'Peg bowler three-peats at nationals By Glen Dawkins
03/21/07
Winnipeg tenpin bowler Michael Schmidt made some history this weekend in Edmonton but he had to get past a familiar face to do it.
The 26-year-old chalked up his third consecutive Bowling World Cup National title by beating Winkler's Darren Klassen in the final.
The top seed after the qualifying round, Schmidt will now represent Canada at the Qubica/AMF Bowling World Cup, Nov. 3-11 in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Schmidt won the Bowling World Cup in Ljubljana, Slovenia in 2005 (pictured right with the trophy) and he finished third in Caracas, Venezuela last year.
"I was just excited that there were two Manitobans in the final," said Schmidt, who became only the second Canadian male to win three straight titles. "(I knew) Whoever won was going to be a fabulous representative for Canada."
Calgary's Jack Guay (left) won three in a row in 1993-95 and also won in 1998 and 2004 and reached the final in 2005 before losing to Schmidt.
Seeded third, Klassen advanced to the final by upsetting Calgary's Corey Clayton in the stepladder semifinal.
(Editor's note: #3 Monique Belanger (SK) defeated #2 Lynne Gauthier (MB) in the semi-final, 221-167. Belanger went on to defeat top-seeded Julie Johnson-Loyer (Que.), 256-198 and 245-224, to win the women's title and to qualify for the World Cup.)
Canada
Republished courtesy of the Winnipeg Sun (March 20, 2007)
Winnipeg tenpin bowler Michael Schmidt made some history this weekend in Edmonton but he had to get past a familiar face to do it.The 26-year-old chalked up his third consecutive Bowling World Cup National title by beating Winkler's Darren Klassen in the final.
The top seed after the qualifying round, Schmidt will now represent Canada at the Qubica/AMF Bowling World Cup, Nov. 3-11 in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Schmidt won the Bowling World Cup in Ljubljana, Slovenia in 2005 (pictured right with the trophy) and he finished third in Caracas, Venezuela last year."I was just excited that there were two Manitobans in the final," said Schmidt, who became only the second Canadian male to win three straight titles. "(I knew) Whoever won was going to be a fabulous representative for Canada."
Calgary's Jack Guay (left) won three in a row in 1993-95 and also won in 1998 and 2004 and reached the final in 2005 before losing to Schmidt.Seeded third, Klassen advanced to the final by upsetting Calgary's Corey Clayton in the stepladder semifinal.
(Editor's note: #3 Monique Belanger (SK) defeated #2 Lynne Gauthier (MB) in the semi-final, 221-167. Belanger went on to defeat top-seeded Julie Johnson-Loyer (Que.), 256-198 and 245-224, to win the women's title and to qualify for the World Cup.)