PWBA Tour Championship

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The PWBA Tour Championship is one of the four major events on the PWBA (Professional Women's Bowling Association) Tour. The tournament has been the final event of the PWBA Tour season since the Tour's rebirth in 2015. It has been held in Arlington, Texas (2015), Midlothian, Virginia (2016) and Richmond, Virginia (2017 through 2019).[1] Since 2021, the PWBA Tour Championship has been the final event of a three-tournament "classic series" stop and has been held in Reno, Nevada (2021), Dallas, Texas (2022), Waterloo, Iowa (2023) and Allen Park, Michigan (2024).

Background

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The original PWBA Tour (1960–2003) had three major events: The U.S. Women's Open (since inception), USBC Queens (since 1961), and the PWBA Players Championship (began as the PWBA Championships in 1960, and has been held on and off under similar names since). When the Tour was restarted in 2015, the PWBA Tour Championship was added to serve as a season-ending playoffs.

Prior to 2021, the PWBA Tour Championship was an invitational event with a starting field of 16 players. Any full-fledged PWBA member who won one of the prior events in the current season automatically made the field of 16, regardless of her season point total. The remaining spots in the field were filled with the women holding the highest point totals among non-winners. (Because a given player could win more than one tournament during the season, the number of at-large invitations could vary.) Invited players are then re-seeded 1 through 16 based on season point totals.

From 2015 through 2019, the tournament was set up in four bracketed elimination rounds. The #5 through #16 seeds bowled in the first round, consisting of head-to-head, best three-of-five matches. The six winners joined the #3 and #4 seeds (who earned first-round byes) in the second round, which consisted of four head-to-head, best three-of-five matches. The four winners of those matches bowled head-to-head, best three-of-five matches in the third round to determine the two bowlers who join the #1 and #2 seeds in the televised finals. The televised final round featured two head-to-head, single-elimination semifinal matches, with the #1 and #2 seeds each facing one of the survivors from the third round. The two winners of those matches then squared off in a single-game final match to determine the champion.[1] Despite being automatically placed into the televised finals, no #1 or #2 seed had ever won the tournament in this format until 2019.[2]

In 2021, the PWBA incorporated a "classic series" format for three tour stops. In this format, the top 24 qualifiers from two stand-alone tournaments form the starting field for a third tournament in the same location. For the 2021 Fall Classic Series, the PWBA Tour Championship was scheduled as the final of the three tournaments for the October 24–31 series, and featured a five-player stepladder final round.[3] By 2023, the 24-player field had returned to a season-long qualifying, with all tournament winners from the current season (if a PWBA member in good standing) gaining automatic entry, and the remaining field being filled by the top season point earners among non-winners.[4]

Champions

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2025 Event

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The 2025 PWBA Tour Championship was held August 10-12 at Gates ABC Bowl in Gates, New York, with the 24-player starting field consisting of eight tournament winners from the 2024 season plus the top 16 points earners among non-winners. Total prize fund was $188,100, with a $50,000 top prize.[5] The tournament used a five-player stepladder finals format. Top-seeded Shannon Pluhowsky, defeated second seed Verity Crawley in the final match. This was Pluhowsky's second title in this event, sixth PWBA title overall, and third career major title.[6]

Match #1Match #2Match #3Championship Match
1Shannon Pluhowsky235
2Verity Crawley2332Verity Crawley167
3Lauren Russo1705Stephanie Zavala215
4Jordan Snodgrass1505Stephanie Zavala233
5Stephanie Zavala185
  • Prize Pool:
1. Shannon Pluhowsky (Dayton, Ohio) – $50,000
2. Verity Crawley (England) – $25,000
3. Stephanie Zavala (Long Beach, California) – $15,000
4. Lauren Russo (O'Fallon, Missouri) – $12,000
5. Jordan Snodgrass (Adrian, Michigan) – $10,000

Past winners

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Season Winner Runner-up Championship match score
2015 Danielle McEwan Stefanie Johnson 233–205[7]
2016 New Hui Fen Cherie Tan 258–235[8]
2017 Shannon O'Keefe Kelly Kulick 222–203[9]
2018 Maria José Rodríguez Kelly Kulick 236–228[2]
2019 Shannon O'Keefe Dasha Kovalova 268–179
2020 --- --- Not held–COVID-19
2021 Shannon Pluhowsky Bryanna Coté 244–178
2022 Stephanie Zavala Shannon Pluhowsky 252–181
2023 Maria José Rodríguez Dasha Kovalova 234–200
2024 Sin Li Jane Jordan Richard 215–209
2025 Shannon Pluhowsky Verity Crawley 235–167

References

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