Zavala, Rahman share lead heading into match play at 2025 PWBA Cleveland Open
May 29, 2025
Qualifying Results of PWBA Cleveland Open
PARMA HEIGHTS, Ohio – After two rounds of qualifying at the 2025 Professional Women’s Bowling Association Cleveland Open on Wednesday, Stephanie Zavala of Long Beach, California, and Malaysia’s Siti Rahman share the top spot heading into match play tomorrow at Yorktown Lanes in Parma Heights, Ohio.
Zavala and Rahman ended the day of qualifying with 12-game totals of 2,720, good for over a 226 average.
Joining the leaders into match play are the following: Kelly Kulick of Union, New Jersey (2,699); Jillian Martin of Stow, Ohio (2,666); Colombia’s Rocio Restrepo (2,653); Olivia Komorowski of Oshkosh, Wisconsin (2,648); Diandra Asbaty of Chicago (2,640); Julia Bond of Aurora, Illinois (2,637); Crystal Elliott of Palm Bay, Florida (2,627); Alexis Runk of Milton, Pennsylvania (2,608); Puerto Rico’s Fania Cobo (2,590); Malaysia’s Esther Cheah (2,587); Finland’s Eliisa Hiltunen (2,586); Ukraine’s Dasha Kovalova (2,585); Malaysia’s Nora Norkamal (2,578); and Ashly Galante of Palm Harbor, Florida (2,570).
Asbaty and Norkamal both shot 300s during Game 5, with many others making runs of perfection during the high-scoring day.
For Zavala, it was all about the process on Wednesday as she took what she learned from the morning block to improve her positioning during the evening.
“The first block is always about getting information,” said Zavala. “I knew the lanes were to transition a little bit quicker (the second) time around so I just played to my strengths and I was able to keep chasing it left.”
Heading into match play, Zavala’s game plan is simple: focus on what’s in front of her.
“I’m not sure the lanes are going to transition as quickly (like qualifying), but with it being match play, the only thing I’m concerned about is the person I’m going against.”
Rahman, who won the 2017 PWBA Wichita Open for her lone title, is making a return to the PWBA Tour this season, where competing internationally has helped her stay competitive stateside.
“There were a few tournaments in Asia before we (Team Malaysia) came here,” said Rahman. “The tournaments there were a good opening for me because after a while, if you don’t bowl in competitions, you’ll get a little bit off.”
There have been no signs of rust for Rahman, who also competed at the United States Bowling Congress Queens in Las Vegas last week and made it to the match-play bracket before ending up in a tie for 33rd place. Similar to Zavala, Rahman is focused on what’s in front of her for match play.
“I want to just go game by game and to try to increase my focus on every shot because every game is important (for bonus pins). It’s going to be a long day with 16 games, I haven’t bowled 16 games in a day in a long time,” Rahman said with a laugh.
It will be a long day for all 16 competitors, who start the first round of round-robin match play at 9 a.m. Eastern with eight games before returning at 3 p.m. Eastern for the final eight-game block. The top five after match play will head to the stepladder finals at 7 p.m. Eastern to determine the first champion of the PWBA Summer Series. Match play and finals will be aired live on BowlTV.
The second event of the Summer Series, the PWBA BowlTV Open, begins Friday with a slightly modified format as the Cleveland Open, with qualifying at 10 a.m. Eastern before the top 12 advance to match play on Saturday at 9 a.m. Eastern and the stepladder finals that night at 6:30 p.m. Eastern.
The Summer Series will end with the PWBA Rock ‘n’ Roll Open, where after two rounds of qualifying on Monday at 10 a.m. Eastern and 5 p.m. Eastern, the top 16 advance to the single-elimination match-play bracket on Tuesday beginning at 9 a.m. Eastern. Matches will be best-of-five until the final four remain, where the semifinals and finals will be one-game matches.
For more information on the PWBA Summer Series, visit https://pwba.com/national-tour/pwba-summer-series-cleveland.
PARMA HEIGHTS, Ohio – After two rounds of qualifying at the 2025 Professional Women’s Bowling Association Cleveland Open on Wednesday, Stephanie Zavala of Long Beach, California, and Malaysia’s Siti Rahman share the top spot heading into match play tomorrow at Yorktown Lanes in Parma Heights, Ohio.
Zavala and Rahman ended the day of qualifying with 12-game totals of 2,720, good for over a 226 average.
Joining the leaders into match play are the following: Kelly Kulick of Union, New Jersey (2,699); Jillian Martin of Stow, Ohio (2,666); Colombia’s Rocio Restrepo (2,653); Olivia Komorowski of Oshkosh, Wisconsin (2,648); Diandra Asbaty of Chicago (2,640); Julia Bond of Aurora, Illinois (2,637); Crystal Elliott of Palm Bay, Florida (2,627); Alexis Runk of Milton, Pennsylvania (2,608); Puerto Rico’s Fania Cobo (2,590); Malaysia’s Esther Cheah (2,587); Finland’s Eliisa Hiltunen (2,586); Ukraine’s Dasha Kovalova (2,585); Malaysia’s Nora Norkamal (2,578); and Ashly Galante of Palm Harbor, Florida (2,570).
Asbaty and Norkamal both shot 300s during Game 5, with many others making runs of perfection during the high-scoring day.
For Zavala, it was all about the process on Wednesday as she took what she learned from the morning block to improve her positioning during the evening.
“The first block is always about getting information,” said Zavala. “I knew the lanes were to transition a little bit quicker (the second) time around so I just played to my strengths and I was able to keep chasing it left.”
Heading into match play, Zavala’s game plan is simple: focus on what’s in front of her.
“I’m not sure the lanes are going to transition as quickly (like qualifying), but with it being match play, the only thing I’m concerned about is the person I’m going against.”
Rahman, who won the 2017 PWBA Wichita Open for her lone title, is making a return to the PWBA Tour this season, where competing internationally has helped her stay competitive stateside.
“There were a few tournaments in Asia before we (Team Malaysia) came here,” said Rahman. “The tournaments there were a good opening for me because after a while, if you don’t bowl in competitions, you’ll get a little bit off.”
There have been no signs of rust for Rahman, who also competed at the United States Bowling Congress Queens in Las Vegas last week and made it to the match-play bracket before ending up in a tie for 33rd place. Similar to Zavala, Rahman is focused on what’s in front of her for match play.
“I want to just go game by game and to try to increase my focus on every shot because every game is important (for bonus pins). It’s going to be a long day with 16 games, I haven’t bowled 16 games in a day in a long time,” Rahman said with a laugh.
It will be a long day for all 16 competitors, who start the first round of round-robin match play at 9 a.m. Eastern with eight games before returning at 3 p.m. Eastern for the final eight-game block. The top five after match play will head to the stepladder finals at 7 p.m. Eastern to determine the first champion of the PWBA Summer Series. Match play and finals will be aired live on BowlTV.
The second event of the Summer Series, the PWBA BowlTV Open, begins Friday with a slightly modified format as the Cleveland Open, with qualifying at 10 a.m. Eastern before the top 12 advance to match play on Saturday at 9 a.m. Eastern and the stepladder finals that night at 6:30 p.m. Eastern.
The Summer Series will end with the PWBA Rock ‘n’ Roll Open, where after two rounds of qualifying on Monday at 10 a.m. Eastern and 5 p.m. Eastern, the top 16 advance to the single-elimination match-play bracket on Tuesday beginning at 9 a.m. Eastern. Matches will be best-of-five until the final four remain, where the semifinals and finals will be one-game matches.
For more information on the PWBA Summer Series, visit https://pwba.com/national-tour/pwba-summer-series-cleveland.