Pro bowler from Latvia calls Henderson home

In Riga, Latvia, there are three, maybe four bowling alleys for practice and competitions. That wasn’t quite enough for Diana Zavjalova, so she left three years ago for the United States, where bowling is significantly more popular.

The 23-year-old got a scholarship to Webber International University in Lake Wales, Fla., and now that she’s a professional, she calls Henderson home. That makes her commute to the South Point Bowling Center a short one as she competes in this week’s $650,000 PBA World Series of Bowling which began Friday and runs through Nov. 2.

“I love it here,” she said. “I love the warm weather especially. The people here are very friendly.”

Zavjalova was introduced to the sport when she was 10 by her father, who owns a shoe store in Riga. She immediately fell in love with bowling and showed some talent.

“I knew this was what I wanted to do,” she said. “So I came to America to go to college and get better. They didn’t have bowling teams at the universities back home.”

Zavjalova’s hard work paid off as she won last year’s United States Bowling Congress Queens championship, one of the biggest tournaments for women. It gave her the confidence to compete against the best and she is not afraid of going out this week and competing against men in pursuit of a spot in the PBA World Championship, to be held Jan. 11 at the South Point. The top five to come out of the World Series will advance to the January event with the winner to receive $25,000. England’s Don Barrett is the defending champion.

Within the tournament will be a match-play segment Wednesday and Thursday that will have the top 24 players from the four “animal pattern” tournaments staged earlier in the week going head-to-head over a maximum of 12 frames instead of the normal 10. Like in golf, the match will continue until one player has more points than frames remaining. Strikes beat spares and spares beat everything else.

“I’m just going to go out and compete and have fun,” said Zavjalova, one of 240 competitors, eight of whom are women, from 20 countries who are competing this week. “I’m not afraid of going up against the guys.”

Even her boyfriend, PBA Tour veteran Dave Wodka.

“I think it would be fun if we went head to head,” Zavjalova said. “But I’m not going to let him win and I’m sure he won’t let me win.”

Zavjalova said had she remained in Latvia, it would have been impossible for her to succeed professionally.

“Nobody really takes bowling seriously there,” said Zavjalova, who added that she does get home a couple times a year to visit family and friends. “I knew if I wanted to get better, I had to leave.”

But she also wants to grow the sport in her native country. Winning tournaments would be a great way to achieve that goal.

“I want people to see you can be successful through bowling,” she said. “It’s a great sport and a lot of fun. Hopefully I’ll do well enough and can inspire others to try to bowl.”

Admission to the World Series is free. Play begins at 8 a.m. today through Tuesday, 11 a.m. Wednesday, 12:30 p.m. Thursday, 8 a.m. Friday and noon Nov. 1. The Nov. 2 PBA Challenge starts at 10:30 a.m.

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj.