By JILL WINTERS
PBA Communications
WOODBRIDGE, Va. – Defending Bud Moore PBA50 Players Championship winner John Janawicz is off to a high-scoring start.
He began his Saturday morning with 248, 300, 248, 258, 259 and 224 for 1,537. He averaged 256.17 while striking 80% of the time, during the first six-games of qualifying. His only open frame on the day came on a split in his final game.
“The last five minutes of practice it started coming off my hand really good. I felt like I needed to go straighter,” said the 2024 PBA50 Player of the Year. “I was making good shots and the next thing you know, it started carrying over the whole block. There were not near as many bad shots compared to some of the other blocks I have had in the last couple of weeks.”
Janawicz, like all bowlers, knows how quickly the game can humble you. He comes into every tournament with the same mindset. He believes if you continue to stay with your game plan, focus on lane play and are smart with your decisions, eventually the scores will come. They definitely did for him on day one inside Bowl America Woodridge. He is already planning how to approach the double burn 44-foot Hardwick oil pattern Sunday.
“My guess is there is a very good chance we will more than likely be in front of the ball return. Hopefully, I can make some good shots like I did today,” Janawicz said. “I just go out and do what I need to do. A lot of it is trusting what you see and trusting what you need to do physically and with your equipment. Just go out and make shots.”
This tournament’s format includes 18 games of qualifying through through Monday. All pins will carry forward when the field is cut to the top 24 players for round-robin match-play, which begins Tuesday.
Michael Haugen Jr. led the C squad to move into second place with 1,451. Amleto Monacelli led the B squad with 1,433 followed closely by Mika Koivuniemi, who finished second to Janawicz last year. Brian Dennis is in fifth at +218.
The B squad will be on the lanes starting at 9 a.m. on Sunday followed by the C squad at 12:30 p.m. and finally the A squad at 4 p.m. You can watch day two of qualifying on BowlTV.
See complete standings here:
https://www.leaguepals.com/league-info?id=6810262352074f9f0479e43d