August 29, 2019

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Matt Cannizzaro
USBC Communications
352-262-1372
matt.cannizzaro@bowl.com
On the Web: BOWL.com

TEAM USA GOLDEN IN SINGLES, TRIOS AT 2019 WORLD
BOWLING WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIPS

LAS VEGAS – Danielle McEwan topped Shannon O’Keefe in an all-Team USA title match to capture the singles gold medal, and they then cheered teammates Missy Parkin, Jordan Richard and Liz Kuhlkin to victory in trios Thursday at the 2019 World Bowling World Championships.

Team USA returns to the South Point Bowling Plaza on Friday to compete in the medal round for the five-player team event and will meet Colombia in the semifinals, which will be televised live on CBS Sports Network.

McEwan also will bowl in the Masters medal round and will enter the day seeking her sixth gold medal in adult World Championships competition.

On Thursday, McEwan opened the singles championship match with five consecutive strikes and cruised to a 259-193 victory to win her first gold medal in the singles event.

“This is an absolutely amazing feeling,” said McEwan, an eight-time Team USA member. “Coming into today, our initial goal was for both of us to win our first matches, so we would see each other in the final, guarantee one of us would be at the top of the podium and guarantee that we’d hear our national anthem. After we both won in the semifinals, we looked at each other and said, ‘we did it.’ It was win-win after that.”

In two matches on the 39-foot World Bowling Seoul oil pattern being used this week, McEwan struck 18 times. She started her semifinal match against top-seeded Lee Nayoung with seven consecutive strikes on her way to a 256-173 victory.

In the first singles semifinal Thursday, a pair of splits in the second and eighth frames proved to be the undoing for Sweden’s Sandra Andersson, who won her first Professional Women’s Bowling Association Tour title this season. O’Keefe rolled a clean game, with two doubles along the way, in a 213-183 win.

Lee and Andersson each earned bronze medals.

While it’s never fun having to bowl against your own teammate, O’Keefe reiterated McEwan’s sentiment that the minute they put on their Team USA jerseys, it’s no longer about individuals or personal success.

“An all-USA final is what we envisioned, and we came in and took care of business in our opening matches,” said O’Keefe, a 15-time Team USA member and seven-time gold medalist at the World Championships. “After we did that, it was a win-win for us.”

If McEwan, who will celebrate her 28th birthday Sunday, also can claim the Masters title Friday afternoon, she’ll have won a gold medal in each discipline during her short time on the team.

She now has titles in singles, doubles (2015), trios (2017), team (2015) and all-events (2017).

In the trios event Thursday, Jordan Richard and Liz Kuhlkin, two Team USA members competing in their first World Bowling Women’s Championships, are taking home gold medals, and longtime Team USA member Missy Parkin finally added a gold medal to her collection.

Against the Colombian team of Juliana Franco, Clara Guerrero and Maria José Rodriguez in the title match, Team USA struggled early but found a second gear late in the match.

The three struck on 12 of their last 15 opportunities to outlast a talented Colombian team, 655-632, and successfully defend the trios title the United States won at the 2017 World Championships, also held at South Point.

“I think we worked really well together, our communication was amazing,” said Parkin, who captured her first World Bowling Women’s Championships gold medal after taking home silver medals in doubles and team from the 2013 event. “We were having fun and kept each other kind of loose. I think that really, really helps.”

Kuhlkin said Parkin was the right teammate for her and Richard.

“Missy just fit perfectly to bring us together and keep us in the moment,” Kuhlkin said. “I know for me, definitely, I get jumpy, I get all over the place. Missy says ‘bring it in, stay in the moment, be tall.’ It worked out perfectly. Now, we’re standing here wearing gold.”

The trio opened the medal round with a 669-628 victory over Mexico’s Adriana Perez, Paola Limon and Sandra Gongora, with Kuhlkin shooting a 235 game, Parkin contributing 234 and Richard adding a 200 game.

The Colombian team reached the final by defeating Kim Moonjeong, Baek Seungja, and Jung Dawun of Korea, 694-620, in the other semifinal. Guerrero paced the Colombian team in the match with a 247 game.

In the doubles medal round, Sweden’s Josefin Hermansson and Jenny Wegner captured the country’s first women’s gold medal in 12 years with a 436-431 victory over Korea’s Son Hyerin and Lee Yeonji.

With Korea holding a precarious lead, both Hermansson (236) and Wegner (200) doubled in the final frame, leaving Lee (236) also needing a double for Korea to take the title. Lee got the first strike, but only nine pins on her second shot.

“This is huge, both for us as individuals but also for Sweden to get a gold medal,” said Hermansson, who had 15 strikes in two matches on Thursday. “It’s been quite some time since the last gold, so it’s an honor to bring it back home.”

Sweden’s last gold medal at a World Bowling Women’s Championships came in trios in 2007 in Monterrey, Mexico.

In reaching the title match, Hermansson (228) and Wegner (206) struck on six of their first eight shots and had only one open frame in a 434-386 semifinal win against top-seed Maria José Rodriguez (172) and Rocio Restrepo (214) of Colombia.

Son and Lee reached the title match with a 434-363 victory against Colombia’s Juliana Franco (180) and Clara Guerrero (183). The Koreans started with six consecutive strikes, while Franco and Guerrero had one strike and an open frame and could not bounce back. Son, a left-hander, closed with five strikes for a 225, while Lee shot 209.

The 2019 World Women’s Championships started with 176 competitors from 34 countries, who competed for medals in singles, doubles, trios, team, all-events and Masters competition.

For more information on the 2019 World Women’s Championships, visit WorldBowling.org.

For more information on Team USA, visit BOWL.com/TeamUSA.

United States Bowling Congress
The United States Bowling Congress serves as the national governing body of bowling as recognized by the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC). USBC conducts championship events nationwide including the largest participation sporting events in the world – the USBC Open and Women’s Championships – and professional events such as the USBC Masters and USBC Queens.

Founded in 1895, today USBC and its 1,638 state and local associations proudly serve more than a million members. USBC is headquartered in Arlington, Texas, working toward a future for the sport. The online home for USBC is BOWL.com.

2019 WORLD BOWLING WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIPS
South Point Bowling Plaza
Las Vegas

Thursday’s results

SINGLES

CHAMPIONSHIP
(Winner earns gold, loser gets silver)
Danielle McEwan, United States, def. Shannon O’Keefe, United States, 259-193

SEMIFINALS
(Winners advance, losers each earn bronze)
McEwan def. Lee Nayoung, Korea, 256-173
O’Keefe def. Sandra Andersson, Sweden, 213-183

DOUBLES

CHAMPIONSHIP
(Winner earns gold, loser gets silver)
Josefin Hermansson/Jenny Wegner, Sweden, def. Son Hyerin/Lee Yeonji, Korea, 436-431

SEMIFINALS
(Winners advance, losers each get bronze)
Son/Lee def. Juliana Franco/Clara Guerrero, Colombia, 434-363
Hermansson/Wegner def. Maria José Rodriguez/Rocio Restrepo, Colombia, 434-386

TRIOS

CHAMPIONSHIP
(Winner earns gold, loser gets silver)
Missy Parkin/Jordan Richard/Liz Kuhlkin, United States, def. Juliana Franco/Clara Guerrero/Maria José Rodriguez, Colombia, 655-632

SEMIFINALS
(Winners advance, losers each get bronze)
Parkin/Richard/Kuhlkin def. Adriana Perez/Paola Limon/Sandra Gongora, Mexico, 669-628
Franco/Guerrero/ Rodriguez def. Kim Moonjeong/Baek Seungja/Jung Dawun, Korea, 694-620

ALL-EVENTS
(24-game pinfall totals – six games of singles, doubles, trios and team)

Gold – Maria José Rodriguez, Colombia, 5,488
Silver – Joline Persson Planefors, Sweden, 5,425
Bronze – Shannon O’Keefe, United States, 5,422

# # #