By BILL SNIER
PARMA HEIGHTS — It all came down to the last frame of the position-round matches.
Only 22 pins separated fifth-place Maria Jose Bohr from Rocio Restrepo-Hostetler in the battle for the final stepladder finals spot for Thursday night’s PWBA Cleveland Open at Yorktown Lanes.
In reality, it turned into a battle for the fourth position.
Bohr, a Colombia right-hander, was able to strike on her final six shots in that position-round game to pull out a 247-244 win over fellow Colombian right-hander Restrepo-Hostetler, now living in Kent. It moved Bohr into the No. 4 position for Thursday’s 6:30 p.m. finals, airing live on BowlTV.
Restrepo left a 6-10 spare on her second ball in the 10th frame. She missed only three time sin the match, including leaving one 10-pin.
“It’s OK though … I gave myself a chance in the fifth game the last round (when she shot 223 in a win over Jordan Snodgrass),” Restrepo said. “I made little mistake on the 11th shot and I could have carried that 10-pin.
“You could find 25 pins anywhere you know. Maria bowled really well that last game, too. I just leave it to God … he knows his ways through.”
Singapore’s Shayna Ng earned the No. 1 seed for the stepladder, passing Snodgrass with a 232-207 win in their position round match. Ng finished with a tourney-best 8-4 record and 5,438 total pinfall.
The 36-year-old Singapore right-hander will be seeking her fourth title.
The remainder of the top five include Snodgrass (6-6, 5,386), who reached the top five a year ago in two events at Yorktown during the PWBA Summer Series; defending PWBA Player of the Year New Hui Fen, a 34-year-old Singapore right-hander with six career PBA titles; Bohr (6-6, 5,276), a 37-year-old right-hander who will be seeking her fourth title; and Canadian Felicia Wong, the lone left-hander in match play who will be seeking her first title.
Won fell to New 204-199 in their position-round match to fall back to fifth after sitting fourth entering the final game.
Hui and Snodgrass also will be seeking their second titles of the season in hopes of securing the Player of the Year trophy following the conclusion of PWBA Tour Championship Week.
Restrepo-Hostetler, who has been battling health issues in recent weeks, admitted she was hurting during the opening six games Thursday., to take her mind off of it, she concentrated on something physical with her game.
“I was so sore this morning that I didn’t know if I could keep up,” the 38-year-old right-hander said. “It helped me tremendously and the pain went down. I concentrated on staying down alit bit and focusing on my release and my finish.”
The pain came from inner thigh problems. She also has had previous problems with her right hip and left knee.
“I wore compression (pants) on both legs and just concentrated on staying down and minimizing it,” Restrepo-Hostetler sad. “I’m just excited to bowl again tomorrow.”
Stow’s Jillian Martin finished seventh overall with 5,142, compiling a 6-6 match-play mark.