Lindsay Boomershine of Brigham City, Utah, defeated Maria Jose Rodriguez of Colombia, 202-176, to claim the major title of 2023 United States Bowling Congress Queens.
It was Boomershine's first title at the Professional Women’s Bowling Association Tour. She left the Sam’s Town Bowling Center wearing a long desired Queens tiara and with the $60,000 first-place prize.
'I’ve dreamt of this moment ever since my son was born, so I kept telling myself to keep working hard and putting myself in this position,' Boomershine said after the win. 'I’m glad that my family got to experience this with me because I think it shows that you can have it all if you never give up on your dreams.'
216 bowlers participated in the event. The top 63 players and German Birgit Noreiks, who assured a place in the bracket as the defending champion, advanced to match-play following 15 games of qualifying over three days.
Latvia's bowling megastar and two-time USBC Queens titleist, Diana Zavjalova, showed the best performance among 17 European players, being only 32 pins away from the Stepladder finals, finishing 6th.
Zavjalova initially lost her first double-elimination match-play to Shayna Ng of Singapore and was forced to continue her major title journey in the losers bracket, without room for error. Luckily, Diana Zavjalova managed to win seven times in a row for a chance to be in the final bracket where she had to admit the advantage of Dasha Kovalova, the 2019 Queens champion.
Even though she ended up her performance at the 2023 USBC Queens being only one step down from the stepladder finals, Zavjalova was delighted with her overall performance.
'I've got many emotions, but I am so proud of how hard I fought! I was so so so close to making it to the Queens show for the 4th time'.
Zavjalova became the only bowling player in the 2023 USBC Queens who bowled more than 40 games in two days.
'When we started the double-elimination match-play, I lost the very first match. Dear lord, I didn't realize how long of a journey it is from the first losers' bracket to make it all the way to the final match. I fought with every single fiber in my body, every match. I had some really cool matches with clutch 10th frames to win them' Diana said on her social media. 'I lived on adrenaline the whole match-play, and I fought with every single shot. I'm beyond proud.'
The PWBA Tour season will continue on May 31-June 6 at the PWBA Classic Series – Grand Rapids in Wyoming, Michigan.
