Agerbo, Kulick strike gold in World Singles Championships

09 December, 2016

Championships

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Jesper Agerbo of Denmark and defending women’s champion Kelly Kulick, United States, struck gold in the World Singles Championships which concluded Friday afternoon with the knock-out finals at Qatar Bowling Center in Doha. Along with the gold medal, Agerbo and Kulick received 8,000 and 6,000 Dollar bonuses, respectively.

Pictured above: The 2016 World Singles Champions, Jesper Agerbo and Kelly Kulick.

Agerbo, a seven-time European champion, flew past 19-year-old Rafiq Ismail (left) of Malaysia, 256-205, to seal the victory.

PWBA spokesperson Kulick, who won the inaugural World Singles Championships in Cyprus in 2012, defeated 2016 PWBA Rookie of the Year New Hui Fen (pictured with Shayna Ng, right) of Singapore, 214-195, to successfully defend her title.

In the semifinals, Agerbo, who won three gold medals at the 2016 European Championships (singles, trios and all-events), eliminated No. 4 seed, Joonas Jähi (left) of Finland, 234-168. Jähi won two gold medals at the 2016 European Championships (doubles and team) and finished second to Agerbo in all-events.

In the other match, Ismail sidelined three-time Asian champion Michael Mak (right) of Hong Kong, 235-224. Ismail received the silver medal while Mak and Jähi both got a bronze medal.

The women’s medal round featured three USA vs. Singapore matches. Fourth-seeded New, who won the season-ending Smithfield PWBA Tour Championship for her first career PWBA title and the first major, edged top-seeded world champion Shannon Pluhowsky (pictured with Kelly Kulick, right), 238-237, to advance to the title match.

Second-seeded Kulick (right), who made sports history by winning the 2010 PBA Tournament of Champions to become the first woman to win a PBA Tour event, eliminated New’s team mate and No. 3 seed, Shayna Ng, 216-172, in the other semifinal match.

New earned the silver medal while Pluhowsky and Ng shared the bronze medal.

The 2016 World Singles Championships will be held Dec. 2-9 at Qatar Bowling Center in Doha, Qatar. Up to two men and two women from each member federation of World Bowling are eligible to compete in the second edition of the event. Each player must have reached the age of 15 years on January 1, 2016.

The Championships drew 134 players from 50 countries, including 81 men from 47 countries and 53 women from 33 countries.

After four days of qualifying featuring three four-game blocks, the top 32 players of each gender advanced. Men and women were split into four groups according to the following bracket: Group A (1, 8, 9, 16, 17, 24, 25, 32); Group B (2, 7, 10, 15, 18, 23, 26, 31); Group C (3, 6, 11, 14, 19, 22, 27, 30); and Group D (4, 5, 12, 13, 20, 21, 28, 29).

Each qualifying group bowled eight qualifying games. Each player in the qualifying group bowled against every other player in the group every game. Points were awarded on the following basis: The highest scoring player in each game received 7 points, the second highest scoring 6 points, the third highest 5 points etc. down to the eighth highest, who received 0 points.

The top 2 from the point standing of each group advanced to play eight games in one group with a system as specified above.

The top 4 advanced to the semifinals (No. 1 vs. No. 4 and No. 2 vs. No. 3), with the higher ranked players having the choice of the starting lane. The losers of both one-game matches received bronze medals.

The semifinal winners determined the champion in a final one-game match. The winner of this match received a gold medal and the loser a silver medal.

The men’s gold medalist will received US$8,000, the silver medalist earned US$6,000 and the bronze medalists got US$3,000 apiece. The women’s gold medalist received US$6,000, the silver medalist got US$4,000 and the bronze medalists earned US$3,000 each.

The prizes were paid by the Qatar Bowling Federation which also offered daily high series awards, $300 for men and $200 for women.

For more details, click here.

The World Singles Championships will be held every four years. The inaugural WSC was held at Galactica Bowling Center in Limassol, Cyprus (Sept. 18-26, 2012) and drew 128 players from 44 countries, 71 men from 40 countries and 57 women from 33 countries.

The third World Singles Championships will be held in Tokyo, Japan, in 2020.

World Bowling provides governance to international bowling and is made up of 115 member federations within three geographical zones. For more information on the World Bowling Tour, click here.

Photos courtesy of Terrance Yaw, Asian Bowling Federation (ABF).

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2016 World Singles Championships – Men’s Finals

Qatar Bowling Center in Doha, Qatar (Dec. 2-9, 2016)

From left: Rafiq Ismail (silver), Jesper Agerbo (gold), Michael Mak and Joonas Jähi (bronze).

Championship Round:
Gold: Jesper Agerbo, Denmark, 490 (2 games)
Silver: Rafiq Ismail, Malaysia, 440 (2 games)
Bronze: Michael Mak, Hong Kong, 224 (1 game)
Bronze: Joonas Jähi, Finland, 168 (1 game)

Playoff Results:
Semifinal Match 1: No. 1 Agerbo def. No. 4 Jähi, 234-168
Semifinal Match 2: No. Ismail def. No. 3 Mak, 235-224
Championship: Agerbo de. Ismail, 256-205.

2016 World Singles Championships – Women’s Finals

Qatar Bowling Center in Doha, Qatar (Dec. 2-9, 2016)

From left: New Hui Fen (silver), Kelly Kulick (gold), Shannon Pluhowsky and Shayna Ng (bronze).

Championship Round:
Gold: Kelly Kulick, United States, 430 (2 games)
Silver: New Hui Fen, Singapore, 433 (2 games)
Bronze: Shannon Pluhowsky, United States, 237 (1 game)
Bronze: Shayna Ng, Singapore, 172 (1 game)

Playoff Results:
Semifinal Match 1: No. 4 New def. No. 1 Pluhowsky, 238-237
Semifinal Match 2: No. 2 Kulick def. No. 3 Ng, 216-172
Championship: Kulick def. New, 214-195.

Herbert Bickel