Team USA enjoys strong start on Day 1 of Singles at 2022 IBF World Cup in Australia
November 12, 2022
RESULTS AND INFORMATION
Queensland, Australia – Bryanna Coté of Tucson, Arizona, has competed for Team USA before, but the 2022 International Bowling Federation World Cup is her first world-level tournament.
As such, no one would have blamed Coté for being a bit nervous and possibly starting slowly during Saturday’s first round of Singles.
Coté had other ideas, however, going a perfect 5-0 to help Team USA get off to a very strong start after the first day of competition at Suncity Tenpin Bowl in Queensland, Australia.
It didn’t take long for Coté to get going as she began her day with a 254-206 victory over Malaysia’s Esther Chea.
Coté’s next three games weren’t quite as explosive, but they were equally effective, resulting in wins over Australia’s Bec Whiting (216-166), Rachelle Leon of the Philippines (207-190) and New Zealand’s Dayna Haylock (215-193).
Coté put her striking shoes back on during Game 5, shooting 245 to top Singapore’s Hui Fen New, who was only able to manage 199.
The victory allowed Coté to walk away from Saturday’s opening round with a perfect record, first place in Group B and without experiencing a single open frame.
“To go undefeated and stay clean for the whole block was pretty cool,” Coté said. “A day like this definitely boosts my confidence, but I also know that every day is different. I was just fortunate to have a good start and get the team as many points as I possibly could.”
Jordan Richard of Maumee, Ohio, earned her fair share of points for Team USA’s women as well on Saturday; she just did so in a slightly different fashion.
Whereas Coté came out hot from the very first frame, Richard had to overcome some early adversity. That’s because the powerful right-hander split in each of the first four frames and five of the first seven during Game 1, resulting in four opens and a sizable deficit to Germany’s Sabrina Laub.
Richard righted the ship from there, however, settling into the pocket and filling frames. Her bid to pull off a come-from-behind victory over Laub fell short (177-171), but Richard carried the late momentum into Game 2 and beyond.
She notched her first points when she defeated Australia’s Chloe Clague 245-193, and then she went on to top Lara Posadas of the Philippines (227-203) and Malaysia’s Li Jane Sin (204-180) during Games 3 and 4, respectively.
Richard’s run stopped there, however, as Singapore’s Shayna Ng won Game 5 (213-204), causing Richard to finish the day with a 3-2 mark and tie for fifth place in Group A.
“The first game was pretty rough, but once I switched balls, I got a lot more comfortable and bowled a lot better,” Richard said. “I have nothing to hang my head about. It was the first day, and there is a lot of bowling left.”
The combined efforts of Richard and Coté helped the Team USA women into second place in women’s team qualifying with the second half of Round 1 still to come on Sunday.
Germany currently leads women’s team qualifying. Sweden is one spot behind Team USA in third place.
Once the women’s competition was finished for the day, it was time for the men to show what they could do, and Kyle Troup of Taylorsville, North Carolina, was up first for Team USA.
Like Richard, Troup got off to a slow start, losing his first two matches of the day.
He fell to Kenneth Chua of the Philippines (227-223) in Game 1 and to Malaysia’s Syafiq Ridhwan (216-206) during Game 2.
Troup heated up considerably from there, however, starting Game 3 with the front nine strikes before a 4 pin ended his bid for perfection; nevertheless, Troup walked away with a 278-213 victory over Hong Kong’s Michael Mak to collect his first points of the day.
The right-handed two-hander came out swinging again during Game 4, this time notching a seven-bagger before a 4 pin stopped his string yet again. Still, he cruised to a 268-190 win over Sultan Alqubaisi of the United Arab Emirates to even the day’s record up at 2-2.
Puerto Rico’s Israel Hernandez, who sits in first place in Group A after Saturday’s opening round, halted Troup’s winning streak by topping the American 180-175 in Game 5.
Undaunted, Troup rebounded nicely, finishing with wins over Australia’s Adam Hayes (258-187) and Canada’s Darren Alexander (219-178).
Troup finished Saturday’s opening day with a 4-3 mark and a tie for fourth place in Group A; however, Troup led not just Group A but the entire men’s field in total pinfall, tallying 1,627 during the five-game block, which was good for a 232.4 average.
“I felt like I performed pretty well,” Troup said. “I’ve got to make some adjustments on the fresh, but I felt like I saw the shape and the way to play the pattern pretty well for the rest of the block. Overall, I’ve got a lot of confidence and feel like the way that I play the lanes and how deep I can get may give me an advantage moving forward.”
With Troup’s set in the books, there was just one more Team USA bowler set to hit the lanes on Saturday, and that was Kris Prather of Romeoville, Illinois.
Like Troup, Prather didn’t have the start he was looking for on the fresh, and that caused him to fall to Australia’s Sam Cooley by a score of 237-176 during the opening game.
Unlike Troup, however, Prather was able to recover and get a win during Game 2 as he downed Sweden’s James Blomgren 246-233 to even his record up at 1-1.
Not content to remain at .500, Prather then ran off another three victories – 209-195 over Emerson Gotencio of the Philippines, 234-224 over Hong Kong’s Ernest Kwok and 245-225 over Singapore’s Eugene Yeo – to run his record up to 4-1.
Puerto Rico’s Cristian Azcona ended Prather’s run during Game 5, topping the American by a final score of 258-233.
Prather was able to grind out a victory to end the night, however, defeating Malaysia’s Timmy Tan 169-155 to end Day 1 with Team USA’s second-best individual mark at 5-2.
“The lanes played pretty tough for me pair to pair, but I controlled the pocket, was good with my spares and kept the head pin in play, which is pretty good for me on a long pattern,” Prather said. “Going forward, I just need to be less aggressive with ball speed and hand so that I can be conscious of what the lane is asking.”
Prather’s strong performance put him into a tie for second place in Group B, and it moved Team USA’s men into third place in team qualifying with two more sets remaining in Round 1.
Puerto Rico was tops on Day 1, and Sweden was close behind in second place.
Even though his team doesn’t find itself atop the standings at the moment, Team USA Head Coach Bryan O’Keefe was happy with the performance his team put forth during the first half of Round 1.
“Overall, I think our ability to track the pairs has been pretty good because a lot of the lanes are similar to what we thought they were going to be after yesterday’s practice session,” O’Keefe said. “When you’re bowling in smaller bowling centers, it’s important to have a good read on what’s happening lane to lane, so it’s good that we seem to have that down.
“Everybody that bowled today had a winning record, and that’s always a big thing. Match play can be a fickle beast, but anytime we end a day winning more games than we lose, that’s a good day for us.”
The second half of Round 1 will be completed Sunday when all teams send their last two men and last two women to the lanes.
Queensland, Australia – Bryanna Coté of Tucson, Arizona, has competed for Team USA before, but the 2022 International Bowling Federation World Cup is her first world-level tournament.
As such, no one would have blamed Coté for being a bit nervous and possibly starting slowly during Saturday’s first round of Singles.
Coté had other ideas, however, going a perfect 5-0 to help Team USA get off to a very strong start after the first day of competition at Suncity Tenpin Bowl in Queensland, Australia.
It didn’t take long for Coté to get going as she began her day with a 254-206 victory over Malaysia’s Esther Chea.
Coté’s next three games weren’t quite as explosive, but they were equally effective, resulting in wins over Australia’s Bec Whiting (216-166), Rachelle Leon of the Philippines (207-190) and New Zealand’s Dayna Haylock (215-193).
Coté put her striking shoes back on during Game 5, shooting 245 to top Singapore’s Hui Fen New, who was only able to manage 199.
The victory allowed Coté to walk away from Saturday’s opening round with a perfect record, first place in Group B and without experiencing a single open frame.
“To go undefeated and stay clean for the whole block was pretty cool,” Coté said. “A day like this definitely boosts my confidence, but I also know that every day is different. I was just fortunate to have a good start and get the team as many points as I possibly could.”
Jordan Richard of Maumee, Ohio, earned her fair share of points for Team USA’s women as well on Saturday; she just did so in a slightly different fashion.
Whereas Coté came out hot from the very first frame, Richard had to overcome some early adversity. That’s because the powerful right-hander split in each of the first four frames and five of the first seven during Game 1, resulting in four opens and a sizable deficit to Germany’s Sabrina Laub.
Richard righted the ship from there, however, settling into the pocket and filling frames. Her bid to pull off a come-from-behind victory over Laub fell short (177-171), but Richard carried the late momentum into Game 2 and beyond.
She notched her first points when she defeated Australia’s Chloe Clague 245-193, and then she went on to top Lara Posadas of the Philippines (227-203) and Malaysia’s Li Jane Sin (204-180) during Games 3 and 4, respectively.
Richard’s run stopped there, however, as Singapore’s Shayna Ng won Game 5 (213-204), causing Richard to finish the day with a 3-2 mark and tie for fifth place in Group A.
“The first game was pretty rough, but once I switched balls, I got a lot more comfortable and bowled a lot better,” Richard said. “I have nothing to hang my head about. It was the first day, and there is a lot of bowling left.”
The combined efforts of Richard and Coté helped the Team USA women into second place in women’s team qualifying with the second half of Round 1 still to come on Sunday.
Germany currently leads women’s team qualifying. Sweden is one spot behind Team USA in third place.
Once the women’s competition was finished for the day, it was time for the men to show what they could do, and Kyle Troup of Taylorsville, North Carolina, was up first for Team USA.
Like Richard, Troup got off to a slow start, losing his first two matches of the day.
He fell to Kenneth Chua of the Philippines (227-223) in Game 1 and to Malaysia’s Syafiq Ridhwan (216-206) during Game 2.
Troup heated up considerably from there, however, starting Game 3 with the front nine strikes before a 4 pin ended his bid for perfection; nevertheless, Troup walked away with a 278-213 victory over Hong Kong’s Michael Mak to collect his first points of the day.
The right-handed two-hander came out swinging again during Game 4, this time notching a seven-bagger before a 4 pin stopped his string yet again. Still, he cruised to a 268-190 win over Sultan Alqubaisi of the United Arab Emirates to even the day’s record up at 2-2.
Puerto Rico’s Israel Hernandez, who sits in first place in Group A after Saturday’s opening round, halted Troup’s winning streak by topping the American 180-175 in Game 5.
Undaunted, Troup rebounded nicely, finishing with wins over Australia’s Adam Hayes (258-187) and Canada’s Darren Alexander (219-178).
Troup finished Saturday’s opening day with a 4-3 mark and a tie for fourth place in Group A; however, Troup led not just Group A but the entire men’s field in total pinfall, tallying 1,627 during the five-game block, which was good for a 232.4 average.
“I felt like I performed pretty well,” Troup said. “I’ve got to make some adjustments on the fresh, but I felt like I saw the shape and the way to play the pattern pretty well for the rest of the block. Overall, I’ve got a lot of confidence and feel like the way that I play the lanes and how deep I can get may give me an advantage moving forward.”
With Troup’s set in the books, there was just one more Team USA bowler set to hit the lanes on Saturday, and that was Kris Prather of Romeoville, Illinois.
Like Troup, Prather didn’t have the start he was looking for on the fresh, and that caused him to fall to Australia’s Sam Cooley by a score of 237-176 during the opening game.
Unlike Troup, however, Prather was able to recover and get a win during Game 2 as he downed Sweden’s James Blomgren 246-233 to even his record up at 1-1.
Not content to remain at .500, Prather then ran off another three victories – 209-195 over Emerson Gotencio of the Philippines, 234-224 over Hong Kong’s Ernest Kwok and 245-225 over Singapore’s Eugene Yeo – to run his record up to 4-1.
Puerto Rico’s Cristian Azcona ended Prather’s run during Game 5, topping the American by a final score of 258-233.
Prather was able to grind out a victory to end the night, however, defeating Malaysia’s Timmy Tan 169-155 to end Day 1 with Team USA’s second-best individual mark at 5-2.
“The lanes played pretty tough for me pair to pair, but I controlled the pocket, was good with my spares and kept the head pin in play, which is pretty good for me on a long pattern,” Prather said. “Going forward, I just need to be less aggressive with ball speed and hand so that I can be conscious of what the lane is asking.”
Prather’s strong performance put him into a tie for second place in Group B, and it moved Team USA’s men into third place in team qualifying with two more sets remaining in Round 1.
Puerto Rico was tops on Day 1, and Sweden was close behind in second place.
Even though his team doesn’t find itself atop the standings at the moment, Team USA Head Coach Bryan O’Keefe was happy with the performance his team put forth during the first half of Round 1.
“Overall, I think our ability to track the pairs has been pretty good because a lot of the lanes are similar to what we thought they were going to be after yesterday’s practice session,” O’Keefe said. “When you’re bowling in smaller bowling centers, it’s important to have a good read on what’s happening lane to lane, so it’s good that we seem to have that down.
“Everybody that bowled today had a winning record, and that’s always a big thing. Match play can be a fickle beast, but anytime we end a day winning more games than we lose, that’s a good day for us.”
The second half of Round 1 will be completed Sunday when all teams send their last two men and last two women to the lanes.