World champions Dan MacLelland and Francois Lavoie joined forces to win the gold medal in men’s doubles which concluded the bowling competition at the X World Games 2017 Monday at Sky Bowling in Wroclaw, Poland.

Pictured above from left to right: Venezuela (Massimiliano Fridegotto, Ildemaro Ruiz), Canada (Dan MacLelland, Francois Lavoie) and Hong Kong (Michael Mak, Wu Siu Hong).

In one of the most exciting and thrilling matches of the four-day competition, the Canadians topped Ildemaro Ruiz and Massimiliano Fridegotto, 972-935, in two-games, total pins format.

Canada took a slim 28-pin lead after winning the first game, 477-449. MacLelland led the Canadians with 268, with Ruiz close behind with 259.

The Venezuelan standout started the second game with 11 consecutive strikes before a brutal pocket 7-10 split on his final shot ended his bid at perfection. Even a huge 298 game, however, was not enough to make up ground and catch the Canadians as Fridegotto was unable to match Ruiz vigorous pace.

Fridegotto contributed 188 for 486, but MacLelland (216), gold medalist in singles at the 2014 World Championships, and especially Lavoie (279), gold medalist in trios at the 2013 World Championships, 2016 U.S. Open winner, and 2016 Rookie of the Year, posted 495 to wrap up the title.

It was the first medal for Canadian men in the history of the World Games and the second gold medal for Canada after Jane Amlinger‘s victory in singles 1989 in Karlsruhe, Germany. It also capped off an extremely successful month of July for Lavoie, who win back-to-back European Bowling Tour titles in Madrid Challenge and San Marino Open.

The medals were presented by José Perurena López of Spain, president of the International World Games Association (IWGA), who attended the gold medal match.

From left to right: Tournament Director Mike Seymour; Kevin Dornberger, CEO of World Bowling; IWGA President José Perurena López, and Adam Roczek, Vice President of the Wroclaw Organizing Committee – The World Games 2017.

After the award ceremony, the dignitaries each held a brief speech (right) to the athletes, official and spectators.

Ruiz, who averaged over 244 for 12 games in doubles, and Fridegotto received the silver medal. It was the second silver medal for Ruiz, who fell to Cho Youngseon of Korea in the gold medal match in singles.

Ruiz’ 298 game and 557 series topped the 296 and 543 series Michael Mak of Hong Kong posted in the bronze medal match against Mexico on the way to a 1003-948 victory. Mak and his team mate Wu Siu Hong (left), who ran into a Canadian ‘buzzsaw’ in losing the semi-final match, 1059-911, earned the bronze medal.

It was the second medal for Hong Kong at World Games after Siu Hong’s silver medal in singles at the 2009 Games in Kaohsiung, Chinese Taipei.

Mexico’s Ricardo Lecuona and Arturo Quintero (right, l-r), who lost to Venezuela in the other semifinal match, 941-862, had to settle for fourth place. The Mexicans led Poll 1

Mexico, one of the unseeded teams in the group phase like Venezuela, defeated Canada and Korea in a 9th and 10th place roll-off, 89-86-84, to win Pool 1. Canada advanced in second place, while the top-seeded Koreans were eliminated.

For the doubles competition, the men’s teams from the 16 countries, who qualified for the World Games, were split into four pools with four doubles each. The top 8 federations, two per pool, were seeded based on their overall performance at the 21014 world championships. The remaining eight federations were placed into the pools based on a draw.

Each pool then had three matches where each team plays each other over two games. Two points were allocated for a win and one point for a tie. The top two point scorers from each pool proceeded to the finals where the matches were based on a predetermined draw, with the losers of semi-finals playing off for the bronze medal and the winners proceeding to the gold medal match.

The World Games is a multi-sport event staged every four years since 1981 by the International World Games Association under the patronage of the International Olympic Committee for sports, disciplines or events within a sport that are not contested in the Olympic Games.

The 10th edition of the World Games will be held in Wroclaw, Poland, 20–30 July 2017. More than 3,000 athletes from 31 sports and 111 countries will take part in the biggest sport event ever staged in Poland.

Bowlingdigital.com provided onsite coverage of the bowling events from July 21 through July 24, including reports, results and photos of each event.

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X World Games 2017 – Men’s Doubles Medalists

Gold: Canada – Dan MacLelland, Francois Lavoie
Silver: Venezuela – Ildemaro Ruiz, Massimiliano Fridegotto
Bronze: Hong Kong – Wu Siu Hong, Michael Mak

Playoff Results:
Gold Medal Match:
Canada (477, 495) def. Venezuela (449, 486), 972-935
Fridegotto 378 (190, 188), Ruiz 557 (259, 298) vs MacLelland 484 (268, 216), Lavoie 488 (209, 279)
Bronze Medal Match:
Hong Kong (533, 470) def. Mexico (445, 503), 1003-948
Wu 460 (237, 223), Mak 543 (296, 247) vs Lecuona 459 (233, 226), Quintero 489 (212, 277)

X World Games 2017 – Men’s Doubles Round of 4

Single-elimination, two-games-total-pins format. Winner advance to the gold medal match, loser advance to the bronze medal match.

Venezuela def. Mexico, 941-862
Canada def. Hong Kong, 1059-911

X World Games 2017 – Men’s Doubles Round of 8

Single-elimination, two-games-total-pins format. Winner advance to the semi-finals.

Mexico def. Denmark, 864-845
Canada def. Singapore, 951-898
Venezuela def. Colombia, 905-903
Hong Kong def. United States, 972-958

X World Games 2017 – Men’s Doubles Group Phase

Standings after three games of match play with the two-game total pinfall determining the winner. Two points per win, one for a tie. Top 2 teams advance

Pool 1
1. Mexico, 4
2. Canada, 4
3. Korea, 4
4. Poland, 0
Mexico def. Canada and Korea in 9th and 10th place roll-off, 89-86-84. Mexico earns the No. 1 seed, Canada was seeded second and Korea was eliminated.

Pool 2
1. Singapore, 4
2. Denmark, 4
3. Italy, 2
4. Japan, 2
In a 9th and 10th place roll-off for first and second place, Singapore defeated Denmark, 86-80.

Pool 3
1. Venezuela, 6
2. Hong Kong, 4
3. Netherlands, 2
4. Finland, 0

Pool 4
1. United States, 6
2. Colombia, 4
3. Germany, 2
4. Chinese Taipei, 0

For the complete results, please visit the official website