Shannon Pluhowsky won the 2026 PWBA BowlTV Open at ABC Gates Bowl in Rochester, New York. In the final, Pluhowsky defeated Julia Bond 268-205.
The win gave Pluhowsky her seventh career PWBA Tour title and the $10,000 first prize.
Pluhowsky earned the No. 1 seed for the stepladder finals after a strong match-play round. She won nine of her 12 matches and finished with 2,967 total - 21 pins short of the 12-game record she set at the 2023 PWBA Waterloo Open.
Pluhowsky finished match play with a 249-pin lead over No. 2 seed New Hui Fen of Singapore. Julia Bond qualified third, while Germany’s Birgit Noreiks and Jordan Snodgrass entered the stepladder as the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds.
In the stepladder final opener, Noreiks defeated Snodgrass in the highest scoring stepladder final match since the PWBA relaunch, 277-276.
Noreiks then faced Bond but fell after a 235-221 defeat.
Bond moved on to face New in the semifinal. She started the match with five straight strikes and held the lead through the second half of the game. New made a late run, but left a split in the 10th frame, allowing Bond to seal a spot in the final with a 237-202 win.
In the final, Pluhowsky started with seven straight strikes, stayed in front for the whole match and claimed the title.
For the second-place finish, Bond earned $5,000. New earned $4,000 for third place. Noreiks finished fourth and earned $3,500, while Snodgrass placed fifth for $3,000.
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The PWBA BowlTV Open was the second event of the PWBA Summer Series. The series will finish with the PWBA Lilac City Open, which begins Sunday with two six-game qualifying rounds at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET.
After qualifying, the top 24 players will advance to match play on Monday. The top eight players will receive a first-round bye. Matches through the Round of 8 will use a best-of-three format.
The four winners from the Round of 8, plus the highest-seeded losing player, will advance to the stepladder finals. The finals are scheduled for Monday at 6:30 p.m. ET.
