Sunday morning was 5 more games - total pin fall carried over an the top 47 joined last years winner Missy Parkin in the match play finals. I was drawn on the lanes today with Leanne Barrette-Hulsenberg - I was a little intimidated and nervous but it was such an honour to bowl alongside someone who has been around women's bowling for so long and been so good. I had a really good morning today on the lanes 208 209 182 232 223 - 1054 which meant I was +53 for 15 games ( 203.53 avg).... I wasn't quite sure I'd done enough to make the 48, I knew it was going to be close so the next 10 minutes were hell then the scores were in and I was 41st :o) So so happy!!
All 4 of us made the match play so we nipped out for some dinner then back to the bowl to get ready for our matches. My first match was against Megan Kelly. She'd caught my eye earlier in the week with how good she threw the ball so I knew it wasn't going to be easy. The match play was 3 game total - winner advances, loser drops into the contenders bracket. So basically you have to lose twice to drop out of the tournament.
I was 30 ish down after 1 game, had a couple of bad shots through nerves at the beginning but once I settled them I seemed to be OK. I made good shots and pulled 20 something pins back so we were almost even going into the final game. I wasn't quite ready to drop into the contenders bracket just yet and opened up with the front 7 - finished with a 268 and won the match 668 - 610. Phew!!
Match 2 - The top 16 seeds came in at this round and I was drawn against Clara Guerrero from Columbia. I'm not quite sure what happened in the first game against Clara but I could not figure the lanes out. I went high split - light split etc 126 and 80 pins down. I managed to pull myself together and finish the match with 2 190's but Clara played too good and 80 pins were too many to pull back. Into the contenders bracket.
Match 3 - Shannon Pluhowsky. Team USA Member and pretttty good bowler!! I was certainly being tested today :o)
I played OK against Shannon in games 1 & 2. We were both finding it hard to double on the pair and the scores were fairly low. I was starting to struggle with my middle finger now with my hand being so swollen. I wasn't making good shots and didn't feel comfortable. After game 1 Shannon was up by 10. Game 2 I managed to pull back 7 so it was neck & neck for game 3. Game 3 Shannon came out on fire and I didn't. I had another 180, Shannon had 260 to win the match 630 - 545.
That was it - tournament over. It all happened so quick. It was a tough 4 days and I learnt so much. My target this trip was to make the cut to 64. I did that - in fact I also made the cut to 48 and won a match in match play so I am very happy with the trip as a whole. I know I made some mistakes along the way, I made some bad shots when I needed to make good ones, made the wrong decisions sometimes about ball changes/movements but that's all part of the learning curve. I'll learn from these mistakes and bounce back even stronger!
Olivia made it through to Monday & still in the winners bracket so we all went down to support her on Monday...she played amazing but unfortunately dropped out at the last minute and finished in 7th/8th place.
Monday night we went shopping and I finally treat myself to some new sunglasses. I wanted RayBans but the frames I wanted only came in light lenses so I settled for a funky pair of Oakleys :o) Olivia & Jen left early Tuesday morning and I was being picked up at 4pm to go to the airport so what was I gonna do for the day? Sandra & I hit the sun loungers. We spent most of the day just laid in silence, enjoying the peace & quiet after a mad 4 days. When we did talk it was laughter and memories of a fun trip, we shared what we had learnt and what our goals were for next time. I'd never really had the chance to sit & talk to Sandra before this trip but we certainly became friends this time and I'm looking forward to getting on the road with her again soon ;o) I also made friends with Jaime Perez this week, he does the videography for the IAB ( International Art Of Bowling) he's so much fun and contributed to me having a great trip. I loved seeing Olivia & Jen again too - 4 years is too long! I definitely wont be leaving it that long again - see you in 8 weeks girls!!
Dallas Fort Worth airport may have been the most boring airport I have ever visited. The shops were rubbish so I went for tea which I made last over an hour - cold burger #NotNice then sat for hours just waiting..and waiting. Sandra was keeping me updated with the scores from the show and I was happy for Diandra winning her first major! Somebody complained to the airline about my cold/cough/nasty chest and I had a bit of a to-do with the airline staff as they didn't think I was fit to travel home. Thank god they did let me on and after a 45 minute delay I was on my way home. The flight was O.K. I managed to sleep for 4-5 hours, so I knew Wednesday was gonna be fun! I was welcomed at the airport by rain & cold #Niiiiice but I was picked up by Wilson (always good to see a happy face after a trip away).
We went for some dinner with Emma Manning, had a catch up/gossip/rant about bowling & life then I was on my way to Nuneaton. I wanted to try something different with my finger inserts to stop them being too tight when my fingers swell. This was possibly the quickest visit to Nuneaton EVER!!! I was home for 10 and after a catch up with my Mum, Dad & Brother I was wiped out and in bed by 11:30.
I'm back in work today - that's gonna be tough after a week off. So hard coming back to reality after an amazing trip but work pays the bills and it pays for the next trip! Reno - for women's US Open in approx 8 weeks! Time to work hard and prepare :o)
Thanks for your support this week :o) Much Love, J xx
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