RESULTS AND INFORMATION

Queensland, Australia – Team USA bowlers A.J. Johnson and Jakob Butturff took a step toward the podium Tuesday night after each authored solid second-round sets to advance into the Men’s Singles Round of 32 at the 2022 International Bowling Federation World Cup, which is being contested at Suncity Tenpin Bowl on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia.

They join teammates Kris Prather and Kyle Troup, who earned their way into the next round on Monday.

Johnson’s path to advancement was an exciting one as it took a 266-258 position-round victory over United Arab Emirates competitor Nayef Equb to officially move Johnson into the next phase of the Men’s Singles competition.

The Johnson-Equb match was by far the most exciting of the position round with the two players combining to throw strikes on 15 of the first 18 shots of the match.

Equb seized the early advantage, starting with a seven-bagger.

Not one to back down in the face of a challenge, Johnson hung right with him, shaking off a solid 9 pin on his opening shot and coming back with an eight-bagger of his own to take the lead heading into the tenth frame.

The strike in the ninth frame was the big one Johnson as it meant that even if Equb struck out, Johnson could respond with nine-spare, strike to win 269-268.

Johnson was first to bowl in the tenth frame, and a strike on the first ball would win the match. Unfortunately, the shot resulted in a 10 pin, leaving Equb’s hopes alive.

However, once the UAE bowler failed to strike on his first shot, the victory officially went to Johnson, and a berth in the next round along with it.   

Johnson finished the first two rounds with an overall record of 8-6, which was good enough for third place in Group C.

Johnson averaged 224.7 over the course of his 14 games of Singles, which was best in his group and third in the 52-man field.

Despite the positive outcome, Johnson’s second round began in less-than-ideal fashion when the Czech Republic’s Jaroslav Lorenc opened with the front nine against him in Game 1.

Lorenc failed to join teammate Marek Talpa as the only bowler with a 300 thus far at this year’s World Cup, but the 279 he settled for was enough to defeat Johnson, who began his night with 194.

He would take things up several notches during Game 2 though, and he would need every one of them.

After having the front nine thrown at him in the opener, Johnson rattled off the front eight during his matchup with Australia’s Jason Belmonte. A 10 pin stopped Johnson’s run, but he rebounded with a strike on the first ball in the tenth to close Belmonte out 269-259.

Strikes were a little bit tougher to come by in Game 3 as Johnson’s only double came during frames one and two.

His opponent, Josh Stretton of New Zealand, didn’t do a whole lot of striking either, but he finished the game with a clutch four-bagger to edge Johnson out, 200-195.

The bye was in store for Johnson during Game 4, so he used that game as an opportunity to experiment and get his ball reaction dialed in for the final three games of his set.

The idea definitely worked as Johnson fired a very solid 238 during Game 5. Unfortunately for him, his opponent, Merwin Tan of the Philippines, threw five out of the last six strikes to slip past him for a 243-238 win.

Game 6 saw another narrow defeat for Johnson as Germany’s Frank Drevenstedt was able to grind out a 196-187 victory over the American, setting up the aforementioned epic position-round battle with Equb

Although it certainly didn’t come easy, Johnson was more than okay with the final outcome of Tuesday’s block.

“It felt really good to win that last match,” Johnson said. “When you’re part of Team USA and bowl competitions across the world, you know that guys are going to step up and bowl their best games against you, but I didn’t focus on that; I just stayed with my process and tempo, and that allowed me to keep executing one shot at a time, which helped me get through.”    

Johnson wasn’t the only Team USA bowler to get through on Tuesday; one block earlier, Jakob Butturff grabbed his own spot in the next round.

However, due to having gone 3-4 during his opening block, Butturff began Tuesday’s round on the outside looking in.

That meant Butturff would need a big block and several match victories to erase the bad taste of his frustrating first round and work himself back into position to make the cut.

Prior to his set, Butturff posed for a lighthearted picture holding a duffle bag. The joke was that he was searching for good ball reaction because that’s what he would need in order to stand a chance.

Thankfully, Butturff found some better ball reaction and some early good fortune as his opening-game opponent, Lukas Jelenik of the Czech Republic, struggled throughout their match, carding only two strikes, which weren’t enough to make up for multiple opens.

Butturff, on the other hand, got off to a solid start, staying clean until a pair of splits slowed him down as the match headed into the final frames. The powerful lefty came through when it mattered though, delivering a couple late strikes to win the opener 192-154.

He struck early and often during Game 2, starting with the front eight before a 3-7-9 ended his run. It was of little consequence, however, as he got back on track quickly to close out Sweden’s Pontus Andersson 254-214.

The next match was considerably closer, but Butturff threw a clutch double, striking in the ninth and first ball in the tenth to slip past Canada’s Mitch Hupe for a two-pin victory (214-212).

It was Butturff who came in with 212 during Game 4, but it was during his bye, so it was more than enough to put another mark in the win column and move himself to 4-0 on the day.

The perfect record wouldn’t survive the next match, however, as Patrick Weichert of Germany threw a string of late strikes that coincided with back-to-back splits for Butturff, allowing the German to take the match by a final score of 224-208.

Responding like the champion he has proven himself to be time and time again, Butturff refused to allow the setback to bring him down; instead, he threw a barrage of strikes at Jordan Dinham of the Philippines, resulting in a 257-205 Game 6 victory.

That win was important not only because it improved Butturff’s daily mark to 5-1, but it also moved him into fifth place in Group D heading into the Game 7 position round and guaranteed him a place in the Round of 32.

The position-round match went to Eric Tseng of Hong Kong, who narrowly topped Butturff 236-234; nevertheless, Butturff was happy with his second-round performance and the matches that lie ahead.

“My teammates definitely helped me keep my mindset right and realize that process is the key,” Butturff said. “We had a different gameplan that really paid off today, and now it’s more extended play for me in the next round.”

Danielle McEwan is hoping to make the next round as well, but she has still one more five-game block to bowl Wednesday before her fate is determined.

Unfortunately, things just haven’t gone McEwan’s way thus far.

Despite establishing one of the highest averages of the day in Group C (206.8), McEwan found herself with a 1-4 record after Sunday’s opening round.

There were two main factors that led to that record, lackluster pin carry for McEwan, and the fact that every opponent she faced seemed to have saved their biggest games for when they were bowling her.

All of that led to a lot of frustration, so McEwan was anxious to get back on the lanes Tuesday in the hopes of getting things moving back in the right direction.

Sadly, Round 2 just brought more of the same.

McEwan’s unlucky trend of having big games shot against her continued from the very beginning as Singapore’s Cherie Tan shot 236 at her during Game 1. Tan’s score was the second-highest put up that game – Germany’s Janin Ribguth came out with 268.

McEwan, meanwhile, was forced to settle for 194 during the opener, dropping her to 0-1 for the day.

It didn’t take long for the talented right-hander to get back to even though as a ball change allowed her to find better reaction and carry during the second half of Game 2, which allowed her to overcome two early opens and take down New Zealand’s Melonie Lister 206-170.

Unfortunately, that ball reaction and carry didn’t follow McEwan to the next pair of lanes where she was only able to strike twice en route to a clean 190.

Sweden’s Anna Andersson didn’t have the same problem, striking in four out of the first five frames to grab an early lead and coast to a 222-190 victory over McEwan.

Game 4 brought new hope, but it would be short-lived.

McEwan controlled the pocket and stayed clean yet again, but she was unable to collect a double, which caused her to come in with 197.

Ribguth, on the other hand, started with a six-bagger and never looked back, finishing with 235 to send McEwan to 1-3 on the day with one match remaining.

Showing the no-quit attitude that has made her a star on the Professional Women’s Bowling Association Tour, McEwan refused to relent, grinding through a slow start to throw a four-bagger in frames five through seven and defeat Australia’s Grace Fahy 235-170.

The win put McEwan at 2-3 for the day and 3-7 overall with Wednesday’s final five-game block remaining.

McEwan will need a big day in order to get back into position to make the cut, but she has shown time and time again that she is more than talented enough to pull of the feat.

She’s hoping that all of the bad fortune that’s rained down upon her up to this point turns around all at once during a big final set on Wednesday.

“Even though we came in with a different gameplan, I saw a lot of the same things today that I saw during my first block,” McEwan said. “I know that we have the smartest people in the world here watching and helping, so I know that once I see it, it will all click and be good.

“It’s just so frustrating waiting patiently to get to that point. Hopefully, tomorrow is the day.”

Stefanie Johnson is hopeful for Wednesday’s final round as well, but it’s just because of how amazing she was during her second block on Tuesday.

Still riding the good vibes that came with winning her final three matches during Round 1, Johnson ran the table and won all five of her matches in Round 2.

She began her day with a hard-fought 193-186 victory over Malaysia’s Natasha Roslan.

Roslan led most of the way, but two late opens doomed the Malaysian, allowing Johnson to mark in the tenth frame to secure the win.

Johnson turned the tables during Game 2, striking on five of her first six shots to quickly race ahead of New Zealand’s Sarah Young. A 4-7-10 split slowed Johnson down momentarily, but she finished strong to stay on top, 233-204.

Game 3 was a bit tighter as Johnson needed a clutch 2-4-5-7-8 conversion in the ninth and a late messenger strike on the first ball of the tenth to get by Germany’s Saskia Malz by a final score of 203-198.

Johnson’s Game 4 battle with Sweden’s Josefin Hermansson was close throughout as well, but after Hermansson couldn’t convert a 4-6-7 split in the seventh frame, Johnson pounced, delivering a clutch double that led to an eventual 212-190 victory that moved her to 4-0 with just one game left in the block.

The question of whether or not Johnson would finish the day undefeated was answered quickly as Singapore’s Colleen Pee struggled from the start of Game 5, opening four of the first eight frames to allow Johnson to put it on cruise control and breeze to a 226-160 win.

Going 5-0 on Tuesday improved Johnson’s overall record to 8-2 and moved her into first place in the Group D standings with Wednesday’s final five-game block to go before the Women’s Singles field is cut to the top 16.

Johnson has been in complete control thus far, averaging 212.8 with a high game of 244 and a low of 185 up to this point in the tournament. If she can maintain that level of consistency tomorrow, she is almost certain to punch her ticket to the next round.

However, Johnson isn’t looking ahead; she’s just focused on staying relaxed and in the moment.

“I came in with a little different mindset today, just trying to be more aware of my surroundings and take my time,” Johnson said. “I think I was rushing a little bit on Sunday because of the pace of play here.

“Today, I saw the picture really clearly, and when Bryan (Team USA Head Coach Bryan O’Keefe) said that the gameplan was to keep the ball in front of me, which is what I like to do, I just felt this fire inside because I knew I could do that and be successful.”

But Johnson isn’t the only American to have found success at this year’s World Cup; on the whole, Team USA has been strong as a team, and that is just what O’Keefe likes to see.

“Getting all four guys through is definitely a bonus, and we have a few girls in really good shape as well,” O’Keefe said. “We just need to get Danielle (McEwan) dialed in for some better carry and hope that she doesn’t keep getting opponents throwing six-baggers at her all over the place like she has the first two days.

“Her situation definitely isn’t from a lack of execution on her part; it’s just that her carry hasn’t been great, and her opponents’ carry has been really great. Hopefully that turns around for her tomorrow, and then we’ll move on and get ready for the Team event and the bracket portion of Singles.”