Finland defeats England by a whisker to win Team gold at Men's European Championships

    06/12/15

    2015 MEC

    Denmark and Sweden share the bronze medal; Denmark's Frederik Øhrgaard beats out Finns Osku Palermaa and Kimmo Lehtonen for the gold medal in All-Events

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    2015MECTeamEngland.jpgFinland's Osku Palermaa, Kimmo Lehtonen, Joonas Jähi, Juhani Tonteri and Joonas Jehkinen (pictured above, r-l) defeated England's Leon Devlin, John Wells, Adam Cairns, Chris Oates and Paul Moor (right with Darren Cundy) by the closest possible margin, 1100-1099, to win the coveted Team gold at the Men's European Championships in Aalborg, Denmark.

    2015MECOlliPakonen.jpgTonteri led the Finns, who finished the preliminaries atop the field of 30 teams with 6378 and an average of 212.60, with a huge 279 game and was followed by Jähi (224), Jehkinen (221), Palermaa (208) and Lehtonen (168). It was the second gold medal of this Championship for Jehkinen, Palermaa and Lehtonen after the victory in Trios.

    The sixth Finnish bowler, Olli Pakonen (left), produced one of the day's top highlights by recording the first 300 game of the Championships in the last game of his six-game series.

    2015MECTeamSweden.jpgMoor led the third-seeded English team to the silver medal with 255 and was followed by Devlin (243), Oates (210), Wells (196) and Cairns (195).

    In semifinals match, Finland eliminated arch rival Sweden featuring Markus Jansson (225), Robert Andersson (216), Daniel Fransson (178), Magnus Johnson Jr. (202) and Martin Larsen (216) (right with Jesper Svensson).

    The Swedes averaged 212.40 on the second day of the preliminaries to jump from 11th to fourth place en route to make the cut for the playoffs.

    2015MECTeamDenmark.jpgIn the other semifinal match, England ended Denmark's hopes for the prestigious title, 1139-957. Moor (246), Wells (245) and Devlin (245) carried the English team while Jimmy Mortensen (208), Mik Stampe (170), Jesper Agerbo (209), Frederik Øhrgaard (200) and Thomas Larsen (170) rolled their lowest game of the event. Denmark (left) and Sweden shared the bronze medal.

    2015MECFrederikOhrgaard.jpgFrederik Øhrgaard (right) added 1356 in the Team event to 1312 in Singles, 1424 in Doubles and 1260 in Trios to maintain his lead in All-Events (combined scores in Singles, Doubles, Trios and Team preliminaries) with 5352 total and an average of 223.00 to earn his second gold medal after winning in Doubles with Jesper Agerbo.

    2015MECAllEventsOskuPalerma,FrederikhrgaardKimmoLehtonen.jpgTwo-hander Osku Palermaa (left) posted the highest individual series of the entire Championship with 1457, including games of 223, 236, 223, 279, 218 and 278, to narrow the gap to mere 25 pins en route to take the silver medal with 5327 (221.96).

    Finnish veteran Kimmo Lehtonen (right) captured the bronze medal distant 138 pins behind with 5189 (216.21).

    Actions shifts to Masters match play which will conclude the 2015 MEC on Saturday. The top 24 players in All-Events will determine the champion in five single-elimination match play rounds in best-of-three games format. The top 8 will earn a first-round bye. The winners of the semifinal matches will bowl for gold and silver while the losers share the bronze medal.

    2015MECLogo.jpg The 6th Men's European Championships will be held from June 3-14, 2015, at Lovvang Bowling Center in Aalborg, Denmark. 185 players from 32 countries will compete for gold, silver and bronze medals in Singles, Doubles, Trios, Team, All-Events and Masters.

    Competition got underway Friday, June 5, with the Singles preliminaries and concludes on Saturday, June 13, with the Masters finals.

    For the complete information on the 2015 MEC please download the Bulletin (MS doc).

    The preliminaries in Singles, Doubles, Trios and the five-player Team event feature six games with the top 4 teams advancing to the playoffs. No. 1 will bowl No. 4 and No. 3 will take on No. 2 in the semifinals. The winners will bowl for the title and the losers share the bronze medal. All matches are single-game matches.

    The 2015 MEC will be played on a 41-foot lane conditioning pattern with 28.5 mL volume oil total. View also the Kegel LaneMapâ„¢ Guide about Lovvang Bowling Center.

    Real action began on June 5 & 6 with the Singles preliminaries, semi-finals and final. The Doubles event will be held June 7 & 8, the Trios event takes place June 9 & 10 and is followed by the Team event June 11 & 12.

    Medals will also be given in All-Events (combined scores in Singles, Doubles, Trios and Teams preliminaries). The top 24 players in All-Events will advance to the Masters finals in best-of-three games single-elimination match play format, which will conclude the championships on Saturday, June 13.

    Photos courtesy of DBU.

     


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    Frederik Øhrgaard, Jesper Agerbo win second gold medal for Denmark in Doubles
    Denmark's Thomas Larsen captures Singles gold at 2015 Men's European Championships
    6th Men's European Championships starts Friday with Singles preliminaries

     


    2015 Men's European Championships - Team Playoffs


    2015MECTeamFinland.jpgChampionship Round:
    1. Finland (Osku Palermaa, Kimmo Lehtonen, Joonas Jähi, Juhani Tonteri and Joonas Jehkinen; Olli Pakonen), 2172 (2 games)
    2. England (Leon Devlin, John Wells, Adam Cairns, Chris Oates and Paul Moor; Darren Cundy), 2238 (2 games)
    3. Denmark (Frederik Øhrgaard, Jesper Agerbo, Mik Stampe, Thomas Larsen and Jimmy Mortensen; Carsten Warming Hansen), 957 (1 game), and
    Sweden (Martin Larsen, Magnus Johnson Jr., Markus Jansson, Daniel Fransson, Robert Andersson and Jesper Svensson), 1037 (1 game)

    Playoff Results:
    Semifinal Match 1:
    No. 1 Jähi (236), Tonteri (188), Palermaa (202), Jehkinen (221), Lehtonen (225) def.
    No. 4 Jansson (225), Andersson (216), Fransson (178), Johnson (202), Larsen (216), 1072-1037, 698-694
    Semifinal Match 2:
    No. 3 Cairns (188), Moor (246), Wells (245), Oates (223), Devlin (245) def.
    No. 2 Mortensen (208), Stampe (170), Agerbo (209), Øhrgaard (200), Larsen (170), 1139-957
    Championship Match:
    Jähi (224), Tonteri (279), Palermaa (208), Jehkinen (221), Lehtonen (168) def.
    Cairns (195), Moor (255), Wells (196), Oates (210), Devlin (243), 1100-1099.

     


    2015 Men's European Championships - Team Preliminaries


    Top 4 advance to the playoffs.

     


    2015 Men's European Championships - All-Events Final Standings


    Top 3 receive the medals in All-Events; top 24 will advance to Masters match play.

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