July 19, 2024 Nolan Hughes

Janawicz becomes title-eligible for the PBA Hall of Fame by winning the 2024 Bud Moore PBA50 Players Championship, his fifth career PBA50 Tour title and fourth major

For years, the lore of John Janawicz’s talent rumbled across the bowling community. The Floridian was often the answer to the hypothetical question: Who is the world's best bowler not on the PBA Tour?

In just one and a half seasons on the PBA50 Tour, Janawicz proved the man exceeds the legend.

Janawicz defeated Liz Johnson, Chris Barnes and Mika Koivuniemi in consecutive matches to win the 2024 Bud Moore PBA50 Players Championship.

“You always have the confidence that you can win every week, but to do it is another whole thing,” Janawicz said. “Not only do you have to bowl well, but you have to have some things go your way. Fortunately, I’ve been on the good side of it in these stepladders. I feel very blessed and very grateful because this is definitely not the norm. Last week I stoned a 9-pin to lose and finish third. Sometimes you don’t have your best performance and you end up squeaking out a win.

"I like to think that if you just keep getting there, eventually, those things kind of work their own way out.”

After notching his fifth career PBA50 Tour title, and a fourth major victory, Janawicz is now title-eligible for the PBA Hall of Fame. He will be eligible to be voted into the Hall of Fame upon reaching 10 years of PBA membership.

“It’s one of those things where just because I’m eligible doesn’t mean I’m going to get in. But it’s nice to know that you satisfy the criteria,” Janawicz said. "As long as my body holds up, I’m going to keep going as long as I can and we’ll just see what happens from there."

The Bud Moore PBA50 Players Championship finalists (from left to right): Mika Koivuniemi, Chris Barnes, John Janawicz, Liz Johnson and Jon Rakoski

Janawicz was not the only player to make history on Friday evening in Virginia.

In her first PBA50 Tour event, Liz Johnson became the first woman to make a PBA50 Tour championship round.

She was also the first woman to make a televised championship round on the PBA Tour, which she achieved at the 2005 PBA Banquet Open.

Johnson struck on her first six shots and handled the No. 5 seed Jon Rakoski in a high-scoring opening match, 257-245.

Her run ended in the next match against Janawicz, the No. 3 seed. The turning point came when Johnson split and left her fifth frame open, while Janawicz converted the super-washout in his sixth frame — both on the left lane.

Janawicz then struck on that lane in his final frame to clinch the 233-205 win.

During a brilliant Friday morning of match play at Bowl America Bull Run in Manassas, Va., Chris Barnes rose from 155 pins out of the show all the way to the No. 2 seed.

Barnes' striking shoes did not travel with him to the lanes inside Bill Moore’s home for the championship round. Barnes started the match throwing urethane, splitting in the second and fifth frames.

Janawicz didn’t even need that much cushion as he ran away with a 269-173 win to advance to the title match.

Mika Koivuniemi has not competed much on the PBA50 Tour in recent years while he has been coaching overseas. But a man who earned the nickname of “Major Mika” did not forget how to perform in major championships. 

Koivuniemi secured the top seed for the stepladder finals by averaging over 230 across 42 games of qualifying and match play in the event.

In the title match, however, neither Koivuniemi nor Janawicz managed to break 200 on the scoresheet.

The opening frame set the tone for the match as Koivuniemi left the 3-6-10 in his first frame and missed it.

Janawicz, working on a double in the sixth frame, left the 2-4-8-10. He doubled down with another mistake as he threw away six pins by not getting any count on the spare attempt.

At this moment, Janawicz recalled a quote from Roger Federer’s commencement speech at Dartmouth earlier this year. Federer said that he won about 80% of his matches, but only about 54% of points during his legendary professional tennis career.

Janawicz’s takeaway: You don’t have to win every point, or every frame, to win a match. Even the best make mistakes.

And just when it looked like Koivuniemi would be on his way to his second career PBA50 Tour title and major, the tall Finn split and opened in the ninth frame, opening the door for Janawicz to strike in the ninth and 10th and clinch the win.

After leaving a 10-pin, Janawicz aced three strikes in the 10th frame to finish with 193. Therefore Koivuniemi needed a double to win the match.

The match ended as it began with Koivuniemi leaving the 3-6-10. He hurried his futile spare attempt and finished with 182.

John Janawicz's career began in fitting fashion with a title.

When Janawicz turned 50 in the fall of 2022, he set his sights on the 2023 PBA50 Tour. He said his employers at Kegel Training Center, including Chris Chartrand, afforded Janawicz the freedom to bowl as many PBA50 tournaments as he wanted.

Before the 2023 national tour began, Janawicz flew to California to bowl a regional with the hopes of winning and securing eligibility for the PBA50 Tournament of Champions at the end of the season.

Janawicz won the regional. Then he won his first national event, the USBC Senior Masters.

Four months to the date after that regional, he won the TOC.

This season, Janawicz has won three titles — the PBA50 Johnny Petraglia BVL Open, Senior U.S. Open and Bud Moore PBA50 Players Championship — and leads the PBA50 Player of the Year race.

In just eight total attempts, Janawicz has won four of five possible majors on the PBA50 Tour.

For those doing the math at home, Janawicz's winning percentage in majors is 50%.

Only one major remains for the 51-year-old to conquer: the PBA50 World Championship, which just so happens to begin next week in Jackson, Mich. as part of the PBA50 World Series of Bowling II.

“It’s been a magical ride,” Janawicz said. “The goals remain the same: 1) stay healthy and 2) keep learning. If I can just get a little bit smarter than I was yesterday and not make the same mistakes I made the day before, I'll be content with whatever the results are.”

Championship Round Scores

Match 1: No. 4 Liz Johnson def. No. 5 Jon Rakoski, 257-245
Match 2: No. 3 John Janawicz def. No. 4 Liz Johnson, 233-205
Match 3: No. 3 John Janawicz def. No. 2 Chris Barnes, 269-173
Championship: No. 3 John Janawicz def. No. 1 Mika Koivuniemi, 193-182

Final Standings

  1. John Janawicz, $20,000
  2. Mika Koivuniemi, $11,000
  3. Chris Barnes, $7,000
  4. Liz Johnson, $5,000
  5. Jon Rakoski, $4,000

More information on the 2024 Bud Moore PBA50 Players Championship, including complete standings, are available here.