Martin and Bond Win Bronze in Hong Kong, Husker Trio Narrowly Misses Semifinal

Kowloon, Hong Kong - Huskers Jillian Martin and Julia Bond teamed up to take the bronze medal for Team USA in the Women's Doubles event at the International Bowling Federation World Championships this past Sunday. 

Martin, reigning NTCA Player of the Year, and Bond, current Husker assistant coach, qualified for round two after posting a 1,409 pinfall and 201.29 average through seven games. They would top the field in round two, winning all five of their games, averaging 207 pins for a 1,035 total pinfall.

Moving on to the semifinal, Martin and Bond faced Singaporean sisters Cherie Tan Shi Hua and Daphne Tan Shi Jing in a best-of-three series. The two Huskers would take the first game 188-158 before the Singaporeans came back to win the final two games 220-188 and 256-160 to end Team USA's run. 

Former Husker Shannon Pluhowsky, accompanied by Bryanna Coté, also represented Team USA in the doubles competition, but the pair would fall short of the semifinal, going 2-3 and finishing in fourth place in group B.

Despite missing out on gold, Bond was still happy with the results.

“Winning a bronze medal in doubles with Jillian (Martin) is very special to me,” Bond said. “This is the first time we’ve competed with each other on this type of stage. I wasn’t sure if we’d ever have this opportunity together, so I’m really grateful for her trust and support in me. I had a lot of fun, and I hope this won’t be the last time we take on the world together like this.”

Martin enjoyed the pairing as well.

“It was really fun competing with Julia (Bond) throughout doubles,” Martin said. “I feel like we are very open and have good communication, which worked to our advantage today. She always helps me stay grounded, and today we were able to feed off each other’s energy to stay positive, have fun and make good shots.”

In the women's trios event Tuesday, Martin, Bond and Pluhowsky teamed up and  qualified for the round of 16 with a second-place finish in the first round, knocking down 1500 pins in seven games for a 214.29 average.

The three Huskers would fall short in the second round as they tied with both Team Macao and Team Japan, ultimately losing the one game tie-breaker as Japan (211) would move on to the semifinals over Macao (174) and Team USA (155).

The women's team competion begins on Wednesday.