By Scott Taylor | @Taylor_Sports
ADDISON – Liz Johnson came into the stepladder finals of the US Women’s Open Sunday at Stardust Lanes in Addison as the No. 4 seed, meaning she would have to win four straight matches to defend her championship.
Johnson did just that, defeating Shannon Pluhowsky 208-143 in the championship match to win her fifth US Open title.
“The higher the pressure the better I focus,” Johnson said. “I felt more comfortable today and made the shots when I needed to. In these conditions, filling the frames was crucial. This was one of the biggest grinding tournaments I have ever been apart of. That is what makes it a major. To be a part of the category of having five US Opens, it just hit me.”
In the first round of the stepladder finals Johnson defeated Kelly Kulick, the No. 5 seed, 207-168. In the second round Johnson overcame a foul on the first ball in the 10th frame to top New Hui Fen of Singapore 215-200.
Liz Johnson defended her US Open title at the Stardust Bowl in Addison, Illinois. ©ELLMAN PHOTOGRAPHY
“I think I was more in shock of the foul because I had already thrown my second ball,” Johnson said. “Every other time I was two inches behind the foul line, so I might have just gotten a little fast. I took a deep breath and had to make another good shot.”
To advance to the finals, Johnson defeated Shayna Ng of Singapore in a back-and-forth match, 209-180, overcoming a deficit in the seventh frame.
Pluhowsky qualified as the top seed after an impressive final qualifying performance, shooting totals of 1,774 and 1,702 to vault much of the field.
“When things are going good it is easy to be excited,” Pluhowsky said. “I came out today and the lanes didn’t play similar to how they played all week. You have to take the good with the bad and move on.”
Schaumburg’s Jodi Gawlik missed the TV finals by one spot, finishing in sixth place with an 11,706 grand total, eight pins behind fifth place Kulick.
The Voyager Media coverage area had five locals compete in the Open, but none made the cut. However, Courtney Johnston of Joliet, a Minooka graduate, finished in the money, taking 52nd place with a 4,631 total, claiming $1,450. The top 47 players made the cut.
Megan Szczepanski of Lockport came in 64th place (4,558), Taylor Bailey of Joliet was 87th (4,459), Autumn Lee of Plainfield was 108th (4,323) and Allyson Ware of Lockport was 137th (3,947).
CHICAGO A SUCCESS
The tournament marked the second time the US Open has been in Chicago in recent years and it was well received.
“It was awesome,” Johnson said. “Chicago is a great bowling town. I’m a partial resident to the Chicago area right now and I’ve bowled in this center many times. The fans here are awesome. It was a great crowd this afternoon and it was awesome to see. We have so many great female bowlers out there, it is exciting.”
“It was great,” Pluhowsky said. “The fans showed up all week and were excited. The Pro-Am was great. There were a bunch of kids here who were excited about bowling and they are the future of our sport. Chicago is a great bowling city.”
TV Finals
There is a lot of work to put in for all television broadcasts, but the setup for bowling broadcasts is as difficult as there is in any sport. A broadcast booth and camera are set up behind the bowlers, while bleachers and half walls are put up behind and to the side of the lanes being used. Additional bleachers are on the other side down the lane and the set of lanes are closed off.
But the light fixtures used throughout the lanes might be the most tedious of all jobs as 25-plus lights illuminate the TV pair. If you have ever been in a bowling alley before, you know how dark they typically are, so these are needed to keep the light for TV.
With the difficult and costly setup, the PWBA has decided to stage multiple TV finals at one location.
After the conclusion of the US Open, there were three more TV finals broadcasted for tape delay on CBS Sports the rest of the month.
Tournament finals from Lexington, Kentucky, Rochester, New York and Seminole, Florida were all finished in Addison after the qualifying earlier in the summer at the host cities. It makes it for a long day for the broadcasters and some bowlers who are in multiple TV finals, but it makes sense for the production crews and relatively tight budgets for bowling.
THE GRIND
The US Women’s Open consists of 24 games of initial qualifying over three days, eight more games for the first qualifiers round and eight games of the final 24 qualifiers the fourth day and 16 more games for the final 24 qualifiers the fifth day leading up to the top five qualifiers for the stepladder finals. The grind of the tournament makes it unique and challenging.
“When you have the tougher shots and the larger amount of games, it does separate the bowlers and it isn’t just physically, it is mentally challenging,” Johnson said. “I like the marathons over the sprints. I feel it is my strong suit.”