No. 1 seed Kelly Kulick powers her way into the Quarterfinals at World Singles Championships

    09/25/12

    2012 WSC

    Five of the top 8 women eliminated in Round of 16

    2012WSCKellyKulick.jpg
    2012WECJolinePerssonPlanefors.jpgQualifying leader Kelly Kulick (pictured left), United States, fired games of 264, 269 and 238 to sweep Holland's Wendy Kok, three-games-to-none, and to advance to the Quarterfinals at the World Singles Championships.

    Kulick, who has won all major women's tournaments in the U.S. and became the first woman to win a PBA Tour event at the 2010 PBA Tournament of Champions, had the highest average of both men's and women's division in the 12-game preliminaries and is the women to beat to win the gold medal.

    Kulick meets Joline Persson-Planefors (above right) of Sweden in the Quarterfinals. The 2011 European Bowling Tour point ranking winner and two-time European Champion 2012 came back from being down 0-2 to defeat Malta's Sue Abela, 3-2. Persson-Planefors won the crucial third game, 199-195, then fired back-to-back 260s to seal the victory.

    2012WSCShannonOKeefe.jpg2011EBT11EstherCheah.jpgKulicks's compatriot Shannon O’Keefe (left), seeded fourth, also went the distance before she defeated Isabelle Rioux of Canada, 3-2. O'Keefe, the 2007 World Champion in Singles, took a 2-0 lead behind games of 268 and 236 but Rioux won the next two games to level the match. O’Keefe booked her spot in the next round with a 255-203 in the deciding fifth game.

    The Team USA member will clash with 2005 World Champion in Singles, Esther Cheah (right9 of Malaysia. Cheah, seeded 12th lost the first game to No. 5 seed, Karen Marcano of Venezuela, 191-233, but rebounded with three straight wins to eliminate the PABCON champion, 3-1.

    2012KristaPollanen.jpg2012WSCAseretZetter.jpgKrista Pöllänen (left) of Finland, the reigning World Games and European Champions Cup titlist, was down 2-1 against No. 2 seed, Alena Korobkova, but rebounded with 256-231 and 215-214 to edge the young Russian, 3-2.

    Pöllänen will bowl young Mexican Aseret Zetter, (right) who swept former World Ranking Masters champion and three-time EBT point ranking winner Britt Brøndsted of Denmark. Zetter won the first two games by three and two pins, respectively, 223-220 and 214-212 and wrapped up the victory with a big 257-231 win in game three.

    2012WSCDianaZavjalova.jpg2012WSCClaraGuerrero.jpgThird seeded Rebecka Larsen of Sweden won the first game against Diana Zavjalova (left), 247-226, but the Latvian, who came back from a 2-0 deficit in the Round of 24, posted games of 226, 225 and 203 to sideline the two-time European champion, 3-1.

    Zavjalova, who studies in the United States, bowls U.S. resident Clara Juliana Guerrero (right) of Colombia in the next round. The gold medalist in All Events and Masters at the 2009 Women's World Championships won her first two games against Luminita Farkas of Romania with 193 games each. Farkas narrowed the gap with a 210-195 win in game three, but Guerrero put the match away with a big 247 in game four for a 3-1 victory.

    The remaining eight players return on Tuesday for the quarterfinals starting at 9 a.m. local time (GMT +3).

    2012WSCLogo.jpg The 57 women from 33 countries were split into five squads to bowl two blocks of six games over four days on the 41 feet WTBA Montreal oil pattern (Lane Map Guide) before the cut to the top 24 players who advanced to the finals Sept. 24 and 25.

    The top 24 players bowl for the title in single-elimination match-play bracket. The top eight qualifiers receive one bye. In case of a tie in the standings for any position in the qualifying, the higher positioned will be the player with the highest last game (second last game, etc.). All qualifying pin fall is dropped.

    The first three rounds of the finals feature best-of-five games match play until the field is trimmed to the top four. The semifinal matches and the championship match are one-game matches.

    In each match of the final, the highest seeded player decides which player starts to play in the first game. For the first three rounds the starting player will change after each game. In case of a tie in any game, a one ball roll-off will be played and repeated until the tie is broken.

    The field will be trimmed to 16, 8, 4 and then two players who will determine the champion in the gold medal match. The semifinal losers will share the bronze medal.

    Free live streaming will be provided of the entire championships. To view the live streaming click here.

     


    Related Articles


    Latvia's Diana Zavjalova comes back from a 2-0 deficit to win her Round of 24 match
    Austria's Gross, Norway's Torgersen and Malaysia's Zulkifli win in five games in Round of 24
    USA's Kelly Kulick leads top 24 women into finals at World Singles Championships
    Malaysia's Syafiq Ridhwan earns No. 1 seed for Men's Finals at World Singles Championships
    Russia's Tommy Jones by a whisker, Martin Paulsson falls one pin short of a tie after 12 games
    Russia's Alena Korobkova sets the pace as Squads 1 & 2 have completed the Preliminaries
    Team USA's Kelly Kulick paces women's division after 6/12 qualifying games
    USA's Tommy Jones holds comfortable lead in men's division after first qualifying block
    Russia's Alena Korobkova takes early lead in Women's Qualifying in Limassol, Cyprus
    Team USA's Tommy Jones takes commanding lead at World Singles Championships
    Block 1 Qualifying starts on Thursday, Sept. 20
    Players from 44 countries arrive at inaugural WTBA World Singles Championships
    Four Team USA members ready to tackle World Singles Championships
    47 countries to participate in inaugural WTBA World Singles Championships
    Cyprus Bowling Federation releases Bulletin for the 2012 WTBA World Singles Championships

     


    Women's Finals - Quarterfinal Match-ups


    Best-of-five games bracket format; winners advance, losers eliminated

     


    Women's Finals - Round of 16


    Best-of-five games bracket format; winners advance, losers eliminated

    Â