Colombians win doubles gold at 2010 WYC

RESULTS: Girls doubles

HELSINKI, Finland - A pair of Colombian bowlers who compete collegiately in the United States won the girls doubles gold medal Tuesday at the 2010 World Tenpin Bowling Association World Youth Championships.

Colombia's Laura Fonnegra and Maria Jose Rodriguez teamed up to defeat Singapore's Daphne Tan and New Hui Fen, 481-473, to claim the top spot at Tali Bowl. The high finishers for Junior Team USA were Jenn Boisselle and Kristie Petravich, who took 11th.

In the gold-medal match, Fonnegra, who bowls for Lindenwood, shot 259 and Rodriguez, who competes for Maryland Eastern Shore, shot 222. Fen had 237, while Tan shot 236 for Singapore.

"This means a lot, like a dream coming true, seriously," Rodriguez said. "When you come to the World Championships, you want to win and making it real is unbelievable. I can't explain it."

In the semifinals, the Colombians defeated Singapore's second team of Shayna Ng and Wichita State bowler Jazreel Tan, 412-392. The other Singaporean team took out Korea's Yeon-Ju Kim and Moon-Jeong Kim, 456-414. The semifinals losers shared the bronze medal.

For Junior Team USA, Petravich and Boisselle shot 2,459, an average of 204.9, and missed making the semifinals by 96 pins. Petravich shot 1,275, while Boisselle contributed 1,184.

The other U.S. pairing of Christine Bator and Brittni Hamilton finished in 13th place with 2,440. Bator paced the duo with 1,289, while Hamilton shot 1,162.

In all-events, Latvia's Diana Zavjalova leads with 2,656, an average of 221.3, with six games of team event remaining. Moon-Jeong is second at 2,651. Petravich is the highest player for Junior Team USA in seventh place with 2,548.

The top 16 players after 18 games advance to Masters match play based on their all-events totals. Hamilton sits in 14th place with 2,482, and Bator is 16th with 2,473. Boisselle sits in 20th place with 2,449.

Action shifts to boys doubles Wednesday as Andrew Koff and Craig Hanson will team up and Devin Bidwell and Jake Peters 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 boys doubles coverage is scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday.

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.

2010 WTBA WORLD YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIPS

At Tali Bowl, Helsinki, Finland
Tuesday's Results

GIRLS DOUBLES

CHAMPIONSHIP
(Winner earns gold, loser gets silver)

(3) Laura Fonnegra/Maria Jose Rodriguez, Colombia def. (4) Daphne Tan/New Hui Fen, Singapore, 481-473

SEMIFINALS
(Winners advance, losers tie for bronze)

(4) Tan/Fen def. (1) Yeon-Ju Kim/Moon-Jeong Kim, Korea, 456-414
(3) Fonnegra/Rodriguez def. Shayna Ng/Jazreel Tan, Singapore, 412-392

QUALIFYING
(Top 10, six games)

1, Yeon-Ju Kim/Moon-Jeong Kim, Korea, 2,663. 2, Shayna Ng/Jazreel Tan, Singapore, 2,575. 3 (tie), Laura Fonnegra/Maria Jose Rodriguez, Colombia and Daphne Tan/New Hui Fen, Singapore, 2,535. 5, Hayley White/Dannielle Hopcroft, England, 2,506. 6, Krizziah Lyn Tabora/Marian Lara Posadas, Philippines, 2,504. 7, Seung-Ja Baek/Bo-Hyun Shin, Korea, 2,499. 8, Sanna Pasanen/Roosa Lunden, Finland, 2,494. 9, Gabriela Hernandez/Aseret Zetter, Mexico, 2,462. 10, Joline Persson Planefors/Rebecka Larsen, Sweden, 2,460.


GIRLS ALL-EVENTS
(Top 10 after 12 of 18 games)

1, Diana Zavjalova, Latvia, 2,656. 2, Moon-Jeong Kim, Korea, 2,651. 3, Hayley White, England, 2,619. 4, Yeon-Ju Kim, Korea, 2,580. 5, Carmen Haandrikman, Netherlands, 2,573. 6, Seung-Ja Baek, Korea, 2,549. 7, Kristie Petravich, United States, 2,548. 8, Joline Persson Planefors, Sweden, 2,534. 9, Jazreel Tan, Singapore, 2,533. 10, Laura Fonnegra, Colombia, 2,507.