Missy Makes TV Show in Japan!

This week I competed in the DHC International Championships at Hakata Star Lanes in Fukuoka, Japan. The all-wood bowling center spans across three different floors with a total of 85 lanes. The entire tournament field was comprised of the top 84 men and top 84 women bowlers from all over the world, representing 12 different countries.

We bowled 9 games of qualifying, in three 3-game blocks. I shot 668, 710 and 673 for +251 overall and was leading the tournament going into the semifinals. The field was then cut to the top 24 men and top 24 women. We then bowled 6 more games of semifinals.

During the semifinals, I struggled a bit and grinded out a 607 and 603 series, shooting 230 my last game to secure a spot in the shoot-out match. The shootout match consisted of players in positions 4-9. We bowled a one-game match, with the highest score advancing to the TV stepladder finals. Players seeded in positions 1-3 automatically qualified for the TV show.

In the shootout match, I bowled against Carol Gianotti from Australia, Wendy Macpherson, Zandra Aziela from Malaysia, Mari Kimura from Japan and Maki Nakano from Japan. I started out strong, striking in the first 4 frames, but a couple of the other women were also striking, keeping the match very close. I ended up needing to strike and 9 spare in the 10th frame to advance and I struck out, shooting 267 to secure the final spot on the TV show.

On the men's side, Zulmazran Zulkifli shot 298 to secure the final spot in the shootout match, over Chris Barnes, Mike Fagan, Dan Maclelland, Kyung-sin Park from Korea and Shota Kawazoe from Japan.

For the TV show, four lanes were constructed in an amazing arena setting inside the bowling center building. The arena was packed and the setting couldn't have been more fun to compete in. The introductions to the finals were very cool as well with laser lights and sound and other light effects going on while each player was introduced and walked down a "red carpet"-esque catwalk down to the lanes.

On the TV show, I bowled against Eun-hee Jeon from Korea. The match was very tight throughtout. I couldn't carry very well, leaving many 10 pins and one 7 pin. However, it came down to the 10th frame and I could have doubled to lock her out. Sadly to report, I did not throw the ball well, missing the headpin and converting the spare to force her to get the first strike in the 10th frame. She went up and doubled to beat me 224 to 206, thus finishing 4th place overall in the tournament. Cherie Tan of Singapore went on to win the title over Malaysia's Dayang Khairuniza.

On the men's side, Tommy Jones defeated Mika Koivuniemi 290 to 204 to capture the title. Congratulations to both Tommy and Cherie!

For complete results of both the men and women's finals, click here.