2019 USBC Queens Champion - Dasha Kovalova

source: USBC
Dasha Kovalova, 2019 USBC Queens Champion

Congratulations to former Wichita State women's bowling phenom Dasha Kovalova on winning her first PWBA title, the USBC Queens,

This year's tournament was held at Northrock Lanes in Wichita, Dasha's home turf.

Two of the other finalists, Clara Guerrero and Tannya Roumimper, also bowled at Wichita State.

I first wrote about Dasha in 2013 (see June 8, 2013 entry) as one of the outstanding female bowlers on the European tour.

At the time I wrote the entry, the PWBA tour had closed operations in 2003. It relaunched in 2015. All the bowlers I mentioned: Shayna Ng, Jazreel Tan and Dasha's opponent in the European Women's Champtionship, Birgit Poppler, are ALL currently on this year's PWBA tour.
All have at least one PWBA title.

Here's Dasha's match against #2 Jane Sin (also known as Sin Jane Li):

Team Singapore - 2 PWBA Titles in 2016

source: Bowl.com
Bernice Lim, 2016 USBC Queens Champion

source: PWBA
Cherie Tan, 2016 PWBA Storm Sacramento Open Champion

These women are at it again. For a country with a population of just under 5.5 million (San Francisco Bay Area is over 6 million), they are dominating women's bowling. Two more from the Singapore Women's National Bowling team took 2 PWBA titles this season.

Congratulations Bernice Lim and Cherie Tan.

Here's Bernice in action
Source: YouTube's bosares


And here's lefty Cherie Tan:
Source: YouTube's Mousa Abdullah


Take careful watch of the audience in both matches. Teammates Jazreel Tan  (see June 3, 2013 entry) and Shayna Ng  (see May 20, 2013 entry) can be seen and heard cheering on their teammates.

Shayna Ng's cropped look

image source: Bowl.com

This afternoon, ESPN2 aired (tape delay) the USBC Queens finals. Congratulations to the top seeded player, Diana Zavjalova, who emerged as this year's winner.

Throughout the week, I followed a few live broadcasts of match play on Bowl.com and read updates on Facebook. Without fail, there was someone, usually male, who commented negatively about the sport, a player, or whatever else can be criticized. And like an ex-boyfriend I was with for 7 years too long, he opined negatively on a topic he doesn't know well.

Which brings me to the comments said about Shayna Ng. With her cropped hairstyle and no makeup, several (all men) asked if Shayna was a man. It got me upset as it's a topic all too familiar to me. I wore short hair most of my life and have had more than my fair share of being mistaken for a man.

Then as I read further along in the comments, a Singaporean (Shayna is from Singapore) clarified the reason for Shayna's cropped look. And if those same smart mouths bothered to watch the telecast, they would have heard announcer Dave Lamont mention it as well. She shaved her head for the Children's Cancer Foundation, Hair for Hope 2013 Campaign. So far, Shayna's pledges have more than doubled the target amount.

Way to go Shayna.