SINGAPORE - A week after winning a historic Masters title at the World Bowling Women's Championships in Las Vegas, Singapore's Cherie Tan added another feather in her cap by capturing the QubicaAMF Professional Women's Bowling Association (PWBA) Players Championship in Raleigh, North Carolina on Sunday (Sept 8).

She is the first Asian to win the 59-year-old championship, which comes with prize money of US$20,000 (S$27,627).

Tan said: "It's really awesome, because to come away with back to back wins is something that everyone wants, but it's quite hard to achieve, so I'm really pleased with the results."

The 31-year-old had bowled consistently over the week to earn top seeding in the Stepladder Finals with a total of 8,744 pinfalls, ahead of Shannon Pluhowski (8,663).

But it was fifth seed Shannon O'Keefe (8,170), the reigning PWBA Player of the Year, that progressed all the way to the final to meet Tan.

Tan, however, maintained her form, delivering nine strikes in the title match to beat the 40-year-old American 245-204 and claim the championship.

Tan was humble in victory, adding: "Bowling is a sport where it can be anyone's day, and today was just my day. All the competitors are equally great."

The PWBA Players Championship is one of the four major tournaments on the PWBA Tour, and is open only to PWBA members.

Fifty participants bowled two nine-game rounds of qualifying, before the field was cut to the top 18. The 18 players then bowled two nine-game rounds of match play, and only the top five players, who are seeded based on total pinfalls, progressed to the Stepladder Finals.

Tan's victory earned her an invitation to the season-ending PWBA Tour Championship, which will take place in Richmond, Virginia, from Sept 15-18.