Three Junior Team USA duos advance to doubles match play at IBF World Youth Championships
July 13, 2024
Junior Team USA bowlers Brandon Bohn (Left) and Jacob Bockstie
WOMEN'S DOUBLES QUALIFYING I MEN'S DOUBLES QUALIFYING
ARLINGTON, Texas – After a slow start that saw just one of its eight bowlers make the cut to singles match play on Thursday, Junior Team USA rebounded in fine fashion on Saturday as three of its four pairs advanced to match play in doubles competition at the 2024 International Bowling Federation World Youth Championships in Incheon, Korea.
Jacob Bockstie of Nottingham, Maryland, and Brandon Bohn of Jackson, New Jersey, authored the Americans’ best performance of the day at Incheon’s Fiesta Bowling Center, qualifying second in the 67-team men’s doubles field on Saturday with a 10-game score of 2,283 (a 228.3 average), which came as a result of Baker games of 237, 227, 244, 241, 212, 215, 247, 263, 184 and 213.
Only Sweden’s duo of Alex Joki and Robin Noberg managed a higher number as the pair led the men’s qualifying field with a mark of 2,317.
German pairs Max Lorenz and Paul Purps (2,255) and Zeno Janssen and Maris Materne (2,245) qualified third and fourth, respectively, with fifth place going to Korea’s Yonghun Cho and Jiho Shin (2,232).
The 16th and final team to advance on the men’s side was Czech Republic’s Lukas Jelinek and Ondrej Trojek, who came in with a total of 2,162.
Americans Zach Andresen of Princeton, Minnesota, and Braden Mallasch of Waupaca, Wisconsin, fell just short, finishing 22nd with a 10-game score of 2,125 (181, 167, 205, 208, 233, 178, 242, 275, 238 and 198).
On the women’s side, both Junior Team USA squads landed inside the top 16 and advanced as Gianna Brandolino of Channahon, Illinois, and Jillian Martin of Stow, Ohio, placed seventh out of 43 women’s doubles pairs with a score of 1,996 (182, 161, 170, 179, 230, 203, 227, 239, 236 and 169), while Katelyn Abigania of San Diego and Annalise OBryant of Ball Ground, Georgia, qualified 11th with 1,931 (217, 213, 210, 148, 165, 217, 165, 178, 197 and 221).
Singapore’s Colleen Pee and Ning Tay led women’s doubles qualifying with a score of 2,239.
The remaining places in the women’s top five were secured by Japan’s Riria Hamasaki and Kiri Watanabe (2,116), Sweden’s Maja Engberg and Nora Johansson (2,079) and Malaysian duos Adelia Nur Irwan Syazalee and Nur Hazirah Ramli (2,053) and Adania Mohd Redzwan and Anis Hannani Romzi (2,041).
The final team to advance on the women’s side was Chinese Taipei’s Pin-Yin Chiang and Yi-Hsien Chiu. The duo finished 16th with a score of 1,899.
According to Brandolino and Martin, Saturday’s success was a product of quality communication, a light-hearted approach and their self-termed “eagle mentality.”
“I feel like we really communicated well and kept one another on our toes and level-headed,” Brandolino said. “We saw the picture really well together and used each other as a learning tool. If one of our reactions didn’t go like we thought it would, the other person learned off that, which helped us work really well as a team.”
Martin’s assessment was very similar.
“I also think that communication was a big part of our success today,” Martin said. “If anything, we’re just trying to have fun and laugh. We just went up there, did our thing and didn’t really pay attention to anything around us. We just bowled at our pace, and it really ended up paying off.”
When pressed to define “eagle mentality,” after an enthusiastic eagle call, Brandolino provided the following explanation:
“Eagles just keep flying,” Brandolino said. “Sometimes they don’t catch a fish when they swoop down, but they keep flying, and that’s what we have to do too. No matter what happens out there, we just have to keep flying, keep soaring.”
All three remaining American duos will look to continue flying high when doubles match play kicks off on Sunday.
For Bockstie and Bohn, the key to replicating Saturday’s success will be a combination of sticking with what worked while not losing their edge or resting on their laurels.
“Things went pretty well today, which was a good feeling, but we’re only halfway done,” Bohn said. “Today was just a 10-game sprint to keep ourselves in the top 16. We did that, and now we have to have a good meal and a good night of sleep tonight so that we can come out ready to bowl well again tomorrow.”
Bockstie is confident in the pair’s ability to do just that.
“We threw a lot of good shots today, and our communication was really good throughout the block,” Bockstie said. “If we carry this over and ride this wave into match play, we’ll do just fine.”
Doubles action will wrap up Sunday with match play and the semifinal bouts to determine the finalists in each division. The gold-medal matches in both men’s and women’s doubles will be contested on July 18.
After the conclusion of the doubles semifinals on Sunday afternoon, attention will shift to team competition with the first squad of women’s team qualifying taking place on Sunday night.
Team qualifying and match play will continue through July 16, and all phases of mixed team competition will happen on July 17.
The 2024 World Youth Championships, which features teams from 39 different countries, will end on July 18 with final-round action in singles, doubles and team and their accompanying medal ceremonies.
For more information on Junior Team USA, visit BOWL.com/JuniorTeamUSA.
WOMEN'S DOUBLES QUALIFYING I MEN'S DOUBLES QUALIFYING
ARLINGTON, Texas – After a slow start that saw just one of its eight bowlers make the cut to singles match play on Thursday, Junior Team USA rebounded in fine fashion on Saturday as three of its four pairs advanced to match play in doubles competition at the 2024 International Bowling Federation World Youth Championships in Incheon, Korea.
Jacob Bockstie of Nottingham, Maryland, and Brandon Bohn of Jackson, New Jersey, authored the Americans’ best performance of the day at Incheon’s Fiesta Bowling Center, qualifying second in the 67-team men’s doubles field on Saturday with a 10-game score of 2,283 (a 228.3 average), which came as a result of Baker games of 237, 227, 244, 241, 212, 215, 247, 263, 184 and 213.
Only Sweden’s duo of Alex Joki and Robin Noberg managed a higher number as the pair led the men’s qualifying field with a mark of 2,317.
German pairs Max Lorenz and Paul Purps (2,255) and Zeno Janssen and Maris Materne (2,245) qualified third and fourth, respectively, with fifth place going to Korea’s Yonghun Cho and Jiho Shin (2,232).
The 16th and final team to advance on the men’s side was Czech Republic’s Lukas Jelinek and Ondrej Trojek, who came in with a total of 2,162.
Americans Zach Andresen of Princeton, Minnesota, and Braden Mallasch of Waupaca, Wisconsin, fell just short, finishing 22nd with a 10-game score of 2,125 (181, 167, 205, 208, 233, 178, 242, 275, 238 and 198).
On the women’s side, both Junior Team USA squads landed inside the top 16 and advanced as Gianna Brandolino of Channahon, Illinois, and Jillian Martin of Stow, Ohio, placed seventh out of 43 women’s doubles pairs with a score of 1,996 (182, 161, 170, 179, 230, 203, 227, 239, 236 and 169), while Katelyn Abigania of San Diego and Annalise OBryant of Ball Ground, Georgia, qualified 11th with 1,931 (217, 213, 210, 148, 165, 217, 165, 178, 197 and 221).
Singapore’s Colleen Pee and Ning Tay led women’s doubles qualifying with a score of 2,239.
The remaining places in the women’s top five were secured by Japan’s Riria Hamasaki and Kiri Watanabe (2,116), Sweden’s Maja Engberg and Nora Johansson (2,079) and Malaysian duos Adelia Nur Irwan Syazalee and Nur Hazirah Ramli (2,053) and Adania Mohd Redzwan and Anis Hannani Romzi (2,041).
The final team to advance on the women’s side was Chinese Taipei’s Pin-Yin Chiang and Yi-Hsien Chiu. The duo finished 16th with a score of 1,899.
According to Brandolino and Martin, Saturday’s success was a product of quality communication, a light-hearted approach and their self-termed “eagle mentality.”
“I feel like we really communicated well and kept one another on our toes and level-headed,” Brandolino said. “We saw the picture really well together and used each other as a learning tool. If one of our reactions didn’t go like we thought it would, the other person learned off that, which helped us work really well as a team.”
Martin’s assessment was very similar.
“I also think that communication was a big part of our success today,” Martin said. “If anything, we’re just trying to have fun and laugh. We just went up there, did our thing and didn’t really pay attention to anything around us. We just bowled at our pace, and it really ended up paying off.”
When pressed to define “eagle mentality,” after an enthusiastic eagle call, Brandolino provided the following explanation:
“Eagles just keep flying,” Brandolino said. “Sometimes they don’t catch a fish when they swoop down, but they keep flying, and that’s what we have to do too. No matter what happens out there, we just have to keep flying, keep soaring.”
All three remaining American duos will look to continue flying high when doubles match play kicks off on Sunday.
For Bockstie and Bohn, the key to replicating Saturday’s success will be a combination of sticking with what worked while not losing their edge or resting on their laurels.
“Things went pretty well today, which was a good feeling, but we’re only halfway done,” Bohn said. “Today was just a 10-game sprint to keep ourselves in the top 16. We did that, and now we have to have a good meal and a good night of sleep tonight so that we can come out ready to bowl well again tomorrow.”
Bockstie is confident in the pair’s ability to do just that.
“We threw a lot of good shots today, and our communication was really good throughout the block,” Bockstie said. “If we carry this over and ride this wave into match play, we’ll do just fine.”
Doubles action will wrap up Sunday with match play and the semifinal bouts to determine the finalists in each division. The gold-medal matches in both men’s and women’s doubles will be contested on July 18.
After the conclusion of the doubles semifinals on Sunday afternoon, attention will shift to team competition with the first squad of women’s team qualifying taking place on Sunday night.
Team qualifying and match play will continue through July 16, and all phases of mixed team competition will happen on July 17.
The 2024 World Youth Championships, which features teams from 39 different countries, will end on July 18 with final-round action in singles, doubles and team and their accompanying medal ceremonies.
For more information on Junior Team USA, visit BOWL.com/JuniorTeamUSA.