Shannon Pluhowsky of Dayton, Ohio, won the PWBA Pepsi Open at ABC Gates Bowl, defeating Liz Johnson of Niagara Falls, New York, 226-175 in the championship match.
The victory marked Pluhowsky’s fifth fifth PWBA Tour title.
After 12 games of qualification, Pluhowsky qualified as the No. 4 seed with 2,748 total (+348) among 16 advancing players.
In the Round of 16, Pluhowsky faced No. 13 seed, Sweden’s Anna Andersson and came from two games to one down to win the best-of-five series with scores of 228 and 235 in the last two games (225-201, 193-232, 214-234, 228-196, 235-225).
In the Round of 8, she then swept Singapore’s Shayna Ng with close games of 216-187, 249-230, and 220-210.
The semifinal saw Pluhowsky take on Lindsay Boomershine. The intrigue was kept just at the beginning of the game, as Pluhowsky closed with eight consecutive strikes to win 269-189.
On the other side of the bracket, No. 10 seed Liz Johnson defeated Breanna Clemmer 3-1 in the Round of 16, then advanced from the top 8 with a narrow one-pin victory in game five against Stephanie Zavala.
In the semifinal, Johnson defeated No. 14 seed Nora Johansson of Sweden 235-227 to advance to the title match.
In the title match, Johnson led by one pin halfway through the game, but Pluhowsky took control in the second half with a string of strikes. Johnson was unable to match the pace and missed a spare late in the game. Pluhowsky secured the win 226-175, earning the $10,000 top prize.
Liz Johnson received $5,000 as runner-up.
As the victory marked Pluhowsky’s fifth Professional Women’s Bowling Association title, she is now eligible for the PWBA Hall of Fame.
With the victory, Pluhowsky also secured her place in the PWBA Tour Championship field, which features all 2025 title winners and the top 24 in season points.
The Tour Championship begins Sunday with practice and continues with match play rounds before the stepladder finals on Tuesday night.
