Maria Bulanova, Patrik Sörensen win gold medals in Singles

    03/27/16

    2016 EYC

    Cajsa Wegner, Niko Oksanen take the gold medalls in All-Events

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    Maria Bulanova of Russia and Patrik Sörensen of Denmark captured the Singles titles at the 29th European Youth Championships in Reykjavik, Iceland. 17 year-old Bulanova (pictured left), the youngest player ever to win a European Bowling Tour title in 2013 at the age of 14 years, 11 months, 1 day, topped Shir Azulay (right) of Israel, 226-184, to win her first gold medal of this EYC.

    In the semifinals top-seeded Bulanova defeated 2014 EYC Masters champion Lea Degenhardt of Germany, 206-181, while Azulay ousted Cajsa Wegner of Sweden, 214-191.

    Azulay received the silver medal, the first medal for Israel in this championships, and Wegner and Degenhardt shared the bronze medal. The picture above shows the podium.

    Bulanova averaged 245 over six games to lead the girls' singles preliminaries in the European Youth Championships and to earn the No. 1 seed for the medal round with a new Championship record of 1470, including games of 244, 196, 247, 258, 289 and 236.

    2016EYCCajsaWegner.jpg 2016EYCLeaDegenhardt.jpg Second place Wegner (left) closed out her 1405 with the second 300 game of the day. Third place Azulay (1318) accomplished the feat in the third game to become the third girl in EYC history to achieve perfection.

    Her compatriot Roni Aharonovich (2007 - Thessaloniki, Greece) and Verity Crawley of England (2012 Aalborg, Denmark) previously bowled 300 games in EYC competition.

    Degenhardt (right) finished with back-to-back 230 games to lead squad 2 with 1293 and to beat out Megan Gales Dicay of Denmark, who was fourth in Squad 1 with 1290, for the last place to advance by three pins.

    Cajsa Wegner, who had 1403 in Doubles and 1372 in the team event, added 1405 in Singles to cruise to the gold medal in All-Events with 4180 total and an average of 232.22 for 18 games.

    Maria Bulanova followed an 1121 opening series with 1400 and 1470 to win the silver medal in All-Events for the third consecutive year with 3991 (221.72), Bronze went to Katie Tagg of England with 3879.

     


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    L-R Top 3 girls in All-Events: Maria Bulanova (2nd), Cajsa Wegner (1st) and Katie Tagg (3rd).

     

     

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    In the boys' title match, second-seeded Patrik Sörensen (pictured left) of Denmark defeated team champion Rok Kostric, 249-185, to deny the Slovenian his second gold medal in the Championships.

    Top-seeded Kostric (right) flew past Emil Holmberg of Sweden in the semifinals, 248-156, while Sörensen eliminated Quentin Deroo of France, 244-190.

    Sörensen's gold medal is the first medal for Denmark in this Championships. Kostric received silver while Deroo and Holmberg got bronze.

    2016EYCQuentinDeroo.jpg 2016EYCEmilHolmberg.jpg Kostric averaged 225.33 for six games in the first squad of the boys' preliminaries and earned the No. 1 seed with 1352, including games of 214, 269, 199, 217, 207 and 246. The Slovenian survived strong charges by squad 2 bowlers Sörensen, who was second with 1345, as well as Deroo (left) and Holmberg (right), who tied at 1342 to take third and fourth place.

    Seventh place Niko Oksanen of Finland led the 84 boys with 4026 total and an average of 223.67 for 18 games en route to win the gold medal in All-Events. Oksanen, who improved on a third-place finish from last year, had 1322 in doubles, 1422 in the team event and 1282 in Singles.

    Brian Kjær of Norway was 76 pins behind in second place to earn the silver medal with 3950 (219.44). William Svensson of Sweden missed the cut to the Singles medal round by seven pins but used his 1335 series to take the bronze medal in All-Events with 3931 (218.39).

    Heading into the girls and boys Masters, Sweden leads the overall medal tally with three gold and five bronze.

     


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    L-R Top 3 boys in All-Events: Brian Kjær (2nd), Niko Oksanen (1st) and William Svensson (3rd).

     

    2016EYCLogo_small.jpg The 29th European Youth Championships will be held from March 18-27, 2016 at Keiluhöllin, Egilshöll bowling center in Reykjavik, Iceland.

    The Championships drew 137 players, 84 boys and 53 girls, from 25 member countries of the European Tenpin Bowling Federation (ETBF) - Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Scotland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine, and the host country Iceland.

    Up to four boys and four girls per country who must not be born before September 1, 1997 will bowl in separate divisions for gold, silver and bronze medals in five disciplines: Singles, Doubles and four-player Teams, All-Events and Masters.

    The 2016 EYC will be played on a 39-foot lane conditioning pattern with 24.52 mL volume oil total.

    Singles, Doubles and Team preliminaries feature six games with the top 4 advancing to the medal round. No. 1 bowls No. 4 and No. 2 takes on No. 3 in the semi-finals. The winners bowl for gold and silver while the losers share the bronze medal. All matches will be decided in one game.

    The three players with highest 18-game total of the Singles, Doubles and Teams preliminaries earn the medals in All-Events. The top 24 in All-Events determine the Masters champion in single-elimination match play in best-of-three games format. Top 8 players receive a first-round bye.

    Photos courtesy of Olga Bulanova.

     


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    Finnish boys, Swedish girls lead EYC Team event after 3/6 games
    Swedish boys, German girls start 29th European Youth Championships with victory in Doubles

     


    29th EYC - Boys Singles Medal Round


    Championship Round:
    1. Patrik Sörensen, Denmark
    2. Rok Kostric, Slovenia
    3. Quentin Deroo, France, and Emil Holmberg, Sweden

    Playoff Results:
    Semifinal Match 1: No. 1 Kostric def. Holmberg, 248-156
    Semifinal Match 2: No. 2 Sörensen def. No. 4 Deroo, 244-190
    Championship: Sörensen def. Kostric, 249-185.

     


    29th EYC - Girls Singles Medal Round


    Championship Round:
    1. Maria Bulanova, Russia
    2. Shir Azulay, Israel
    3. Cajsa Wegner, Sweden, and Lea Degenhardt, Germany

    Playoff Results:
    Semifinal Match 1: No. 1 Bulanova def. No. 4 Degenhardt, 206-181
    Semifinal Match 2: No. 3 Azulay def. No. 2 Wegner, 214-191
    Championship: Bulanova def. Azulay, 226-184.

     


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    No. 1 seed Maria Bulanova of Russia

     

     

    29th EYC - Girls Singles Preliminaries


    Top 4 advance to the medal round.

     


    29th EYC - Girls All-Events


    Final standings after 18 games; top three earn the medals in All-Events; top 24 advance to Masters match play, top 8 earn one bye

     


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    No. 1 seed Rok Kostric of Slovenia.

     

     

    29th EYC - Boys Singles Preliminaries


    Top 4 advance to the medal round.

     


    29th EYC - Boys All-Events


    Final standings after 18 games; top three earn the medals in All-Events; top 24 advance to Masters match play, top 8 earn one bye