Senior Team USA members Lynda Barnes and Ron Mohr started the World Senior Championships 2017 with victory in women’s and men’s singles Wednesday afternoon at Dream-Bowl Palace near Munich, Germany.

In an all-American women’s gold medal match, Barnes (right) had to come from behind to defeat fellow PWBA champion Leanne Hulsenberg, 193-185, to win her first career gold medal in a World Championship.

Hulsenberg (left), who was the No. 1 seed after dominating the preliminaries, started the title match with three single-pin spares, then threw three strikes to build a 32-pin lead over Barnes, who was unable to strike on the right lane.

Both players added spare-strike in frames 7 and 8. The tides turned, as Hulsenberg suffered a pocket 7-10 split in the ninth frame while Barnes got her first double. Heading into the last frame, both players could strike out for a 215 tie.

Finishing first, Hulsenberg got the first strike, but left the 4-7-10 split on her second attempt. That left the door open for Barnes to double and win the gold medal. The 2005 QubicaAMF World Cup champion struck twice to seal the victory.

In her semi-final match Barnes rolled two doubles in the fourth and fifth and eighth and ninth frame to overcome two splits (3-6-7-10 and 7-10) and sneak past No. 2 seed Reija Lundén (right) of Finland, 193-185.

In the other semi-final match, Larisa Stashchenko (left) of Russia, who defeated Bianca Völkl-Brandt of Germany in a one-ball roll-off, 10-9, to clinch the last spot for the finals, left five consecutive open frames in the third through seventh. Hulsenberg, who had an early double, built an insurmountable lead and advanced, 175-157.

Hulsenberg earned the silver medal, while Lundén and Stashchenko shared the bronze medal.

On the men’s side, Ron Mohr (left) won his fourth gold medal in World Senior Championships when he defeated Canadian Joe Ciach in the title match, 202-180.

Mohr struck on three of his first four attempts, while Ciach (right) opened in the fourth frame after leaving the 2-8-10 split. Ciach was unable to double in the whole game, but he narrowed the gap to 11 pins when Mohr failed to convert the 3-10 split in the ninth. Mohr rebounded with two strikes in the 10th to wrap up the title.

Mohr has won two gold medals in doubles and all-events at the inaugural World Senior Championships 2013 and added the team gold in 2015.

His semi-final match against his fellow team champion Lennie Boresch (left) went into overtime as both tied at 217. In the first one-ball roll-off, both players got a nine-count. Mohr struck on his second shot, while Boresch got another 9 to send Mohr to the finals.

In the other semi-final match, Ciach eliminated top-seeded Parker Bohn III (right), 221-191, to deny the PBA and USBC Hall of Famer an all-American title match. Ciach struck on four of his first five attempts and had another double in the eighth and ninth frame in an otherwise flawless game, while Bohn got five 7 pins and failed to convert a washout in frame six.

Ciach received the silver medal, while Boresch and Bohn both got bronze.

Action shifts to the men’s and women’s doubles preliminaries on Wednesday and Thursday. The medal rounds will take place on Friday afternoon starting with the semi-finals at 6 p.m. Central European Summer Time (CEST).

Click on the respective links to watch the action via the Internet:
All times are Central European Summer Time (CEST).

Wednesday – August 16, 2017
17:30-21:00 Men’s Doubles (Squad A)

Thursday – August 17, 2017
08:30-12:00 Men’s Doubles (Squad B)
12:00-13:00 Lane Maintenance
13:00-16:30 Women’s Doubles (Squad A)
16:30-17:30 Lane Maintenance
17:30-21:00 Women’s Doubles (Squad B)

Bowlingdigital.com will provide onsite coverage of the event commencing Tuesday, August 15, with the singles preliminaries all the way through to the masters finals which will conclude the Championships on Sunday, August 20.

The 3rd World Senior Championships 2017 will be held from August 13-20 at Europe’s biggest bowling center, the magnificent 52-lane Dream-Bowl Palace in Munich, Germany.

Up to four men and four women per country (players must be 50 years of age or above in the year of the championship) will compete for gold, silver and bronze medals in singles, doubles, four-player teams, all-events and masters in the seven-day competition.

Bowling officially gets underway Aug. 15. Singles, doubles and team events include six games of qualifying before the field is narrowed to the top four who advance to the medal round. The winners of the semi-finals bowl for gold and silver, the losers share the bronze medals.

The top 3 players in all-events (combined scores in singles, doubles and team preliminaries) also earn medals. The top 24 in all-events determine the medalists in masters in best-of-three games single-elimination match play format. The top 8 receive a first-round bye.

In accordance with World Bowling Statutes and Playing Rules Chapter 4.6.2, the 2017 World Senior Championships will be contested on the 41 feet Montreal lane conditioning pattern selected from Bank 2 (formerly “medium”) patterns of the World Bowling bank of patterns.

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

The 4th World Senior Championships will return to Las Vegas in August 2019, this time to the new South Point Bowling Plaza, which is part of the South Point Hotel and Casino.

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2015 World Senior Championships
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2017 World Seniors Championships – Men’s Singles Finals

Championship Round:
1. Ron Mohr, United States, 419 (2 games)
2. Joe Ciach, Canada, 401 (2 games)
3. Parker Bohn III, United States, 191 (1 game) and
Lennie Boresch, United States, 217 (1 game)

L-R Ciach, Mohr, Boresch and Bohn.

Playoff Results:
Semifinal Match 1: No. 4 Ciach def. No. 1 Bohn, 221-191
Semifinal Match 2: No. 3 Mohr def. No. 2 Boresch in 2nd roll-off, 10-9, after a 9-9 and 217-217 tie
Championship Match: Mohr def. Ciach, 202-180.

2017 World Seniors Championships – Women’s Singles Finals

Championship Round:
1. Lynda Barnes, United States, 407 (2 games)
2. Leanne Hulsenberg, United States, 379 (2 games)
3. Reija Lundén, Finland, 185 (1 game) and
Larisa Stashchenko, Russia, 157 (1 game)

L-R Hulsenberg, Barnes, Lundén and Stashchenko.

Playoff Results:
Semifinal Match 1: No. 1 Hulsenberg def. No. 4 Stashchenko, 175-157
Semifinal Match 2: No. 3 Barnes def. No. 2 Lundén, 193-185
Championship Match: Barnes def. Hulsenberg, 214-204.