European Youth Championships-Larkin Shows Just How Much Talent There Is In Irish Bowling

It seems there may be plenty to look forward to in the future for Irish bowling after all, after Ireland's Amanda Larkin put in an incredible performance in today's EYC Masters in Munich to eventually take a bronze medal.

Sarah Finlay also put in a top performance to make the Masters and finish inside the top 16 as England's Autumn Chamberlain went on to take the crown.

The achievement is put into real prespective when you consider this is the first time Ireland has had two representatives in the Masters at an EYC event since 1983.

Larkin only just managed to qualify for the Masters after finishing in 24th place, the final spot for the Masters. She then knocked out the number one seed before eventually coming up just short at the final stage.

It truly was a terrific performance from Larkin, who at only sixteen years of age showed a mature head on young shoulders to handle all the pressure which comes with playing in the final stages of an international event.

On the boys side of things it was a solid performance from all four, with special mention having to go to Taylor Nally, who started the tournament strongly and unfortunately just ran out of steam in the final stages before the Masters qualification was decided. Nally eventually finished in a very respectable 48th place and there certainly is reason for hope for this young man's future.

To have two players in the Masters section of an EYC event is fantastic news for the prospects of the sport in Ireland, with worries over the last few years that the sport may not even survive on an international level for Irish bowlers due to concerns over the future of the Irish Tenpin Bowling Association.

Hopefully the efforts of Larkin, Finlay and all the members of the girls and boys teams in Munich will show people in this country that there is superb talent coming up in the game, and hopefully re-awaken the appetite of any who have lost their passion and interest for the sport.

Huge congratulations to all involved in the efforts of the Irish teams in the EYC in Munich over the past week and in the preperation over the previous weeks.

For all the results check out www.eyc.bowling-em.de, the official EYC website.

Mika Koivuniemi, Cherie Tan triumph in 4th European Bowling Tour Masters 2011

PBA star Mika Koivuniemi (pictured left), a native Finn who lives in Hartland, Mich., USA, and Singapore international Cherie Tan (right) claimed the men's and women's titles in the 4th European Bowling Tour Masters, the season-ending event of the 2010 European Bowling Tour, Tuesday at Gladiator Arena in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Koivuniemi, who led the 16-player field after day one, battled it out for the men's title with qualifying leader Martin Larsen of Sweden. The frontrunner in the 2010-11 PBA Tour Player of the Year race and sole two-time EBT winner this season led the round robin match play field of 8 after five games (23 overall).

Larsen (left) regained the lead when he fired the tournament's second 300 game but the first on mixed lane conditioning pattern in the penultimate game. Koivuniemi finished in style and rebounded with a perfecto in the last game to finish with 6075 pinfall total including a 6-1 won-loss record and a scratch average of 243.

Larsen countered with a 243 game but lost against Parker Bohn III (right, 266) and had to settle for second place with 6020 (240.80) including a 3-4 match play record. Bohn, a 32-time PBA Tour champion, landed in third place with 5918 (236.72, 4-3).

Cherie Tan, who participated in just one tournament on the 2010 European Bowling Tour, earned 250 ranking points for winning the women's rankings in the EBT Platinum Brunswick Ballmaster Open. Ranked 20th in the 2010 EBT rankings, Tan made it to the Masters due to several withdrawals in the women's division.

The Singaporean made the best out of it, finishing second on medium, first on long and third on mixed oil to earn the No. 1 seed for round robin match play. Tan won her first six games with 220, 267, 201, 237, 235 and 267 to wrap up the title before the final game. Despite losing the seventh game to Mai Ginge Jensen (left) of Denmark, 191-224,

Tan finished atop the women's leaderboard with 5771 pinfall total including 120 bonus pins and an average of 230.84 scratch. Jensen won all but one match in which she was tied with compatriot Kamilla Kjeldsen at 227 to finish second with 5599 (223.96) including 130 bonus.

Joline Persson-Planefors (right), Sweden, who has won two of three qualifying blocks on medium and mixed oil, finished third with 5477 (219.08, 3-4). Kjeldsen, who has won the first three EBT Women's Masters titles, finished in eighth place.

All 16 men and 16 women bowled 18 games preliminaries, six each on medium, long and mixed oil conditioning pattern, to cut to the top 8 for the match play finals. Those 8 men and 8 women determined the champion in seven games round robin match play with the pinfall total from the preliminaries being carried forward.

The players with the highest pinfall total after 25 games including bonus points (20 for a win, 10 for a tie) were crowned men's and women's EBT Masters champion and earned 4.000 Euro each.

 

Martin Larsen, Cherie Tan led top 8 mane and women into match play finals
Mika Koivuniemi, Cherie Tan lead fourth EBT Masters after 12 games preliminaries

 

1. Mika Koivuniemi (center), Finland, 4.000 Euro
2. Martin Larsen (left), Sweden, 3.000 Euro
3. Parker Bohn III (right), United States, 2.000 Euro
4. Gery Verbruggen, Belgium, 1.000 Euro
5. Mike Fagan, United States, 900 Euro
6. Osku Palermaa, Finland, 850 Euro
7. Tore Torgersen, Norway, 800 Euro
8. Mathias Årup, Sweden, 750 Euro
9. Paul Moor, England, 500 Euro
10. Thomas Larsen, Denmark, 500 Euro
11. Perttu Jussila, Finland, 400 Euro
12. Dennis Eklund, Sweden, 400 Euro
13. Mads Sandbækken, Norway, 400 Euro
14. Chris Loschetter, United States, 300 Euro
15. Peter Ljung, Sweden, 300 Euro
16. Jesper Agerbo, Denmark, 300 Euro

Qualifying leader: Gery Verbruggen, Belgium, 400 Euro
Block 1 leader: Osku Palermaa, Finland, 400 Euro
Block 2 leader: Martin Larsen, Sweden, 400 Euro
Block 3 leader: Martin Larsen, Sweden, 400 Euro

 

1. Cherie Tan (center), Singapore, 4.000 Euro
2. Mai Ginge Jensen (left), Denmark, 3.000 Euro
3. Joline Persson-Planefors (right), Sweden, 2.000 Euro
4. Lisanne Breeschoten, Netherlands, 1.000 Euro
5. Krista Pöllänen, Finland, 900 Euro
6. Birgit Pöppler, Germany, 850 Euro
7. Wendy Kok, Netherlands, 800 Euro
8. Kamilla Kjeldsen, Denmark, 750 Euro
9. Nina Flack, Sweden, 500 Euro
10. Helén Johnsson, Sweden, 500 Euro
11. Ghislaine van der Tol, Netherlands, 400 Euro
12. Tina Hulsch, Germany, 400 Euro
13. Rebecka Larsen Jr. Sweden, 400 Euro
14. Nicole Sanders, Netherlands, 300 Euro
15. Rikke Holm Agerbo, Denmark, 300 Euro
16. Nina Manninen, Finland, 300 Euro

Qualifying leader: Joline Persson-Planefors, Sweden, 400 Euro
Block 1 leader: Cherie Tan, Singapore, 400 Euro
Block 2 leader: Joline Persson-Planefors, Sweden, 400 Euro
Block 3 leader: Cherie Tan, Singapore, 400 Euro

Osku Palermaa overtakes lead in 2011 European Bowling Tour Men's Rankings

 

Three-time European Bowling Tour men's ranking champion Osku Palermaa (2007-09, pictured left) of Finland captured his ninth career EBT title and the first since February 2010 in the 2nd Track Dream-Bowl Palace Open Sunday at Dream Bowl Palace in Munich, Germany.

Besides the 10.000 Euro top prize, the two-hander received 100 ranking points for winning the EBT Silver event en route to leap from fourth to first place in the EBT men's ranking. After the sixth tournament of the 2011 EBT season, Palermaa has 334 total ranking points.

Previous leader Thomas Larsen (right), Denmark, slipped to second place with 308 pints after finishing 27th in the DBPO and 24th in the men's rankings, worth 16 points. Four-time EBT ranking champion Gery Verbruggen, Belgium (2000-03) and Syafiq Ridhwan, Malaysia, did not compete in Munich and fell one spot to third and fourth place with 262 and 250, respectively.

Three-time EBT ranking champion Paul Moor, overtook reigning ranking champion Dominic Barrett thanks to a third-place finish with 245 points, good for fifth place in the 2011 rankings. Barrett, who was injured in an accident during the Saudi Arabia International, did not compete.

On the women's side, Carolyn Dorin-Ballard (left), United States, remained atop the leaderboard with 320 ranking points. The Team USA member did not participate in the DBPO.

Mai Ginge Jensen (right), Denmark, finished third in the women's rankings (70 points) and 22nd overall to leap from fourth to second place with 287 points. Two-time World Champion Clara Juliana Guerrero, Colombia, who has won the EBT Platinum Brunswick Euro Challenge, slipped to third place with 278 points.

World Games champion Krista Pöllänen, Finland, fell to fourth place with 275 points. Rounding out the top five is reigning women's ranking champion Nina Flack, Sweden, with 205 points. Both Pöllänen and Flack did not compete in Munich.

Two-time EBT women's rankiung winner and three-time EBT Masters winner Kamilla Kjeldsen, Denamrk, led the rankings in Munich and received 100 ranking points, her first points of the season, to move into 17th place.

Since the Viborg International in Denmark has been cancelled, the 2011 European Bowling Tour features 21 tournaments in 17 countries, two Platinum, six Gold, seven Silver and six Satellite tournaments. The total prize fund of the 2011 Tour will exceed 1 million Euro.

2011 EBT champions, men's and women's ranking winners and schedule

The top 50 men and the top 50 women in each tournament of the European Bowling Tour cash ranking points no matter from which country or World Tenpin Bowling Association Zone (Europe, Asia, America) he or she comes.

The winner of a Platinum tournament receives 250 ranking points, the winner of a Gold tournament gets 150, the winner of a Silver tournament such as the Track Dream-Bowl Palace Open earns 100, and the winner of a Satellite tournament gets 50 ranking points.

The top 16 men and the top 16 women in the EBT ranking will qualify for the 2012 EBT Masters to be held in conjunction with the 3rd Dream Bowl Palace Open in Unterföhring near Munich, Germany April 30 and May 1, 2012.

The 2011 European Bowling Tour will be in Ljubljana, Slovenia, this week for the 5th Qubica/AMF Open 2011 to be held at Bowling Center Gladiator in Ljubljana, Slovenia from April 5-10. Immediately following the touranemt ist he 4th EBT Masters.