The second event of the season and the first major of the 2025 PWBA season is officially underway as the 2025 USBC Queens kicks off today in Las Vegas. This marks the second time in three years the tournament is being held in Sin City, but it’s the first time Suncoast Hotel and Casino is hosting a PWBA major since the tour's relaunch in 2015. The venue recently welcomed the 2024 USBC Masters, where DeeRonn Booker won his career-first title.
With the beginning of the competition, all eyes are on defending champion Jillian Martin, who made headlines last year as the youngest winner in USBC Queens history at just 20 years old.
Martin returns with the goal of becoming the first back-to-back winner since Japan’s Katsuko Sugimoto in the early 1980s. This year, she will face tough competition, with 197 other top bowlers in the field all aiming for the same tiara.
But Martin hasn’t rested on her success. She enters the tournament as the National Tenpin Coaches Association Player of the Year and has been putting in the work to elevate her game, focusing on refining her physical technique and becoming more versatile. With last year’s experience behind her, she hopes for a smoother run through match play. In 2024, she lost her opening match but battled through the Elimination Bracket to earn the No. 3 seed on the TV show.
Tournament play starts today with all 198 bowlers taking part in the first of three five-game qualifying rounds. The A Squad begins at noon Eastern, followed by B Squad at 4 p.m. Eastern. Each group will bowl twice on fresh oil and once on burn conditions. After qualifying, the top 63 players will move forward along with Martin, who is automatically seeded into the bracket as defending champion.
The match-play phase starts on Sunday with a double-elimination format. Every match will be decided by three-game total pinfall. The last two players standing in the Winner’s Bracket will battle for the top seed in the finals. Meanwhile, the remaining players in the Elimination Bracket will compete for the other three stepladder spots.
The tournament will wrap up on Tuesday night with the stepladder finals, airing live on CBS Sports Network at 7 p.m. Eastern. The winner will take home the title, the tiara, and the $60,000 top prize. Until then, all rounds leading up to the finals will be streamed live on BowlTV.
BowlingLife.eu will be following the 2025 USBC Queens every step of the way. Stay tuned to our channels for daily updates, standout performances, and full coverage from Las Vegas.
Schedule – 2025 USBC Queens (All times local):
Thursday, May 15 Qualifying Round 1 (5 games): 9:00 a.m. – A Squad (Fresh Oil) 1:00 p.m. – B Squad (Burn)
Friday, May 16 Qualifying Round 2 (5 games): 9:00 a.m. – B Squad (Fresh Oil) 1:00 p.m. – A Squad (Burn)
Saturday, May 17 Qualifying Round 3 (5 games): 9:00 a.m. – A Squad (Fresh Oil) 2:00 p.m. – B Squad (Fresh Oil)
Top 63 qualifiers, plus defending champion Jillian Martin, will advance to match play
Sunday, May 18 Double-Elimination Match Play Begins: 9:00 a.m. – Left side of bracket 11:30 a.m. – Right side of bracket 1:30 p.m. – All winners 4:00 p.m. – 32 contenders (16 eliminated) Evening – Final contender round (16 more eliminated)
Monday, May 19 Match Play Continues: 9:00 a.m. – 16 winners & 16 contenders (8 eliminated) Late morning – 8 winners & 16 contenders (8 eliminated) 1:00 p.m. – 4 winners & 8 contenders (4 eliminated) Afternoon – Final seeding matches for stepladder finals
Tuesday, May 20 4:00 p.m. – CBS Sports Network Stepladder Finals
