2019 World Bowling Junior Championships officially underway in France
March 18, 2019
Standings
SAINT-MAXIMIN, France - The inaugural World Bowling Junior Championships got underway Monday just outside of Paris, and the first of more than 100 competitors took to the lanes at Plaza Bowling Saint Maximin.
The action-packed day included official practice sessions for bowlers representing 35 countries, an opening ceremony and six games of singles for half the field, which is expected to feature 64 boys and 50 girls, ages 13-18.
During the opening ceremony, the competitors, coaches and hundreds of supporters and bowling fans were able to watch the formal procession of the teams, hear from local and World Bowling representatives and witness the player oath.
Shortly after, the first of the week's two singles squads kicked off the action. The 2019 World Junior Championships also will include doubles, mixed team and Masters competition.
Each core event this week (singles, doubles and team) will feature six games, after which the field will be cut to the top four in each division - boys and girls - for the semifinals. Medals also will be awarded for all-events based on the 18-game pinfall totals, and the top performers in the all-events standings will advance to Masters match play.
All qualifying rounds and semifinals, along with the singles finals, are being livestreamed by World Bowling. The championship matches in doubles, team and Masters will be contested in a made-for-TV setting in Paris.
Korea's Ji Geun wasted no time Monday demonstrating how to throw strikes on the 41-foot World Bowling Montreal oil pattern, and even though they added up different in the new Current Frame Scoring System, compared to traditional scoring, he still was able to find his way to the top of the standings.
Ji opened the day with a pair of games in the 270s and finished the same way, setting the pace for the boys with a 1,516 six-game total, a 252.67 average. France's Hugo Bonnefoy finished second with 1,396, and Park Donghyuk of Korea tied for third place Ukraine's Mykola Sielin
Junior Team USA's Anthony Neuer closed with a 278 effort to surge into the top 10. He is tied for seventh place with Patrick Nuqui of the Philippines (1,374). Neuer's teammate this week, Solomon Salama, struggled in the final and finished the day in ninth place with 1,358.
"With each event only being six games, it's a sprint, and you have to score high as quickly as you can," Neuer said. "The new scoring system makes that a little bit easier because the strikes add up differently, and stringing them doesn't necessarily mean as much. They're all worth the same amount. At the same time, leaving or missing something doesn't hurt you as much."
In the Current Frame Scoring system, a strike counts for 30 pins, a spare counts for 10, plus the first-ball count and an open frame counts for actual pins knocked down. The 10th frame counts the same as all other frames, and with only 10 first balls each game, the maximum score still is 300.
On the girls side, Russia's Victoria Kashirskaya is the player to beat with a 1,360 total, and she was followed by Isabel Allen of England (1,332), Sophie Martin of Australia (1,316) and Sofia Sanchez (1,307).
Juniors Team USA's Kamerin Peters finished the day in ninth place with a 1,221 total, and Mabel Cummins, who helped Junior Team USA to a team gold medal at the 2018 World Youth Championships, is 11th with 1,180.
The remaining competitors will bowl their six games on singles qualifying beginning Tuesday at 4 a.m. Eastern. The singles semifinals and finals will take place at Plaza Saint Maximin on Tuesday evening.
Despite missing the medal round in the opening event, Neuer and his teammates learned a lot about the 28-lane bowling center and how to better attack the Montreal oil pattern in doubles, which will begin Tuesday afternoon for half the field.
"A lot of today was a grind, and the last game, me and coach Bryan (O'Keefe) made a big move in with a ball change, softer hand and softer speed, and it matched up perfectly," said Neuer, a 16-year-old left-hander and two-time Junior Team USA member. "There definitely were some nerves today, and I may have hesitated early when I should've made a ball change. Hopefully knowing the moves will help us throughout the week."
Neuer and Solomon, who also is left-handed, will be able to work together on the left side, and Peters and Cummins will do the same on the right.
Both teams will compete on Tuesday's doubles squad, and the second half of the field will bowl Wednesday morning before the start of the mixed-team competition.
For complete details about the World Bowling Junior Championships, visit WorldBowling.org.
SAINT-MAXIMIN, France - The inaugural World Bowling Junior Championships got underway Monday just outside of Paris, and the first of more than 100 competitors took to the lanes at Plaza Bowling Saint Maximin.
The action-packed day included official practice sessions for bowlers representing 35 countries, an opening ceremony and six games of singles for half the field, which is expected to feature 64 boys and 50 girls, ages 13-18.
During the opening ceremony, the competitors, coaches and hundreds of supporters and bowling fans were able to watch the formal procession of the teams, hear from local and World Bowling representatives and witness the player oath.
Shortly after, the first of the week's two singles squads kicked off the action. The 2019 World Junior Championships also will include doubles, mixed team and Masters competition.
Each core event this week (singles, doubles and team) will feature six games, after which the field will be cut to the top four in each division - boys and girls - for the semifinals. Medals also will be awarded for all-events based on the 18-game pinfall totals, and the top performers in the all-events standings will advance to Masters match play.
All qualifying rounds and semifinals, along with the singles finals, are being livestreamed by World Bowling. The championship matches in doubles, team and Masters will be contested in a made-for-TV setting in Paris.
Korea's Ji Geun wasted no time Monday demonstrating how to throw strikes on the 41-foot World Bowling Montreal oil pattern, and even though they added up different in the new Current Frame Scoring System, compared to traditional scoring, he still was able to find his way to the top of the standings.Ji opened the day with a pair of games in the 270s and finished the same way, setting the pace for the boys with a 1,516 six-game total, a 252.67 average. France's Hugo Bonnefoy finished second with 1,396, and Park Donghyuk of Korea tied for third place Ukraine's Mykola Sielin
Junior Team USA's Anthony Neuer closed with a 278 effort to surge into the top 10. He is tied for seventh place with Patrick Nuqui of the Philippines (1,374). Neuer's teammate this week, Solomon Salama, struggled in the final and finished the day in ninth place with 1,358.
"With each event only being six games, it's a sprint, and you have to score high as quickly as you can," Neuer said. "The new scoring system makes that a little bit easier because the strikes add up differently, and stringing them doesn't necessarily mean as much. They're all worth the same amount. At the same time, leaving or missing something doesn't hurt you as much."
In the Current Frame Scoring system, a strike counts for 30 pins, a spare counts for 10, plus the first-ball count and an open frame counts for actual pins knocked down. The 10th frame counts the same as all other frames, and with only 10 first balls each game, the maximum score still is 300.
On the girls side, Russia's Victoria Kashirskaya is the player to beat with a 1,360 total, and she was followed by Isabel Allen of England (1,332), Sophie Martin of Australia (1,316) and Sofia Sanchez (1,307).Juniors Team USA's Kamerin Peters finished the day in ninth place with a 1,221 total, and Mabel Cummins, who helped Junior Team USA to a team gold medal at the 2018 World Youth Championships, is 11th with 1,180.
The remaining competitors will bowl their six games on singles qualifying beginning Tuesday at 4 a.m. Eastern. The singles semifinals and finals will take place at Plaza Saint Maximin on Tuesday evening.
Despite missing the medal round in the opening event, Neuer and his teammates learned a lot about the 28-lane bowling center and how to better attack the Montreal oil pattern in doubles, which will begin Tuesday afternoon for half the field.
"A lot of today was a grind, and the last game, me and coach Bryan (O'Keefe) made a big move in with a ball change, softer hand and softer speed, and it matched up perfectly," said Neuer, a 16-year-old left-hander and two-time Junior Team USA member. "There definitely were some nerves today, and I may have hesitated early when I should've made a ball change. Hopefully knowing the moves will help us throughout the week."
Neuer and Solomon, who also is left-handed, will be able to work together on the left side, and Peters and Cummins will do the same on the right.
Both teams will compete on Tuesday's doubles squad, and the second half of the field will bowl Wednesday morning before the start of the mixed-team competition.
For complete details about the World Bowling Junior Championships, visit WorldBowling.org.