Øyvin Kulseng defeated the No. 1 and No. 2 seed in the Boys Singles Playoffs en route to claim the first gold medal for Norway at the 25th European Youth Championships in Aalborg, Denmark. In the title match, Kulseng topped Alexander Minenko, Russia, 222-171.

In the semifinals, fourth seeded Kulseng flew past No. 1 seed Marek Talpa, Czech Republic, 228-168, while Minenko, seeded second, edged No. 3 Jeroen van Geel, Netherlands, by a whisker, 215-213.

As in the Girls Singles championship match, the No. 2 seed bowled the No. 4 seed for the title. Also, Talpa's defeat meant that the six top seeds went 0-6 in boys and girls Doubles, Team and Singles finals. To make it worse, only one of the six top seeds, Swedes Annie Thorell and Jenny Wegner, reached the title match (in girls Doubles).

Minenko took the silver medal while Talpa and Van Geel had to settle for the bronze medals.

The 25th European Youth Championships will be held from March 31 through April 9, 2012 at Lovvang Bowling Center in Aalborg, Denmark.

The EYC 2012 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, 2012.

The players compete for gold, silver and bronze medals in Doubles, Teams, Singles, All Events (18 games) and Masters (top 24 in All Events, single-elimination, best-of-three games). Competition starts on Monday, April 2 with the Boys Doubles and ends on Easter Sunday, April 8, with the Boys and Girls Masters match play.

For more information please download 2012 EYC Bulletin (MS Word document).

 

Related Articles

England's Verity Crawley comes from behind to win Girls Singles title at 2012 EYC
Daria Kovalova earns No. 1 seed for Girls Singles Playoffs en route to win gold in All Events
Daria Kovalova on course to defend EYC titles in Singles and All Events
Czech Republic's Marek Talpa earns No. 1 seed for the EYC Boys Singles Playoffs
Czech Marek Talpa sets the pace in Boys Singles Preliminaries at EYC Denmark
Finnish girls come from behind to win Girls Team title in EYC Denmark
Dutch boys shoot big game to win Team title at European Youth Championships
Swedish boys dominate Team preliminaries to earn second consecutive No. 1 seed
England takes the No. 1 seed for the Girls Team Playoffs at European Youth Championships
Swedish girls take the pole position in EYC Team event after the first three-game block
Sweden sets the pace as Boys Team event reaches halfway point at EYC
Finland captures the title in Boys Doubles at European Youth Championships
England defends Girls Doubles title to start 25th European Youth Championships
Swedish girls earn No. 1 seed for the Doubles playoffs at European Youth Championships
Scandinavian boys dominate Doubles preliminaries at European Youth Championships

 

25th European Youth Championships - Boys Singles Finals

Lovvang Bowling Center in Aalborg, Denmark (April 7, 2012)

Championship Round:
1, Øyvin Kulseng, Norway
2. Alexander Minenko, Russia
3. Marek Talpa, Czech Republic, and Jeroen van Geel, Netherlands

Playoff Results:
Semifinal Match 1: No. 4 Kulseng def. No. 1 Talpa, 228-168
Semifinal Match 2: No. 2 Minenko def. No. 3 Van Geel, 215-213
Championship Match: Kulseng def. Minenko, 222-171.