Junior Team USA among top four in doubles at 2019 World Bowling Junior Championships
March 19, 2019
Standings
SAINT-MAXIMIN, France - Sometimes, the things that don't go well are the things competitors can learn the most from.
Junior Team USA's first six games at the 2019 World Bowling Junior Championships may not have yielded any singles medals, but the things the teammates learned in the process paid off immediately, helping them find success in doubles Tuesday at Plaza Bowling Saint Maximin.
After a best finish of 13th in singles, the group returned to the lanes with different ideas about how to attack the 41-foot World Bowling Montreal oil pattern and how it plays and transitions across the 28-lane bowling center.
All four players - Mabel Cummins, Kamerin Peters, Anthony Neuer and Solomon Salama - improved individually from one block to the next, and working together helped both teams remain above the doubles cutline after the first of two qualifying squads.
Neuer (1,414) and Salama (1,374) combined for a 2,788 six-game doubles total Tuesday to pace the boys field, while Peters (1,327) and Cummins (1,312) finished the day in second place with 2,639.
Cummins was the most-improved team member, knocking down 132 more pins in doubles, compared to singles. Peters improved by 106, Neuer by 40 and Salama by 16.
"We learned a lot from yesterday about how the pattern breaks down and what our moves should be if we don't really have a look, and today was just about executing, which I think we did fairly well," Salama said. "We bailed out a few games that could've been a lot worse and took advantage when we could."
Since Neuer and Salama both are left-handed, even though their styles are considerably different, they can use what the other is doing to make educated decisions as the games progress.
Korea, led by singles gold-medalist Ji Geun (1,399), is second with a 2,758 total. Park Donghyuk contributed a 1,359 set to the effort. Chinese Taipei is third with 2,652 and followed by Hong Kong (2,649).
The other half of the field will take the lanes Wednesday morning for its six games of doubles qualifying, after which, the top four boys teams and top four girls teams will advance to the semifinals.
The Korean girls were dominant Tuesday, averaging nearly 235 on the way to a 2,816 total. Hong Soree led the pair with a 1,455 total, and Jeong Youngseon added 1,361.
England was third on the day with 2,620 and followed by Russia (2,565).
"Our plan coming into today was much different than yesterday and included putting more surface on our equipment and playing more to the right with extra speed," said Cummins, a team gold medal winner at the 2018 World Youth Championships. "We had a great look for almost four games, but we struggled with the transition."
Peters and Cummins said it took longer than they'd hoped to figure out how to get back on track, but they eventually got there, and they're excited to put all the information to use again during the four-player mixed team event, which is scheduled to begin Wednesday afternoon.
Teams will bowl three games Wednesday and three games Thursday, after which, the top four teams will advance to the semifinals.
The inaugural World Bowling Junior Championships features more than 100 bowlers (ages 13-18) from 35 countries. They are competing for medals in singles, doubles, mixed team, all-events and Masters.
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.
Another twist for the first edition of the tournament is the use of the Current Frame Scoring system, where 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 way to the singles title Tuesday, Korea's Ji rolled the tournament's first perfect game - a 10-strike effort that earned him a semifinal win and a place in the singles final.
For complete details about the World Bowling Junior Championships, visit WorldBowling.org.
SAINT-MAXIMIN, France - Sometimes, the things that don't go well are the things competitors can learn the most from.
Junior Team USA's first six games at the 2019 World Bowling Junior Championships may not have yielded any singles medals, but the things the teammates learned in the process paid off immediately, helping them find success in doubles Tuesday at Plaza Bowling Saint Maximin.
After a best finish of 13th in singles, the group returned to the lanes with different ideas about how to attack the 41-foot World Bowling Montreal oil pattern and how it plays and transitions across the 28-lane bowling center.
All four players - Mabel Cummins, Kamerin Peters, Anthony Neuer and Solomon Salama - improved individually from one block to the next, and working together helped both teams remain above the doubles cutline after the first of two qualifying squads.
Neuer (1,414) and Salama (1,374) combined for a 2,788 six-game doubles total Tuesday to pace the boys field, while Peters (1,327) and Cummins (1,312) finished the day in second place with 2,639.
Cummins was the most-improved team member, knocking down 132 more pins in doubles, compared to singles. Peters improved by 106, Neuer by 40 and Salama by 16.
"We learned a lot from yesterday about how the pattern breaks down and what our moves should be if we don't really have a look, and today was just about executing, which I think we did fairly well," Salama said. "We bailed out a few games that could've been a lot worse and took advantage when we could."
Since Neuer and Salama both are left-handed, even though their styles are considerably different, they can use what the other is doing to make educated decisions as the games progress.
Korea, led by singles gold-medalist Ji Geun (1,399), is second with a 2,758 total. Park Donghyuk contributed a 1,359 set to the effort. Chinese Taipei is third with 2,652 and followed by Hong Kong (2,649).
The other half of the field will take the lanes Wednesday morning for its six games of doubles qualifying, after which, the top four boys teams and top four girls teams will advance to the semifinals.
The Korean girls were dominant Tuesday, averaging nearly 235 on the way to a 2,816 total. Hong Soree led the pair with a 1,455 total, and Jeong Youngseon added 1,361.
England was third on the day with 2,620 and followed by Russia (2,565).
"Our plan coming into today was much different than yesterday and included putting more surface on our equipment and playing more to the right with extra speed," said Cummins, a team gold medal winner at the 2018 World Youth Championships. "We had a great look for almost four games, but we struggled with the transition."
Peters and Cummins said it took longer than they'd hoped to figure out how to get back on track, but they eventually got there, and they're excited to put all the information to use again during the four-player mixed team event, which is scheduled to begin Wednesday afternoon.
Teams will bowl three games Wednesday and three games Thursday, after which, the top four teams will advance to the semifinals.
The inaugural World Bowling Junior Championships features more than 100 bowlers (ages 13-18) from 35 countries. They are competing for medals in singles, doubles, mixed team, all-events and Masters.
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.
Another twist for the first edition of the tournament is the use of the Current Frame Scoring system, where 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 way to the singles title Tuesday, Korea's Ji rolled the tournament's first perfect game - a 10-strike effort that earned him a semifinal win and a place in the singles final.
For complete details about the World Bowling Junior Championships, visit WorldBowling.org.