PWBA Bowling Tour: 2021 season

The 2021 Professional Women's Bowling Association (PWBA) Tour season had a total of 20 title events scheduled, the most since the 2001 PWBA season.[1] Overall, the season had 16 standard singles title events, three major tournaments (USBC Queens, U.S. Women's Open and PWBA Tour Championship), and the Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles tournament (a crossover event with the PBA Tour). All singles events were broadcast on BowlTV, the USBC’s YouTube channel, except for the season-ending PWBA Tour Championship, which was broadcast on CBS Sports Network.

PWBA Bowling Tour: 2021 season
LeagueProfessional Women's Bowlers Association
SportTen-pin bowling
DurationJanuary 19 – November 1, 2021

The season kicked off January 19, 2021 in Arlington, Texas with the first of three Classic Series events. Each Classic Series event includes three title tournaments contested in the same location over an eight-day span. The first two tournaments in a Classic Series stop have fully open fields, while the third tournament starts with only the top 24 players in pinfall from the qualifying rounds of the first two tournaments.[2]

On April 29, the PBA announced it was adding an all-women's competition to its King of the Lanes event, which was broadcast live on FS1 on June 15 and 16. (In the 2020 PBA King of the Lanes, two females – Clara Guerrero and Gazmine Mason – participated against an otherwise all-male field.) The King of the Lanes: Empress Edition is a "last person standing" format, where two challengers face each other for a chance to dethrone the reigning Empress over the course of five rounds. Kelly Kulick was chosen as the initial Empress. Challengers included: Clara Guerrero, Daria Pajak, Danielle McEwan, Maria José Rodriguez, Missy Parkin, Diana Zavjalova, Liz Johnson, Ashly Galante, Stefanie Johnson and Verity Crawley.[3]

Season highlights and awards
  • On August 10, 2021, Jillian Martin made PWBA Tour history as the youngest player (17) ever to win a PWBA title. Martin, a member of Junior Team USA and the reigning PBA Junior Girls champion, defeated England's Verity Crawley in the final match to win the PWBA BowlTV Classic. The previous record holder for youngest PWBA Tour champion was Wendy Macpherson, who won the 1986 U.S. Women's Open at age 18.[4]
  • This season's U.S. Women's Open, held August 24–31, offered a PWBA record $100,000 top prize, won by Josie Barnes.[5]
  • With her win at the PWBA Reno Classic on October 26, Stephanie Zavala became the first PWBA Tour rookie to win three titles since Leanne (Barrette) Hulsenberg in 1987.[6] Zavala also locked up the 2021 PWBA Rookie of the Year award following this win.

Player awards[7]
  • PWBA Player of the Year: Bryanna Coté
  • PWBA Rookie of the Year: Stephanie Zavala

2021 points leaders

1. Bryanna Coté (129,445)
2. Shannon O'Keefe (129,270)
3. Verity Crawley (128,900)

2021 average leaders

1. Shannon O'Keefe (214.73)
2. Shannon Pluhowsky (214.51)
3. Bryanna Coté (213.75)

2021 championship round appearances

T1. Bryanna Coté (6)
T1. Verity Crawley (6)
T1. Dasha Kovalova (6)
T1. Stephanie Zavala (6)

2021 cashes

1. Liz Johnson (18)
T2. Missy Parkin (17)
T2. Maria José Rodriguez (17)

Tournament summary

Below is a list of events that are scheduled for the 2021 PWBA Tour season.[1] Major tournaments are in bold.

EventAirdateCityPreliminary roundsFinal roundWinnerNotes
PWBA Kickoff Classic Series: Bowlers Journal Classic Jan 21 BowlTV Arlington, TX Jan 19–20 Live Shannon O'Keefe, USA (14)[8] Open event. $10,000 top prize.
PWBA Kickoff Classic Series: ITRC Classic Jan 23 BowlTV Arlington, TX Jan 22 Live Bryanna Coté, USA (2)[9] Open event. $10,000 top prize.
PWBA Kickoff Classic Series: PWBA Hall of Fame Classic Jan 26 BowlTV Arlington, TX Jan 25 Live Julia Bond, USA (1)[10] Top 24 from Bowlers Journal Classic and ITRC Classic qualifying. $10,000 top prize.
PWBA Twin Cities Open Apr 24 BowlTV Eagan, MN Apr 22–23 Live Dasha Kovalova, Ukraine (3)[11] Open event. $10,000 top prize.
PWBA Lincoln Open May 1 BowlTV Lincoln, NE Apr 29–30 Live Liz Johnson, USA (25)[12] Open event. $10,000 top prize.+
PWBA Greater Cleveland Open May 8 BowlTV Parma Heights, OH May 6–7 Live Stephanie Zavala, USA (1)[13] Open event. $10,000 top prize.
USBC Queens May 18 BowlTV Reno, NV May 12–17 Live Julia Bond, USA (2)[14] Open event. PWBA major. $20,000 top prize.
PWBA BVL Open May 29 BowlTV Farmingdale, NY May 27–28 Live Stephanie Zavala, USA (2)[15] Open event. $10,000 top prize.
PWBA Albany Open Jun 5 BowlTV Albany, NY Jun 3–4 Live Kelly Kulick, USA (7)[16] Open event. $10,000 top prize.
PWBA Greater Nashville Open Jun 12 BowlTV Smyrna, TN Jun 10–11 Live Verity Crawley, England (1)[17] Open event. $10,000 top prize.
PBA King of the Lanes: Empress Edition Jun 15–16 FS1 Portland, ME Live Live Final Empress: Stefanie Johnson, USA
Top Casher: Daria Pajak, Poland ($25,000)[18]		 Non-title invitational event. Each round pays $10,000 to the Empress match winner, $5,000 for second, $3,000 for third.
PWBA Louisville Open Jun 19 BowlTV Louisville, KY Jun 17–18 Live Dasha Kovalova, Ukraine (4)[19] Open event. $10,000 top prize.
PBA-PWBA Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles Aug 1 FloBowling Houston, TX Jul 29–31 Live Danielle McEwan, USA (6) & E. J. Tackett, USA[20] Open PBA and PWBA title event. $20,000 top prize.
PWBA Summer Classic Series: GoBowling! Classic Aug 5 BowlTV Arlington, TX Aug 3–4 Live Birgit Noreiks, Germany (2)[21] Open event. $10,000 top prize.
PWBA Summer Classic Series: International Bowling Campus Classic Aug 7 BowlTV Arlington, TX Aug 6–7 Live Jen Higgins, USA (1)[22] Open event. $10,000 top prize.
PWBA Summer Classic Series: BowlTV Classic Aug 10 BowlTV Arlington, TX Aug 9–10 Live Jillian Martin, USA (1)[4] Top 24 from GoBowling! Classic and Int’l Bowling Campus Classic qualifying. $10,000 top prize.
PWBA Spokane Open Aug 21 BowlTV Spokane, WA Aug 19–20 Live Danielle McEwan, USA (7)[23] Open event. $10,000 top prize.
U.S. Women's Open Aug 31 CBS Sports Rohnert Park, CA Aug 24–30 Live Josie Barnes, USA (4)[5] Open event, PWBA major. $100,000 top prize.
PWBA Fall Classic Series: PWBA Reno Classic Oct 26 BowlTV Reno, NV Oct 25–26 Live Stephanie Zavala, USA (3)[6] Open event. $10,000 top prize.
PWBA Fall Classic Series: PWBA Pepsi Classic Oct 28 BowlTV Reno, NV Oct 27–28 Live Julia Bond, USA (3)[24] Open event. $10,000 top prize.
PWBA Fall Classic Series: PWBA Tour Championship Oct 31 CBS Sports Reno, NV Oct 29–30 Live Shannon Pluhowsky, USA (2)[25] Top 24 from Reno Classic and Pepsi Classic qualifying. $50,000 top prize.

+ Liz Johnson also earned a $10,000 bonus for rolling a 300 game in the semifinal match.

References
  1. Smith, Aaron (October 27, 2020). "PWBA Tour Schedule Expands to 20 Events and Introduces Classic Series, All Live on BowlTV". Bowl.com. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
  2. "PWBA Tour Schedule Expands to 20 Events and Introduces Classic Series, All Live on BowlTV". PWBA.com. October 27, 2020. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
  3. "THE PBA RETURNS TO BAYSIDE BOWL WITH TWO SPECIAL EVENT SERIES STARTING JUNE 15". PBA.com. April 29, 2021. Retrieved April 30, 2021.
  4. "JILLIAN MARTIN MAKES HISTORY WITH WIN AT 2021 PWBA BOWLTV CLASSIC". PWBA.com. August 10, 2021. Retrieved August 11, 2021.
  5. "JOSIE BARNES WINS 2021 U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN AND RECORD $100,000 TOP PRIZE". pwba.com. 31 August 2021. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
  6. Smith, Aaron (26 October 2021). "ZAVALA WINS THIRD TITLE OF 2021 SEASON AT PWBA RENO CLASSIC". pwba.com. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
  7. "2021 PWBA TOUR STATISTICS". pwba.com. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  8. Cannizzaro, Matt (January 23, 2021). "Shannon O'Keefe Wins 14th Career PWBA Tour Title with Bowlers Journal Classic Win". BowlersJournal.com. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
  9. "BRYANNA COTÉ WINS 2021 PWBA ITRC CLASSIC". pwba.com. January 23, 2021. Retrieved January 24, 2021.
  10. "BRYANNA COTÉ WINS 2021 PWBA ITRC CLASSJULIA BOND WINS 2021 PWBA HALL OF FAME CLASSIC". pwba.com. January 26, 2021. Retrieved January 27, 2021.
  11. "KOVALOVA WINS 2021 PWBA TWIN CITIES OPEN". pwba.com. April 24, 2021. Retrieved April 30, 2021.
  12. "LIZ JOHNSON WINS 25TH PWBA TOUR TITLE, ROLLS 300 GAME AT 2021 PWBA LINCOLN OPEN". pwba.com. May 1, 2021. Retrieved May 2, 2021.
  13. "ZAVALA WINS FIRST CAREER TITLE AT 2021 PWBA GREATER CLEVELAND OPEN". pwba.com. May 8, 2021. Retrieved May 10, 2021.
  14. "JULIA BOND WINS FIRST MAJOR AT 2021 USBC QUEENS". pwba.com. May 18, 2021. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
  15. "ZAVALA CLAIMS SECOND TITLE OF 2021 SEASON AT PWBA BVL OPEN". pwba.com. May 29, 2021. Retrieved June 1, 2021.
  16. "KELLY KULICK WINS 2021 PWBA ALBANY OPEN". pwba.com. June 5, 2021. Retrieved June 6, 2021.
  17. "VERITY CRAWLEY WINS FIRST TITLE AT 2021 PWBA GREATER NASHVILLE OPEN". pwba.com. June 12, 2021. Retrieved June 14, 2021.
  18. "STEFANIE JOHNSON REIGNS AS EMPRESS OF THE INAUGURAL PBA KING OF THE LANES: EMPRESS EDITION PRESENTED BY PABST BLUE RIBBON". pba.com. June 16, 2021. Retrieved June 18, 2021.
  19. "KOVALOVA SUCCESSFULLY DEFENDS TITLE AT 2021 PWBA LOUISVILLE OPEN". pwba.com. June 19, 2021. Retrieved June 21, 2021.
  20. Goodger, Jef (1 August 2021). "TACKETT AND MCEWAN LEAD FROM START TO FINISH TO WIN STRIKING AGAINST BREAST CANCER MIXED DOUBLES". pba.com. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  21. "GERMANY'S BIRGIT NOREIKS WINS 2021 PWBA GO BOWLING CLASSIC". pwba.com. August 5, 2021. Retrieved August 7, 2021.
  22. "JEN HIGGINS WINS 2021 PWBA INTERNATIONAL BOWLING CAMPUS CLASSIC". pwba.com. August 7, 2021. Retrieved August 9, 2021.
  23. Smith, Aaron (21 August 2021). "DANIELLE MCEWAN WINS SECOND TITLE OF SEASON AT 2021 PWBA SPOKANE OPEN". pwba.com. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  24. Smith, Aaron (29 October 2021). "BOND CAPTURES THIRD TITLE OF 2021 IN DRAMATIC FINISH AT PWBA PEPSI CLASSIC". pwba.com. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  25. Smith, Aaron (31 October 2021). "PLUHOWSKY WINS 2021 PWBA TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP FOR SECOND MAJOR TITLE". pwba.com. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
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