Martin Larsen selected Swedish Bowler of the Year

The Swedish Bowling Federation has selected World Doubles Champion Martin Larsen as the Bowler of the Year 2006. The 27 year-old Swedish International has had an outstanding year and was the top ranked player on the Swedish Super Six Tour and the No. 5 on the European Bowling Tour.

"Overall this his has been my best year. I have become more stable and I think I only failed once to qualify in an individual tournament", Martin said. His peak performances came in August and September, starting with a fourth-place finish in the Danish Masters in Copenhagen, followed by a third place in the Olympia Tournament in Helsingborg and the gold medal in Doubles (with Robert Andersson) at the Men's World Championships in Busan, Korea.

Martin claims that his main goals for the coming year will be the World Ranking Masters in Doha, Qatar, the Swedish League Championship finals and the European Championships in Vienna.

He is also thinking about joining the PBA Tour in the United States at one time, but this is not a priority - for the moment. "It seems to me that the European Tour is heading into the right direction while the PBA Tour made a step backwards this year", he said.

The selection of Martin Larsen wasn't easy as many Swedish bowlers showed strong performances during the year 2006. Other candidates were Helén Johnsson, who won the women's European Championship Masters, Annika Kilander, winner of both the European Champions Cup and the Swedish Championship, Robert Andersson, World Doubles Champion and winner of the last stop on the Super Six Tour, and Peter Ljung, who won two tournaments on the 2006 European Bowling Tour and had one second-place finish.