At over 7kg, the massive championship trophy Cherie Tan hoisted on the podium on Sunday weighed more than her bowling ball, but its weight did little to stop the kegler from smiling.
For her win at the QubicaAMF Professional Women's Bowling Association (PWBA) Players Championship in Raleigh, North Carolina, was yet another feather in the cap for Tan, who a week ago had clinched a historic Masters title at the World Bowling Women's Championships in Las Vegas.
She is the first Asian to win the 59-year-old PWBA championship, which comes with a winner's cheque of US$20,000 (S$27,600).
Tan, 31, told The Straits Times that tweaks to her game have been key to her recent form.
She said: "I made changes to my game, in terms of my timing and my swing, late last year, and I think that has enabled me to do well this year."
Adding that it was "awesome" to win back-to-back titles given the rarity and difficulty of such a feat, Tan paid tribute to her coaches and support staff, teammates and family, including her younger sister Daphne, a national bowler who also competed at the tournament.
Tan, who is a Spex Scholar, also credited the Singapore Bowling Federation and national sports agency Sport Singapore (SportSG) for providing her with opportunities to test herself against the best bowlers in the world.
The Spex Scholarship provides an enhanced level of support, including financial support, for athletes on SportSG's high performance sports pathway.
Fresh off her victory at the world championships, Tan brought her winning form to North Carolina, where she bowled consistently throughout the week to earn top seeding in the stepladder finals with a total of 8,744 pinfalls, ahead of Shannon Pluhowsky of the United States (8,663).
But it was fifth seed Shannon O'Keefe (8,170), the reigning PWBA Player of the Year, who progressed all the way to set up a final clash against Tan.
The title match at the Buffaloe Lanes North Bowling Centre saw southpaw Tan deliver a flurry of nine strikes to beat the 40-year-old American 245-204 and claim the championship trophy.
The Singaporean's victory also earned her an invitation to the season-ending PWBA Tour Championship, which will take place in Richmond, Virginia, from Sept 15 to 18.
She will be joined by national teammate Shayna Ng, who qualified after winning the PWBA Sonoma County Open, as the top 16 players from the 2019 season battle for honours.
Singaporean bowler New Hui Fen triumphed in the 2016 edition of the Tour Championship, and when asked if she could emulate her compatriot, Tan said: "The Tour Championship has matchplay format so it's a different game altogether.
"I hope to win, but bowling results can be rather unpredictable. All I can focus on is to make good shots and the necessary adjustments."
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 18. The players then bowled two nine-game rounds of matchplay and only the top five players, who are seeded based on total pinfalls, progressed to the stepladder finals.
