England wins WYC boys singles

HELSINKI, Finland - Adam Cairns of England snuck into the semifinals as the fourth seed and went on to win the boys singles gold medal Monday at the 2010 World Tenpin Bowling Association World Youth Championships.

Cairns defeated Australia's Sam Cooley, 210-139, to claim the title at Tali Bowl. For the United States, Andrew Koff of Miami was the high finisher, taking ninth place.

In the championship match, Cairns raced out to an early lead and never looked back to give England its seventh gold medal in the 11th World Youth Championships.

Cairns advanced to the gold-medal match by defeating top seed Jong-Woo Park of Korea, 246-214. Cooley knocked off Canadian Francois Lavoie, 211-158, in the other semifinal.

After six games of qualifying, Cairns was tied for fourth place with Christian Birlinger of Germany at 1,343 and advanced to the semifinals by virtue of a 233-159 edge in the final game of qualifying. Jong-Woo led qualifying with 1,447, an average of 241.2, but settled for a bronze medal along with Lavoie.

For the United States, Andrew Koff shot 1,308, an average of 218, and settled for a top-10 finish in his first appearance at the World Youth Championships. The 18-year-old opened with games of 203, 220 and 182 before hitting his stride and finishing with 248, 220 and 235.

"I started the first couple games really fast because this is a big tournament and I wanted to do my best; I lost sight of things," Koff said. "The last three games, I calmed down and felt like I threw it really well. I'm looking forward to the remaining games we have in the tournament."

Craig Hanson finished 14th for the United States with 1,296. Devin Bidwell was 77th with 1,148, and Jacob Peters took 78th with 1,145.

Syimir Abdul Razak of Malaysia had the tournament's first 300 game in the final game of his qualifying block. Razak finished in 48th place with 1,216.

Action shifts to girls doubles on Tuesday as Jenn Boisselle and Kristie Petravich will team up and Brittni Hamilton and Christine Bator will be paired for the United States.

The United States Bowling Congress is working in cooperation with the Finnish Bowling Federation to provide live video streaming of the semifinals and finals of each event. Coverage will be available on BOWL.com, and the girls doubles coverage is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. Eastern on Tuesday.

A field of 46 countries are competing in the World Youth Championships for medals in five events - singles, doubles, team, all-events and Masters match-play. Visit BOWL.com for complete coverage of the event.

2010 WTBA WORLD YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Tali Bowl, Helsinki, Finland
Monday's Results

CHAMPIONSHIP
(Winner earns gold, loser gets silver)

(4) Adam Cairns, England def. (2) Sam Cooley, Australia, 210-139

SEMIFINALS
(Winners advance, losers tie for bronze)

(4) Cairns def. (1) Jong-Woo Park, Korea, 246-214
(2) Cooley def. (3) Francois Lavoie, Canada, 211-158

QUALIFYING
(Top 10, six games)

1, Jong-Woo Park, Korea, 1,447. 2, Sam Cooley, Australia, 1,377. 3, Francois Lavoie, Canada, 1,369. 4 (tie), Adam Cairns, England and Christian Birlinger, Germany, 1,343. 6, Steven Miller, England, 1,331. 7, Dwayne van Zandwijk, Netherlands, 1,325. 8, Basil Low, Singapore, 1,311. 9, Andrew Koff, United States, 1,308. 10, Hae-Sol Hong, Korea, 1,307.