Medalists in doubles competition in men's bowling at the World Games (from left): Venezuela's Massimiliano Fridegotto and Ildemaro Ruiz (silver), Canada's Francois Lavoie and Dan MacLelland (gold), and Hong Kong's Siu Hong Wu and Michael Mak (bronze)

ARLINGTON, Texas – Canada’s Francois Lavoie and Dan MacLelland captured the men’s doubles title on Monday as the bowling competition at the World Games in Wroclaw, Poland came to a close.

The Canadian duo took down Venezuela’s Massimiliano Fridegotto and Ildemaro Ruiz, 972-935, in the title match. Lavoie rolled games of 209 and 279, while MacLelland went 268 and 216 in the final. Ruiz led Venezuela with games of 259 and 298, while Fridegotto added 190 and 188.

Hong Kong’s Siu Hong Wu and Michael Mak, who eliminated Team USA’s Tommy Jones of Simpsonville, South Carolina, and Marshall Kent of Yakima, Washington, in the quarterfinals, claimed the bronze medal with a 1,003-948 victory over Mexico’s Ricardo Lecuona and Arturo Quintero.

Lavoie, the 2016 U.S. Open champion, also teamed with MacLelland to capture the men’s doubles title at the 2015 Pan American Games, and said a World Games title ranks among his top accomplishments.

“It’s a different atmosphere, it’s a different feeling,” Lavoie said. “There’s no money in this, and we keep coming back year after year because representing our country is something extremely special, something we both cherish.”

For the doubles competition, the 16 teams were placed in four-team groups for round-robin play. Each match in group play was two games, with total pinfall determining the match winner. The top two teams in each group advanced to the quarterfinals.

In Group D, Jones and Kent topped the Chinese Taipei team of Chin-Liang Hsieh and Kun-Yi Hunk, 941-888, and then overcame a 33-pin deficit after their opening game to edge Germany’s Tobias Bording and Andreas Gripp, 922-910.

In the final match of group play, Kent had a 299 game as Team USA jumped to a 139-pin lead over Colombia’s Andres Gomez and Oscar Rodriguez en route to a 974-824 victory to win the group.    

In the quarterfinals, Wu and Mak rolled opening games of 244 and 245, respectively, to take a 489-467 lead over Jones (243) and Kent (224). Team USA would respond by taking Game 2, 491-482, as Kent had a 278 and Jones had 213, but it was not enough to overtake Wu (258) and Mak (225), who held on for a 972-958 victory to knock out Team USA.

“We bowled well and, sometimes, even when you bowl well, it’s not enough,” Kent said. “In that match, we had a couple of 7-10s (splits) in bad spots. With a format as short as this, you kind of need some things to go your way to win. Today just wasn’t our day.”

The World Games is an international multi-sport competition for sports, disciplines or events within a sport that are not contested in the Olympic Games. It has been held every four years since 1981.

At this year’s World Games, Team USA captured two medals. Team USA’s Kelly Kulick of Union, New Jersey, took silver in women’s singles and then teamed with Danielle McEwan of Stony Point, New York, to claim the silver medal in women’s doubles. Kulick now has won four medals in World Games competition – one gold and three silvers.

Organized and governed by the International World Games Association (IWGA) under the patronage of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the World Games will showcase 31 sports and approximately 3,500 athletes and officials from more than 100 countries during the 11 days of competition that started July 21.

Visit TheWorldGames2017.com/en for more information on the World Games.

2017 WORLD GAMES
At Wroclaw, Poland

BOWLING RESULTS
Women’s Singles
Gold: Laura Beuthner, Germany
Silver: Kelly Kulick, United States
Bronze: Clara Guerrero, Colombia

Gold medal match: Beuthner d. Kulick, 509-372 (287-165, 222-207)
Bronze medal match: Guerrero d. Daria Kovalova, Ukraine, 467-386 (239-170, 228-216)

Women’s Doubles
Gold: Clara Guerrero and Rocio Restrepo, Colombia
Silver: Kelly Kulick and Danielle McEwan, United States
Bronze: Tannya Lopez and Sandra Gongora, Mexico

Gold medal match: Guerrero/Restrepo def. Kulick/McEwan, 922-874 (489-450, 433-424; Guerrero 279, 227; Restrepo 210, 206; Kulick 224, 223; McEwan 226, 201)
Bronze medal match: Lopez/Gongora d. Venezuela’s Patricia de Faria/Karen Marcano, 965-835 (460-430, 505-405; Lopez 206, 237; Gongora 254, 268; de Faria 189, 231; Marcano 241, 174)

Men’s singles
Gold: Youngseon Cho, Korea
Silver: Ildemaro Ruiz, Venezuela
Bronze: Tobias Bording, Germany

Gold medal match: Cho d. Ildemaro, 483-435 (226-182; 257-253)
Bronze medal match: Bording d. Salvatore Polizzotto, Italy, 392-364 (201-177, 191-187)

Men’s doubles
Gold: Dan MacLelland/Francois Lavoie, Canada
Silver: Massimiliano Fridegotto/Ildemaro Ruiz, Venezuela
Bronze: Siu Hong Wu/Michael Mak, Hong Kong

Gold medal match: MacLelland/Lavoie d. Fridegotto/Ruiz, 972-935 (477-449, 495-486; Lavoie 209, 279; MacLelland 268, 216; Fridegotto 190, 188; Ruiz 259, 298).
Bronze medal match: Mak/Wu, Hong Kong d. Lecuona/Quintero, Mexico, 1,003-948 (Mak 296, 247; Wu 237, 223; Lecuona 233, 226; Quintero 212, 277)