Russian girls, Dutch boys take the lead in EYC Team events after first 3-game block

The girls from Russia and the boys from the Netherlands are in the driver's seat after the first three-game block of the four-player Team events in the 24th European Youth Championships at Dream-Bowl Palace in Unterföhring, Germany.

Russia's Kristina Kryl, Margarita Verkhova, Polina Kosiakova and Alena Korobkova r(pictured left) olled games of 709, 808 and 837 to lead the girls division with 2354 pinfall total and an average of 196.17.

Kosiakova (below left) leads the 67 girls from 21 countries in All Events after 9 of 18 games with 2072 and an average of 230.22 including a 689 series in the Team event. The Russian out averaged Boys All Events leader Daniels Vezis (below right), Latvia (2007, 223.00) by more than seven pins.

With the final three-game block to go on Thursday, the top five teams in the girls division are within 35 pins. England with Doubles champions Bethany Hedley and Hannah Frost was 14 pins behind Russia in second place with 2340 and was followed by Finland and Sweden in third and fourth place with 2324 and 2319.

Just outside the box looking in were the girls of the host country Germany, who were tied with Sweden at 2319 but had the lower last game, 761 to 804.

The Dutch boys battled it out for the spot with the German team. Kevin De Haan, Jord Van Weeren, Ramon Hilferink and Joshua Schuurman (pictured left) had games of 882, 891 and 845 to hold a slim one-pin lead with record 2618 and an average of 218.71. Schuurman (right) rolled the first 300 of the EYC in the first game.

Germany's Christian Birlinger, Dominic Buchmann, Steven Wiersema and Robin Menacher (below right) had games of 857, 911 and 849 to land in second place with 2617 (218.08).

Sweden was a distant third with 2503 with Norway further 47 pins behind in fourth place at 2454. Latvia with doubles champions Arturs Levikins and Daniels Vezis sit in fifth place with 2450.

Competition continues on Thursday, April 21, with the second block of the Boys and Girls four-player team event immediately followed by the semifinals and finals.

The EYC 2011 is divided in two divisions - boys and girls. Each team consists of maximum four male and four female players, who must not have reached the age of 19 before August 31st, 2011.

Players compete for gold, silver and bronze medals in Singles, Doubles, Teams, All Events (18 games) and Masters (top 24 in All Events, single-elimination, best-of-three games) on a 40-feet sport compliant oil pattern (pdf file). Competition ends on Sunday, April 24, with the Boys and Girls Masters match play.