Learn more about the Ultimate Queens Bracket Challenge!

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By Aaron Smith
PWBA Communications

Let’s get this started!

First and foremost, I love brackets. I love hypothetical matches. And I love bowling, so this combination is just the best.

I’m tackling the 2010-2019 bracket today, and frankly … it’s tough. Here are the matches you can vote on today by visiting the PWBA’s Twitter and Instagram Story accounts:

(1) Liz Johnson (2009, 2015) vs. (8) Maria José Rodriguez (2014)
(4) Diandra Asbaty (2012) vs. (5) Dasha Kovalova (2019)
(3) Diana Zavjalova vs. (6) Shannon O’Keefe (2018)
(2) Bernice Lim (2016) vs. (7) Missy Parkin (2011)

Personally, I covered or was able to watch most of these wins in person, so there are a ton of great memories. I think Maria’s win in 2014 stands out the most to me. Here’s why:

It’s always cool to see a great collegiate player make the leap to the next level, which obviously was the case for Maria after her phenomenal career at Maryland Eastern Shore. She collected a few come-from-behind wins during her run to the top seed at the National Bowling Stadium and preached how patience was key in letting the pattern open up to play to her strengths.

But, leading to the title match, the stepladder was all about Kelly Kulick. Kelly was looking for her third tiara and averaged 257 (not a typo … she shot 255, 268 and 248) on her way to meet Maria.

These were the Kelly Kulick moments we had become accustomed to as fans. She owned every moment of that show, and even the ones the fans watching at home didn’t see. There ended up being a brief delay during the title match because of a storm back in Connecticut (I believe), which cut our live feed to ESPN. As we waited to go back online, Kelly worked the crowd, showing off some of her now legendary dance moves. She was at complete ease and control.

But after starting the title match with strikes on three of her first four shots, Kelly stopped striking. Maria stayed clean and put together three consecutive strikes in the middle of the match to take the lead, but an open in the eighth put Kelly in position to regain it.

After a flat 10 in the eighth, Kelly makes a ball change to step up in the ninth. The guts and confidence to do that in the ninth frame of a title match for a major just speaks to why she’s one of the best bowlers on the planet. But, in this instance, her aggressive move backfired. She left a 7-10 split, giving Maria the chance to mark in the ninth and 10th frames to win. Important note for later in the story: Kelly gets none of them on the spare attempt.

USBC and PBA Hall of Famer Chris Barnes described Maria’s shot in the ninth as simply “perfect” … because it was just that. Her best shot of the match. Strike.

With a mark standing between her and the trophy, Maria’s opening shot of the 10th got right, leaving the 2-4-5-8. Who wants to shoot the bucket to lock up a major? Any takers? Put your hand down, Norm.

She switched to her plastic ball and missed left to leave the 8 pin standing. Her score: 190.

After missing both pins on her 7-10, Kelly had 169. With one pin on the spare attempt, she could have filled 20 to tie and doubled to win. Now she needed the double. And hadn’t struck since the fourth frame.

After three big wins and not a ton of drama, here we are. A rollercoaster of a title match with Kelly Kulick needing a double to win. Like she had done all match, she kept it in play and hit the pocket, but to nearly the same result. A 7-10, with the 7 pin falling late, placed the game and title in Maria’s hand.

Wow.

That crazy game helped Maria into the Ultimate Queens Bracket Challenge, but her 190 game puts her as the eight seed against another GOAT candidate in two-time champion Liz Johnson. Can she knock off another top contender?

I think the most intriguing match of the first round belongs to Zavjalova and O’Keefe, however. Zavjalova has proven how tough she can be in a head-to-head battle, noting previously that she feels the event’s format plays to her strengths. And, she’s a two-time champion, beating a pair of hall of famers (Leanne Hulsenberg and Liz Johnson) to claim her titles.

But O’Keefe arguably is the best player on the planet right now. She’s been the PWBA Player of the Year the last two seasons. Would you bet against her?