Emanuel Jonsson of Sweden defeated Niko Oksanen of Finland, 213-180, to win the gold medal in singles in the 30th European Youth Championships Friday at Tali Bowl in Helsinki, Finland.

In the gold medal match between two right-handed players, Jonsson (pictured above with coach Diana Alfredsson) won his second gold medal in the Championships after the victory of the Swedish boys in the team event yesterday and he denied Oksanen’s bid for a second gold medal after the Finn won the gold medal in all-events earlier on Friday

Jonsson started his title quest with a single-pin spare, then reeled off four consecutive strikes to take a 30 pin lead. Oksanen, who averaged over 230 in the Championships, was unable to double in the entire game. He struck in frames 1, 4 and 8 and converted five single-pin spares.

However, when Oksanen converted the 3-6-9-10 constellation in the ninth frame while Jonsson missed the baby split (3-10), the Finn needed a double and a high count in his last frame to force the Swede to mark in his 10th frame to win.

Finishing first, Oksanen’s shot went high leaving the “big four” (4-6-7-10 split) to hand the gold medal to Jonsson.

To get to the gold medal match, Jonsson and Oksanen had to sideline the top-seeded players in the semi-finals.

Jonsson, who tied Oksanen in the preliminaries, used a string of strikes in the second half of his game against No. 2 seed Sidney Schroschk (right) of Germany to defeat the two-handed left-hander, 232-177.

Oksanen led his game against Ziga Zalar in the sixth frame by 20 pins after the top-seeded Slovenian opened twice. The Finn then reeled off five consecutive strikes to put the match away well before the final frame, 235-164.

Schroschk and Zalar each got a bronze medal, the first medals for Germany and Slovenia in this Championships.

Zalar (left) started the first of two squads with second 300 game of this Championships and the 17th in the history of European Youth Championships. There could be no better place to roll the first career 300 game than on the biggest stage for youth bowlers in Europe.

He followed the perfecto with games of 217, 242, 236, 266 and 177 to lead the 92-player field from 28 countries (Ki Leighfield and Matthew Terry were expelled from the English national team and did not bowl in singles) after the preliminaries with 1438 total and an average of 239.67.

Schroschk rebounded from a 190 opening game in B squad with 242, 245, 228, 258 and 245 to win the squad with 1408 (234.67) en route to claim the No. 2 seed for the medal round.

Jonsson kicked off B squad with a near-perfect 299 game and tied Oksanen, who was second in A squad, at 1384 (230.67). Jonsson defeated Oksanen in roll-off, 40-25, to earn the No. 3 seed. The Finn, who rolled the first 300 game of the Championships in doubles, took the fourth and last spot to advance.

Jonas Dammen (right) of Norway set another high light in A squad when he connected on 12 consecutive shots in game 4 for the third perfecto of the Championships and the 18th in EYC history.

Finland swept the medals in boys’ all-events (total pinfall in doubles, team and singles preliminaries). Starting singles with a 168-pins cushion, defending champion Niko Oksanen (above center) successfully defended his title all-events as he cruised to the gold medal with EYC record 4187 total or an average of 232.61 for 18 games.

Jesse Ahokas (left) rolled 1339 in singles to maintain second place with 3974 (220.78). Trailing Ronan van der Loo by 31 pins heading into the singles event, 14-year-old Pyry Puharinen (right) topped the Dutch, 1331 to 1277, to help grab the bronze medal with 3916 (217.56) while Van der Loo had to settle for fourth place with 3893 (216.28).

It took an average of 214.06 (3853, Emanuel Jonsson, Sweden) to make the top 8, who received a first-round bye for Sunday’s match play masters. Joppe Belmans of Belgium took the 24th and last spot to advance with 3632 and an average of 201.78.

Action shifts to girls’ singles competition on Saturday. The 52 girls from 18 countries will be split into two squads which will start the six-game preliminaries at 9 a.m. and 1.15 p.m. Eastern European Summer Time. The semi-finals and the gold medal match will follow at 5.30 and 6 p.m. EEST. The singles preliminaries will also decide the medals in all-events and the 24 players, who will advance to match play masters on Easter Sunday.

The 30th European Youth Championships will be held from April 8-17, 2017 at Tali Bowl in Helsinki, Finland.

The Championships drew 146 players, 94 boys and 52 girls, from 28 member countries of the European Tenpin Bowling Federation (ETBF) – Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Russia, Scotland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine, and the host country Finland.

Up to four boys and four girls per country who must not be born before September 1, 1998 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 2017 EYC will be played on a 41-foot lane conditioning pattern with 25.485 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 Seija Lankinen.

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30th EYC 2017 – Boys Singles Medal Round

Tali Bowl in Helsinki, Finland (April 14, 2017)

Championship Round:
1. Emanuel Jonsson, Sweden, 445 (2 games)
2. Niko Oksanen, Finland, 415 (2 games)
3. Ziga Zalar, Slovenia, 164 (1 game), and
(tie) Sidney Schroschk, Germany, 177 (1 game)

Playoff Results:
Semifinal Match 1: No. 4 Oksanen def. No. 1 Zalar, 235-164
Semifinal Match 2: No. 3 Jonsson def. No. 2 Schroschk, 232-177
Championship: Jonsson def. Oksanen, 213-180.

30th EYC 2017 – Boys Singles Preliminaries

Top 4 advance to the medal round.

Pos	Players	Country	G1	G2	G3	G1-3	G4	G5	G6	G4-6	Total	Ave.
1.	Ziga Zalar	Slovenia	300	217	242	759	236	266	177	679	1438	239.67
2.	Sidney Schroschk	Germany	190	242	245	677	228	258	245	731	1408	234.67
3.	Emanuel Jonsson	Sweden	299	156	226	681	244	249	210	703	1384	230.67
4.	Niko Oksanen	Finland	269	226	278	773	258	163	190	611	1384	230.67
5.	Brent de Ruiter	Netherlands	268	241	205	714	191	235	242	668	1382	230.33
6.	Oleksandr Nechypaiev	Ukraine	198	258	212	668	214	244	227	685	1353	225.50
7.	Jesse Ahokas	Finland	229	189	206	624	254	247	214	715	1339	223.17
8.	Robin Skans	Sweden	236	244	242	722	177	181	258	616	1338	223.00
9.	Mathias G. Ankerdal	Denmark	215	233	219	667	198	225	245	668	1335	222.50
10.	Filip Thelander	Sweden	207	225	233	665	215	249	206	670	1335	222.50
11.	Pyry Puharinen	Finland	238	187	237	662	177	247	245	669	1331	221.83
12.	Joppe Belmans	Belgium	179	245	213	637	258	204	220	682	1319	219.83
13.	Jonas Dammen	Norway	192	190	180	562	300	243	214	757	1319	219.83
14.	Alex Basala	Slovakia	238	162	160	560	243	233	279	755	1315	219.17
15.	Danil Pervukhin	Ukraine	243	204	228	675	190	192	248	630	1305	217.50
16.	Enzo Franco	France	209	238	226	673	242	186	201	629	1302	217.00
17.	Ronan van der Loo	Netherlands	268	223	245	736	192	156	193	541	1277	212.83
18.	Tomáš Vrabec	Slovakia	191	190	236	617	188	263	204	655	1272	212.00
19.	Lassi Aalto	Finland	182	228	194	604	201	204	255	660	1264	210.67
20.	Alexander Beck	Norway	197	222	188	607	257	207	192	656	1263	210.50
21.	Matthew Magro	Malta	218	268	199	685	193	190	182	565	1250	208.33
22.	Emanuele Camponesco	Italy	192	177	234	603	212	233	192	637	1240	206.67
23.	Maxime Dubois	France	243	173	168	584	217	234	203	654	1238	206.33
24.	Patrick Weichert	Germany	279	187	197	663	222	178	174	574	1237	206.17
25.	Nikolaos Moutesidis	Greece	245	192	172	609	233	211	183	627	1236	206.00
26.	Eleftherios Montsenigos	Greece	202	204	161	567	195	213	254	662	1229	204.83
27.	William Svensson	Sweden	204	252	213	669	234	158	167	559	1228	204.67
28.	Alexey Stepin	Russia	194	203	211	608	191	221	206	618	1226	204.33
29.	Maksim Landau	Russia	219	223	163	605	202	234	184	620	1225	204.17
30.	Jeppe Jakobsen	Denmark	211	200	189	600	223	210	191	624	1224	204.00
31.	Marin Vedriš	Croatia	172	182	219	573	210	228	212	650	1223	203.83
32.	Dávid Vilina	Slovakia	223	227	204	654	232	175	161	568	1222	203.67
33.	Felix Huebner	Germany	150	234	256	640	156	227	193	576	1216	202.67
34.	Tim Cerkvenik Muzafirovic	Slovenia	196	208	189	593	191	217	211	619	1212	202.00
35.	Håvar W Skog	Norway	179	246	179	604	214	177	216	607	1211	201.83
36.	Pascal Kempgens	Germany	197	211	232	640	209	182	178	569	1209	201.50
37.	Jake Edwards	England	209	197	202	608	255	169	177	601	1209	201.50
38.	Roman Karlík	Slovakia	213	158	212	583	200	208	214	622	1205	200.83
39.	Yaroslav Pokutnii	Ukraine	239	171	222	632	165	186	220	571	1203	200.50
40.	Alejandro Garcia	Spain	256	181	166	603	218	204	162	584	1187	197.83
41.	Domantas Čepulis	Lithuania	201	171	203	575	190	165	255	610	1185	197.50
42.	Darren Pellegroms	Belgium	194	209	231	634	173	169	197	539	1173	195.50
43.	Bart van Beers	Netherlands	188	192	183	563	183	225	199	607	1170	195.00
44.	Stefano Gaido	Italy	179	168	203	550	190	233	195	618	1168	194.67
45.	Laurynas Narušis	Lithuania	201	146	222	569	203	178	217	598	1167	194.50
46.	Liav Yehene	Israel	171	184	203	558	227	177	205	609	1167	194.50
47.	Carl Kinnunen	Estonia	205	191	176	572	159	200	232	591	1163	193.83
48.	Mike Bergmann	Netherlands	192	207	170	569	182	223	187	592	1161	193.50
49.	Ólafur Þór Ólafsson Hjaltalín	Iceland	157	186	183	526	219	178	237	634	1160	193.33
50.	Jorgen Mathiesen	Norway	211	202	214	627	159	191	183	533	1160	193.33
51.	Maksim Eremenko	Russia	182	175	169	526	219	194	215	628	1154	192.33
52.	Chris Thomson Nairne	Scotland	172	204	236	612	161	164	216	541	1153	192.17
53.	Quentin Deroo	France	225	225	167	617	179	160	192	531	1148	191.33
54.	Austin Taylor	England	191	221	169	581	172	183	204	559	1140	190.00
55.	Jóhann Ársæll Atlason	Iceland	132	191	192	515	224	203	193	620	1135	189.17
56.	Gregory Leroy	Belgium	171	188	181	540	191	211	191	593	1133	188.83
57.	Martyn Jones	Scotland	148	172	222	542	211	173	204	588	1130	188.33
58.	Niklas J. Sørensen	Denmark	148	191	222	561	178	183	202	563	1124	187.33
59.	Jan Tříska	Czech Republic	201	178	155	534	158	224	202	584	1118	186.33
60.	Alessandro Rossi	Italy	183	162	155	500	178	224	215	617	1117	186.17
61.	Rokas Rudžinskas	Lithuania	213	213	156	582	187	177	170	534	1116	186.00
62.	Artemijs Hudjakovs	Latvia	153	162	170	485	257	169	198	624	1109	184.83
63.	Nino Haselauer	Austria	157	157	266	580	179	194	149	522	1102	183.67
64.	Mykola Sielin	Ukraine	167	151	184	502	222	182	194	598	1100	183.33
65.	Borja Sanchis	Spain	163	201	202	566	170	181	180	531	1097	182.83
66.	Sven Fekeža	Croatia	201	176	165	542	146	204	200	550	1092	182.00
67.	Hugo Bonnefoy	France	179	199	184	562	143	225	155	523	1085	180.83
68.	Mehmet Gokhan Bilgin	Turkey	134	165	177	476	200	218	183	601	1077	179.50
69.	Jonas H. Iversen	Denmark	181	179	162	522	201	133	211	545	1067	177.83
70.	Connor Parry	Scotland	205	167	183	555	160	178	167	505	1060	176.67
71.	Ágúst Ingi Stefánsson	Iceland	212	137	132	481	166	160	246	572	1053	175.50
72.	Clement Bernard	Belgium	203	208	158	569	166	168	147	481	1050	175.00
73.	Philipp Galler	Austria	167	182	181	530	135	184	200	519	1049	174.83
74.	Patrik Pechar	Czech Republic	180	151	154	485	181	168	213	562	1047	174.50
75.	René Höflich	Austria	201	193	173	567	149	179	130	458	1025	170.83
76.	Giorgio Gragnaniello	Italy	148	149	213	510	190	165	158	513	1023	170.50
77.	Jeno-Roland Suciu	Romania	133	149	164	446	184	187	190	561	1007	167.83
78.	Noah Emanuel Wilfinger	Austria	163	195	152	510	148	192	149	489	999	166.50
79.	Andrey Badin	Russia	158	134	162	454	177	173	182	532	986	164.33
80.	Eyal Damari	Israel	173	124	183	480	125	180	197	502	982	163.67
81.	Nikolaos Serelis	Greece	149	177	161	487	182	155	152	489	976	162.67
82.	liron l Ashkenazi	Israel	167	159	137	463	191	177	135	503	966	161.00
83.	Emre Inan Karahan	Turkey	164	167	148	479	177	154	148	479	958	159.67
84.	Tamas Verzar	Romania	129	164	192	485	169	141	159	469	954	159.00
85.	Steindór Máni Björnsson	Iceland	173	156	177	506	154	135	152	441	947	157.83
86.	Liran Hayoun	Israel	139	185	136	460	179	150	156	485	945	157.50
87.	Alexis Stamatiou	Greece	172	138	175	485	152	157	149	458	943	157.17
88.	Cezar Feliu	Romania	156	149	131	436	150	202	147	499	935	155.83
89.	Mustafa Kara	Turkey	153	151	194	498	149	161	126	436	934	155.67
90.	Daniel Addison	Scotland	157	134	144	435	209	138	143	490	925	154.17
91.	Edward Xuereb	Malta	170	152	127	449	157	125	168	450	899	149.83
92.	Fatih Fidan	Turkey	145	148	146	439	128	145	131	404	843	140.50

300 games (2) – Ziga Zalar, Slovenia; Jonas Dammen, Norway.

30th EYC 2017 – Boys All-Events after 18 games (final)

Top three earn the medals in All-Events; top 24 advance to Masters match play, top 8 earn one bye

Pos	Player	Country	Games	Doubles	Team	Singles	Total	Ave.
1.	Niko Oksanen	Finland	18	1419	1384	1384	4187	232.61
2.	Jesse Ahokas	Finland	18	1345	1290	1339	3974	220.78
3.	Pyry Puharinen	Finland	18	1264	1321	1331	3916	217.56
4.	Ronan van der Loo	Netherlands	18	1261	1355	1277	3893	216.28
5.	Filip Thelander	Sweden	18	1274	1278	1335	3887	215.94
6.	Oleksandr Nechypaiev	Ukraine	18	1298	1232	1353	3883	215.72
7.	Ziga Zalar	Slovenia	18	1193	1245	1438	3876	215.33
8.	Emanuel Jonsson	Sweden	18	1148	1321	1384	3853	214.06
9.	Alex Basala	Slovakia	18	1249	1233	1315	3797	210.94
10.	Danil Pervukhin	Ukraine	18	1256	1229	1305	3790	210.56
11.	Enzo Franco	France	18	1181	1276	1302	3759	208.83
12.	Jonas Dammen	Norway	18	1292	1132	1319	3743	207.94
13.	Brent de Ruiter	Netherlands	18	1281	1079	1382	3742	207.89
14.	Mathias G. Ankerdal	Denmark	18	1198	1196	1335	3729	207.17
15.	Felix Hübner	Germany	18	1290	1206	1216	3712	206.22
16.	Sidney Schroschk	Germany	18	1183	1120	1408	3711	206.17
17.	Jake Edwards	England	18	1320	1153	1209	3682	204.56
18.	Jorgen Mathiesen	Norway	18	1252	1265	1160	3677	204.28
19.	Robin Skans	Sweden	18	1145	1187	1338	3670	203.89
20.	Roman Karlík	Slovakia	18	1214	1247	1205	3666	203.67
21.	Quentin Deroo	France	18	1279	1228	1148	3655	203.06
22.	Alexey Stepin	Russia	18	1199	1229	1226	3654	203.00
23.	William Svensson	Sweden	18	1139	1273	1228	3640	202.22
24.	Joppe Belmans	Belgium	18	1117	1196	1319	3632	201.78
25.	Alejandro Garcia	Spain	18	1259	1182	1187	3628	201.56
26.	Jonas H. Iversen	Denmark	18	1259	1284	1067	3610	200.56
27.	Alexander Beck	Norway	18	1118	1211	1263	3592	199.56
28.	Tim Cerkvenik Muzafirovic	Slovenia	18	1168	1210	1212	3590	199.44
29.	Mike Bergmann	Netherlands	18	1249	1162	1161	3572	198.44
30.	Håvar W Skog	Norway	18	1194	1166	1211	3571	198.39
31.	Bart van Beers	Netherlands	18	1225	1175	1170	3570	198.33
32.	Maxime Dubois	France	18	1216	1115	1238	3569	198.28
33.	Tomáš Vrabec	Slovakia	18	1136	1160	1272	3568	198.22
34.	Jóhann Ársæll Atlason	Iceland	18	1178	1244	1135	3557	197.61
35.	Lassi Aalto	Finland	18	1142	1144	1264	3550	197.22
36.	Maksim Landau	Russia	18	1214	1111	1225	3550	197.22
37.	Emanuele Camponesco	Italy	18	1167	1110	1240	3517	195.39
38.	Niklas J. Sørensen	Denmark	18	1181	1210	1124	3515	195.28
39.	Nikolaos Moutesidis	Greece	18	1086	1193	1236	3515	195.28
40.	Liav Yehene	Israel	18	1199	1139	1167	3505	194.72
41.	Jan Tříska	Czech Republic	18	1147	1231	1118	3496	194.22
42.	Dávid Vilina	Slovakia	18	1086	1187	1222	3495	194.17
43.	Carl Kinnunen	Estonia	18	1134	1194	1163	3491	193.94
44.	Jeppe Jakobsen	Denmark	18	1128	1124	1224	3476	193.11
45.	Marin Vedriš	Croatia	18	1212	1033	1223	3468	192.67
46.	Matthew Magro	Malta	18	1123	1091	1250	3464	192.44
47.	Pascal Kempgens	Germany	18	1098	1141	1209	3448	191.56
48.	Eleftherios Montsenigos	Greece	18	1007	1197	1229	3433	190.72
49.	Hugo Bonnefoy	France	18	1242	1105	1085	3432	190.67
50.	Mykola Sielin	Ukraine	18	1195	1135	1100	3430	190.56
51.	Yaroslav Pokutnii	Ukraine	18	1111	1113	1203	3427	190.39
52.	Artemijs Hudjakovs	Latvia	18	1141	1170	1109	3420	190.00
53.	Darren Pellegroms	Belgium	18	1103	1144	1173	3420	190.00
54.	Patrick Weichert	Germany	18	1070	1108	1237	3415	189.72
55.	Alessandro Rossi	Italy	18	1130	1153	1117	3400	188.89
56.	Rokas Rudžinskas	Lithuania	18	1085	1177	1116	3378	187.67
57.	Domantas Čepulis	Lithuania	18	1140	1050	1185	3375	187.50
58.	Gregory Leroy	Belgium	18	1112	1126	1133	3371	187.28
59.	Chris Thomson Nairne	Scotland	18	1073	1142	1153	3368	187.11
60.	Sven Fekeža	Croatia	18	1161	1112	1092	3365	186.94
61.	Martyn Jones	Scotland	18	1102	1109	1130	3341	185.61
62.	Austin Taylor	England	18	1109	1085	1140	3334	185.22
63.	Laurynas Narušis	Lithuania	18	1095	1063	1167	3325	184.72
64.	Borja Sanchis	Spain	18	1093	1102	1097	3292	182.89
65.	Maksim Eremenko	Russia	18	1026	1110	1154	3290	182.78
66.	Nikolaos Serelis	Greece	18	1157	1151	976	3284	182.44
67.	Ólafur Þór Ólafsson Hjaltalín	Iceland	18	1120	995	1160	3275	181.94
68.	Ágúst Ingi Stefánsson	Iceland	18	1094	1123	1053	3270	181.67
69.	Steindór Máni Björnsson	Iceland	18	1120	1156	947	3223	179.06
70.	Eyal Damari	Israel	18	1078	1108	982	3168	176.00
71.	Clement Bernard	Belgium	18	1018	1089	1050	3157	175.39
72.	Noah Emanuel Wilfinger	Austria	18	1066	1082	999	3147	174.83
73.	Stefano Gaido	Italy	18	961	997	1168	3126	173.67
74.	René Höflich	Austria	18	1078	1023	1025	3126	173.67
75.	Andrey Badin	Russia	18	1098	1031	986	3115	173.06
76.	Nino Haselauer	Austria	18	955	1049	1102	3106	172.56
77.	Philipp Galler	Austria	18	1013	1037	1049	3099	172.17
78.	Connor Parry	Scotland	18	970	1045	1060	3075	170.83
79.	liron l Ashkenazi	Israel	18	1016	1052	966	3034	168.56
80.	Patrik Pechar	Czech Republic	18	1013	968	1047	3028	168.22
81.	Daniel Addison	Scotland	18	1068	1009	925	3002	166.78
82.	Edward Xuereb	Malta	18	1028	1056	899	2983	165.72
83.	Giorgio Gragnaniello	Italy	18	906	1054	1023	2983	165.72
84.	Mehmet Gokhan Bilgin	Turkey	18	952	940	1077	2969	164.94
85.	Alexis Stamatiou	Greece	18	956	1058	943	2957	164.28
86.	Liran Hayoun	Israel	18	975	1022	945	2942	163.44
87.	Jeno-Roland Suciu	Romania	18	895	1025	1007	2927	162.61
88.	Cezar Feliu	Romania	18	930	1014	935	2879	159.94
89.	Emre Inan Karahan	Turkey	18	929	938	958	2825	156.94
90.	Mustafa Kara	Turkey	18	964	924	934	2822	156.78
91.	Tamas Verzar	Romania	18	832	903	954	2689	149.39
92.	Fatih Fidan	Turkey	18	956	874	843	2673	148.50
93.	Ki Leighfield	England	12	1284	1079	0	2363	196.92
94.	Matthew Terry	England	12	1127	1183	0	2310	192.50