Dutch Xander van Mazijk wins gold in Men’s Singles from top seed

27 November, 2017

Championships

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Qualifying leader Xander van Mazijk won the first gold medal for The Netherlands in a World Championship since 1995 when defeated third-seeded spinner Wu Hao-Ming, Chinese Taipei, in the championship match, 224-190.

Pictured above from left: Wu Hao-Ming, Xander van Mazijk, Tobias Börding and Israel Hernandez together with their coaches and Barb and Bill Chrisman of sponsor Storm.

Van Mazijk (left), a 25-year-old right-hander coached by Michael Sassen, a three-time world champion 1995 in Reno (trios, team and all-events), was down by two pins heading into the last four frames.

His opponent Wu (right), a 35-year-old right-hander of Chinese Taipei, who is using the so-called spinner or helicopter style, knows how to strike at South Point Bowling Plaza in Las Vegas as he rolled the first 300 game of the Championships in the singles preliminaries yesterday.

Wu, bronze medalist in singles at the 2017 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games (AIMAG), struck on five of his last six shots, but left a 4-7-10 split in the ninth frame which sealed his fate. Van Mazijk countered with a five-bagger to seal the victory with his first strike in the 10th frame.

In his semi-final match, Van Mazijk met no. 4 Tobias Börding (left) of Germany, who reached the finals winning a one-ball roll-off against Denmark’s Thomas Larsen.

The Dutch Followed an opening split with three strikes and another split before he fouled in sixth frame but converted the spare. Börding, a 25-year-old right-hander, stayed clean in the first seven frames, but got his first strike in the seventh frame.

The German then suffered back-to-back opens which opened the door for Van Mazijk. He closed with four strikes to advance, 204-174.

In the other semi-final match, Wu took on Israel Hernandez (right), a 27-year-old right-handed bowler from Puerto Rico. While Wu bowled a clean game, including a four-bagger from a frame 4 through 7, while Hernandez, seeded second, opened in frames 1, 7 and 9 which handed the match to the spinner well before the final frame, 226-165.

Wu received the silver medal, while the semi-final losers, Börding and Hernandez, both got bronze. The men will complete the doubles preliminaries later on Monday.

The World Bowling Championships for men and women will be held from Nov. 25 through Dec. 4 at South Point Bowling Plaza in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States.

The Championships will award medals in six disciplines in each division – singles, doubles, trios, team, all-events and masters.

Bowlingdigital will provide onsite coverage of the combined World Championships including reports, photos and results after each round commencing with women’s singles preliminaries on Saturday, Nov. 25, all the way through to masters match play on Monday, Dec. 4, completed in the late afternoon.

World Bowling provides governance to international bowling and is made up of 134 bowling international federations. For more information on the World Bowling Tour, click here.

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2017 World Bowling Championships Preview

World Bowling Championships – Men’s Singles Finals

South Point Bowling Plaza in Las Vegas, USA (Nov. 27, 2017)

Championship Round:
Gold: Xander van Mazijk, Netherlands, 428 (2 games)
Silver: Wu Hao-Ming, Chinese Taipei, 400 (2 games)
Bronze: Israel Hernandez, Puerto Rico, 165 (1 game)
Bronze: Tobias Börding, Germany, 174 (1 game)

Playoff Results:
Semifinal Match 1: No. 1 van Mazijk def. No. 4 Börding, 204-174
Semifinal Match 2: No. 3 Wu def. No. 2 Hernandez, 226-165
Championship Match: van Mazijk def. Wu, 224-190.

Herbert Bickel