Sweden in second and third; Germany denies Sweden's bid for three finalists

Mads Sandbækken and Tore Torgersen (pictured left, l-r) of Norway earned the No. 1 seed position for the Doubles finals of the Men's European Championships currently underway at Dream-Bowl Palace in Unterföhring, Germany.

After finishing first on the 36 feet short oil conditioning pattern on Monday with 2749 12-game pinfall (229.08 average), the Norwegians also led the second block on the 46 feet long oil conditioning pattern Tuesday with 2726 (227.17).

The duo had a slow start into the second day with games of 427, 439 and 381 for 1247 three-game pinfall but finished strong with 483, 505 and 491 for the field-best 1479 series and a combined 24-game pinfall of 5475, an average of 228.13.

Sandbækken, who had the highest individual series on day one with 1456, bowled the second-highest series on long oil with 1369 to widen his lead in All Events from 28 to 127 pins. The 2007 MEC Masters champion, who outaveraged his nearest competitor by more than 10 pins, leads the field of 198 from 34 countries with 2825 and an average of 235.42.

Former Doubles World Champions Robert Andersson and Martin Larsen (pictured left, r-l) were 205 pins behind the leaders to leap from third to second place. The Swedes added 2611 to the 2659 short-oil pinfall for 5270 total and an average of 219.58.

Their team mates Karl Wahlgren and Dennis Eklund (pictured right, l-r) were just one pin behind Sandbækken/Torgersen on long oil with 2725 including the 519 high game of the day to jump from 26th to third place with 5189 (216.21). Eklund had 1369 and Wahlgren added 1356.

The battle for the fourth and last place to advance to Thursday's finals was intense, with the teams from fourth to tenth place finishing within 34 pins. When the dust had settled, the third Swedish Doubles, Johan Helldén and Martin Paulsson (pictured left, r-l), were with Germany's Tobias Gäbler and Marco Baade (pictured right, l-r) at 5164, an average of 215.17.

The Germans grabbed the last spot for the finals denying Sweden its third finalist thanks to the higher last game, 438 to 407.

Paulsson, the reigning World Doubles champion, who had the highest game (296) and the highest three-game series (767) in the Doubles preliminaries, added 1337 to his 1361 pinfall to leap into second place in All Events with 2698 (224.83). Finn Jonas Jähi maintained third place with 2694 (224.50).

Players will return on Wednesday for the six-game Trios preliminaries. The first three games will be contested on short oil with the second three games on long oil following in the afternoon. The top 4 teams will advance to Thursday's finals.

198 players from 34 countries will compete for gold, silver and bronze medals in Doubles, Trios, Team, All-Events and Masters. Preliminaries in Doubles will feature 12 games, in Trios and Team six games with the top 4 teams advancing to the finals.

No. 1 will bowl No. 4 and No. 3 will bowl No. 2 in the semifinals. The winners will bowl for the title while the losers share the bronze medal. All matches are single-game matches.

Photos and results courtesy of Deutsche Bowling Union (DBU).

 

 

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Doubles - Standings after 12 games Preliminaries

First block on short, second block on long oil. The top 4 advance to the finals.

Individual High Scores
1 Game: Martin Paulsson, Sweden, 296
3 Games: Martin Paulsson, Sweden, 767
6 Games: Mads Sandbækken, Norway, 1456
12 Games: Mads Sandbækken, Norway, 2825

Doubles High Scores
1 Game: Tomas Cibinskas/Andrius Gasparavicius, Lithuania, 526
3 Games: Mads Sandbækken/Tore Torgersen, Norway, 1479
6 Games: Mads Sandbækken/Tore Torgersen, Norway, 2749
12 Games: Mads Sandbækken/Tore Torgersen, Norway, 5475

 

 

All Events after 12 of 24 games