, Prather, Russo and Via combined to average 243 per game during a 3-0 (254-188; 217-164; 258-205) quarterfinal sweep of No. 4 Peru.
Team USA will open Tuesday’s arena semifinals with a match against No. 7 Kuwait, which earned its place in the bout by scoring wins over No. 2 Macao (3-1 – 188-186; 185-205; 222-201 and 192-160) and No. 3 Singapore (3-0 – 206-191; 192-188 and 201-179) on Monday.
The winner of the Team USA-Kuwait semi will square off against either No. 3 Puerto Rico or No. 5 Malaysia for the Men’s Team gold medal.
Puerto Rico reached the medal round thanks to wins over No. 6 Costa Rica (3-1 – 169-166; 200-160; 216-236 and 185-175) and No. 2 Saudi Arabia (3-0 – 246-201; 209-177 and 190-180) while Malaysia was victorious over No. 4 Denmark (3-0 – 242-157; 214-197 and 235-226) and No. 8 Germany (3-1 – 184-258; 234-199; 210-190 and 202-184).
Prather, who was a member of the 2022 gold-medal winning Team USA men’s squad in Australia, likes what he’s seen from this year’s foursome in Hong Kong so far, and he’s optimistic about the group’s chances during Tuesday’s final day of competition at this year’s World Cup.
“All of our guys have been bowling great, we have each other’s back and we’re all moving as one cohesive unit right now, so I expect a lot of good shot-making and excitement tomorrow,” Prather said. “Our entire goal for coming here was to have an opportunity to win gold in the team event, so to still be bowling on the last day is an incredible achievement. But the work isn’t done.”
Like Coté and the Team USA ladies, Prather and the American men are looking forward to the opportunity to put in that work in the arena setting of Queen Elizabeth Stadium.
“It’s very seldom that we get the opportunity to bowl in a specialized facility designed around an entire tournament that showcases bowlers and their skills, so it’s going to be a lot of fun for us and hopefully for the fans as well,” Prather said. “It’s going to be awesome.”
Medal ceremonies will follow Tuesday’s arena finals in the Men’s and Women’s Team competitions and bring competition at the 2025 IBF World Cup to a close. The tournament began on Jan. 5.
CLICK HERE for more information on Team USA.
FULL STANDINGS
HONG KONG – When Team USA sends its bowlers around the world to compete, the goal is always to represent America proudly on the lanes and bring home as many medals as possible.
While individual hardware is certainly cherished, the men and women donning the red, white and blue are always quick to point out that team medals mean the most.
As such, the eight athletes representing Team USA at the 2025 International Bowling Federation World Cup were very happy on Monday after both squads advanced to the semifinals in their respective divisions, which guaranteed each quartet no worse than a bronze-medal finish in this year’s World Cup team competitions.
The Team USA women’s foursome of Bryanna Coté of Tucson, Arizona; Jillian Martin of Stow, Ohio; Shannon Pluhowsky of Dayton, Ohio, and Lauren Russo of Ballwin, Missouri, was the first to secure its spot on the podium at Top Bowl (Kai Tak Sports Park, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China) on Monday.
The American women, who entered the quarterfinals as the No. 3 seed, did so by topping No. 6 China by a final score of 3-1 (188-170; 192-196; 237-180 and 237-192) during the best-of-five quarterfinal-round battle.
The win moved Team USA into Tuesday’s arena-setting semifinals, which will be contested at Queen Elizabeth Stadium.
There, the Americans will take on top-seeded Malaysia, which punched its own ticket to the women’s semis by topping No. 8 Sweden by a 3-1 margin (221-200; 187-142; 206-224 and 226-185).
The winner of that bout will bowl for the gold medal against the winner of Tuesday’s other women’s semifinal, which will see No. 7 Singapore face No. 5 Macao.
Singapore reached the medal round by upsetting second-seeded Philippines (3-2 – 197-232; 224-182; 209-205; 225-237 and 203-199) while Macao earned its place via a 3-2 win (166-155; 204-169; 147-174; 158-191 and 170-161) over No. 4 Germany.
The Team USA women did not medal as a team at the 2022 World Cup in Queensland, Australia.
Coté was a member of the 2022 squad, and although she won Women’s Singles gold at the tournament, she remembers the disappointment of not getting to stand atop the podium with her teammates by her side.
The fact that she will get that opportunity this time around, and in an arena-setting no less, made Monday’s triumph particularly special for Coté.
“To be able to bowl for a team medal at the World Cup is absolutely amazing,” Coté said. “After coming so close to medaling in 2022, it’s a great feeling to be able to come back in 2024 even stronger with a great team. We had some battles the last couple of days but found a way to really bowl together and show how much heart this team really has.
“The arena setting is pretty awesome. It was a bit overwhelming walking into such a large arena with only two lanes in the center, but it really made making it to the medal round even more special. Now, we just need to go out there, have fun and hope the pins fall our way.”
Team USA’s men’s squad of Packy Hanrahan of Wichita, Kansas; Kristopher Prather of Romeoville, Illinois; Matt Russo of Ballwin, Missouri; and Chris Via of Blacklick, Ohio, will be hoping for the same.
However, that group won’t be looking to finish off a comeback story; instead, it will be trying to complete a successful title defense. That’s because the American men came to the 2025 World Cup as the defending Men’s Team champions after having won the 2022 event in Australia.
The American men have certainly looked more than up to the task thus far in Hong Kong, and Monday’s performance was no exception.
The Team USA men, who advanced to the Round of 16 as the No. 1 seed in Men’s Team Group A, breezed past Thailand – the No. 8 seed from Group B – averaging better than 217 per game during their 3-1 (208-197; 213-176; 210-212 and 238-179) opening-round victory.
That was apparently just a warmup for the Americans, however, as Hanrahan, Prather, Russo and Via combined to average 243 per game during a 3-0 (254-188; 217-164; 258-205) quarterfinal sweep of No. 4 Peru.
Team USA will open Tuesday’s arena semifinals with a match against No. 7 Kuwait, which earned its place in the bout by scoring wins over No. 2 Macao (3-1 – 188-186; 185-205; 222-201 and 192-160) and No. 3 Singapore (3-0 – 206-191; 192-188 and 201-179) on Monday.
The winner of the Team USA-Kuwait semi will square off against either No. 3 Puerto Rico or No. 5 Malaysia for the Men’s Team gold medal.
Puerto Rico reached the medal round thanks to wins over No. 6 Costa Rica (3-1 – 169-166; 200-160; 216-236 and 185-175) and No. 2 Saudi Arabia (3-0 – 246-201; 209-177 and 190-180) while Malaysia was victorious over No. 4 Denmark (3-0 – 242-157; 214-197 and 235-226) and No. 8 Germany (3-1 – 184-258; 234-199; 210-190 and 202-184).
Prather, who was a member of the 2022 gold-medal winning Team USA men’s squad in Australia, likes what he’s seen from this year’s foursome in Hong Kong so far, and he’s optimistic about the group’s chances during Tuesday’s final day of competition at this year’s World Cup.
“All of our guys have been bowling great, we have each other’s back and we’re all moving as one cohesive unit right now, so I expect a lot of good shot-making and excitement tomorrow,” Prather said. “Our entire goal for coming here was to have an opportunity to win gold in the team event, so to still be bowling on the last day is an incredible achievement. But the work isn’t done.”
Like Coté and the Team USA ladies, Prather and the American men are looking forward to the opportunity to put in that work in the arena setting of Queen Elizabeth Stadium.
“It’s very seldom that we get the opportunity to bowl in a specialized facility designed around an entire tournament that showcases bowlers and their skills, so it’s going to be a lot of fun for us and hopefully for the fans as well,” Prather said. “It’s going to be awesome.”
Medal ceremonies will follow Tuesday’s arena finals in the Men’s and Women’s Team competitions and bring competition at the 2025 IBF World Cup to a close. The tournament began on Jan. 5.
CLICK HERE for more information on Team USA.