By AARON SMITH
USBC Communications
HELSINGBORG, Sweden — The members of Junior Team USA will be returning home with the conclusion of the 2022 International Bowling Federation U21 World Championships on Wednesday, and each teammate will be able to showcase a medal they earned while competing against the best young athletes from across the globe.
Both the men’s and women’s team earned silver medals in the four-player team event at Olympia Bowling, and Victoria Varano of Stony Point, N.Y., was able to secure a bronze medal in women’s singles.
The men’s team representing Junior Team USA in Sweden featured Tyrell Ingalls of Loganville, Ga.; Alec Keplinger of Coldwater, Mich.; Spencer Robarge of Springfield, Mo.; and Julian Salinas of Richmond, Texas.
The women’s team wearing the red, white and blue included Varano; Mabel Cummins of Hermitage, Tenn.; Stow’s Jillian Martin; and Paige Peters of Toms River, N.J..
Competition at the 2022 IBF U21 World Championships consisted of singles, doubles, team and mixed team events.
The men’s team advanced to the final after defeating Australia in the best-of-three Baker semifinals, 2-0. In both games, Junior Team USA was able to get out to quick starts, while Australia recorded opens in the first frame of each game. Junior Team USA moved on with wins of 215-182 and 222-159.
Czech Republic also advanced to the men’s final on the strength of a 2-0 victory against Saudi Arabia (231-192, 258-207).
Australia and Saudi Arabia each received bronze medals.
In the Baker format used at the 2022 IBF U21 World Championships, the athlete starting the match bowled the first, fifth, ninth and 10th frames, and teams could not use the same athlete to start each game. The second athlete bowled the second and sixth frames, the third was up in the third and seventh frames and the fourth competitor bowled in the fourth and eighth frames.
In the first game of the men’s final, Czech Republic was able to build the lead with strikes in six of their first seven frames, but a 1-2-8-10 combination and open in the eighth tightened things up, with Junior Team USA responding with strikes in the eighth and ninth frames.
Needing a double and four pins to secure the win in Game 1, Czech Republic’s Lukas Jelinek was able to fill 28 pins and give his team the 1-0 advantage, 241-214.
Junior Team USA jumped ahead in Game 2 after a fifth-frame open from Czech Republic and stayed clean on the way to a 207-179 win to even the match and force a deciding game.
Game 3 showcased the young talent for both countries as each team traded strikes back and forth in a tightly contested finale.
Junior Team USA struck on eight of their first nine shots to enter the final frame with a maximum score of 280. After a spare in the first frame, Czech Republic struck on seven of their next eight deliveries to step up with a chance to get to 269.
Keplinger, who had struck on his first three shots in Game 3, had the chance to lock up the victory with a double. He came up light on the pocket on his first delivery, with the 5 pin left standing.
Without the strike on the first shot from Junior Team USA, Jelinek now found the chance to double to secure the gold. The left-hander was able to roll two strikes and knock down nine pins on his final shot to take home the gold medal for Czech Republic, 268-259.
WOMEN’S SIDE
To get to the women’s final in team, Junior Team USA needed a deciding game against Sweden after exchanging wins in the first two matches. Junior Team USA claimed Game 1, 235-215, while Sweden struck out in the 10th frame to win Game 2, 234-225.
In Game 3, the United States had built a 21-pin advantage after an open in the fifth from Sweden but quickly returned the favor with a missed 10 pin in the sixth frame.
A second open from Sweden, a 4-9 split, in the seventh frame again saw the lead jump to 20-plus pins for Junior Team USA, and a 1-2-4-10 in the final frame from Sweden helped secure the victory for the United States by a 211-175 score.
Singapore also advanced to the gold-medal match, recording a 2-0 win over Korea (237-179, 266-244). Sweden and Korea earned bronze medals in team.
The drama unfolded quickly in the title match, as Varano stepped up in the ninth and 10th with the opportunity to take Game 1 for Junior Team USA. She delivered the strike in the ninth and needed the first two hits in the 10th to secure the 1-0 advantage. After getting the first strike, she left a 3 pin on her second, bringing multiple scenarios into play for Singapore’s Arianne Tay.
Varano covered the spare to give Junior Team USA a clean 224, meaning Tay would need three strikes in the 10th for a one-pin victory. She rolled the first two strikes but left a 10 pin on her fill ball for 224. With the teams tied, a ninth- and 10th-frame roll-off between Varano and Tay would determine which team grabbed the early lead in the race to two wins.
Tay started with a spare, and Varano left a 10 pin on her first delivery in the roll-off. She was unable to convert, however, giving Tay the chance to deliver a strike and spare in her 10th to take the win. She rolled two strikes to help Singapore take Game 1, 49-29.
In Game 2, Junior Team USA only was able to strike twice in the first eight frames while staying clean, and despite a pair of opens from Singapore, anchor Colleen Pee stepped up in the final frame with the opportunity to secure the gold medal for her team.
Pee recorded a strike on her first shot, and after Junior Team USA’s Martin did not strike in the ninth frame, she needed nine pins in her final two deliveries to shut out the match. She rolled a strike to give Singapore the gold, 213-189.
“The kids never quit,” Junior Team USA head coach Kelly Kulick said. “They had a rocky start along the way, but how they worked together and how united they were off the lanes brought them closer together on the lanes to be successful in this event. I was very proud of how they fought hard and never lost sight of what the true goal was – to make the medal round in the team event and let the chips lay.”
Varano’s match in the semifinals of women’s singles also was against Singapore’s Pee.
The best-of-three match saw plenty of strikes, but Pee was able to connect on seven consecutive deliveries, starting in the second frame, to take the 1-0 advantage, 268-222.
In Game 2, the right-hander from Singapore continued to strike, starting with six of the first seven, as Varano stayed clean but could not put together a double until the 10th frame. Pee advanced with a 238-203 win, giving Varano the bronze.
“I thought I bowled really well and feel like I made the shots I needed to make,” Varano said. “Although some of the shots didn’t get the best carry, I feel like I put myself in a position to stay in every game. This shows that all of the hard work in the past is starting to pay off, and it feels great to be able to represent my country on the biggest stage in bowling.”
Pee won the gold medal in women’s singles, recording a 2-0 win over Malaysia’s Alyaa Addini, who earned silver. Addini advanced with a 2-0 win over Puerto Rico’s Zoriani Reyes in the semifinals. Reyes joined Varano with a bronze medal.
In men’s singles, Sweden’s Carl Eklund won gold with a 2-1 victory over Malaysia’s Ahmad Azriq. Eklund defeated his teammate, Robin Ilhammar, in the semifinal to advance, 2-1, while Azriq won his final two games against Korea’s Junghun Bae, 278-269 and 262-258, to record the 2-1 win.
Ilhammar and Bae each received bronze medals.
Each gold medalist in singles also took home the top prize in doubles in their respective divisions.
Pee and Tay won gold in the women’s division for Singapore, recording a 2-0 win in the finals over France’s Emma Friant and Manon Grandsire.
Singapore defeated Sweden’s Nora Johansson and Emma Halttunen (2-0) in the semifinals, while France swept the Singapore pairing of Quek Lu Yi and Ning Tay, 2-0.
In the men’s division for doubles, Eklund and Ilhammar rolled to wins of 279-207 and 278-258 over Korea’s Bae and Ji Guen to capture gold.
Sweden advanced with a sweep of Malaysia’s Airel Amri and Megat Zaqrul, while Korea posted a 2-1 win in the semifinals over the Philippines’ Stephen Diwa and Marc Custodio.
In mixed team, Singapore claimed another gold medal, finishing the 2022 event with a 2-0 victory over Sweden in the title match.
Singapore and Sweden swept Colombia and Malaysia, respectively, to advance to the finals.
The mixed team for Singapore featured Pee, Tay, Joyan Khoo and Ryan Toh.
Qualifying at the 2022 U21 World Championships consisted of six games in singles and 10 Baker games in doubles, team and mixed team. The top 16 in both the men’s and women’s division advanced to match play.
Advancers were placed into one of two match-play groups, based on their qualifying position. Pinfall dropped to start match play, and each discipline featured seven round-robin matches.
Individuals and teams received three points for a win, one point for a tie and zero points for a loss, with total points determining the two advancers to the medal round for each match-play group.