Katapulta Bowling Center in Moscow, Russia

Kai Virtanen won his second major international title within six month as he became the first gold medallist in the Men's European Championships at Katapulta Bowling Center in Moscow, Russia. The Finn, who won the AMF Bowling World Cup in Singapore, in December 2004, dominated the Singles event from the beginning. Kai Virtanen won his second major international title within six month as he became the first gold medallist in the Men's European Championships at Katapulta Bowling Center in Moscow, Russia. The Finn, who won the AMF Bowling World Cup in Singapore, in December 2004, dominated the Singles event from the beginning. Virtanen had games of 239, 255, 236, 259, 247 and 246 to finish with 1482, six-game total or an average of 247,0.

Virtanen followed in the footsteps of fellow countryman Mika Luoto, who won the title in 2001. Luoto as well as Pasi Uotila and Osku Palermaa (bowled in the PBA Tour Trials) aren't on the team for Moscow. However, Virtanen's teammate Petri Mannonen was his closest rival but 220 and 218 in games 4 and 5 ended his gold medal hopes. Even worse, Stephen Joyce from Ireland took full advantage and overtook the Finn with back-to-back 250s to capture the silver medal with 1450 (241,67 average).

Heading into the final game, Mannonen (1192) held a slim 3-pin lead over Swede Robert Andersson (1189). Andersson, who started his six-game block with a rollercoaster ride (279, 170, 299) had the better finish with 246 to Mannonen's 234 to earn the bronze medal with 1435 (239,17).

Mannonen had to settle for fourth place with 1426. Another Finn, Lasse Lintilä, who led the field of 161 players till the fourth and final squad, finished in fifth place with 1393. His 188-score in the final game cost him a medal. Behind Oliver Morig from Germany (1391) and Belgium's Ives Van Eyken (1381) was the fourth Finn, Kimmo Lehtonen, in 8th place with 1378. Rounding out the top ten were Mike Quarry, England (1376) and Glenn Morten Pedersen, Norway (1369).

L-R Joyce, Virtanen, and Andersson. Picture courtesy of Thomas Tybl.

2005 MEC Singles - Final Standings

Players with position, country, six-game total and average

1. Kai Virtanen, Finland, 1482, 247,00
2. Stephen Joyce, Ireland, 1450, 241,67
3. Robert Andersson, Sweden, 1435, 239,17

4. Petri Mannonen, Finland, 1426, 237,67
5. Lasse Lintilä, Finland, 1393, 232,17
6. Oliver Morig, Germany, 1391, 231,83
7. Ives Van Eyken, Belgium, 1381, 230,17
8. Kimmo Lehtonen, Finland, 1378, 229,67
9. Mike Quarry, England, 1376, 229,33
10. Glenn Morten Pedersen, Norway, 1369, 228,17
11. Mickel Rives, France, 1362, 227,00
12. Ron van den Bogaard, Netherlands, 1357, 226,17
13. Jean-Marc Lebon, Belgium, 1355, 225,83
14. Jesper Agerbo, Denmark, 1343, 223,83
15. Jean-Marc Samain, Belgium, 1341, 223,50
16. Tobias Karlsson, Sweden, 1336, 222,67
17. Steve Thornton, England, 1332, 222,00
18. Petteri Salonen, Finland, 1328, 221,33
19. Or Aviram, Israel, 1325, 220,83
20. Steinthor Johannsson, Iceland, 1324, 220,67
21. Nontas Patsaouras, Greece, 1322, 220,33
22. Kostas Papakostas, Greece, 1321, 220,17
23. Jonas Krenevicius, Lithuania, 1320, 220,00
24. Timur Madaminov, Russia, 1318, 219,67
(tie) Jens Nickel, Germany, 1318, 219,67
26. Andrejus Puskariovas, Lithuania, 1316, 219,33
(tie) Sverre Lund, Norway, 1316, 219,33
28. Kai Günther, Germany, 1315, 219,17
29. Svein Roger Olsen, Norway, 1313, 218,83
30. Magnus Andersson, Sweden, 1310, 218,33
(tie) Giannis Stathatos, Greece, 1310, 218,33
32. Paul Moor, England, 1308, 218,00
33. Martin Wozny, Denmark, 1305, 217,50
34. Paul Evans, England, 1304, 217,33
(tie) Nicolas Forestier, France, 1304, 217,33
(tie) Patrick Rolland, France, 1304, 217,33
37. Iain McCorkindale, England, 1303, 217,17
38. Mikael Braendeskov, Denmark, 1300, 216,67
(tie) Alexander Lefterov, Bulgaria, 1300, 216,67
40. Koen Pellegroms, Belgium, 1297, 216,17
(tie) Jesper Nielsen, Denmark, 1297, 216,17
(tie) Barry Foley, Ireland, 1297, 216,17
43. Petter Hansen, Norway, 1293, 215,50
44. Thomas Tybl, Austria, 1287, 214,50
(tie) Thierry Sacco, France, 1287, 214,50
(tie) Lasse Ingebrigtsen, Norway, 1287, 214,50
(tie) Marek Przezpolewski, Poland, 1287, 214,50
48. Moshe Sheinman, Israel, 1284, 214,00
49. Rudolf Friess, Austria, 1283, 213,83
50. Manuel Martinez, Spain, 1281, 213,50
51. Wim van der Veen, Netherlands, 1280, 213,33
52. Tolga Sismanogullar, Turkey, 1277, 212,83
53. Michael Krämer, Germany, 1272, 212,00
54. Gal Shemer, Israel, 1264, 210,67
55. Nikolai Schröder, Austria, 1263, 210,50
56. Michael Michajlow, Germany, 1262, 210,33
57. Thomas Gross, Austria, 1257, 209,50
(tie) Jari Ratia, Finland, 1257, 209,50
(tie) Pawel Bielski, Poland, 1257, 209,50
60. Andrius Pocius, Lithuania, 1256, 209,33
(tie) Anders Öhman, Sweden, 1256, 209,33
62. George Logothetidis, Greece, 1253, 208,83
63. Artur Adian, Russia, 1251, 208,50
64. Achim Grabowski, Germany, 1250, 208,33
65. Sergey Andreev, Russia, 1249, 208,17
66. Sven Van Eyken, Belgium, 1248, 208,00
67. Menno van den Heuvel, Netherlands, 1246, 207,67
68. Bo Winther Pedersen, Denmark, 1245, 207,50
69. Oleksandr Kalika, Ukraine, 1244, 207,33
70. Martin Bögehave, Denmark, 1243, 207,17
71. Laurent Plantard, France, 1241, 206,83
72. Jon Zadel, England, 1240, 206,67
(tie) Dimitris Karetsos, Greece, 1240, 206,67
(tie) Zilvinas Perminas, Lithuania, 1240, 206,67
(tie) Vytautas Gykis, Lithuania, 1240, 206,67
(tie) Bjorn Sigurdsson, Iceland, 1240, 206,67
77. Juan C. Ramonde, Spain, 1236, 206,00
78. Marco van de Griend, Netherlands, 1235, 205,83
79. Alexander Rauscher, Austria, 1233, 205,50
80. Filimonovs Vladislavs, Latvia, 1226, 204,33
81. Aare Noormaa, Estonia, 1225, 204,17
(tie) Magnus Magnusson, Iceland, 1225, 204,17
83. Jimmy Ravez, Belgium, 1216, 202,67
(tie) Adriano Santi, San Marino, 1216, 202,67
(tie) Per Eide, Norway, 1216, 202,67
86. Ovcinnikovs Nikolajs, Latvia, 1214, 202,33
87. Mikael Kanold, Sweden, 1212, 202,00
88. Taimar Lank, Estonia, 1211, 201,83
89. Melvin Ocando, Spain, 1210, 201,67
90. Remco Verboon, Netherlands, 1206, 201,00
91. Dawid Szpanski, Poland, 1200, 200,00
(tie) Juris Kalnracenis, Latvia, 1200, 200,00
93. Raul Beekmann, Estonia, 1199, 199,83
(tie) Niko Gasperoni, San Marino, 1199, 199,83
95. Elior Ashkenazi, Israel, 1197, 199,50
96. Jurijs Volceks, Latvia, 1194, 199,00
97. Gerhard Fleischhacker, Austria, 1191, 198,50
(tie) Oleg Bondarenko, Ukraine, 1191, 198,50
99. Sergey Gontar, Ukraine, 1190, 198,33
(tie) Valentyn Lobanov, Ukraine, 1190, 198,33
101. Erwin Pascual, Spain, 1188, 198,00
102. Martin Larsen, Sweden, 1187, 197,83
103. Wesley Selier, Netherlands, 1184, 197,33
(tie) Vitaliy Shylan, Ukraine, 1184, 197,33
105. Kristjan Thordarson, Iceland, 1180, 196,67
106. Dor Shpeizman, Israel, 1179, 196,50
107. Francois Sacco, France, 1172, 195,33
108. Dusan Lajovic, Slovenia, 1166, 194,33
109. Siargei Tsiushkevich, Belarus, 1165, 194,17
110. Burak Natal, Turkey, 1164, 194,00
111. Arnar Saebergsson, Iceland, 1162, 193,67
(tie) Tamas Holczer, Hungary, 1162, 193,67
113. Edmunds Jansons, Latvia, 1161, 193,50
114. Zoltan Kiss, Hungary, 1158, 193,00
115. Mithat Siveliol, Turkey, 1157, 192,83
116. Grigory Vikharev, Russia, 1154, 192,33
(tie) Plamen Stanchev, Bulgaria, 1154, 192,33
118. Janez Kovac, Slovenia, 1152, 192,00
119. Adam Martin, Poland, 1151, 191,83
120. Rolando Grassi, San Marino, 1146, 191,00
121. Eliezer Sheinman, Israel, 1144, 190,67
122. Marko Molder, Estonia, 1142, 190,33
(tie) Leonidas Maragos, Greece, 1142, 190,33
124. Rafal Gladysz, Poland, 1138, 189,67
(tie) Omer Ayhan Bilge, Turkey, 1138, 189,67
126. John Wilson, Ireland, 1130, 188,33
127. Ivo Hauptman, Slovenia, 1128, 188,00
128. Tamas Szabo, Hungary, 1127, 187,83
129. Siargei Kiselev, Belarus, 1125, 187,50
130. Grigoriy Agalarov, Belarus, 1122, 187,00
131. Sergey Starchenkov, Russia, 1119, 186,50
132. Dainius Druteika, Lithuania, 1116, 186,00
133. Mariusz Musialik, Poland, 1110, 185,00
134. Gediz Ege, Turkey, 1104, 184,00
135. Oleg Kozirev, Russia, 1103, 183,83
136. Mykhailo Kalika, Ukraine, 1098, 183,00
137. Heorhi Pryhozy, Belarus, 1090, 181,67
138. Francisco Estevez, Spain, 1088, 181,33
139. Arni Geir Omarsson, Iceland, 1085, 180,83
140. Peter Grabrijan, Slovenia, 1083, 180,50
141. Aivar Leinemann, Estonia, 1082, 180,33
(tie) Janno Kannike, Estonia, 1082, 180,33
143. Fabrizio Biordi, San Marino, 1079, 179,83
144. Raul Galvez, Spain, 1078, 179,67
145. Ettore Baciocchi, San Marino, 1077, 179,50
146. Dmitry Stepuk, Belarus, 1076, 179,33
147. David English, Ireland, 1075, 179,17
148. Yllmaz Unal Baytar, Turkey, 1069, 178,17
149. Assen Kirov, Bulgaria, 1062, 177,00
150. Raycho Raykov, Bulgaria, 1059, 176,50
151. Heorhi Volodko, Belarus, 1057, 176,17
(tie) Zoltan Skobrics, Hungary, 1057, 176,17
153. Imre Foldvari, Hungary, 1051, 175,17
154. Julians Visockis, Latvia, 1038, 173,00
155. Istvan Soltesz, Hungary, 1033, 172,17
156. Elkhan Feyzullayev, Azerbaijan, 1025, 170,83
157. Valentin Vasilev, Bulgaria, 1007, 167,83
158. Kiril Kirilov, Bulgaria, 1000, 166,67
159. Luca Taddei, San Marino, 994, 165,67
160. Avshalumov German, Azerbaijan, 959, 159,83
161. Rufat Farzaliyev, Azerbaijan, 941, 156,83

High Game: Robert Andersson, Sweden, 299
High 3-game series: Petri Mannonen, Finland, 754
High 6-game series: Kai Virtanen, Finland, 1482.

Download the complete results here....