For the second consecutive year, USBC Hall of Famer
Carolyn Dorin-Ballard (pictured) of Keller, Texas, is the second-round leader at the USBC Queens, but she knows there's still a long road between her and her second win at the prestigious event. CDB entered Sunday's qualifying round in 16th place, but used a 1,185 set to catapult into the lead with a 2,262 total for 10 games. Australia's
Maxine Nable is second with 2,224, and first-round leader,
Stefanie Nation of Grand Prairie, Texas, sits in third place with 2,198.
After a heart-breaking finish at last year's USBC Queens, there was no way Missy Parkin (pictured) of Lake Forest, Calif., was going to let the coveted title get away again. The 29-year-old right-hander headed into the 2011 USBC Queens more determined than ever and defeated top-seed Elysia Current of Ephrata, Pa., 214-189, to claim her first major championship at the Oncenter Convention Center on Wednesday. Parkin ook home the Queens tiara and $20,000 first-place check for the win.
Not long ago, Elysia Current (pictured) of Ephrata, Pa., was a dominant collegiate bowler. Now, she's the top seed at the USBC Queens and one win away from officially proving herself against the best bowlers in the world. The 26-year-old right-hander averaged 228 on the way to a 6-0 match-play record at the Oncenter Convention Center, which included a 626-584 win Tuesday against Missy Parkin of Lake Forest, Calif., in the battle for the No. 1 seed for Tuesday's ESPN2 telecast.
Michelle Feldman (pictured) of Auburn, N.Y., lives just 25 minutes from the Oncenter Convention Center, where she is one of 16 players still undefeated in match play at the 2011 United States Bowling Congress Queens. While her trip to the tournament venue might be simple and scenic, the road to the coveted title that has eluded her for more than 15 years is shared by 31 other talented bowlers all with their eyes on the tiara and $20,000 first-place prize.
Qualifying is complete at the 2011 USBC Queens, and the match-play field is set, with USBC Hall of Famer Carolyn Dorin-Ballard (l.) of Keller, Texas, in the top spot for the second consecutive year. The 2001 Queens champion posted a 1,043 score in her final five-game block to finish with a 3,305 total for 15 games at the Oncenter Convention Center. Left-hander Shannon Pluhowsky (r.) of Kettering, Ohio, the 2006 Queens winner, finished second with 3,294
Stefanie Nation (pictured) of Grand Prairie, Texas, surged into the first-round lead at the 2011 USBC Queens with a 1,236 total for five games Saturday night. The seven-time Team USA member averaged more than 247 to pace the 206-player field at the Oncenter Convention Center. Robin Romeo of Newhall, Calif., and Wendy Macpherson of Henderson, Nev., both USBC Hall of Famers, are second and third with 1,193 and 1,171, respectively.
When Kelly Kulick of Union, N.J., arrives at the Oncenter Convention Center to defend her USBC Queens title, she knows every bowler in the field will have their sights set on sending her home empty handed. Last year, Kulick won not only the Queens, but the U.S. Women's Open and beat the men in the PBA Tournament of Champions, so she knows each event she competes in there's a target on her back. Kulick's Queens title defense begins Saturday with the first round of qualifying. 
Alternative country music star Steve Earle does a popular tune called "I Ain't Ever Satisfied," and when you look at the career of USBC Hall of Famer Anne Marie Duggan and the things she has had to say about it over the years, you almost start to wonder if Earle had her in mind when he wrote it. Reporters who expected to find a gleeful Anne Marie after she bowled the first 300 game of her career at the 1983 LPBT Houston Classic, found instead a disgruntled bowler who could think only of the one Brooklyn strike she threw that game.
You might think the 15 weeks Diandra Asbaty had to prepare for the 2011 PBA Tournament of Champions after giving birth to her first child would be too little time. Then you look for her name in the tournament’s final standings and it hits you: This is no ordinary mother. Asbaty, a World Bowling Writers Hall of Famer and 13-time Team USA member, finished as the highest-cashing woman in the field, 16 places above defending champion Kelly Kulick and higher even than some of the top men in bowling today—Wes Malott, Patrick Allen, Rhino Page, Pete Weber.
Anyone who watched as it happened will not soon forget it. When Missy Parkin of Fullerton, Calif. took the approach in the 10th frame of her match against the sport's hottest hand in Kelly Kulick at the 2010 USBC Queens, she stood merely a mark and five pins away from moving one step closer to the women's title she has chased for years. "I don't think anybody wants it worse than she does," says her best friend and fellow pro Scott Norton. "She's been knocking on the door for years.
Women's bowling will be featured in high definition on ESPN2 for the first time when the USBC Queens and Bowling's U.S. Women's Open take place later this year. The Queens will be shown live on April 27 from the Oncenter Complex in Syracuse, N.Y., while the U.S. Women's Open finals will be taped June 30 at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Kelly Kulick proved she could beat the men earlier this year and Wednesday she came out on top against a field of the top women bowlers in the world, earning her second United States Bowling Congress Queens title. The Union, N.J., native climbed the five-player stepladder, winning four consecutive matches, and defeating top seed Tennelle Milligan of Arlington, Texas, 232-188, to win the Queens at the El Paso Convention and Performing Arts Center. 
Tennelle Milligan (pictured) of Arlington, Texas, was the only competitor to run through match play undefeated at the 2010 United States Bowling Congress Queens and finds herself one victory away from claiming her second USBC Queens title. The 2005 Queens champion defeated USBC Hall of Famer Anne Marie Duggan of Edmond, Okla., 793-598, to claim the top spot in the stepladder championship round, which will be televised live on ESPN2 on Wednesday at 8 p.m. EDT. 
USBC Hall of Famer Leanne Hulsenberg (pictured) of Roseville, Calif., put herself in good position to make a run at her second USBC Queens title as she tied for the second-highest series in match-play history on her way to an undefeated record at the El Paso Convention and Performing Arts Center on Monday. After qualifying fourth, the 1999 Queens champion defeated Stacey
Fehr of Cincinnati, Ohio, 661-573, before beating defending champion Liz Johnson of Cheektowaga, N.Y., 803-698.
The field for match play is set at the 2010 United States Bowling Congress Queens as USBC Hall of Famer Carolyn Dorin-Ballard (pictured left) of Keller, Texas, continued her torrid pace by breaking the 15-game qualifying record on her way to leading the field. The 2001 Queens champion posted an 1,118 score in her final five-game block to finish at 3,636 overall, surpassing Kelly Kulick's 3,472 set in the 2009 event. 
USBC Hall of Famer Carolyn Dorin-Ballard of Keller, Texas, continued her dominance Sunday at the 2010 USBC Queens as she broke the 5 and 10-game qualifying records to lead the top 79 of 200 players into Monday's final block of qualifying at the El Paso Convention and Performing Arts Center. Dorin-Ballard came out of the gates with a 299 game and added games of 254, 250, 235 and 256 for a five-game total
of 1,294. Combined with her first-day total of 1,224, she is at 2,518
through the first two days with a 251.8 average. 
United States Bowling Congress Hall of Famer Carolyn Dorin-Ballard (pictured) of Keller, Texas, rolled 1,224 for five games to take the lead in the opening round of the 2010 USBC Queens. The 2001 Queens champion shot games of 213, 277, 245, 230 and 259 to pace the field. Debbie Ayers is currently sitting in second with 1,219, while Jessica Baker rolled one of the two 300 games on the day to end up in third with 1,215. Shayna Ng of Singapore (7th) joined Baker by rolling the tournament's
first 300 in her first game of qualifying. 
Defending champion Liz Johnson of Cheektowaga, N.Y., will take on a field of the top women bowlers in the world when the USBC Queens takes place starting Saturday, April 24, at the El Paso Convention and Performing Arts Center. The Queens kicks off with 10 qualifying games over two days. BOWL.com will have wire-to-wire live streaming coverage of the event leading up to the live nationally televised championship round on ESPN2 at 8 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, April 28.
The United States Bowling Congress announced that it has designed a
program that will give women bowlers from across the globe an
opportunity to compete for more than $330,000 in prize money and get
expert coaching all in one trip to Texas next spring. Two custom travel packages were created to make travel easier for players interested in competing in the USBC Queens in El Paso, Texas, and the U.S. Women’s Open
shortly after in Fort Worth, Texas, while also giving them a chance to
receive expert coaching at the new International Training and Research Center. 