Bronze Medalist Bowlers Arrive Home from European Youth Championships

The Irish Youth Tenpin Bowling Team has arrived home from the European Youth Championships with a Bronze medal in the Masters Event for one of our top bowlers.

Amanda Larkin and Sarah Finlay, both from Tallaght Tenpin bowling club succeeded in reaching the top 24 masters final from a field of 67 girls from all over Europe. This was a tremendous achievement as the quality of bowling was extremely high. The final was a match play event which was very intense and needed great bowling skills along with strong mental ability. Ultimately Amanda, aged 16 progressed through four steps of the five step final to claim the bronze medal, beating opponents from Finland (2:0), Ukraine (2:1) and Latvia (2:0) the third step was particularly exciting to watch with a one ball roll off needed to separate Ireland from Latvia in the first game of the match. She was then beaten in the semi-final by Norway (2:0). Sarah won her first match and knocked out her Russian opponent and nearly pulled off a second round comeback against Finland. Both girls displayed a level of bowling at the championships which shows that here in Ireland, we can compete with the best and given the resources we do it with, we can be rightly proud to have reached this standard.

The girls team of four (Amanda, Sarah, Emily Goode and Laura Curran) also came 6th in the team event being denied 5th place by the hosts Germany by 1 pin over the course of 24 games. For all four girls this was their first EYC and they will hopefully be back next year if they qualify on averages over the coming year.

The boys team put in some excellent scores and with a field of 117 top bowlers, they have done extremely well. Matthew Kestell attended the event as a novice last year and improved his standings by a massive 43 places this year. He is the only one of the boys' team eligible for next year as well. An increase of 14 pins per game would have seen Matthew gain a place in the Masters event so this is very encouraging also. The boys' team (Taylor Nally, Kieran Grice, Aidan Byrne, Matthew Kestell) were placed 12th out of a field of 26 full teams.

Over thirty countries were represented at the Championships which were held in Unterforhring, just outside Munich, Germany. It took place over 10 days and required our athletes to call upon all their strengths to compete for so long. With over 100 million people worldwide participating in competitive or recreational bowling, to reach the top of the sport, technical skills as well as body control and quick reactions are a must. However the elements of fun and friendship displayed in the sport are also second to none.

The next international tournament for these bowlers is participation in the Junior Triple Crown which will be hosted in Ireland this year at the end of August. They will be competing against teams from England, Scotland and Wales.