Shawn Maldonado Wins PBA Liberal Kansas Southwest Open

Liberal, Kan., (Sept. 17, 2019) –Shawn Maldonado from Houston, Texas, won three of his first five matches in the modified eight-game round robin match play finals to build a 248-pin lead and then held off Canada’s Francois Lavoie to claim his 11th PBA Regional title in the third annual PBA Liberal Kansas Southwest Open Sunday at Ayr Lanes. 

Maldonado started the match play finals in the lead before losing matches six and seven with games of 192 and 169 while Lavoie closed in with wins with 257 and 229 game, setting up the deciding position round match. Maldonado still held a 64-pin lead, meaning Lavoie had to win the match by 35 pins and collect the 30 bonus pins to win the title. While Maldonado was filling frame through the middle of the match, Lavoie countered with two doubles to briefly take the lead. When Lavoie failed to convert two splits late in the game, Maldonado escaped with a 192-174 loss, but still maintained the overall pinfall lead, 4,610-4,594. 

The win was worth $4,000 to Maldonado while Lavoie collected $2,400 for second place. 

The Southwest Region’s next event is the PBA Odessa Southwest Super Regional, offering a projected first place prize of $5,000. Two one-day PBA50 tournaments follow over the Sept. 27-29 weekend at Junction City Bowl in Junction City, Kan. The second annual PBA50 Waxahachie Southwest Open will then be held at Hilltop Lanes, Oct. 18-20.