Cherie Tan leads after two rounds at QubicaAMF PWBA Players Championship

STANDINGS

By Daniel Farish and Aaron Smith
USBC Communications

RALEIGH, N.C.
- Just days removed from winning a gold medal for Singapore at the World Bowling Women's Championships, Cherie Tan continued her roll Wednesday as she cruised to the top of the standings at the QubicaAMF Professional Women's Bowling Association Players Championship.

The 31-year-old left-hander averaged 251 in her final six-game block at Buffaloe Lanes North to finish the day with a 12-game total of 2,900, a 241.67 average. Tan holds a 137-pin lead on fellow left-hander Shannon Pluhowsky of Dayton, Ohio, who sits in second with 2,763.

United States Bowling Congress Hall of Famer Liz Johnson of Palatine, Illinois, is third with 2,734, Colombia's Clara Guerrero is fourth with 2,680 and Liz Kuhlkin of Schenectady, New York, is fifth with 2,669.

The PWBA Players Championship, the third major of the 2019 season, will have one additional qualifying round, which starts Thursday at 8 a.m. Eastern, to determine the 18 players advancing to round-robin match play.

After two rounds, Lindsay Boomershine of Perry, Utah, is in 18th place with a 2,560 total, a 213.33 average.

Tan captured her first gold medal at the World Women's Championships last week in Las Vegas by winning the Masters portion of the event, which brought together bowlers from 34 countries.

Although Tan was disappointed that Singapore's team performance resulted in a seventh-place finish, she felt her strong finish at the South Point Bowling Plaza helped her moving into the Players Championship.

"It was really disappointing, because we didn't get the team gold we went there for," said Tan, the 2016 PWBA Storm Sacramento Open champion. "But, I was able to get the Masters, which felt great. It really helped me get ready for this week."

Tan saw better shape in her ball reaction during her second round Wednesday, which resulted in a 112-pin improvement from her opening block (1,394). She's not going to get too far ahead of herself, though, looking ahead to the rest of the event.

"I had some problems with corner pins in the morning," said Tan, the runner-up at the 2019 Nationwide PWBA Greater Cleveland Open. "I had better ball motion in the afternoon. I had a few 9 pins that stood on me, but not as many corner pins.

"I can't focus on the outcome. I only can focus on what's in front of me. I will take tomorrow one shot at a time and see what comes of it."

Competitors advancing to match play will bowl an additional 18 games, which starts Thursday at 1 p.m. Eastern. Match play will continue into Friday, with 36-game pinfall totals, including bonus pins, determining the five players advancing to the stepladder finals.

The finals of the 2019 QubicaAMF PWBA Players Championship will be broadcast live on Sunday at 4 p.m. Eastern on CBS Sports Network.

BowlTV.com is providing livestream coverage of all rounds leading up to the stepladder finals.