Chris Bunnage of Kelowna, British Columbia and Mathieu Vallieres (the duo on the right), Rock Forest, Quebec won the gold medal and Darren Klassen, Winkler, Manitoba and Steve Uchikata of Mississauga, Ontario earned the bronze medal in the Boys Doubles event of the XI American Zone Championships taking place in Puebla, Mexico.

Matthew O'Grady and Singles champion Josh Blanchard (pictured with coach Rod Ross), United States, teamed to win the silver medal with 2451 six-game total.

This brings Canada's medal count to six and gives the team it's second double medal of the tournament. Felicia Wong/Jennifer Besana and Cassie Campbell//Kodee Pilling earned silver and bronze respectively in the Girls Doubles event on Monday morning. Allen Ryan of Montreal, QC and Debbie Chan of Calgary, Ab are coaching the team.

Wong and Uchikata are leading the all events race after 12 games of competition. The top 12 boys and girls in the competition for those who are under 20 as of January 1, 2006 will compete in the masters event. The masters is a round-robin match play competition followed by a stepladder final.

Tournament director Gilbert Snijders is very happy with the organization and the championship itself. "The volunteers of the host city Puebla are working with great enthusiasm, while the bowlers are showing great sportsmanship and are performing on a high level. These are the main ingredients, wich make the 11th American Zone Youth Championship a great success".

Competition continues Tuesday with the boys and girls team event. The American Zone Championships features nine countries and nearly 100 athletes, consisting of five disciplines (singles, doubles, team, all-events and Masters). Individual totals from singles, doubles, and team are combined to determine the all-events winner. The top 12 in all-events also advance to Masters play on Wednesday and Thursday.

11th American Zone Youth Championships - Boys Doubles

Countries and Players with position, six-game total and average

1. Canada, 2496, 208,00
Christopher Bunnage, 1260, 210,00/Mathieu Vallieres, 1236, 206,00

2. United States, 2451, 204,25
Matthew O'Grady, 1298, 216,33/Josh Blanchard, 1153, 192,17

3. Canada, 2370, 197,50
Steven Uchikata, 1302, 217,00/Darren Klassen, 1068, 178,00

4. Venezuela, 2366, 197,17
Ildemaro Ruiz, 1195, 199,17/Rafael Medina, 1171, 195,17

5. Mexico, 2336, 194,67
Jose Salinas Villarreal, 1266, 211,00/Isi Eskenazi Yaakovsky, 1070, 178,33

6. United States, 2330, 194,17
Daniel Farish, 1151, 191,83/Daniel Vick, 1179, 196,50

7. Brazil, 2291, 190,92
Marcelo Suartz, 1187, 197,83/Charles Robini, 1104, 184,00

8. Mexico, 2274, 189,50
Humberto Vazquez Morales, 1143, 190,50/Juan Gonzalez Alarcon, 1131, 188,50

9. Dominican Republic, 2271, 189,25
Fidel Marchena, 1207, 201,17/Manino Fernandez, 1064, 177,33

10. Guatemala, 2135, 177,92
Jorge Samayoa, 1115, 185,83/Armando D. Batres Reyes, 1020, 170,00

11. Brazil, 2120, 176,67
Renan Guerra, 1075, 179,17/Thiago Travagini, 1045, 174,17

12. Venezuela, 2113, 176,08
Luis E. Rovaina, 991, 165,17/Bruno Galli, 1122, 187,00

13. Puerto Rico, 2101, 175,08
Israel O. Hernandez, 1030, 171,67/Luis A. Gonzalez, 1071, 178,50

14. Dominican Republic, 2098, 174,83
Ricardo Perez, 1032, 172,00/Jorge Traverso, 1066, 177,67

15. Puerto Rico, 2078, 173,17
Javier J. Diaz, 1038, 173,00/Joel Orta, 1040, 173,33

16. GUA, 2049, 170,75
Andres Castillo, 1013, 168,83/Brian Lopez, 1036, 172,67

17. El Salvador, 2025, 168,75
Juan Escobar, 979, 163,17/Rudy Quintanilla, 1046, 174,33

18. El Salvador, 1966, 163,83
Francisco Gamero, 1057, 176,17/Aldo Rivera, 909, 151,50

Download the game-by-game results here (pdf file)....